Yurting

We spent a special week camping with my parents this summer.  But not just any camping.  We went yurting!  Click here to read more about what a yurt is.  It was a great way to enjoy the outdoors for a week with a little more room, comfort, and warmth than a tent would have offered.  Not to mention the site had a fully equipped kitchen, so we packed up our food, clothes, bedding, fire wood and we were off!

We were greeted by the alpacas upon arrival!  

(Have I ever mentioned that Bridgette is 17-months going on 7-years-old and thinks she needs to do everything her siblings do?!) 

The yurts were at the bottom of a beautiful valley, so we followed the trail down the hill, over the river, and through the woods to find our yurt.

That's our yurt in the background.  It was great to have Kaye K and Big Daddy join us.  My parents taught me to enjoy camping and now they are doing the same for my kids.  

Besides exploring the acres of land around the campsite, we checked out a couple of local villages also.  The town of Usk had an old castle that we wandered through.

Oh, this girl!

Usk was "in bloom" and every shop had beautiful flowers on display.  Gretchen loved the different flowers and dressed appropriately to add to the bloom of color!

We visited another nearby town and explored an old mining cave then took a picnic lunch through the Secret Forest!


The girls used this piece of woodwork as their drum.  The artist carved the entire thing out of one piece of wood (the balls can't be removed).

They were engaged in some long, detailed adventure story.

I don't know what crazy mom thought it was a good idea to give her ice cream in. the. car. but she sure enjoyed it and was entertaining to watch.  It can all be washed, right?!

If you ask Rooke and Gretchen what their favorite part of camping was, they'll tell you it was their hike with Daddy.  There were several different trails that led all over the valley.  We all tried out one and then Ryan took Rooke and Gretchen on another adventure that required weapons.  They fought off giant spiders, tree people, pirates, bad guy soldiers, and a monster.  

S'mores!

Meeting the alpacas.

Big Daddy was master chef one night and used the brick oven on site to make his delicious pizza.  He and Ryan tended to the oven fire for three hours - sometimes in the rain - so we could enjoy our meal together!  

The camp dog joined us for hot dogs on the deck.

Time with G-Daddy and Grammy Deb

It was great to have Ryan's parents visiting with us for a few weeks.  When we weren't traveling, we kept ourselves busy with walks, day trips, and lots of playing!

We spent one day at English Heritage's History Live event, which truly brought history to life for all of us with over 2,00 re-enactors and performances.  Rooke was especially impressed by the battle re-enactments and still likes using the spear Grammy Deb bought him to pretend he is a roman soldier!

G-Daddy is somewhere under those kids!

Church picnic

We took a picnic and spent a beautiful day at Wrest Park.

Modeling new outfits brought from Aunt Kaydonna (who is so great at always knowing what the kids would love!)

Edinburgh

As we pulled into the center of Edinburgh, the first thing we heard were bagpipes!  It was a wonderful welcome to what would be a great three days of enjoying the beautiful city.

We spent half of our first day at the Castle, enjoying the clear sky, great views, and taking in the history.

Lunch at the Elephant House with a view of the castle, but no JK Rowling sightings this time!

Along the Royal Mile - St. Giles cathedral where John Knox was a minister during the Reformation.

They are both such great little travelers.  Rooke walked (or ran!) just about every step we did the entire week.

At the National Art Gallery - we saw a few paintings and then decided we should take Rooke and pass the time together in the cafe!

The kids spent almost an hour running in this park area with the Scottish Monument in the background

Deep in thought outside the Scottish Parliament Building.

Running through the Princess Garden.  Fitting.

The People's Museum - a small, but interesting display of the history of the working class

The (free!) National Museum of Scotland was one of our favorite things from the trip.  We went back on our last day to take in the view from the terrace.

She lucked out and got her first ice cream cone on this trip.  Don't tell her that the cone is supposed to have ice cream inside. =)

The Museum of Childhood was a favorite stop.  Besides the free admission, we loved all five rooms full of toys, books, dolls, cars and the hands-on tables!

Date night!  Haggis isn't all that bad.

Kevin discovered that if he really wanted grandkid cuddles, he just needed to order dessert!

The last thing we did in Edinburgh was hike up to Arthur's Seat.  I had been looking forward to the hike all week, but wasn't sure how little legs would do after three full days of walking.  It ended up being our family's collective favorite part of the trip!  A beautiful end to a great trip.  We were thankful for our health and the chance to experience Edinburgh together.

A little sibling moment.  Of course, there was no whining or arguing or complaining at all on this trip.

On the way up . . . Gretchen encouraged us to keep going by saying that she was "using my strong legs!"

We made it!  Actually, Kevin was the only one who made it all the way to the top.  But we had set our sights on a peak that was kid-friendly and we made it.