Things I Learned From Our Trip to Skye

1. Always bring a bucket. Reasons to follow.

2. Don't give Little Man blueberry bars and let him play his DS on windy mountain roads.

3. It's hard to clean sick off of a DS. See #1.

4. Eilean Donan Castle is as beautiful as it looks and we got to drive by it several times.

5. (Knew this going in) Most castles and tourist stuff in the Highlands of Scotland are closed between October and March. However, that's just the inside of stuff.

6. Skye Boathouse is just as lovely as they state on the website. It's semi-secluded. During the time we were there the Boat Centre next to it was closed which meant we were the only ones out there. The bed we slept in was rubbish, but the whole experience would be something I wouldn't mind repeating. Log fires cool, but wrapping paper doesn't always burn all the way.

7. Four channels really are enough. Since it was the holidays, they played a lot of movies. The kids didn't have all day cartoons, but they found other ways to occupy their time. We brought board games and the kids got two more board games and puzzles for Xmas. Phil and I were able to knock out a 1000 piece puzzle in an afternoon.

8. I would prefer a clothes dryer to a dishwasher in a heart beat. I think this is the first vacation that I loved doing laundry and tried to come back with as many clean clothes as possible. Doing dishes wasn't horrible though with the way this family goes through dishes, we could have done dishes all day long. We ended up doing dishes at least once a day. To have completely dry clothes that don't smell like Sheffield water, I'd be willing to do dishes everyday all day. Mmmm, dry clothes.

9. Bring a camera and lots of pocket money. If you go to Skye, you will find the most amazing scenery surrounding arts and crafts stores, which sell handmade stuff. We went to an art gallery in Broadford and bought some amazing photographs (all small size). Lady Jane picked up a make-your-own-necklace wooden bead set for Little Man for Christmas and Little Man picked out a photo with pink and purple in it for Lady Jane for Christmas.

10. Skye Bridge is as awesome as it is scary. There are signs posted to let you know what the wind is like and whether the bridge is closed. We had decent weather. It rained a lot but the temperature wasn't freezing. The way the bridge is constructed in an arched style made me fearful of ice on the road. We probably wouldn't end up in the water, but I could see not being able to make it to the middle of the bridge and sliding back down again.

11. Bring binoculars. There were several nights where the clouds parted and showed us amazing blankets of stars. Also about 12 miles down the road in Kylerhea, the park system has an Otter Haven. The drive to the Otter Haven is worth the trip alone according to Phil. Then you walk for another kilometer and you arrive at the Otter Hide. Unfortunately we chose our last day to go up there and we didn't get a chance to see any otters. To see any it would have helped to have binoculars, otherwise we couldn't tell the difference between rocks with the exception that the rocks didn't move.

12. We need more lens for our camera. For our old OM-10 camera, we'd bought a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens in addition to the standard 50mm. Our digital SLR that we bought since we were coming to England has been great, but to compose some shots it would be nice to have the different lens. There have been times where I would have liked to zoom in or a better lens for landscape photography. Regardless, such toys are expensive and will have to wait.

13. For Xmas, always get your kids what they keep saying they want regardless if you think it's stupid.

14. Thank my mother profusely for sending enough money to get the kids the Xmas presents they didn't get Xmas morning that they really, really wanted. Super Mario Bros. DS game for him and Cinderella AquaDraw for her. Personally I think he already has enough games he hasn't finished. The AquaDraw seems like something she'll grow out of quickly or has already grown out of. But when Lady Jane is sad on Christmas morning because Santa forgot her AquaDraw...

15. We need Argos in the states. We went to Inverness to shop and found a mall with Argos in it. They were out of stock of Lady Jane's present pick, but they had Little Man's present. We actually got their other presents through Argos. You can order on line and reserve it in the store. Then you show up at the store go to a kiosk and pay. A few moments later they call your number and give you your stuff. It's a catalogue order store and a warehouse with all their stuff in one.

16. Castle Urquhart is open year round and well worth the effort. I've been there once before in 1996 (makes me feel old). I could have sworn the Visitor Centre hadn't been there before. I'll need to go through my pictures when I get back to the states to see. I learned the MacDonalds were dicks. They kept taking the castle even though it wasn't theirs. It's ruins of a castle because the last owners (not MacDonalds) blew up their own front gate to keep the Jacobites from using the castle.

17. Don't forget rain gear. It is Scotland after all you'd think we'd have thought that one through, but nooooo. It rained a lot. I suppose I was hoping for snow and didn't consider rain.

18. Forget shopping at historic points after Xmas and before New Year. We went down to Armadale Castle. The Castle caught fire in 1855 and is a shell of it's former glory surrounding by the a beautiful garden and trails through the land. Even in December the land is beautiful and the views are stunning. The castle had a Gothic feel to it and looking in the empty windows, small trees have found their roots within the castle. It was a fun excursion but the shop.

19. Christmas with just our family wasn't that bad. We missed seeing our families on Christmas this year. It's the first year that we haven't been with one of our families. We opened presents, watched movies on the telly, built presents (Lady Jane got a doll play set and Little Man started on his Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars Lego)), had a fire going in the background, talked on the phone with Phil's parents and my parents, made a turkey dinner and Christmas pudding and Yule log for dessert, and watched the Christmas special of Doctor Who (something we definitely couldn't do in the US).

20. Spending time away from the hustle and bustle of real life in a great cottage near water and mountains makes for a great holiday season if you have to be away from your family at Xmas.

I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!

Everyone's Fine

Lady Jane is dandy. No worries. Phil and I went out for our anniversary last night. 9 years. We've been together for 11 years, a third of our lives. The kids are out of school. Yesterday was Phil's last day of work. We are getting geared up to head up to the Isle of Skye for Christmas. We found a nice rental for the week. Everyone's home for the holidays and we should have a good time. It will be weird to not be surrounded by family and friends for that day, but we'll deal. Instead we'll be surrounded by mountains and water. Merry Christmas to everyone.

The Story Keeps Changing

Lady Jane's teachers this morning said that she never saw Lady Jane on the floor, but she had heard her scream. I don't know what to believe at this point, but will get Lady Jane checked out as much as possible. We have an appointment with a GP today. Lady Jane's dress was hard to get on and off and I suppose it is possible for her to have struggled to get it on and whapped her head on a desk while struggling to get it on. But could she have hit it hard enough to cause the after effects? I don't know. That's the piece that bugs me. I think the teachers are worried that I'll blame them for something. I believe that they did their jobs. In a class of 23 4-5 year olds, I don't expect someone to be watching my child every second. I expect them to care for her when she does get hurt, which they did.

Regardless, at the doctor's office I'll push to make sure that something isn't wrong that can't be seen. My baby girl is fine. She's active and happily playing. She's a little clingy, but whenever she's been sick, she's a little clingy. She's healthy.

Down for the Count

Yesterday was one day I don't care to repeat again. Lady Jane and Little Man went to school. Lady Jane had her Christmas party in the afternoon. Ten to 2 pm I get a phone call from the school. Lady Jane had hit her head. She wasn't bleeding and didn't have a bump. She was complaining she couldn't see.

First thing, if you don't know Lady Jane, she broke her leg when she was two years old. Her grandparents said that she had fallen to the ground and cried later at home, which for a two year old who was being taken to bed was not unusual. We brought her down with us and watched her while we watched Lost. We put her in bed with her brother and in the morning when I went to get her, she simply said, "I can't walk." She's an excellent patient. She didn't cry out at all during the whole poking and proding. The doctor sent us over to X-ray just to make sure. She had broke her leg and needed a full leg cast to protect it while it healed. Lesson #1 If Lady Jane says something is wrong, something is wrong. She generally does not make a big deal if it isn't a big deal.

Back to our story. I tell the teacher "I'll be there in ten minutes." Relief was evident in her reply. I grab blankey and rush down to my car and down the hill to school. When I arrived, Lady Jane was clinging to her teacher. She didn't react when I got there. Didn't reach out for blankey. Didn't reach out for me. Something's wrong. I thrust blankey to her which she takes and take her from her teacher. She's not focusing in on anything with her eyes, but eventually she starts to focus. She complains that her head hurts. The kids had been changing into their party clothes. The teacher hadn't seen her fall. Lady Jane couldn't remember what had happened and was hard to understand. She also complained that her head hurt.(This morning I spoke with the teacher and the other teacher had seen Lady Jane standing on moment and on the floor the next time she looked over.)

We haven't registered with a GP (doctor) yet, but the teacher suggested the one at the top of the hill. I went in carrying Lady Jane who was falling asleep on my shoulder. Not good. Doctor wasn't in, but we should be fine to register with them. They directed me to Children's Hospital. I packed Lady Jane back into the car and finished the drive home. I needed to get my purse. We were waiting for the elevator and Lady Jane vomited. Really not good. I bustled her upstairs and get her into the apartment. She laid down on couch and I rushed down with paper towels.

I called Phil and asked him to come home. I grabbed Lady Jane and put her back in my car. We drove down to the hospital and wove through the corridors to A&E. Half a corridor away from A&E she vomited again. What the hell am I supposed to do? Leave vomit in the corridor and continue on. She'd gotten it all over herself and partially on me. A woman happened to pass by and said she'd get someone in A&E. After getting it all sorted, we went to the main desk to wait. We checked in and went to the bathroom to clean up.

Doctors checked her out. In the waiting rooms, she continued to sleep only waking when disturbed. They ran a few tests to make sure she wasn't low on blood sugar or had an irregular heart beat. We were there until 9 pm. She's home with me now and I'm keeping a close eye on her to make sure everything is good, but it was a terrible scare. No one knows what happened to make her fall. She doesn't remember falling and no one was watching her in those few seconds. The hospital staff was afraid she'd fainted and 4 year olds shouldn't faint. She's normal right now. Asking for a peanut butter sandwich at quarter to 10 in the morning. Hopefully it was nothing.

Homework

Little Man's homework Bond Assessment Papers

The letters SADM are 1 2 3 4 in code. What are these words?

211

Need I say more. When asked what it meant Little Man said, "As in I'm gonna kick your ass."

I feel like the best parent ever.

Rough Weekend

So thinking we dodged the bullet on Saturday night, Phil and I went to sleep with no worries. Until about 5 am, when we left bed for our respective bathrooms to finish out the night. Little Man finally lost the battle on Friday night. So the whole family has been taken out by this virus. I'm glad it waited to hit me until Phil came home. I just wish it hadn't hit him at the same time. I was really looking forward to sleep. Little Man still has a pretty bad cough and it's been keeping him awake, so while Lady Jane went to school this morning, Little Man is upstairs sleeping.

Phil brought me all kinds of new toys and things. My shuffle, a laptop bag, ranch dressing packets, more Aleve, wing sauce packets (mmmm), and of course, my new laptop. I'm slowly getting used to it. It has Windows Vista and Office 2007 on it. Both are majorly different from Windows XP and Office 2003 which I'm currently using. I don't know if I like Office 2007 yet. I need to play around with it more. Vista comes with the standard Windows games (solitaire, minesweeper, hearts, etc.), but it also comes with Chess, Mahjong, and a kid's game (similar to Sesame Street's website). The computer is relatively the same size at my prior, except it's slightly thicker and weighs a little more. My laptop bag is cool. Don't you think? Phil wouldn't carry it on to the plane. :)

Sleepy

Lady Jane got better. Little Man and I have seemed to avoided the illness which if it was going to get me, it would do it now while Phil's gone. Murphy's Law and all that. I don't think I've gotten to sleep before midnight any night this week except Sunday, but I got woken up by a sick child at 3:30 so... I'm not as bad as I usually am when Phil's gone.

Last night the wind was gusting something fierce. I talked to my SIL and my mother for a total of probably 2-2.5 hours. Would've talked longer with mom but the phone died and it was already past 11 pm. Sorry, Mom.

I find that I'm very lethargic when Phil's gone. I blame the lack of sleep. He's bringing home(England) all sorts of goodies this time. Not a whole lot has happened. Kids go to school. Kids come home. Eat dinner. Go to bed. Repeat.

Never Wake a Sleeping Baby

Repeat this phrase until it's ingrained in your head. Lady Jane woke up before Daddy on Sunday and spewed all over the carpeting outside the bathroom door. Then Daddy left for a business trip leaving Mommy with sick Lady Jane. Lady Jane is a huge control freak, down to the point where she thought she could control when she threw up and she didn't want to. Somethings you can't control. So for the next few days I'll be doing clean up duty with the washer/dryer.

She stayed home today after waking at 3 am to have a last bought with her sickness on my bed. Fortunately, when you're only drinking water it's not as bad. I had to drag her to drop off Little Man at school and grocery shopping and to the bank. Poor thing. I finally convinced her at around 2 pm to take a nap. We had to pick up Little Man at 3:35 so at 3:15 I did what I vowed never to do. Wake a sleeping child. At first she was all sleepy happiness. Gladly took her peanut butter sandwich and some water. Then I told her we had to go get Little Man and the tears began and the whining and the general crabbiness that is the woken too soon child. Her shoes were too tight. She wanted to watch a movie. No placating was good enough.

I can't wait til tomorrow when she gets to go to school and I can finish cleaning all the fouled up mess she's left behind. Never wake a sleeping child.