What's the date again??

Wow!! Gorgeous day. Girls eating ice cream, picnicking and just about to fill their paddling pool. 30 in town today!! (Like 75-80!). No complaining from me :)

The NHS

So, after 2 doctor's visits to get the appointment, keeping a food diary for a month, getting a babysitter for Isla and thinking we might actually solve Ailsa's intestinal issues that started with our America trip in MAY, we got a call 45 minutes before her appoint today to tell us someone had forgotten to schedule a doctor for the pediatric clinic, so her appointment was cancelled....fantastic eh??

They could reschedule in 2 weeks or 4...I took the 2 week appointment....grrrrrr. Socialized medicine drives me crazy some days.

The autumn forest fairy

Guess whose Halloween costume arrived in the post today???

Before

Peek-a-boo

Is there anything funnier in the world to a 1 year old than a dog, laundry on the line and playing peek-a-boo thru wet towels??? Today, I think not.

Big kids

Look who loves her splash suit! Beautiful day here so the laundry is in full swing. Ailsa is exstatic to be outside getting dirty, playing with dogs, chickens, mud & anything else she can get into!

'As fast as her little legs will go'

She's just started, but with time I'm sure she'll work up her stamina to be able to do the whole walk!

Dog walks

Look who now wants to run with the big girls when it's time to walk the dogs! (That's a friend holding her hand--Libby, the great avenger to all wrongs to younger children at toddler's. She's hilarious!)

Border terrier limitations

Charlie is a brilliant dog, but boy is she bad at following dance steps on a dance mat! I think it might be taking a toll on her self esteem :)

Birthday Weekend!

This weekend we celebrated mom's birthday. It was a lovely day on Saturday and we ended up going to St Andrew's. We hadn't been there since last November, when Auntie Erin was in town and the girls loved it. We had lunch and let the girls play at the beach.  We thought Ailsa would be safe in a "shower suit" but she managed to throw herself into the VERY cold water and in the end we had to strip them both down in the car and redress them.  The sand is EVERYWHERE. 
On Sunday we had a party at Grannie's and then came home to play with mom's new birthday toys (Alisdair took charge of that!)  Unfortunately we spent too much time putting stuff together and not enough time watching Ailsa as we found her licking a stamp pad (hence the brown face).  It was too funny not to take a picture of before we cleaned her up.  Isla was super excited she got the old CD player in the kitchen for her room and can now change CD's from her bed.

On our way to St Andrew's we stopped at Daddy's work and the girls had such great fun with some dog bells, we let them each get one. We ended up putting on on Kiwi when we got home, and now she's very easy to locate :)  She's thoroughly humiliated by the experience, but oh well.

New friends

Meet 'potatoe melium'. Isla's new goat...courtesy of Uncle Michael...a 'vintage' toy. She named it herself!

Daredevil child

Isla out with her friend Fiona and having great fun at the town park. Been a beautiful day here. Warmer than most of the summer (saying that, the average temp this summer was 57 degrees! Coldest summer in 13 years.)

Sulking

Someone is having a pity party for themselves today as she was brought home at 10pm last night by a lady in the new houses who found her killing a hedgehog in her front garden. Kiwi had run away from Isla (she was on a leash) in the gamespark on our 4pm walk, and disappeared down a rabbit hole. Anne & Isla went back at 6 to look for her but had no luck. At 10 there was a knock on our window with her being brought home (Ali was away so I couldn't go look for her anymore). Her eyes are pretty full of sand, but she felt well enough to pee on the mudroom floor!!! For a 9 year old dog, she's certainly still sparky but I think she must have used up most of the 'luck' she was born with. She's now banned to the house unless daddy walks her.

More playgroup fun

Someone has finally figured out the joy of playing by yourself at toddlers--the giant tic,tac,toe is a big hit with all ages!

Playgroup fun

Enjoying 'UP jumps the scarecrow and this is what he says' at playgroup with Grandma, I mean Shona :)

Sudo creme moustache.

Saturday afternoons

We were watching shinty on tv and Isla decided to pull up her own chair. Our latest find was ribbons at the haberdashery in Perth for her bunches. They were a BIG hit. While Ailsa while napping mum and Isla took off to the small playpark and then went up to the high hill to play with the rocks. Isla had so many rocks in her pockets that her trousers were falling down on the walk home. We had to empty them into a doggie poo bag just so we could make it home!
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Bring your dog to work day

Mom's still decided that Kiwi is too much a risk to let off the lead and walking her is just no fun, so despite the fact we still walk Charlie and Cassie every morning at 6, Kiwi gets left home. Dad decided Kiwi needed some fun, so he took her to work on Friday. They were very busy, so she was put to work :).
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A bit foggy over town this morning!

I'll huff & I'll puff & I'll blow your house down!

Ridiculous weather for the past 24 hours. High wind, rain,etc.. My girls aren't bothered: Isla with her new thermals (she wore them to school today), and Ailsa with her hand-me-down sheepie wellies, Grannie Ella hat and new rain coat. They both love this gate though!

Sunday fun

No Sunday is complete without a trip to church (where both girls insist on going EVERYWHERE hand in hand with Grannie), the Sunday paper from Marks & Spencer, danishes with a cup of tea, some sheep time, lunch, a long nap for Ailsa and now a game of Peppa Pig dominos in the kitchen! The local toy store in Perth is closing down but dad jokes the Stirling branch will never shut as long as Grannie's around to support it.

Another Sunday, another sheep

Rain today was heavy at times, but they claim it will only be worse and with heavy winds as Hurricane Katia has finally made it to the UK. Regardless, the boys needed out of the field--their 'fun' time with the girls is over for this year. Ailsa was napping, so mom stayed in the house and left the 'experts' to it. Dad came up with the plan to use the harnesses as 'reins' and just walk the boys back to their field. As always, someone provided back up and useful advice!

A face to amuse

She's awake!

After her nap, Number 2 joined us for her pasta and shortbread. Whenever we forget a bib she just wears one of Grannie's teatowels. She has an appointment on the 29h with pediatricians to try and figure out her intestinal issues that started in the States so we diligently are keeping a food/output diary until then...what fun that is!

A challenging walk

Texels and new cars

That's our new (used) car in the foreground. Isla was off to say 'hello' to the sheep in the trailer before dad 'walked' him around the yard.

Good times

Seems she informed Grannie that if the sheep aren't happy, grannie should just make faces at them to cheer them up...

Rule Britannia

Elgar, bobbing up and down & an unusually attractive violin player

Ah, the patriotic bit has begun! (Yes, a violin player who looks like a rugby player!)
Land of Hope & Glory...

Last Night of the Proms

Ah, one night of the year I don't begrudge having to pay my yearly TV tax of £145 to fund the BBC and some of their ridiculously dumb program! The Last night of the Proms is a giant classical concert in a series that starts in July. They are in Royal Albert Hall in London, but for the last night they set up massive outdoor concerts in Wales, Northern Ireland, Hyde Park and this year the Scottish one is in Dundee (the city Isla was born in). The last bit is a giant sing-along of British patriotic songs...this year they've begun a sing a long of Rogers and Hammerstein before they get to 'Britannia' and all the good British songs that make people wave flags, blow air horns and go mental.

Morning color

School

A different kind of school...

The tracksuit

Look who fits into one of Isla's favorite old outfits!

Naughty dogs

Upon her retrieval, she was tied in the footwell of the newly cleaned car! (But still managed to put her muddy beard on my grey leather seat....)

Rambles

So, guess which little dog ran away on her morning walk??? Once we were organized and dressed for the day, mom strapped Ailsa in the backpack and Isla promised to be a good walker and we headed out for a long walk (well, to a 3 year old). Complete with her backpack full of toys and her Hello Kitty mobile phone...(Here she is taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her).. She complained of tired legs a few times--and we didn't find Kiwi on that walk, nor our subsequent car tour--but being a rockin' cool town of 700, just as I got a text that a lady had found her and contacted daddy, the postman rang our bell to give me the address of the lady in town who'd found Kiwi in her garden. We raced over to retrieve her--and listen to the kind women tell me what a well-behaved, trained little dog she was (I think after 4 hours of running free, including finding her way back over the river and the railroad tracks, she was too tired to be anything but complaicent!).

Unfair

It's just not fair that everyone else can jump out and she can't yet....