Edinbourgh

So, as anyone who faithfully reads this blog knows, I am far better at "showing " than "telling"! I hope you enjoy the show...with a little bit of tell thrown in!
Here my darling children are, pretending to be "Bobbies" (policemen) in a guard shack in Edinburgh castle. I have to admit, just being able to say that sentence, is a bit of a dream come true!
If you look hard enough you can find a cow in any European city...don't ask me why...but you can.
On the first full day of our little holiday, we took a three and a half hour walking tour of the city. It was so much fun, and it was free! Our kids held up remarkably well considering all the miles we walked and the fact that we only had a "one seater" stroller. (Ava walked her little legs off!) Everyone was incredible nice about us bringing our kids along and even helped us drag the stroller up and down the stairs or held Ava's hand. This was a VERY kind to kids city! Above is a picture of two of the loves of my life, standing at the top of the observation tower at the illusion "tourist trap". Inside was a table that had the city projected onto it with mirrors. You could watch the people walk around and the cars drive up and down the narrow roads. Ava got to "pick people up" with a note card and build bridges for cars to drive over. We had to leave when she started "smashing" the little tourists at the castle.
Here is the statue of Grayfrier's Bobby, a dog who loved his master so much that he sat for 14 years by his grave after he died. Eli wanted to "kiss da doddy".
J.K. Rowling's wrote her Harry Potter books in this very coffee house...and it is now serving draught beers...mkay...
Yes! That is haggis on Eric's plate. No! I did not try any!
Here we mostly are (Eli was asleep in the stroller behind the mad monk) after our ghost tour. Again, our children were the only ones attending, but no one minded. Everyone seemed to think it was hysterical every time Ava would giggle at jokes she couldn't possibly have gotten. The mad monk (who also played a skeleton and deranged maid ghost) would jump out and scare us periodically during our ghost tour. The whole thing was very tongue and cheek, however; he usually jumped out at the wrong times, ran the wrong way, chased the wrong tour group, etc. Ava found the whole thing very amusing as did Eric and I. Eli slept.
Only look quickly- this might be our Christmas card.
Told ya I'd see a dude in a skirt!
I didn't know that a giant robot would one up him by sliding in and dancing a Scottish jig to the tune of the bagpipes. And this was all before 11am.
Edinburgh Castle- very pretty, not easy to push a stroller up!
I will leave you with a picture of the city. Notice the hills? Yes- we did get our exercise, and our fantastic vacation! The kids only took a handful of falls each and they were not too scared about the Edinburgh dungeon. However, probably about the time a scary ghost swooped down on us during the haunted boat ride, I heard the final nail being pounded into my mother of the year award. Fortunately...we have that therapy fund:)
On the way home, our happy little 4-year-old chatterbox treated us to her "Eli is a stinkerpants song" and informative explanations on life. "If I was a fire man I would put on my fire hat, whizzle my whizzle, and the fire would go back into the ground. Then all the people could run away and be safe!" Yeah...that sounds about right!