The West Sands

Justus had the first beach experience of his young life on Sunday at the West Sands beach in St. Andrews (apparently this beach is famous for the opening scenes of "Chariots of Fire"). Even though it was windy (and chilly), he loved the sand! He literally had it ALL over him when we left. In fact, there is still some in his ears at this moment...that stuff does not want to come out!!


He was clever enough to sneak an entire fistful of sand into his mouth while I was a few feet away taking a picture! He didn't seem to mind it though and kept trying to eat the sand the rest of the time we were there. :)

St. Andrews Saints

Travis is playing on one of the University of St. Andrews football club teams (well, what the rest of the world calls football we Americans call soccer!) and they had their first game yesterday. It was a gorgeous day so Justus and I decided to go cheer on the Saints!



Best looking forward on the team, by far. And to all those who are wondering...no red card!

Obviously Justus is a huge football fan and will no doubt be bending it like Beckham once he has this whole walking thing down. :) In the end (well, since the start of it, really), the Saints lost the game, but in my opinion the University is the real winner for choosing Trav to be on their team. Ha ha ha!!!

Sky

Well, we got our Sky Cable last week which means that we can stay connected to the states through satellite television! This made all of us happy for different reasons - Trav: ESPN sports package (three NFL games per week...just enough to stay somewhat up-to-date on his Fantasy Football standings), Jess: King of Queens, Project Runway, The Simpsons, etc., and Justus: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! It's really all he will watch, and more specifically, he only pays attention to the songs at the beginning and end. But still, a little bit of home and familiarity just feels good.

Warm Weather

Well, I think we must have brought a little of the warm Arizona weather with us, because it has been unusually (so we hear) warm here since we arrived. It has been around 16-18 degrees celsius (about 60-65 degrees fahrenheit) with lots of sunny blue skies. We have tried to take advantage of it while it lasts...since we know we will be freezing our booties off soon!

One of my favorite things (at least for now) is to hang the laundry up outside to dry. I have never done that before! I think Justus' clothes look so tiny and cute hanging out there!

We have a really pretty nature trail that is literally right outside our back door. We have taken the walk a couple of times. Justus gets to ride on Trav's shoulders and he loves every minute of it.

There are lots of trees and a "burn" (creek) that runs along the trail. It's really peaceful. We even picked some wild blackberries on our last trip and they were scrumptious.

We decided to tour the St. Andrews Castle and Cathedral ruins on one of these sunny days. Justus loved crawling around...

A view of St. Andrews and the bay from the top of St. Rule's Tower (part of the old Cathedral).

Here we are standing on a bridge on the 18th hole of "The Old Course" - the birthplace of golf. It's a public course and there is even a path right through the middle of it that you can walk along - babies, dogs, whoever!

Happy Birthday, Kay Kay!

Happy Birthday to one of the cutest grandmas ever!! We wish we could be there with you to celebrate, but don't worry...Justus ate some birthday cake in your honor! Love you :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Buddy!

So the wee man turned one today...crazy. I seriously can't believe how this year has flown by. I mean, one year ago we were in the hospital holding this tiny little thing, scared to fall asleep because then who would be watching him... and now we are halfway across the world in Pitscottie, Scotland. Who would have guessed? Even though it was just the three of us here celebrating his big day, we made the most of it (and made the most of the amazing blue sky and warm weather) and went to "Cairnie Fruit Farm" just a few minutes from our house. Don't let the name fool you - it was super fun for all of us (I think Trav came home more tired than Justus!).

We started with lunch in their "Tea Kitchen" - some yummy tomato soup and paninis.

Then we headed outside to the pedal go-kart track. Travis pedaled and Justus and I sat back and enjoyed the scenic (and bumpy and semi-wild) ride! Trav was taking the turns as fast as anyone ever has on this track, I'm sure. We were leaving the other little kids in our dust.

Maybe next year, buddy...

This place had like 8 in-ground trampolines. Again, Justus was the lucky recipient of Trav's over-enjoyment of these things!

Next, onto the huge above-ground blob type thing (as if we hadn't bounced enough).

As a nice break, we got to go pick our own basket of strawberries. Justus taste-tested several of them to make sure we were only getting the good ones.

Needless to say, Justus was pretty tired after all the activity. Thankfully they had a huge net swing that he could lay back and relax on before we headed back inside.

One last treat before leaving... strawberry ice cream. And in case you didn't know, this kid loves his ice cream.

After a nap and some dinner, he got to dig into his official birthday cupcakes (some even topped with blueberries - his favorite thing to eat right now, besides ice cream that is).

We all had a really fun day and wish everyone we loved could have been here to celebrate with us! Now, can this kid get any cuter??

We're Here!!

So I realize it has been well over a month since I posted anything here, but you know I have a good excuse! We arrived in Pitscottie, Scotland (the small little town where our neighborhood is) on the evening of August 29 (also a significant day in history for many other reasons as well!). Pops & GiGi Buchanan made the trip with us and made sure we were WELL settled before they headed back home earlier this week :( Here are just a few of the happenings in the past few weeks...there will be plenty more to come, I promise!!

Outside our cute little house (and yes, I am already wearing warm, fuzzy slippers!).

Having dinner with the rents in our house (we still can't believe we actually live here).

Justus enjoying the backyard with Pops & GiGi.

Trying on some new mittens and a beanie to help get him through the fall/winter months (we heard it gets cold here).

On a nice day (no rain, that is) we decided to go take a tour of Glamis Castle (about 1/2 an hour from our house).

Walking around the "Italian Gardens" at the castle.

Justus enjoying the lovely Scottish views :)

These hairy beasts are called "Highland Cattle" - I'm assuming all the extra hair is for warmth?? Hopefully we don't come back looking like this!

Having in dinner in one of the many pubs in St. Andrews. We know, he seems too young for pub life but he doesn't seem to mind.