Adelynn - 22 months

Welcome to 22 months!

This post is a little late but the pictures were on time! The terrible two's have officially hit.  Adelynn gives us a run for our money pretty much on a daily basis.  She absolutely loves school and hates to leave.  Sometimes when I get there to pick her up the first thing she says when she sees me is "no mommy, NO!" Most days I bribe her to get her out without a scene. I am learning to pick and choose my battles. I am still amazed at how quickly we can go from happy Adelynn to a totally out of control screaming, kicking, head banging, biting child.  She bites herself when she gets mad. I got a call from school Friday morning because they found bite marks on her arm. When they asked who bit her she just smiled and ran away. I told them, no worries because it is probably from herself! Up until this past weekend she has only bit herself.  Now mommy has a battle wound in the shape of two little teeth on her chest. Ouch!  On the flip side she has been sleeping really good.  We have had a couple rough nights but for about a month now she has been sleeping through the night. 

She still eats really good but is very opinionated about what she wants to eat. Nuts (cashews or macadamia) have become a staple at dinner time. One night I asked her if she was a squirrel because we see squirrels eating nuts on our walk and she said "yup." Ha! Still growing like a weed.  Over 30 pounds and wearing 3T/4T now. Her feet also grew so she got all new shoes.  Her pink crocs are her favorite since she can put them on and take them off by herself. That's big, doing things herself.  She still asks mommy and daddy for help but she likes to do it herself too.  She loves her daddy so much and he is her favorite most days.  She told him last weekend "You are my favorite." When we run errands on the weekend daddy is the only one who can get her out of the car.  "No mommy, daddy get you!"  "Daddy caawee (carry) you" Hey it gets me out of having to change all the diapers :)  Speaking of changing diapers she has become very interested in the potty of late.  She asks to sit on the potty at home and daycare. Usually she sits there for a few seconds, bears down then says "all done." This past weekend we bought her a potty. She was really excited so I opened it and left it in the kitchen.  I ran outside to grab something and when I came back in she was crouched down next to it saying "somedin in dere" aka something in there...I looked and she had gone #2!!  Inside I was freaking out but I didnt want to scare her so I calmly congratulated and praised her.  I dont necessarily see potty training happening anytime soon but I am happy she is interested! 

Other than that Adelynn pretty much rules this roost and runs the show.  I am not gonna lie, we are on her time. This morning it was cold in the car so she told the hubs "turn heat on daddy."  Hilarious that kid. The things that come out of her mouth shock us sometimes.  She is so smart and funny. She still laughs all the time and the simpliest things will make her break into a fit of giggles. Sometimes her laughing will get all three of us laughing hysterically. It is contagious for sure!  She is contagious and some days I just want to eat her up! I love you my sweet, stubborn, silly little girl!!  

Eurotrip 2012: Glengoyne, Highlands and Edinburgh Part II

Hola!  If you are new to the Eurotour recap there are some prior posts you might want to check out.  First we were in London here and here, then a day trip, and then York.  Our second country we visited was Scotland.

Saturday morning (day 8) we woke up and walked to the Haymarket Train station to pick up a rental car.  Saturday was our day out of the city to explore a bit of the country and see the famous Scottish Highlands.  Scotland was our first experience driving while in the UK.  We had a really nice and big rental car.  

The car seats left a little to be desired.  We had decided a head of time that Tim would be our driver.  He was the only one with experience driving on the opposite side of the road plus he is the most relaxed out of all of us when it comes to driving.  Worked out perfectly though.  He did a great job getting us around and the hubs sat up front to keep him company.  He was supposed to be helping with directions but yeah...well all know how that went...thank goodness we had a GPS.  Nikki and I sat in the back to keep the babies entertained and happy. 

Our first stop was Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery which was west of Edinburgh and North of Glasgow.  There are numerous whiskey distilleries in Scotland but Glengoyne is small non-commercialized distillery that specializes in single malt whiskey.  We got to tour the distillery and see how the entire operations works.  It was really cool.  At the end we got to sample whiskey.

The tour started in Visitor reception where we got our first Whiskey sample and got to hear about the history of the Distillery.  After that we got to see the actual production area and we finished the tour in the gift shop where we got to taste more Whiskey.

 

After our tour we stopped at Oakwood Gardens and grabbed some lunch to go.  Nothing special just panini sandwiches but the hubs and I split a pavlova.  Delicious!!!  

We ate in the car because our next stop was Loch Lomond and Trossach National Park.  We were trying to beat the rain and the setting sun.  We got there just in time and were able to hike up a decent sized mound to see views of the lowlands on one side and the highlands on the other side.  We were able to get some pictures before the rain started.  By the time we hiked back to the car it was raining pretty hard but luckily we had brought our rain jackets so everyone stayed dry.

Next stop was Stirling Castle on the drive back to Edinburgh.  It was dark and the castle was closed so we just did a drive by and snapped a few pictures. 

That night we parked the car and ate at Greyfriars Bobby's bar which was right up the street from our flat on Candle Makers Row.  Legend has it that Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for supposedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself on 14 January 1872.  There is even a statue of the little doggie on the corner of Candlemaker Row.  The food was really good but once again the service was really slow.  I think people in Scotland like to really take their time at meals.  Actually in more places that not during this trip by the time we were asking for the check we had the kids dressed and ready to go.  Two to three hour dinners are not conducive to happy babies :) 

The next morning we packed up all our stuff and headed to Sbux for breakfast.  Adelynn was getting ancy so the hubs took her outside while I checked email and posted some intstragram pics for the fam back home.  Even though it was super cold that morning she didnt seem to mind at all.  She found a little stoop to stand on and danced for daddy!  Sunday was pretty much an all day travel day. 

We returned our rental car at the airport and boarded a plane for Shannon Ireland. The flight was less than two hours and again Adelynn did really good. In fact well all three took a nap on that flight!

 Day 9 picture!!

We arrived in Shannon and spent a frustrating hour trying to get our rental car. They added all these extra fees when we went to pick it up, you have to pay for gas up front and they dont tell you until after they run your credit card but they also put a block on the card for 1800 euros in case you destroy the car! WHAT?!?!? Finally we just decided to pay the extra daily fee for insurance and then that way we could do whatever we wanted to that crappy Hyundai Santa Fe. That day it was raining on and off and of course as we were trying to put all our luggage and carseats in the car it was pouring buckets. We finally got everything in (it barely fit) and started the 2 and 1/2 hour drive to Dingle.

About halfway through the drive I needed a bathroom break BAD so I asked Tim to pull over at a grocery store.  Nikki decided to go in with me.  Well let me just tell you the grocery/department stores in the UK rock my world.  Think of Target on crack and that's what they are like.  I am talking full blown department store AND a full sized grocery store.  After our potty break we decided to grab a few groceries and diapers.  UK grocery stores are fun because they do have some of the same stuff as here but they also have LOTS of different stuff so we might have gotten a little carried away.  What Nikki and I didnt realize was about .5 seconds after the mommies left the car, the daddies were dealing with meltdown city from the kiddies.  So all of a sudden Tim and the hubs show up at entrance to the store with screaming babies demanding to know what the bleep is taking us so long.  The hubs was clearly frazzled.  It was cold and pouring rain, Adelynn only had one shoe on and she was covered in tiny little while balls (so was the hubs).  Evidently in his panic state trying to get a screaming Adelynn out of the car he somehow got one of the neck pillows stuck and when he pulled, pouf the pillow ripped open and thousands of little while Styrofoam balls EVERYWHERE.  All over the car, all over him, all over Adelynn and all over the parking lot.  It looked like snow next to our car. 

Looking back it was freaking hilarious, but at the time I felt really bad for him as he desperately tried to clean it up but balls were just sticking to him.  I also felt really bad when we finally arrived to our really, really nice guesthouse in Dingle and tracked little while balls all over the carpet.  When we got back from dinner that night they had vacuumed the corridors...oops!  When we arrived at Heaton's  Guesthouse, the innkeeper told us he had upgraded our suites and recommended a wonderful restaurant for dinner.  He even called The Chart House and made reservations for us.  We ate a wonderful meal and slept in a beautiful, big and comfy bed that night.  After leaving the last flat in Scotland this place was like Heaven.