Scotland trip

1 Three Marines gave up their seats so we could sit together in a row, and when I was very thirsty, one Marine poured his Sierra Mist into my water reservoir for me (all I really wanted was it to be filled up with water but he did what came naturally to him!). Such nice people all the way through. The Marines were on their way home from Japan after an 8 month deployment.	2 Ben had some trouble sleeping in his car seat at first - he couldn't roll over and got really frustrated not finding a comfy position. So guess where he ended up sleeping most of the flight? Yes - snuggled into me. He's such a wild guy that I enjoyed the time with a peaceful, calm Ben in my arms. Sam was leaning on my left shoulder the whole time. Close to arrival I was able to put Ben in his seat and buckle him up. He slept right through landing even with the bumps and loud noise!	3 Sacked out, man!	4 Here we are - it's sunrise in CA, and we're about to land after the first leg of three flights to the east coast. We almost didn't make the cut, but the crew generously opened up more seats for passengers and we boarded just before take-off.
5 Turtle is happy to be flying! (See sleepy Marines in the background? These guys just sleep and sleep and sleep on the plane.)	6 The mom across the aisle was meeting her husband in CA midway through his deployment. She'd been waiting in the terminal for 20 hrs trying to catch a flight to the west coast. I feel very fortunate we managed to get on this plane. The only reason I was able to make my way east was due to some fortuitous detective work - I figured out the tail number of this plane (from HI to CA) was the same as the tail # of a plane going from CA to VA. When I travel alone without Dave, I need a special letter from the command, and I can only go point to point, I can't get off at a hub and find a connection. BUT if I fly on a plane with a continuing mission, same tail # (same aircraft) I can stay on the plane. They said I'd have to get off, pull my baggage to make sure it would stay on the plane (they don't sort baggage, and you don't get assigned seats), then recompete for seats in San Diego. I had already called and knew the supervisor of the terminal so when I saw a guy heading to the plane with baggage tags, I figured it was my buddy. He said I'd be fine and not to worry. He took care of us and we made it all the way through to Norfolk just fine.	7 Sunrise over SoCal. Sam enjoyed flying above the clouds - he saw this and went into a huge diatribe over storms, storm clouds, water spouts, and some other tired-boy nonsensical stuff. He just kept chatting and chatting, very animatedly.	8 Coronado Beach! This is where we had our first Bird on the Beach (B.O.B.) Thanksgiving! I used to watch the planes land here, never figuring I'd be on one myself!
9 The runway at NAS North Island (Coronado). That's our plane, a Navy-run C40 used for troop transport and flying dignitaries around.	10 The crew gave Ben a patch for his first flight!	11 Wow!	12 This is the crew's headquarters in Ft Worth TX. We stopped her for fuel (and potty break for passengers). Very warm.
13 Ben and Sam have been WONDERFUL travelers. This leg of the trip Ben fell asleep in his car seat just fine - he just gazed at me, then snuggled his Bear and dozed off.	14 Waking up face.	15 Sam spent a good deal of time drawing maps on this "laptop."	16
17 Snoring? I am not sure what this face was all about but it was funny :)	18	19 This is a note to mommy. This says "Mommy, thank you for taking me on a such a good trip, and thank you for a nice Thanksgiving." (???)	20 The pilots brought Sam RIGHT up into the cockpit!
21 See him snuggled up there real close to the instruments so he could see out? This pilot was like "Oh - you can't see! Come up here right next to me!" He was also kind enough to help me off the plane by carrying Ben's big car seat. Can you believe it? Total VIP treatment. I love flying space-a - such an adventure and such nice people despite the hassles and uncertainty. Totally worth it.	22 Sam can buckle himself in!	23 A peaceful moment reflecting on his latest patch.	24
25 Arriving in Norfolk after 16 hours of transit time. It's 5pm local. We've got our rental car, now we're just trying to find it!	26 Is that it, mommy?	27 Sam plays while we load. It's 50 degrees or something but it's really cold for us. Ben is hungry and cranky. I'm working quickly to get seats in while Ben crawls in the grass and tries to climb into the trunk.	28 A 30 min drive to Chesapeake takes us to my dear friend April's home for dinner and the night. This is her son, Ben. See the quesadilla spread? MY Ben put on a real show with beans. It was a bean bonanza. I had beans on my shoulder by the time dinner was over. He really enjoyed performing. I was so tired all I could do was laugh. Sam was in hysterics. April is a sweetheart - she was joking about peppers hanging from the lamp. We had a good time.
29 Making brownies for dessert!!! (Mom and Dave - yes, there were "little tastes"!)	30	31 Sam and I shared a bed and Ben was in the pigpen. I am SO proud of these guys. Sam slept straight through the night and Ben woke up at midnight thinking it had been his nap. He was up for about 2 hours trying to resettle down (I knew this would happen from past experience, so thankfully I didn't worry and just gave him some hugs, some water, showed him Sam still asleep and that it was dark out then put him back in bed). He fussed briefly, but then rolled around with Bear, squirmed, talked a little and finally went back to sleep. It was a bit of a wild morning - April is in the process of moving with her husband and Ben to HI so she had carpet cleaners there at 8am, then carpet installers, then a house showing...all by the time we left at 9am! Whew! She also has a very big doggie who barks a lot. Sam was not to thrilled with all the loud barking and kept asking "Will Buster come in here?" (into the bedroom). We couldn't find Turtle at bedtime, and guess who'd taken him? Buster! It was a wild time with lots of giggles...and April's husband Rich was on mid shift so poor guy was just waking up to go to work when we descended upon them for the beananza dinner.	32 Sleepy boy.
33 Good morning, Bear!	34 Last leg of the trip - heading to NJ via MD and DE. This long bridge/tunnel was a hit.	35 Ben taking his morning nap right on time.	36
37 Playing his ukulele while listening to Eddie Kamae :)	38 Crashed out!	39 We stopped to see Aunt Kate and Uncle John in MD for lunch. The boys really enjoyed getting some time to romp and relax.	40
41	42 Lots of wrestling!	43 Look at this!!! Lunch dessert! Aunt Kate, you DA BOMB!	44 Uncle John got to hold Ben! We're loading up amidst driving rain. They almost thought they saw snow.
45 Heading to NJ now. Only 440 miles of driving.	46 Look at this temperature!!! Wind gusts up to 50mph! Hard, driving rain. Thankfully, we were blessed by zero traffic - no accidents even on the Turnpike.	47 Sam drew a map for me to get to Dad's.	48 Playing the ukulele with Dad! I didn't know Dad had his own, given to him by a friend of his father's who was stationed in HI during WWII.
49 Morning Lego time followed by scrambled eggs, Dad-style (which means everything but the kitchen sink thrown in). They were very good!	50 Bundled for 68 degree weather indoors. Brrrrr. Cold! We're getting used to it. We are actually dressing about the same as everyone else here.	51 My mobile food pantry. Thought I should document what's in here, especially since it popped out of my sea bag and opened up on the carousel in baggage claim. People were going "PUDDING!! There's PUDDING, MOM!" Then fast hands grabbed up my stuff for me before it circled around. There was much interest among the Marines regarding some certain something that you may notice. My flask of Bourbon. Always travel with vitamin B when you're solo with boys. There's also oatmeal, Cheerios, a spoon and First Aid. We could be stranded just about anywhere for three days and survive. Did I mention already we had a tent in the sea bag? And fleece sleeping bags?	52 Sam wrote "I love you mommy" this morning. I see the LOVE, don't you?
53 Visiting Marilou (my Dad's wife) in the hospital. Grammie had sudden onset AML - a form of leukemia which is thankfully treatable (80% recovery prognosis). The meds are really taking it out of her but she generously spent about 45 minutes catching up with us today. We are thankful we got here enough time before the wedding so we could see her. Be well, Grammie! You look great!!!	54 Nice balloon, Dad :)	55 Back for some more Lego time, then out on some errands to return my car and check flights to McGuire for Dave.	56 A special boat with an articulating front end.
57 Somebody crashed out. He took a brief nap earlier, but I could tell he needed more. He went back to sleep really hard about 45 minutes later. This is who I found when I sneaked in to see him. Soooo cute.	58	59 Monkey boys gettin' crazy on me. They are in the trunk while I deal with switching car seats around after dropping off the rental. They are so mischievous!	60 The NJ trees are all in bloom. Very pretty. The clouds are not like Hawaii, though.
61	62 Oh yeah! Time for burning off some energy!	63 A roller slide that we remembered from 18 months ago!	64
65 Lots of monkeying around.	66 We stumbled across a couple girls on horses. I asked if they could "barrel race" the horses (which they do) so Sam could see. I wanted to ride SOOOO badly. Kathy - we are doing this for my birthday!!!	67 Who is that on the other side of the stairs?	68 Getting good at climbing!
69	70	71	72 Finally found something for Ben to do without getting all wet in the damp bark (it really rained hard yesterday and the day before).
73 Like his baby balaclava?	74	75	76 Look at me pedaling!
77 Each year we have a new tractor picture! This time Sam did most of the driving!	78 Late afternoon romp in the backyard. Who says NJ isn't beautiful? See the big big big yard? This is only 1/3 of it.	79	80
81 Web hunting. We have had a major resurgence of web paranoia lately. I am not sure why. So we have web wands to clear webs. Sam says he doesn't like it when they tickle him and surprise him. Well, I guess that's understandable.	82 This little web had a tiny coccoon in it.	83 See?	84 Dad ordering ice cream is an experience. Always has been! The funnier movie, if I'd been on the ball to catch it, is him actually placing the order. I had turned around and was talking to another family behind me. The conversation went on a minute or two. When I turned back around, Dad was STILL talking to the girl at the counter! He loves concoctions. As a matter of fact, he made a very good omelette with everything but the kitchen sink in it - we are calling it a conglomelette.
85 Beautiful dogwoods on a run.	86 At the playground - again (twice today). We had another wild day - a shocking experience, literally. The playground we found on base is WONDERFUL - huge, in typical military style. But the equipment builds up a pretty sizable static charge, especially on these super dry days. Sam got a shock and man oh man...not pleased! He was like angry about it. Incensed. There was no talking him off the ledge. I even put him on the phone with Daddy (who happened to call in the middle of it all) who tried to put it into the context of the storms Sam loves to read about - electricity building up between clouds and such. Only minimally helpful. Of course I had a talk about trust, and trusting mommy, then sure enough as soon as he took my hand BAM a tiny shock undid all that learning. So we came home and had sparkling water (we were all dying of thirst after running (literally) all over base) and cake. That brought some smiles and sleep for Ben. While Ben napped, Sam and I chatted about T-R-U-S-T and how his animals trust him. So this playground offered a second chance to enjoy playing without fear of sparking (but do you know I managed to get shocked when I touched down after a slide?) Dad totally did not believe me, but I felt it. I can tell you which toe. Someone please tell me what kinds of shoes my kids should wear to discharge the static!!!	87 Dad coming down a very narrow slide.	88 He did get stuck at the bottom!
89 Out to dinner at a German restaurant nearby. We called Dave and told him we'd gotten tired of waiting for him to catch a flight and decided to hop to Ramstein :) There was music in the background to add to the realism. Ben loved our waitress.	90 Look at these sausages! I am not sure how much Dad got, but not much. The boys ate like you would NOT believe. Sam was stealing from Dad's plate. Ben was long-forking the serving plate. They even ate the German salad and sauerkraut. And of course the apple streudel afterwards.	91 Honey mustard was a big hit. Dad put it on potatoes. Try to act surprised :)	92 See? Sam is taking note. This is real trouble.
93 Poor baby bird - forgot his sippy cup, so amidst all the manic feeding I had to hand-drip water into his baby bird mouth. You can imagine how thirsty he got with all that feeding on salty sausages!	94 The long-fork!	95 Funny funny bath time. Sausage-heads are still thirsty. Actually, Sam was in doing #2 and hollered out to me "MOOOOM! Bring the sparkle-ling water, puhleease!" So he had it on the sink next to him while he lingered over his production. Then I thought Ben might want some, too. They both enjoyed dumping their drinks in the bath water.	96 Then drinking out of them. Hmmm!
97	98	99	100 Back into the water!
101 And the crowd responds!	102 What is going on here? He is chewing on the faucet knob thing that makes the bath turn into a shower. Look at those biscuits!	103	104 Out to Sunday brunch with the boys after church. These poor unsuspecting people.
105 Oh!	106 Playing peek-a-boo!	107 Ha ha! He is really a ham!	108 Sammy writing me a note.
109 This is how you get into REAL trouble at a nice restaurant. But the nice thing about nice restaurants, there are often built-in mess catchers, like this tablecloth. You may think this is just pure mischief, but it's really me passing on a legacy to my children. You'll see how important it is in the next clip.	110 Doing something naughty at the restaurant...this is something Doug and I did when out to eat dinner with Dad one time. I'll never forget how it sprayed up and over dad's baseball cap and landed right on his brim! We did it very quickly here and mopped up afterwards. No one will be any the wiser!	111 Learning to eat gentlemen style.	112 This little song just stays with you...we had a lot of fun. And dad - I really made sure he wouldn't break the bed. I think it's ok :)
113 Trying to figure out how to wear a dress I found. This is Bill ... last name omitted to protect privacy. We're over at Bill and Janet's for a wonderful dinner.	114 Sam and Ben were really hamming it up. They love an audience. I'm relaxing the rules a bit and trying to role with it...laughing alongside them.	115 Look at his head!!!	116 The casseroles here in Central NJ are to die for. Ben went in head first!
117 Measuring Sam and Ben on the wall of fame.	118 Here we all are - thank you, Janet and Bill! Wonderful to see your brood! I hope Liam is rested up by now :)	119 Out on a wintery run! We actually saw HAIL blowing sideways on us! I have the kids bundled in four layers with a fleece blanket and my rain jacket in case it decides to pour. The blossoms off the dogwood tree blew off in great bursts, bouncing across the road - Sam yelled SNOW! So I agreed - hey, it's cold, windy, and wet - might as well be! This is the cemetary where Dad would like to be laid to rest, so we ran through to see it. It's a Veteran's Memorial Cemetary.	120 Neat tree on a country road.
121 This can...just wanted to make soup for my children for lunch. Look at the can opener! Pampered Chef can opener was a real pain to get to work. Sam finally took over. See hilarious commentary in next clip. Well, it was hilarious to me at the time. Decided to record our thoughts "live."	122 This is how you do it, Mom!	123	124 Ben says, "No, THIS is how you do it, Mom!"
125 Trying to get a can open...	126 We won!	127 Yay! Daddy is here! We drove up to Newark airport through heavy rain and wind to collect him. Fortunately traffic was just fine. The boys are in a blur of excitement!	128 Dinner at Janet and Bill's house - Janet is Marilou's daughter, so my step sister. We had a wonderful evening, and the boys enjoyed themselves immensely, making a huge mess while eating and relishing the laughter in response.
129 See Sam eating like a doggie? And my finger desperately holding down the plate while Ben scarfs away? I decided not to enforce rules but rather let them be a bit naughty and let their hair down a tad. Thankfully Janet understood, and the "real" doggie, Muffin, appreciated the "fallout." Thanks again, Janet and family!	130 How do you spell ayayay?	131 Nice!	132 Off to JFK to catch our Scotland flight! See the wheels on the car seat? Nice, huh? Made a big difference.
133 The monorail to the terminal was fun. We could see tracks and switches up close.	134	135 We needed to cool down after the security exercise - you all know the drill. Sam is cooling off with the huge fan!	136 We found mom shopping near the gate. What fun to see her!
137 The boys were angels - after their dinner they crashed out. Dave and I only got 1 hour of sleep for some reason. We were pretty wired and Dave had only gotten 1 night of sleep in the previous 36 hours or so since he'd just come in from Hawaii.	138 Sweet boy!	139 Wired, I tell you!	140 Almost there!
141 Sun rising over England, and illuminating Ben's sweet face.	142 Finally in Aberdeen where we found Doug - aka Tito Pig. Coming into country at Heathrow was a barrel full of laughs. Ha! Get your picture taken and retinas scanned at border control (not really on the retinas but sure felt it), answer a bazillion questions (note to self, do NOT say you're attending a wedding - it triggers a whole secondary question and answer drill - say "pleasure" only...just "pleasure"!), then through customs, then through security again to continue on to Aberdeen. My car seat got pulled and I had to talk to a supervisor since it set off some kind of explosives detection thing. The guy said it triggered the sensor the first time but cleared the second, adding "If it hadn't cleared the second time, we'd be having a different discussion right now." Then he asked if I had used any cleaning products (HA!). I said I once put it in the washing machine - his eyes then opened WIDE as he pictured putting the whole rig in there. He was like "What? How?" then realized I meant the cover only. I joked that we Americans do everything on a grand scale and that it's routine to put entire car seats in the wash. No big deal. Then Dave chimed in, going "OH! I think I know what it might be..." and I was fearful he'd say the N word (NUCLEAR) like some residue from him had gotten onto it. He finished his thought by saying something about all the sunscreen we use. Whew. Enough with that, we got the car seat back and were finally on our way.	143 At Skene House Hotel and Suites in Aberdeen. Wonderful flat - 3 br, 2 ba, kitchen and living area. The boys enjoyed romping behind these curtains in a little alcove in their bedroom.	144
145 And finally seeing the bride! This is Mary, aka Tita Bear.	146 Doug managing his wedding hedge fund - shuffling currency around depending on exchange rates. He is unbelievable.	147 Typical Aberdeen street. Beautiful granite buildings all around. Great day.	148 Walking to dinner on Union St.
149 We'd all had a nap by now - feeling really very good, actually!	150 Robbie Burns!!!	151 Turtle managed to sneak out of the hotel with us (I think Gramma might have accidentally overturned our rule that turtle stay home, so out "she" came to a bar for a drink!). BUT Sam managed to leave turtle behind at the bar, so Dave had to go back in and reclaim her. When we saw him emerge from the bar, we all had a good laugh. Turtle was stuffed under his sweatshirt and under his arm, with just one tiny bit of the flipper visible. We realized why very quickly - he had to walk through a bunch of big Scottish guys watching a soccer game! He is very good at smuggling...remember the machete he smuggled out of the Macadamia Nut Farm for me in Hawaii? I'd gotten it from a Samoan chief, my very own machete, but couldn't quite carry it out with Ben in my arms. Dave had it tucked alongside his arm and was carrying it away from his body, trying to hide it. Wouldn't you know he bumped into some people he knew from work and had to try to shake hands, say hi, make small talk all the while trying to minimize visibility of this machete. It was very funny to me - I will long remember that one, as well as turtle smuggling...	152 Clean baby Ben!
153 Very sleepy boys sleeping in the next morning! See how crashed out?	154 Sorry so blurry - this is Mary's mom, Caridad (Cari). She loves the boys and always shows their pictures around her office.	155 Breakfast at the hotel - very yummy Scottish fare of eggs, sausage, black pudding...	156 And yogurt lips!
157	158 The Alli paparazzi spied Robb and Kristy (Robb is my cousin) across the street. It was chilly this morning - maybe mid 40's? See Kristy's gloves?	159 Beautiful blooms all over Aberdeen.	160
161 Words of wisdom at the William Wallace statue.	162	163	164 An outdoors store!
165 The first of several "hijackings" as Dave calls them. We were on a walkabout when we ventured near the train station. We managed to wrangle Daddy onto a train,"Just one stop!" we said. We went to Stonehaven and saw Dunottar Castle ruins. It was a great time.	166 A few pictures of the Scottish coast.	167 Love this picture Dave took. Sam just looked at this picture as I type - "look at my hair!" he says. He had a lot of bedhead this trip. We even bought some "product" in Aberdeen for him.	168
169	170 That little sign to the right says "Town Centre 1/2 mi".	171 Very typical cottage - granite punctuated by bright red or blue doors, and beautiful garden plots (most of which are not quite this big, but equally manicured).	172 Fish and chips at the local pub.
173 And a big hot chocolate! Sam was a huge city hiker - walking several miles every day with us as we explored all over. The brisk air made him hungry :)	174 Here's Dunottar Castle.	175	176 Perched high on a cliff, it is a stunning sight. You have to walk down a bunch of stairs then climb back up again.
177 Built about 500 years ago, you can see bright wildflowers growing out of the stonework.	178 Don't they look like Scottish gentlemen?	179	180 The kitchen.
181 View from the men's loo...don't ask what I was doing in there :) I had Ben on my back, so that counts, right?	182	183 Trying to take a family shot on camera timer :) See the couple in the background? They ended up helping us out. They're from Philadelphia area.	184
185	186	187	188
189 The town of Stonehaven.	190 See the profusion of flowers? This is at the Stonehaven station. The Scots really take care of their towns. Everything was beautiful.	191 Checking out a knight in shining armour. I like seeing Daddy in the reflection, too. (See the bedhead?)	192 Ma Cameron's pub - highly recommended by locals. And more beautiful flower boxes.
193 Mom and I at tea hosted by Mary at The Marcliffe - it was elegant and really nice to finally chat with mom like two ladies.	194 Hmmmm...I should let Lelu explain this picture. Let's just say we bonded. Those who know me well can guess how!	195 Here's my flask of Scotch for the rehearsal. :)	196 Saying hi to the horses and donkey out at Skene Castle. Wish I had taken more pictures of the castle! I was thinking that I'd snap them the next day at the wedding, forgetting as a member of the bridal party I would not have a camera in my hands :)
197 Ben likes to "text" on my phone, then listen to how he says "HEH-YO!" ("hello!")	198 Another "hijacking" - we went to see Old Aberdeen just two hours before we were due to catch the bus to the wedding. This is St. Machar cathedral.	199 Beautiful ancient woodwork on the ceiling.	200
201	202 I'm pointing to a garden off to the side. See my hair? All done up already.	203 The grave stones are interesting table-like structures to protect the ground underneath.	204 Love the cobblestone streets.
205 And flowers at every turn, softening the look of the stone all around.	206 King's College.	207 This is really an incredible shot. Can you find the royal in the picture? It happened quite by accident. Dave is holding Ben (look just above the crypt's chest) - then look to the left, just under the turrets. Prince Charles!!!	208 Such a picturesque town.
209	210	211	212
213 Thanks to mom and Richard, the boys looked sooo incredibly dashing! Look at us! Amazing that we all got ready in time - and were actually the first down to catch the shuttle to the ceremony. Look at the boys' little vests and bow ties!	214	215 And see the beautiful necklace? Mom and Richard found that for me in Aberdeen. (The sash was later hooked onto the dress strap so it didn't slip, and Mary actually put powder and blush on me - I had no makeup on when I left for the wedding! Oops!)	216 Wedding details...
217 Getting ready.	218 The boys have colds but are real troopers. See Sam's kerchief?	219 The groom boards the bus. They lined up a coach service to take the wedding party and the guests to the ceremony, then the reception, and back to the hotel. It was very nice - a great way to relax and see the countryside, and spend some time together.	220 Miss Christy - she is so sweet to the boys whenever we see her in NYC. We'll have to visit again. Hi Christy! (The following is from Sam..."I LOVE YOU!"
221 Dave and the boys at the Skene Castle waiting for the guests to arrive. The wedding party is upstairs doing final preps...	222 Reading a message from Dad to the bride and groom. Dad prepared the entire ceremony but unfortunately couldn't attend due to illness in the family.	223 Watching Mary arrive!	224 At the ceremony - Sam was the ringbearer and took his job very seriously. Nice work, little man! He even tried not to step on the rose petals on his way down the aisle.
225 Chief of Skene, Danus Moncrief Skene, collecting the rings from Sam.	226	227 Dave took lots of pictures of the interior decor at Fyvie Castle, where the reception was held.	228
229 Robb, Doug, and Gould, a fraternity friend.	230 Robb and Doug are Skenes, wearing their clan tartan. The other guys rented tartans at a Highland wear store. It is apparently considered an honor to don a clan's tartan, even if you aren't a member.	231	232 Robb, Doug, Norman Fiddes (the piper) and my date :) The sash is also Skene - my mom's mom made it. My dress is quite wrinkled by my other "date" who is with a nanny in the tea room. I met Gillian through a friend of a friend in Hawaii. She was so lovely and drove all the way out to Fyvie to care for Ben while we had dinner.
233	234	235 Robb and Kristy.	236
237	238 A Scottish birdie :) It had rained during the ceremony but cleared to just perfect lighting for the reception.	239 I love those lamps!	240 The castle is 800 years old, and passed through 5 families before it became part of the National Trust of Scotland.
241	242	243	244
245	246 Another knight in shining armour, just like in the Eddie Kamae song "Golden Stallion."	247	248 My cousin Joel (also a Skene), from California, and his fiance Priya (not pictured).
249 Brother! His sgian dubh (pron. skee(a)n-doo - a small double-edged knife) is in his right sock (is there a more formal term for that?). The Chief of Skene is telling us it's not proper to put the dagger away unless it has drawn blood. Doug said it was a "used" dagger, so it most likely had at some time!	250	251 I forget what story Doug is telling here :)	252 Kim Mason taking pictures. He is a wonderful photographer.
253 Dave and I both enjoyed getting to know Doug's friend Rich and his wife Elisa.	254 Mom, Dave and Doug.	255 And the sumptuous dress made for Mary by Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. It arrived at the hotel by courier in a huge box.	256
257 Irishman Niall, and Mike? Guests came from just about every time zone - from Spain to Bahrain, Japan and Hawaii, California and New York.	258	259 Dave recognized these military heroes...	260 None of the decor was imported - these are all original holdings belonging to the castle property.
261 Portrait with arguably the most significant naval hero in history - Adm. Nelson stopped Napoleon's advance, forcing him to turn eastward and ultimately face defeat at Waterloo.	262	263 Moving into the gallery for dinner.	264
265 The piper accompanied us at every step. He saw a lot of me as I traipsed from tea room (Ben) to reception. As I flew up the stairs once again, I joked "hey - do you have a special song for my entrance?" and sure enough, he did :)	266	267 I noticed in going through all these pictures that Dave took a lot of me...very sweet of him. I think he enjoyed seeing me in a dress and jewels. Thanks mom and Richard for decking me out in Aberdeen finery! And Mary for applying some makeup as you waited for your ceremony to begin!	268 History of Fyvie Castle.
269 Mary's childhood friend is giving a toast in the background, while the Chief of Skene (Danus) chats with my mom and Richard.	270 Robb and Kristy in background with Tricia looking on.	271	272 Danus and his lovely wife. They drove in from Perth to be there for the wedding. What a privilege to include them in the big day.
273 Joseph, Lelu and Maha taking a self portrait.	274	275 Sam looks in wonder (or exhaustion?) at his lamb dinner.	276
277 Doug makes sure all the candles are lit. Apparently we both share a fascination with fire...fiyah fiyah fiyah!	278 Danus explaining the connection between "Skene" and the Skene lands.	279	280 Danus explaining the marriage cup, which he gave to Doug and Mary.
281	282 Mom and Richard.	283	284 And fireworks lit the sky! This is the "ghost of Fyvie Castle" taking pictures (Joel!).
285 Candles lit the way to the dance hall (racquet court).	286	287 Sam had a wonderful time dancing! He never rested :)	288
289 Doug got in the DJ booth - the Notorious P.I.G.! I don't know what the phone is all about.	290 Sweet handsome guy! The boys were so tired when we got back to the hotel around 1am that Sam fell asleep in his suit on the bed and we had to redress him in his jammies almost sound asleep. Ben stayed up late dancing, too, then crashed in my arms while I sat on the side of the dance floor and admired everyone having fun.	291 We're out walking around Aberdeen the last morning (Sunday) before our 4pm flight. This is at St. Nicholas Kirk where they are doing some restoration. I guess the church was built above another church.	292
293 There was a helicopter crash enroute to an oil rig and all 16 aboard perished. The church has been open for weeks to allow people to sign a memorial book.	294 More flowers in Aberdeen.	295 We hit the Maritime Museum as well - it's a good museum for kids. Very colorful and I like the circle motif they use throughout. Here is a dive suit that is rated to 1000m. Wow! It's a "Nuit Suit" and uses oil in the joints to allow them to move despite the pressure.	296 A 3 story oil rig is in the center of the museum.
297 We also went to Duthie Park where we visited Europe's largest indoor garden. Guess what we found there!?	298 Cacti!	299 And a real Saguaro cactus! A young one - probably about 10 years old judging by the size.	300
301	302	303 On the move again. See Dave's latest gear purchase, the wheels which attach to the car seat, turning it into a stroller or cart? Love it.	304 Heathrow is so clean. We just flew from Aberdeen to Heathrow and we're waiting for our 7 hour flight to JFK.
305 Ukulele man!	306 Dave went for a beer while I played with the boys. He left it half full at the table, but since the airport was virtually empty I ran to the bar and found it! The staff nicely poured the remainder into this coffee cup, so I had Guiness to Go! See Ben in the background? :)	307 Helloooooo PopPop! Welcome to NY! It's 11:15pm. The boys have slept a few hours but we really haven't again. We are all bushwhacked.	308 Out at Captree on Long Island the next day. All are a bit rested, but can certainly use some more. Diner pancakes almost did us in! I napped in the car with Ben, and Dave is on the bench behind the slide :)
309	310 Seeing Great Grandma (Marion), Uncle Richie, Aunt Diane, Jen and Stacie on Long Island. GG hadn't met Ben yet so this was a real treat!	311 Boys liked romping.	312 And Ben let Uncle Cool hold him for a few seconds!
313 He liked romping with Stacie!	314 Playing football with Sam.	315 Aunt Diane, thank you for the fabulous salad!!! You are amazing! We love you guys!	316 Mauling Aunt Diane :) Remember feeding him puddin' when he was a babe?
317 Jen gets a smootch :)	318 Stacie and Sam do some posing :)	319	320
321 Ok - the truth be told - the boys' colds really hung on. We had a major cougher on our hands (Sam), and Ben managed to puke on Dave just as I handed him over for a hug. This is Gail saying "NO PROBLEM ALLI!" as she cleans up, juggles five loads of wash, makes waffles for breakfast and then serves up a beautiful lunch plate.	322 Ben going "Did I do that?"	323 Gail and Bill also had lots of new toys for the boys to play with! The pirate Legos were a real hit!	324 Sam took this picture of mommy.
325 Impromptu trip to upstate NY (Saratoga) - Bill is giving us his EZPass. We figured the boys can be sick anywhere, why not in the rental car or a hotel that we don't have to clean?	326 They started out nicely enough. Singing, talking, drawing...	327 Then got cranky around lunch time.	328 But there was fun stuff to see...
329 And a nap to be had...	330 I love the dual controls for AC...	331 But then things turned nasty! One was screeching and the other coughing and shouting "NOOOO!"	332 But finally we arrived and hooked up with Tim, Dan and his fiancee Heather. What fun!!! Here we are going out to dinner at the Olde Bryan Inn.
333 All is well again - we figured we dodged a bullet. Ben didn't puke again, they'd had naps, and Sam seemed fine. Tim is so funny with the boys.	334	335 Nice dinner with everyone!	336
337 Much glee and laughter...	338 Until... "Dad! I don't like cranberry sauce!" Then AAARRRGGGHHH! SPLAT! Sam hurled on the wall of Olde Bryan Inn, then a second shot onto the floor. Dave evacuated him, and I followed shortly. We paid the bill and totally disappeared, leaving a path of destruction behind us, hidden by a napkin on the floor.	339 But then the boys rallied, Sam played his ukulele with Tim...and we all had a wonderful time.	340 Ben got in on the act until he got too rough with Tim's guitar.
341	342 Sam rockin' the suite!	343 Building with Dan - this is "Captain Pirate Paddlehead!" or "Pirate Parrothead"! There was so much giggling - I love Dan's laugh!	344 And when he and Heather get going, Dave gets tears in his eyes laughing so hard.
345 Sam, Ben and I sneaked up on a friend of mine, Maureen. We decided to be like groundhogs and just "pop up" everywhere! When you fly space-a you never know where or when you'll land, which makes it really fun to just pop up, or in, on friends :)	346	347 There we all are!	348 Alli!!! You are a crazy mommy!
349 Really crazy! Look at Ben's face...he's like "right..."	350 Sammy taking a picture of our sneaky shadows - we were quiet as shadows sneaking up on her!	351 In Saratoga town for a stroll, then a hike. More blooms, just like Aberdeen!	352 Gorgeous day. Sam has his ukulele as we walk through the park.
353 Sniffing the tulips...	354 Pretending we're on mountain bikes...here's how you work this hill, Dad!	355 "Use your brakes!"	356
357 Tim does a jump for us! (ukulele in hand!)	358	359 Tim and Sam having a great time on the hike, pretending they're on bikes :) Sam just watched with me and said "I want to do that hike again!"	360
361	362	363	364 Fiddleheads!
365 Building a skunk trap while Dave relaxes (a skunk kept stinking us out!).	366	367	368
369 Where we stayed...	370	371 A last stop at the silly swing.	372 Then on to NJ via Mary Jo and Ben's house...what a treat to see Big Ben!
373 And swing on the tree swing!	374	375 Ben's initials are BWK as well - middle name Williams, can you believe it?	376 I'm saying "NO way!"
377	378	379 NJ state tree or something, but very pretty.	380 Mary Jo wasn't feeling well so we waved goodbye from outside her window.
381	382 Making waffles with Dad before heading to McGuire to hopefully catch our flight. Turned out the flight got delayed, then evaporated, giving us another day to hang out with my Dad and visit the biggest playground on the planet at base once more to show Daddy.	383 On this damp day, there aren't many "shocks" from static electricity :)	384 The slide train!
385 Another day waiting for a plane gave us some time to do weird things in Central NJ - Dave went to the BX/PX to find a new set of headphones and iPod (since he thought he'd left his on a plane in Aberdeen). Later he actually found them in his backpack! (I would tease here, but I did the same thing, thinking I'd left Ben's rain jacket behind at Gail and Bill's only to find it later stuffed carefully in my pack.) Can you see a little head popping up in the green grass? Look at the 4th pole from left, then just a hair further to your right. Groundhogs! Seemed like a fitting thing to do - try to sneak up on them before they dart into a hole. It was groundhog day for a couple days, checking flights, going to McGuire all packed, mark ourselves present, get excited, then go back home again...	386 I see one, Mom!!!! (By the looks we got, it felt like we were the only crazy people to go running in all of Central NJ, and certainly the only bright orange double-Bob jogging stroller on base, and most certainly the only one bumping across the grass stalking ground hogs!)	387 See the big holes? We got close enough to see their tales disappear into the hole! The boys had a good time stalking with me :) I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, actually. It's good sport. Really. You should try it if you have groundhogs in your area.	388 This is the plane we thought we were going to catch - a C17 (a "C17-fighter" as Sam would say, convinced it's a fighter, not a cargo plane).
389 At the terminal again the next day, waiting for our flight. We got all the way out to the "sterile" holding area (after security) and thought we'd be boarding a shuttle bus to the plane but found out it had mechanical problems. We waited from 7pm to 11pm before hearing any news. At about 11pm, they came and said the plane had passed all its tests and they hurried us straight out to the tarmac and on board. Here we're hanging out with Nicole, who is on her way home from Iraq. She won a body building competition over there - plenty of free time to invest in weight training, she said. She was really nice to the boys despite being totally exhausted from her long trip home.	390 Finally on board, and everyone crashed. Ben got to sleep in the nursery at the terminal while we waited for word on the plane. We were so relieved to finally be on our way - time was slipping by and we were worried that the window of opportunity to catch the next leg from Travis to Hawaii would evaporate if we left much later.	391 Waking up to land at Travis. It's not worth calculating what time it is local vs body time. We're on a KC10 refueling plane. It was a bumpy ride but free!	392 Ben got his first KC10 patch!!!
393 Sleeping at Travis terminal where we had to wait for 4 hours before our next roll call to see if we would make it onto the Hawaii-bound plane.	394 Sooooo tired, mommy and baby.	395 Amazing where and how one can sleep.	396 We took a walk to check out lodging at Travis. Very very nice! Even got Dave a latte. He could not believe we came back with a latte on a military base at 0630 on a Sunday morning.
397 This is "groundhog face" and Travis terminal.	398 Boys eating muffins and lattes :)	399 Dave is up at the counter ensuring we are "marked present" and Ben is pretending to drink coffee. This whole space-a thing is wonderful, but you have to be really on your game to ensure your name is properly entered onto the wait list, and properly ranked according to your registration date. All worked out well for us today, thankfully. We got the first flight out on a KC135, another refueling plane.	400 People had no trouble figuring out where we were from given Sam's music playing.
401 I ran into a lady named Patty who I'd first met on my way out of Hawaii, through San Diego. She was on her way to meet up with her hubby who is deployed. Sweet lady with equally sweet kids. It was good to see her again, although she was having a hard time saying goodbye to her husband.	402 Big traveler wearing his ear plugs!	403 Ben finally asleep, wearing his ear plugs as well.	404 See the crew? This was actually a medevac plane with people on litters going to Tripler for outpatient treatment. Very interesting.
405 Ben kept standing up in his car seat (when I let him stretch his legs) to smile and play peekaboo with the guys behind us. You just can't help but smile back at him!	406 He was really great about the earplugs, much to my amazement!	407 Sam loading our stuff up to go home.	408 Whew! Finally back in Hawaii!!! I haven't been this tired since childbirth. I have vertigo, and I can barely see through my dirty contact lenses. It was a fantastic, epic trip! Off to bed now :)
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