DAY FIVE: Magnificence on a Mournful Day

Arthur's Seat is an inactive volcano that sits just beyond the University of Edinburgh where we are staying. According to legend, it is the site where King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table met to plan battles. It is where the round table remained and where they convened before and after fighting. To see it in person is magnificent. On this particular day we not only got to see Arthur's Seat up close, we basically walked all the way around it.

Today was the Fringe Festival Parade where each show gets to have a spot, and the spectators can get a glimpse into what they can see if they come to the shows. I spent the day with the technical crew and the handful of actors not in the parade. We walked from the beginning of the route to the end and got the opportunity to watch the parade from there. As we were walking I was just struck by the awesome beauty of God's creation. My breath was literally taken from me as I took in the scene in front of me. I wish my pictures did it justice, but they pale in comparison. I think this has been my favorite day so far on the trip.

After the parade we sat at Parliament waiting for the actors to join us, but they never came. It was actually nice to see and listen and just sit and absorb the Scottish culture. Eventually, we figured they must have missed us and went back to the University so my group made the trek back up the side of Arthur's Seat to the school.

To this point the day was perfect. It wasn't until things slowed down that I realized what today actually was . . . my parents' anniversary. Thinking about this made me immediately sad because I kept thinking about how Dad would have loved seeing Arthur's Seat. I called Mom and talked to her because I needed to hear her voice and know she was okay.

Fortunately, that was not the end of the day. We took the kids to a Kalie, where they got to learn how to do traditional Scottish dances. That paired with an unusual sink malfunction in Luke's room allowed me to have a magnificent end to my mournful day.

DAY FOUR: First Full Day in Edinburgh

Today was like a game of chutes and ladders - so many ups and downs. We've been here long enough now that everyone knows everyone, and for the most part everyone is getting along. Let me be the first to say how nice it is to just hang out with the guys. No offense to the girls, but the boys are so much less drama. They all get along and its just easy to be in charge of them.

Moving on - the Scots know how to make good dinner, but they are not as good with breakfast. There's nothing like seeing blood sausage to make you lose your appetite. Then, after breakfast, we left for technical rehearsal which went really well. It makes me excited for the show. Then, it was back to school and meet up for our trek down to the Royal Mile. but first we had to surprise Suz with her "gifts". I LOVED this part. So funny! The girls made "art" out of whatever they could for her dorm room. Then the boys actually made a basket out of duct tape and wire and filled it with soap they carved into specific shapes for her; her personal Bed, Bath, and Beyond basket.

Then, we walked to the Royal Mile. It's like four miles to get there. I thought I'd be okay after my fall on Day Two, but today my ankle said different. My foot began to hurt when we were halfway there. My foot started going numb and by the end of the day I couldn't feel my right leg moving because I was in so much pain. The trip back up the mountain to the college made me tear up. I hurt so much, but I did make it back, and felt good that I did it on my own.

So now I'm on pain killers, but hopefully it will get better.

DAY THREE: London to Edinburgh

Does 4 a.m. really exist? I don't even remember the last time I was up then (actually that's a lie...I do, but nothing pleasant has ever happened that early in the morning). When my alarm went off at four I felt like I was in some crazy dream. My body started moving and getting dressed, but my mind wasn't taking advantage.

You see, we had to have all of our luggage out for the AHSTF staff to load into trucks for the big move to Edinburgh. Then it was breakfast at 5 a.m. (very hard to eat a British breakfast that early) and then waiting for the bus by 5:30. At six we managed to get on our bus that took us to King's Cross Station. Now everyone knows what has made King's Cross famous . . . Platform 9 3/4's, Harry Potter's entrance into the wizarding world. I really felt bad because so many of the kids, and I have to include myself in that number, were severely disappointed because only the first eight platforms were open. Nine & 10 are closed for renovation so they were unable to take pictures at the famous sight.

But then we got on our train and began the voyage to Scotland. I will absolutely take as one of my favorite memories of this trip the first hour of the train ride and the hilarity that occurred from doing Mad Libs with Alex Parker, Andrea Shearon, and Kaz Zumbro. Hours 2-4 I slept. I tried to stay awake, but it just wasn't happening. But the good stuff all seemed to come in the last hour anyway. I got to take pictures of the largest castle in the world, the beautiful seascape of the North Sea (most calming view I've ever seen), and then entering Edinburgh.

When we exited the train in Edinburgh there was a Scottish bagpipe player performing American songs like Yanke Doodle, Dixieland, and Deep in the Heart of Texas. Very cool way to start our Scotland days. The next adventure, not so much! They crammed 80 people on one charter bus. Claustrophobic, anyone? It was unbearable, but it only lasted about an hour and a half. Finally, we made it to the University of Edinburgh, our final destination for the trip.

The greatest thing about the University is that2 all of their rooms are single rooms. So, we all will have some private time which will be greatly needed. The cafeteria food is amazing . . . so much better than the Bankside cafeteria. Supper tonight was fantastic. For the rest of the evening, we rested, and the boys made a nice little surprise for her birthday tomorrow. Let's hope she likes it.

Scotland Trip Day Two: London Bridge I fell down

Maybe I wasn't as rested as I thought or maybe we just did more than expected, but I'm already exhausted and its only the middle of day two.

This morning began with an interesting breakfast. Definitely different from what Mom and Dad used to make. They fry their toast. Just because they say something is sausage does not make it sausage. Their apple juice tastes like it has a little extra flavoring, so to speak.

Then, it was off to the Tower of London. I must admit how excited I was to see this place. Being a fan of Ghost Hunters International I wanted to see what a real hanted house would feel like. The only thing is .......... NO SCARY!!! I'm pretty sure the only thing that was terrifying was all the darn steps we had to take going up and down the tower. I'm not sure the kids were as excited to do something historical.

When we left we had to walk to the Underground, but we stood forever waiting for the bus to show up so Suz made the last minute decision to walk to The Globe. This was was about five miles. Clumsy me fell off a sidewalk and twisted my ankle (but please note that I was still walking faster than a few of the kids). The Globe was magnificent! Absolutely breathtaking! The kids got to have an acting workshop with one of the Globe Shakespearean Actors. They did scene work and I think they really enjoyed it.

We did an insane amount of walking today. My ankle was giving me fits but in situations like this I guess you just have to roll with the punches. We went to this pizza place for lunch and had the worst waitress in history. She got my order and my drink order wrong. Then we walked another two miles back to the hotel. I'm guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 miles for the day.

But we weren't done yet. We came back to the Bankside House and we began getting ready for our night out on the town. We were taking the kids to see Chicago performed at The West End. About the time I finished getting ready the two days of sun in London came to a screeching halt. The bottom fell out of the clouds and it rained harder than I've seen in a very long time. It stopped right before we left. All 33 of us are dressed to kill. Everyone looks really good.

It was about a mile to the Tunnel, and halfway there it started to rain again. It wasn't terrible before we got to the Tunnel and took our two different subway trains we needed to arrive at out destination. When we came up from the Tunnel and entered The West End it was pouring sheets of rain. We still had to walk three blocks to get to our theatre for the evening. By the time we arrived there was really no way to tell how good we all looked anymore. There was no point in having an umbrella or rain jacket. I was drenched to the skin through three layers of clothing!

However, the show was absolutely worth it! Yes, Chicago is a bit risque, and watching it will make you blush a little, but it has fantastic music and London's version had an incredible cast. Roxie Hart was played by Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child. She was very good. I really liked that this version didn't stick to the normal casting choices.

On the way home it was still raining, so by the time we made it into the Bankside where we were staying we made drenched dogs look good (although I did quite enjoy Logan Little and Christian Green's imitation of native Londonians talking about the crazy Americans). When we got back to Bankside we packed our bags and got ready for the big move to Edinburgh - that only happens four hours from now.

Scotland Trip DAY ONE

(this is the account of the greatest trip of my life that I took last year to London and Edinburgh. I hope you enjoy.)

Let me start by saying this really is a dream come true for me. I don't even remember how old I was when I first wanted to come to Europe, and especially to London. There is so much history here. It's overwhelming and definitely something I wish I could share with Dad.

So let's start at the beginning. The travel went well. Not many problems. We have five kids that have never flown before, so I empathize with them. My first flight was overseas, and I still remember how scared I was. When I arrived in Houston we met the AHSTF school from Hawaii, and they are really nice. Kinda made us shut up about the travel when we found out they had already been flying for a solid day.

The flight from Houston to London is sooooo long. Airplane food is much better than the last time I ate it. It was also very cold. Those blankets just aren't big enough. I tried to sleep some, but it just wasn't happening. Enjoyed the personal television and the movies I got to watch.

When we arrived at Heathrow it looked so ghetto. They are remodeling the international entranceway, so it was a bit of a let down. I was totally expecting the whole Love, Actually (great movie if you haven't seen it) entrance into London. Our tour guide was amazing. I'm still not sure how she was able to keep us going. It was her job to keep us awake all morning and afternoon so that we wouldn't go to sleep until nighttime and the jet lag wouldn't be as bad.

I was like a kid in a candy store. I loved the tour! We began with a tour through the city streets and then went by Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived. We went to Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, you name a specific tourist attraction in London, we went to it today. I think the highlight was watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It is as grand as you expect it to be.

The movie buff in me was served as well. seeing the bridge from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the "Feed the Birds" cathedral from Mary Poppins, the flower scene from My Fair Lady's Church. We saw MI-6 for the James Bond fans, London Bridge, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament. It was such a packed day. But I think we were all so thankful to finally reach the London School of Economics where we will stay the first two days. Interesting facility. It was nice to finally get a shower. However, I made a huge goof! I was so worried about the kids getting their stuff off the bus that I left my laptop (with my passport) in the luggage rack on the bus. Thankfully, the staff of AHSTF are incredible and tracked it down and I had it back in just a few hours.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. I fell asleep about 10:30 and slept straight through until 7:00 the next morning. Getting ready for breakfast and then its off to more sights and sounds of London. My Dad told me he always wanted to experience other parts of the world, and he didn't get that chance, so I'm going to experience as much as I can for both of us.

So I think It's about time

So for the last year I had a writer's block. I would get these great ideas and then I would sit to write and I couldn't flesh them out. Many of you follow my sister's blog as well, and she has done so much better expressing herself than I have over the past year. For me, I'm still in a fog half the time. Just now, writing the words "past year" is a revelation that it has been over a year. In fact, it's been almost a year since I took the most incredible vacation of my life to Scotland.

Tonight I sat and read the journal that I kept throughout the whole trip, and I was surprised by some of the things I wrote. sometimes I think it's a wonderful thing just to have that self-reflection. Obviously many of the things I was feeling made it's way onto the paper along with the play-by-play of what we did on the trip. So I've decided to share them with you. I'll give you that two-week sneak peak into my journal. The Reason I decided to do this is because we all deal with loss in a different way, and now that I'm a year removed (and going through it again real soon) I can see that how I dealt with everything started during these two weeks overseas. In order for me to tell you how I made it through the last year and I'm able to get on with life now, I couldn't do that without sharing my thoughts then.

So, for all of those that went to Scotland with me last year, it will be a great reflection on the trip, and hopefully bring back some great memories. For others, hopefully it will give you a look into what we did, but also allow you insight into how my mind works. Or it may not do any of that, and I'm just being self-reflective, but that works too.

I hope you enjoy!

Shane