A wee Scottish adventure

Hello, all! Long time, no post. Sorry about that - things have been a bit busy. In between George's busy shifts and attending a few festivities, we've been running a pretty fast pace around here. The girls are growing so quickly, and they've now found their voices, which is really fun (and at times loud). George and I both took them to the clinic the other week to be weighed, and I can barely believe it. Little Adriana came in at 13lbs 15oz, and our Izzy Busy came in at 14lbs 5oz! We've once again had to box up some clothes that they no longer fit in, and lifting them is becoming more and more of a challenge. I saw one baby at clinic - a 5lb newborn - and I couldn't stop staring. I know the girls were that small once, but I can barely believe it, really!

Last week we attended Great Auntie Pam's surprise 60th birthday party. It was lots of fun, and the girls enjoyed all of the attention. It was a shame that George wasn't able to go to Somerset with us, but hopefully soon we'll get back in a normal pattern.

It was good to get home, though, and since the sun was still shining in Reading, we went for an outing in the park. George had a crazy schedule, so while he had a quiet house, we had a look at the trees.

Hanging out in the park near the house

 I don't know if you know, but bath time isn't necessarily something the girls seem to love. They're all right with it, but once you take them out of the bath, they (particularly Adriana) scream. But in a happy surprise, Adriana didn't scream after bath time last week! I brought her into the bath with me, we played in the water and she hung out on the bath seat in her towel drying off - no screams necessary. Small - but exciting - change.

Such an innocent face! Would she scream?

And then, it was our last-minute trip to Scotland. George wasn't sure if he could get the Monday off, and since the wedding was on Sunday, it would have been a bit much to come back and go to work at 7am on the Monday. But on Friday, we found out that he could, in fact, have the Monday off. After a bit of shopping in Reading for dresses for the girls, we did some major research on the Internet. We had to book the train (driving could have been a bit easier in some ways but a lot more time-consuming and exhausting in others) and find a hotel. Finding a hotel proved to be the biggest challenge, and we were already in Edinburgh by the time we found one.

Wandering around Edinburgh looking for a hotel ... still smiling, though!

After many, many phone calls and even walking around to ask at three different hotels, the Gilvenbank Hotel near Markinch had a twin room available and could provide a travel cot. It wasn't the most ideal situation, but we were able to push the beds together so Adriana could sleep with us and Izzy could sleep in the travel cot. And they actually slept pretty well!

Isabella in her pretty new dress, having a nap before the wedding.

 The wedding was beautiful. It was a shame that the girls and I missed the ceremony (Adriana was crying a bit at the beginning, so we just walked around the town rather than messing up the ceremony), but it was a beautiful day for a wedding. The reception was really nice as well, and I'm so mad at myself for not taking more pictures! It would have been nice to have a family photo of the four of us, but silly me - I forgot.

Standing outside the church - Adriana had started to cry at the beginning of the ceremony, so Momma and the girls made a quick exit and explored the town.

After the reception (which ended on a bit of a frazzled note with the girls screaming and no taxi available to come get us at the reception and take us back to our hotel), we made it back to the hotel, got the girls to bed and slept relatively well. The Monday journey back to Reading went quite well, although there were still a few little hiccups - one of them being where I booked our seats. The pram is a large one, so we normally book seats near a handicap area so the pram can go there if there isn't someone in a wheelchair there. Well, I did that for one of the trains, and as it turns out, the space was in the quiet carriage. We didn't get the nicest looks when we walked it with two babies. It was all right in the end, though, and we just hung out in the corridor once they started getting a bit fussy. We finally made it home just in time for the bedtime routine.

A long journey and a sleepy baby!

All in all, it was a really good trip. And it was good to know that, even though it didn't go perfectly at all times, the trip could be done. We could survive it - and that bodes well for our next big adventure. America!

Well, the girls are sleeping now, so I'm going to try to have a bit of lunch before they wake up. And then we might go out for a walk. It's actually sunny out, and we probably ought to take advantage of that before the British weather resumes it's normal grey state.

Hope you're all well! Lots of love from all of us.