Stateside Holiday, Fall 2014

Sometimes when I haven't blogged in a while, it is intimidating to jump back in, especially when I have some big posts planned.
BUT, for now, I will ease back in with a post about our trip sans pictures. I should have some pics soon.

We just returned yesterday from an Epic Holiday in the States. Our trip had four parts:
1. We took the train to London and spent four days there(T worked for 1.5 of them). Highlights included the London Zoo; the Princess Di Memorial Playground in Hyde Park; the Tower of London; some epic tube rides; walking across the Tower Bridge; playing next to the Thames at dusk one night; and meeting up with my former roommate Emily. We then flew to Charleston from London (3 flights).
2. We spent four days at my parents' house in Charleston. Highlights included playing in their freezing cold pool; being reunited with our dog who was mostly glad to see us; lots of playtime with Mimi and Papa; attending church and community group; snacks and yummy meals provided by my mom; some nice reading time in the sun while L hung out with my mom and E napped; and lots of general relaxation.
3. Then we headed over to the beach house my in-laws so kindly rented at Isle of Palms and spent four days with them and the cousins. Highlights included lots of happy cousin play time in the house, at the beach and at the playground; a cookout hosted by Ron and Ellen for our friends and family; eating at Chick-fil-A; spending part of the day at Boone Hall's pumpkin patch--especially loved the hayride--with lots of fun people. Then we boarded a sequence of flights starting at 6AM and headed for a different beach.
4. After a long, long day of travelling, we made it to Maui, where we got to spend a fabulous week soaking up the sun (and boy was it HOT). We celebrated Hillary and John's marriage with party after party; played with baby Haylee who gets sweeter all the time; lived in a family compound of sorts; took daily trips to the beach and pool; ate several delicious lunches at Tommy Bahamas; gnoshed on fish tacos, shave ice and tropical drinks; had a wonderful date of sushi, iced coffee and a Safeway trip with my love; took a slightly treacherous waterfall hike with H and H on the road to Hana; had a luxurious pedicure with Hillary (thanks mom!); enjoyed reconnecting with friends and family who had come to celebrate the Sandbachs.
Then came three very long flights home but God gave us blessing after blessing and it really wasn't that bad! The kids slept a lot and rolled with a very long day of travelling beautifully (we left Sunday night and arrived Tuesday morning!).
Now we are battling jet lag--an 11 hour time difference will do that! We are excited to be home in Glasgow and are cherishing the fun memories and times with family and friends while we settle back into our routine here. We love Scotland and are happy to be back, and I am giddy at the thought that I no longer have to worry about all the traveling that trip entailed.


(In case this post was a little too "bubbles and sunshine," here were some of the less fun realities of the trip: time changes and lost sleep, especially for E; loooong plane flights; trying to explain to L who we were seeing vs. not seeing on any given part of the trip; more sleep challenges; and  PACKING 11 gazillion times)

Six on Thursday (an alliterative fail but possibly an interesting post)

I only have a few minutes to blog, so today is brought to you by the land of the weird and random, aka my brain.
Don't worry, though, I will be returning to blog about Lillian's 3rd birthday and our trips to Edinburgh and Aveimore SOON. Or soon-ish. Ahem.

1. Elliott is having a love affair with apples right now. Two days ago he consumed three of them right down to the core. He is cutting a few teeth right now, so we're guessing that they feel good on his gums. And yes, the diapers are super amazing.

2. Voting day on the Scottish independence referendum is fast approaching. One week from today, the country will vote on whether it will stay in the UNITED Kingdom or whether it will step out on its own. Polls show about a 50-50 split currently, which is obviously much closer than anyone in Westminster thought it would be since they are now offering concessions and other inducements to keep the UK together. It's an absolutely fascinating time to be here. The whole country is littered with "Yes" or "No, thanks" signs, buttons, banners, bags, etc. I have asked a wide variety of people--taxi drivers, bus drivers, GPs, teachers, people whose families have been in Scotland for centuries and first generation immigrants-- how they are voting, with very mixed results. Given the far-ranging military, political and economic effects, I'm not sure it's a good idea, but I can't help but admire their national pride in even contemplating such a move.

3. Lillian is in her second week at nursery school and is loving it so far. The system is very different than American preschool but it seems to be a good fit. All the schooling is free (other than 26p for snack every week, ha!) which is awesome! She has the option to attend school during any of the afternoon sessions, which run from 1-4 pm every day. The flexibility is nice, and at this point, I'm going to shoot for three sessions per week, probably Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday since we have activities at church on Friday mornings and Monday is a nice recovery day. The school is small at this point, but will fill up some during the year as more kids turn three and are allowed to come. It feels like a cross between daycare and preschool since I think the balance of "playing" vs "structured learning activities" is definitely tipped towards playing. I'm thrilled for her to get some social interaction and I'm sure she'll learn a thing or two. I also love having time with just Elliott and time by myself when he naps. It's a win for all of us, and I'm so thankful that God provided us with a spot for her. My drive to PCA last year was 15 minutes, which is also how long it takes me to walk to Elie Street Nursery. It's 0.6 miles each way, so with two round trips every time she goes, I'm definitely getting my exercise.

4. After realizing that I fed L two giant popsicles yesterday by accident, I woke up this morning and decided that we are going to work on the quality of our food intake. Eating fruit is probably our strong suit diet-wise, but I'm going to cut down on snacking, bread products and refined sugar, and try to up our veggie and "whole foods" intake. So far we have made it through one meal and 9787987 snack requests this morning from L, and meal #2 is currently cooking away in the oven and crockpot.

5. The weather this week has been unreal. I am wearing shorts again today (TWO DAYS IN A ROW) after a month plus of not wearing them. It is sunny and dry and about 70 degrees F. Everyone keeps talking about how unusual this is in September. Whatever. We'll take it.

6. 9/11 is a strange day not to be in the US, particularly since all the papers here are chock-full of independence stuff and oh-my-gosh-Kate-and-Will-are-pregnant-again. (T is v. excited about this since it means he'll get a national holiday next year when the wee babe is born). Even so, I am remembering that day and treasuring my country from afar.

Stirling Castle, 26 July 2014

To celebrate one month of living in Scotland as well as my Mom's arrival into town, we decided to take a day trip to Stirling Castle. An easy 25-minute train trip from Glasgow (and Edinburgh), Stirling Castle is definitely a must see. It has been beautifully maintained and restored; is easily navigable by kids/strollers; and has incredible views. (Getting up to the castle with a stroller is less easy...narrow, cobbled streets+ bumpy sidewalks+GIANT HILL= treacherous). This particular Saturday was probably the worst weather we've had to date; it poured rain about 90% of the time we were there but c'est la vie in Scotland!
We definitely did not see all of Stirling but I think we hit the touristy highlights: Old Town, Castle, Old Town Cemetery, Church of the Holy Rude, and Cowane's Hospital (which, inexplicably, is a coffee shop and not a hospital of any sort). We might have hung around longer, but as previously mentioned, it was rainy and we ran out of obvious things to do, so we hightailed it back to Glasgow.

Very castle-y. I can definitely see why this was a favorite residence of the Scottish monarchs.

Cannons over the cemetery

The good news about the rain was that it made for awesome cloud shots

Inside the main living quarters of the castle, restored in 17th c. style

This was one of our first experiences trying to explain where we were to Lillian and it was pretty much a wash. She's clever, but so far politics and history are pretty much lost on her. Expounding upon important historical events, let alone wars, to a two-year old is pretty much impossible, so we stuck with: "Look! It's a castle! Maybe Anna and Elsa are inside!" and "Look! Cannonballs!"

The castle restaurant was pretty tasty and had lots of space for crawling and playing (win for everyone)

Very cool interactive part of Stirling--figuring out where different plant dyes to make paints come from

We spent most of the morning in the castle and headed back down ye olde treacherous hill after eating lunch. On a whim we stopped in the Old Town Cemetery, which if you enjoy cemeteries like I do, was totally awesome. Oldest graves dated to around the 17th century, and there was a fantastically over the top Victorian section.

Playing shopkeeper in the graveyard. Inappropriate? Perhaps. 

Makes you think, right?

Couldn't resist an artsy B&W shot

It was raining harder after the cemetery,  so we ducked into the Church of the Holy Rude, which was an excellent choice. The church dates to the 12th century and is one of only three churches in Britain that has been a coronation site.

Dark picture, but the Bible was open to Psalm 86: "There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours."

After leaving the church, we were sortof scrambling. It was raining; the kids were whining; and it didn't feel like time to leave just yet. Across the lane was a sign for Cowane's Hospital, which turned out to be an old fashioned meeting house cum-coffee shop that was absolutely perfect for our needs. (sidenote: God has provided me "refuges" like this so many times in the last few months) The kids enjoyed being free; the adults enjoyed hot beverages; and everyone enjoyed being dry.

We were so happy to have Mimi with us!

After heading back through Old Town, we quickly figured out that the fun part of the day had passed and decided to return to Glasgow.

(A quick note about train travel: so far, so good! Typically for day trips we will buy tickets in advance online while using our "Two Together" pass, which gets us 1/3 off ticket prices. Sometimes we'll buy a round trip, and sometimes single trips. We never have to book specific times for local trips, which is really nice for maximizing flexibility with the kids.)

EWG is 1!

Elliott William Grooms, age 1. 18 Aug 2014

Boy loves his pacis. Stirling Castle, 26 July 

On his birthday in the Botanic Garden, one of his favorite spots

Beach/sand lover. Millport, 23 Aug. 

Common descriptions of Elliott: laid-back, content, gorgeous, charming, clever, happy, lovely

In general, he is a delight to all--smiling and waving to the old ladies that populate the buses we ride; playing with other wee ones at the parks we frequent; engaging with the grandparents on FaceTime; and generally livening up our household with his sweet smile, laughs and wobbly steps. He loves to clap and dance (bless his little white boy heart) and move around. He loves to snuggle and be held; to receive kisses and zoobers, especially from big sister, and generally is very affectionate. He is a laid back and contented little guy and I could not be more grateful for this quality. I credit some of this as his personality, and some to the fact that we are more laid back this time around.
He absolutely loves to read books (FINALLY, A CHILD I CAN READ WITH) and often crawls into our laps with a board book clutched in his chubby little hand. Melt my heart. This has also encouraged L to read more, which obviously delights me. He is trying hard to walk, and I think will be fully independent at this soon. He is excellent at crawling and standing and quite proficient at getting where he needs to go or obtaining what he desires. He attempts to pilfer L's breakfast pretty much every morning.
This is not to say that Elliott is a perfect baby! He routinely wakes up around 6:00 am and he has not slept through the night EVER. Not once. However, I do love the middle of the night cuddles and at this point, we are (mostly) down to one waking. Sometimes I'm less cheerful about this lifetime habit of his, but for the most part, I'm just grateful that he is a good napper.
 And living in a city  without a car, with a mobile-yet-not-walking baby, is challenging and dirty, to say the least. Sometimes I just close my eyes and actively choose not to think about the germs.
He is mostly weaned and I suspect will be fully weaned within the next couple of weeks. We had a good run, and I am grateful that he is such a good eater. One of his nicknames/hashtags is "Elliott Give Me All the Food" Grooms, and eating is definitely a favorite past time of his.
It is amazing to me to think about how different his life is than Lillian's was at one. He has ridden in countless elevators, subways, buses and trains. He has been in multiple countries. He is surrounded by other languages and accents that are different from ours. It does make me sad that he won't know his grandparents, aunts and uncles and our community group and other friends like Lillian did during this year, though knowing that this isn't a permanent move makes this knowledge easier. We hope and pray for both of our kids that this experience will have a positive impact on the course of their lives, though it is also strange to know that E won't remember one bit of our Scottish adventure.
All that to say, E is the kind of baby who makes us want to have 10 more (or maybe 2), and we can't wait to see how our little man grows and changes this year and always.

Happy first birthday, Elliott. You are a gift to us and so many others already, and we love you to pieces.

The plus side to lots of rain

Something I'm learning

I am working on other captivating travelling posts, a pithy first birthday post, etc., but this is what I was thinking about tonight.

We are rapidly approaching the two month mark in Scotland, and in certain ways, I can see how the next year (or longer) is going to fly by. Our little family is busy doing all the normal things, plus trying to see our new city and country. Most moments are fun. Most of the time it's unbelievable to see my almost three year old grow exponentially as a direct result of where we are, and to see my husband blossom in a new position.
There are hard moments though, and if I had to put a label on them (which I'm about to!), I'd say they are all elements of one large problem:

I love control.
I love to be in control; I love to know exactly what's going on and where I fit; I love to know what's coming next; I love to always have a Plan B if things don't go right. You get the idea.

Oh, and times this by one million with kids.

(And this isn't to say that I'm a total stick in the mud, or that I don't like adventure. Because I do. As long as it's planned out. HA. Also, having a plan isn't always bad. And control--in moderation--is important. But that's not the point of this post)

Anyways, I've learned after leaving my comfortable home, my friends and family, my car, and other material blessings, that I like control a little too much and that I "balk" (okay, sometimes rage and cry) at having it stripped away. Here are a few situations that have driven this lesson home:

-Walking into our new home and discovering that we had no idea how to turn the power on, nor any instruction manual or guidelines to help. (Thanks to the friendly policemen who helped us figure this out.)
-Knowing that we needed a key for the "bin room in the lane" for large rubbish bags but a)didn't know where the lane was and b) didn't know how to acquire a key. (Thankful for a kind neighbor who allowed me to copy hers.)
-Having three different neighbors come tell us that our pram was causing problems in the building and essentially that everyone disliked us for having one (Same kind neighbor helped me figure out the door/latch situation.Jury's still out on the rest of the neighbors, ha.)
-Being stuck all the way across London on a tour bus during rush hour when both the kids were melting down, knowing simultaneously that other people on the bus were judging me and that I had no way of getting us home any faster (Kids fell asleep in sticky, sweaty puddles on me; we survived and lived to tell the tale.)
-Trying to get home on the bus from the city centre in Glasgow, in the rain, while normal bus routes were suspended on two sequential days for two completely different reasons (Had to walk a long ways and take a different bus. Both times. Not my favorite set of experiences.)
-Looking at the weather forecast, realizing it's going to be in the 40s this week (IN AUGUST), and also ascertaining that we haven't the foggiest idea how to turn on the mysterious heating system (tricksy husband for the win! A victory woneven as I typed tonight).
-Getting anywhere at any point for any reason--obviously this is an exaggeration, but not having a car is an unbelievable loss of control. I can't control (as much) what the kids see; who they encounter; how speedily we get somewhere, etc. We are at the mercy of bus timetables and city events. Not to mention toddler pace, millions of request for treats, baby shenanigans, etc. Also their meltdowns are no longer contained in a car for just me to hear.  There is no rushing them to the car to regain control of a situation. My parenting is on display all.the.time, and boy is that a humbling reality!

There are lots of positives to this type of living as well, both for me as a sinful, flawed parent, and for the growth of my kids. I know God is teaching me a larger lesson about Who is in control (and who is not!) and what that means in the daily grind of life. When I talk about surrendering to His will or holding my life with an open hand, it's not just a big picture thing.
And that's good. But it's definitely not easy.

Pictures from London

We've been working out a few kinks in our Internet, so I wasn't able to upload most of my pictures with the last post. So, here you go.
They're in no particular order, of course.

This was her response when I tried to get her to sing the song. No doubt she felt it was inaccurate to sing about a different bridge.  

Miss Alicia! We had so much fun hanging out with her while Thomas worked. 

View of Tower Bridge from London Bridge in the morning sun. 

in 

Elliott took a lot of bus naps during our time in London. What a champ. One of the many many reasons I love the bus tours. 

Hanging out in Green Park during the hottest part of the day with a family from Riyadh. 

Sometimes you just have to (metaphorically) close your eyes and not think about the germs and dirt. Trafalgar Square. 

It's awesome when you're travelling and you find a place that is cool for kids AND adults. 

Crawling, twirling, owning. 

The only crib nap from the weekend and it was a bit on the sweaty side. 

L was really into playdoh creatures this week, so about 2 hours of the 5 total were spent creating little friends for her. 

Puppy paws post-nap on the train. Mr. man spent most of the trip crawling around and rearranging the dining car. #whateverworks