Australia Day

We have some good friends here who are Australian (from Sydney) and they invited us over to celebrate "Australia Day" (I guess comparable to our 4th of July). They say it normally involves watching a cricket match, eating some good bbq, and just relaxing with friends. Some of their family even sent them some goodies to help celebrate, including Australia tattoos and a blow-up kangaroo! Justus loved the kangaroo. There were twin boys (8 years old) there too and he had the most fun beating them both over the head with it!! They were good sports about it :)He definitely was not a fan of his "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" tattoo at first. But once I washed it off he wouldn't stop asking for it! In fact, every time I put him in his high-chair and roll up his sleeves to get ready to eat, he still says "Aussie!"
Okay, okay - but they were empty and we had to! Justus actually started playing with them first since they were just sitting on the floor with the other recycling. According to our friends, they don't actually even drink Fosters in Australia.
Our fun hosts - Heidi and James. They cooked us a serious FEAST! It was a blast. I dominated at Australian trivia (who knew??) and we kept Justus up way too late, but it was worth it :)

Road Trip!

At the end of January we took a road trip into Northern England and it was awesome. The weather was great (for January) - don't get me wrong, it was cold but it didn't rain on us once the entire time! We stayed at great hotels. Justus was super flexible and easy to travel with. And we got to see Durham, York, Manchester, and Liverpool. It was so fun. These are the highlights for Justus (if you want to see the rest of our pictures from the trip, click here)...

Cutest tour bus driver in Britain!
On one of the walls inside the York Castle Museum.
Meeting his hero - Thomas the Tank Engine - at the National Railway Museum.
Getting ready to climb the stairs to Clifford's Tower (York).
The train museum was definitely his favorite part of the trip. He was so happy - he literally ran around for hours!
We ended the trip with a drive through a Safari Park just outside Liverpool. We drove through in our own car and these lions were right outside our window!! Freaky but seriously awesome!

Lang May Yer Lum Reek

Better late than never, this is my Happy New Year post. It was Kay Kay's last day with us and we decided to go visit Stirling Castle. It was freezing (surprised?) but fun. Justus never seems to mind that it's cold. When we were leaving the castle, one of the men at the door said 'Lang may yer lum reek' to which we all said 'Yeah...wait, what?' He told us it's a traditional Scottish New Year's phrase meaning 'Long may your chimney smoke!'

We were trying not to freeze...he was just laid back having a good time. :)
"Better get used to those bars, kid." (ha ha)
Waving the Royal Flag of Scotland with pride like a true Buchanan.
You can't see Justus' face, but I'm sure he is beaming with pride. :)

Merry Christmas!

Well, we successfully made it through our first Christmas in St. Andrews. It was SO good to have Kay Kay here...it would not have been the same without her. It just feels right to be around family for the holidays so we are glad she braved the weather and made the trip! Our Christmas day was pretty low key, but it was a good day. We started out opening all the presents (which there were a lot of! Kay Kay packed several suitcases full of gifts from our family and friends back home). Justus was interested in the opening of the first few, and then he was over it and just wanted to play with the first things he got! Then onto the Buchanan family tradition of following string that lead from the stockings all over the house ending with a hidden pile of gifts. Justus is already a pro at this. Then we headed into town for a Christmas dinner for the St. Mary's (School of Divinity) students and their families who were still in town. It was good (and we certainly weren't going to cook a whole turkey for just the four of us, so we got to enjoy some turkey that someone else made!). Justus spent the entire time flirting with a cute little girl there who was just a little older than him. And that was it. We came home and watched 'The Duchess' - good but depressing and definitely not a new annual tradition or anything! All in all in was a good day.

Surveying the string situation...He climbed up on this chair with his present all by himself and opened it up there. He instantly loved his new batman p.j.'s (thanks Hawarahs). And don't worry Peeps, he loves his new dino p.j.'s too!!Following his stocking string with a little help from dad.
He loved his new puppy (stuffed puppy that is) that was waiting for him at the end of his string.
Justus was sending out the vibe to his cute little new girl friend :) At one point they went off together behind a couple of benches and were hugging! It was the cutest.
Way too cute for his own good!!

O, Christmas Tree

This year we decided to go pick out a 'live' tree for Christmas. We went to this little farm called "Easter Balrymonth" just outside of town. It was very low key. We were the only ones there and just knocked on the door of the house because we weren't sure what to do. A woman answered and just told us to go look around at their selection and mark which tree we wanted. I said we were the 'only ones' but there were also some pheasants (or whatever they were - large turkey-looking type birds) and chickens wandering around with us! Justus was having a blast running around and getting super muddy like a true little boy.

He found some trees that were just his size... But then, he spotted "the one"... And here it is in all it's glory - almost 7 feet tall with hardly any branches on the top! It is funky but we love it and it was fun picking it out together :) But the fun did not end there - Justus definitely enjoyed helping string on the lights... (yes, that is Kay Kay's voice for a brief moment in the background - she was on skype with us at the time!)

And here's the final product (don't judge us to harshly...we have VERY limited decorative supplies!!). I'm just happy that it is finally standing up somewhat straight!

Even More Leftovers

Okay, so here are just a few more :)

Justus loves climbing into things whenever he can: his tool bin, baskets, etc., but this is the smallest thing I've ever seen him sit (and sort of fit) in! This can't be comfortable but he sat there playing like this for awhile. And just look at all those teeth!
Yes, he does not have any pants on, but he had a serious diaper rash and needed some time to 'air out.'
Poor little buddy...this is the moment after he ate a mouthful of dirt in the backyard. Ha ha!
Love this face.
All bundled up and looking like a little cutie.

Leftovers Again

Well I know it has been awhile since updating the blog, but a lot has been going on! So I thought in the meantime I would post a few of my favorite pics of Justus that haven't made it up here yet. If you are sick of Thanksgiving leftovers like I am, here are some "leftovers" that you shouldn't get tired of (ha ha - cheesy, but true!).

Trying on a bike helmet he found in the house. Love the face.
Struttin' around the house in his cute moose PJ's. Footed pajamas are seriously the cutest.
Just being a super kid (ha ha).
Love those baby blues!!
Waiting at the gate outside Trav's class.
He even walks cute!!