Eating at Home and Riding the Bus

Lou Nyiri, Rory MacLeod, and Rachell

Thursday, August 23 – Dinner at our house

For our second to last night in Aberdeen, we decided to throw a small (emphasis on small) dinner party with a couple of guys from my class.  So, we took advantage of our apartment amenities (again, emphasis on small) and Rachell made a wonderful homemade meal for our family with the addition of good friends Lou Nyiri from Gettysburg, PA and Rory MacLeod from St. Andrews, Scotland.  It was a great reminder of being home.  While we’ve loved traveling, one can only eat outside of the house so many times in a row before they start craving something cooked in your own kitchen.  You could tell the kids were about finished with the Aberdeen part of our adventure.  They’re starting to crack.  Lou and Rory were a welcome distraction.  Bryce kept the conversation going with an emphasis on Star Wars, Legos, and of course, Star Wars Legos.  It was a great way to close out the week in Aberdeen.

Bryce and Denali playing

The bus rules!

Robert the Bruce...with Denali and Bryce the Pomervilles

The previous day we explored the town by bus.  Rachell took Denali and Bryce to outdoor gardens and parks throughout the city during the day before picking me up for their progressive park party in the evening.  Again, the means of transportation were more exciting for the kids than the destinations.  They were fascinated by riding on the bus.  A little too fascinated.  If someone wanted to rob the tourists who look like they don’t know what they’re doing, then we would offer the perfect option.  Enjoy some of the pics!

We've been here before...

Green Lake, Interlochen, Michigan, USA

Before we left for Scotland, we stayed at the family cottage in Interlochen, located on the beautiful shore of Green Lake in the northern part Michigan’s lower peninsula.  My family has been coming to this gorgeous part of the world all my life.  My grandfather purchased the cottage, a few acres of woods, and 40’ of waterfront some years before I was born.  As a child, my brother and I spent whole summers up by the lake with my mother, while my father would join us on the weekends and for a couple of vacation weeks here and there.  

Needless to say, Interlochen holds a very special place in my heart (as well as that of my brother).  In spite of living all my formative years in Brighton, in a house that my parents still live in today, I identify my home as the cottage much more firmly than I do other places in the world.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I rejoice over the love my wife and children find for this same place.  There is a divine sense of nostalgia that occurs when you watch your children revel in the same places, things, and activities you yourself enjoyed years prior.  Everything changes yet the world remains remarkably the same.

There is a certain value in vacationing or retreating to the same place year after year, even month after month – though I personally struggle with this lack of exploration.  While the kids did get to spend two weeks with Rachell in Interlochen this year, because of our epic adventure in Scotland this month, they are spending much less time in Northern Michigan than they normally would this summer.  Both Bryce and Denali say they miss Interlochen in the midst of their enthusiasm and joy for the experiences we are currently having here in the UK. 

 

What types of vacations and holidays do you take with your families?  Do you go to the same place season after season?  Do you strive for the new each time?  What is helpful for children – when and why?  Just some thoughts about where we are and where we are going…

Aberdeen Harbor (Harbour, for our UK and Canadian friends)

Monday – August 20, 2012

Class restarted today, which means we’re back in Aberdeen.  After a wonderfully refreshing weekend with our dear friends from Kirriemuir, we have returned to the Granite City for the final ten days in the UK.  We’ll be here until Friday while I take a fantastically inspiring class from Wes Avram on Worship in the Reformed Church (emphasis on proclamation in our post-modern context…my added definition of the class based on what I’m seeing so far).  On Friday night, we’ll get on a very long ferry boat ride across the North Sea to the Shetland Islands for the weekend, returning on the same ferry Sunday night.  

The journey from Aberdeen to the Shetlands is approximately 12 hours across rough waters toward Norway.  We’re telling the kids this is a “cruise ship,” since we’ll have a cabin on the ship.  Rachell and I understand this is VERY different from cruise ship accommodations.  It’s funny what our Scottish friends have been saying to us upon informing them we will be heading to Shetlands.  Their answers tend to include two statements:

            1. I’ve never been there before.

            2. Why in the world would you go there?

We have not doubted our plans but we do feel the need to justify our decision to head off to the middle of the North Sea to a series of islands primarily populated by wind and Viking myths of the past.  The ferry is located immediately outside our apartment window so we get to see the gigantic ship enter and exit the harbor every couple of days.  The kids are impressed each time it moves.

White-Beaked Dolphin

Speaking of water, we went out to the beach at Aberdeen Harbour this evening after class ended to run around in the FREEZING cold water and have dinner by the water.  Again, FREEZING cold North Sea water was a little more than Rachell or I could handle, but the kids jumped right in and ran around in the surf.  They were having a blast when we got an incredible treat.  A group of white-beaked dolphins appeared less than 50 yards off shore from us and put on a show for the next 15 minutes – fully jumping out of the water and causing everyone on the beach to stop.  EXCELLENT time by the water.  As Bryce said, “This was one of the best days EVER.”  I have to agree.

Sheepdog Trials and Neverland

Sunday – August 19, 2012

We again spent a great day in Kirriemuir in Angus.  This morning we attended worship at the Old Parish Kirk in Kirri to enjoy Malcolm leading worship.  His sermon title?  “If Jesus had been born in Scotland, would he have used (scotch) whisky for communion?”  Fantastic title and even better sermon to follow.  After worship, we headed out to something we never thought we’d have the pleasure of seeing – a sheepdog trial by the hotel up Glen Clova.  The joke, of course, about whether or not the dog was found guilty was not lost on us.  Actually, the trial was amazing.  Here’s generally what happened:

You go out to a huge field with the spectators gathered on the grass at one end (about 100 people and waiting participants) and a group of sheep in a pen waaaaaay over on the other side.  The shepherd and his or her incredible looking dog step onto the field by us.  On the map here you can see the general layout of the field. 

The local competitors from the Glen were spirited, but not nearly of the same caliber as the regional shepherds and shepherdesses.  The really talented callers and dogs got through the course with a sense of order.  The locals?  Hilarious.  One guy was just great.  His dog went sprinting off into the wrong field and chased the sheep with him.  Another watched the sheep jump over a fence and exit the area.  Another guy was screaming obscenities at his dog in a very disorganized fashion.  These people made the trials for us.  It was an beautiful afternoon with good people, great food and drinks, and some really entertaining local color (or colour, depending on where you’re from).

Dog doing it's job

After the trials we made our way back to the Neverland playground.  This time, there were dozens of kids running around on the playground enjoying the sunshine.  Bryce came back to us after playing alone for a few minutes and said no one would play with him.  We told him to go back out there and ask someone if they would like to play and see what happens.  He went up to the first little boy of equal height who looked at him up and down and said, “Sure.”  Bryce jumped up and down and ran back to us saying, “He wants to play with me!  He wants to play with me.”  Meanwhile, the friend headed into the playground so we told Bryce to hurry up back over to him.  They played great together for the next hour.  It was pretty funny to watch the little Scottish boy chase after Bryce yelling, “Friend!  Friend, come back here and play!”  They chased each other around and had a ball.  At one point, Bryce came over to us with a bag of Hula-Hoop crisps that his friend gave him.  We told him to give them back to the little boy but the friend said, “That’s all right.  I hate those crisps anyway.”  Bryce then responded, “Hear that!  I can have them!  I can have them!” 

I wish we could all make friends that way.  Denali has had similar experiences here in Scotland.  You walk up to a total stranger and say, “Hey.  Want to play with me?”  No fear.  No nervous anxiety.  Just an honest way of saying, “I’m willing to introduce myself to you and play if you’ll do the same.”  Way to go, kids.

Kirriemuir, Angus, UK

J.M. Barrie monument in Kirriemuir

Saturday – August 18, 2012

Kirriemuir! 

We’re in the picturesque town of Kirriemuir in Angus.  What an absolutely beautiful village!  We’re hear visiting our good friends Malcolm and Christine Rooney.  Malcolm serves as the pastor of the Kirriemuir Old Parish Church in the middle of this town famous for J.M. Barrie (the author of Peter Pan).  The Rooneys visited Michigan this past spring and we were blessed to have them speak at The Peoples Church.  This was their second trip to Michigan, having previously done a pulpit swap with the First Presbyterian Church of Brighton, MI (my hometown and home church).  We got to know the Rooneys years ago through my mother who was part of this church relationship and has stayed in Kirriemuir herself in the past.  

 In addition to the Rooneys, we spent a great afternoon and evening with other friends of our family – Margaret, Graham and Elaine Henderson.  The Hendersons took us all around the Glens as we searched for Bryce’s favorite things in Scotland – hairy cows.

Highland cattle are quite a site if you haven’t had the privilege.  The kids keep trying to sound local by asking about the “arry coos.”  It sounds passable for the northern lowlands of Scotland…or like something out of the mouth of Groundskeeper Willie.

Moo.

We were successful in our cow search.  That made Bryce’s trip. 

Rachell is Awesome

Friday –August 17, 2012

(written by Andrew)

Rachell is the perfect mother and spouse.  Her instincts for both are incredible.  She keeps the rest of us (me and the kids) grounded, safe, happy, and healthy.  As a mother, she knows just what to say when.  She also knows how to put me in my place.

I have the tendency to get stressed when things are not going according to plan.   

When traveling with children, nothing goes according to plan.  Rachell rolls with the punches and keeps things flowing nicely.  As we rushed to get to the train station on Friday afternoon, we were faced with whiny children who apparently broke their arms and legs sometime during our request for them to carry their backpacks.  We were annoyed and didn’t have time to argue.  There were tears and fits by Denali especially.  I started to get irrational and upset so I was ordering Denali around and demanding she do or not do certain things. 

She stepped onto a platform by the road and I went ballistic telling her she cannot step on something like that.  Denali, with tears in her eyes, looked up to Rachell for comfort and shielding from the scary frustrated Daddy who lost his mind in the midst of Aberdeen rush hour traffic and train timetables.  Instead, Rachell said, “You heard your dad!  Stay off that step, NOW!”

I love that she backed me up and presented a unified, consistent parenting front.  It was perfect.

What makes her such a great spouse is her ability to keep that moment in her mind and confront me later after the kids were asleep.  She said, “You know I want to back you up on parenting issues and be a team…but sometimes you’re just wrong.”  She was completely right.  She said she almost laughed at herself trying to maintain some ridiculously arbitrary line I had established in the sand.  She told me to relax more and not worry so much.

Brilliant woman.   

Absolutely brilliant.

Travel with Booster Seats

Our children are not old enough (or large enough?) to ride in a vehicle without a car seat or booster seat.  As a reminder to us (as if we wouldn’t realize it otherwise) there are laws requiring us to place our children on some sort of booster seats while we are traveling in cars here in the UK.  So, we made the decision to bring two booster seats with us, rather than renting booster chairs from the car rental companies or purchasing seats from a store here in Scotland.  And because of that wonderful decision, we have had two annoyingly awkward booster seats with us everywhere we go.  At this point, we only have one more rental car (in Lerwick on the Shetland Islands this next weekend) and opportunity to use them  To be fair, they’re not the worst things in the world until they’re smacking up against your ankles as you walk down the crowded city streets, already heavy laden with suitcases, bags, and luggage.

                Is there a better way to do this?  Anybody have any world changing idea that would give other traveling families a better option?  It’s not a problem when you have a car the whole time during your trip.  What we’re doing on this adventure is staying in the city and the country, traveling by car, foot, ferry, trains, and airplane.  If I don’t get a good answer, I may just toss the car seats in the road the next time we’re trying to cross them like overloaded packmules.