Doune Castle

Rachel mentioned that Doune Castle was right by Stirling Castle, which was pretty cool…however, when she threw in that this particular castle was where they filmed parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail…well we were all in.  We drove the almost 3 hours to Stirling, hit the castle and had lunch, and instead of giving Luke his much-needed nap, we threw caution to the wind and ran by Doune, as well.  The kids loved running around, and we enjoyed picturing the knights at the round table.

One more castle to see…

After 2 years of living in Scotland, we’ve hit a lot of the castles we’ve wanted to see, but Stirling Castle was still on the list.  It’s about 2 1/2 hours away, and we chose a perfectly lovely day to go, if I say so myself!  Similar to Edinburgh Castle, Stirling is set on a big hill and is a mini-city with lots of cool nooks and crannies.  We really enjoyed it, though Rebekah thought “it looked like a bunch of stores” {????} more than a castle.  Hmmm.  Anyway, I loved watching Rebekah and Luke climb everything in sight and have such a good time roaming.

View from the castle {you can see the Wallace Monument}

My boys

The cannons

Another great view

Part of the castle

Luke leading the way

Another part of the castle

And another

Inside the Great Hall

My boys again- Luke loves a good perch.

Beks and her daddy

Luke was yelling "wheee!" while a tour group was walking through...

More castle

My sweet boy {you can see the Wallace Monument on the left}

The kitchens

Luke was very excited about the "movie" about the kitchen

Loo k at that..

Climbing

At the summit

Josh looked up a great little place called Henderson’s Bistro we would highly recommend for lunch!

Josh loved his steak pie

The city itself was also very charming and worth a few hours of roaming.  *Plus, on the way home, we hit Doune Castle where they filmed parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail!  Pics coming in the next few days!

Glamis Castle

the map- we took the "Pinetum Walk"

The kids and I visited Glamis with Josh’s parents earlier this summer.  You may have noticed the omission of Josh- he simply didn’t fit in the car, so he felt he really missed out.  Indeed he did.  So one particularly lovely Saturday we headed out there again.  I was so glad we did. Josh grabbed a map and we took the kids on a great little trek through a beautiful pine tree forest.  The kids had a wonderful time scaling some of the rootier trunks.  Then, of course, we hit the fab play area.

Side Note: They call hikes here “walks.”  So, if a Scot asks you to take a “walk” you’d better know what you’re getting into.  Just thought you might appreciate that little tip.  I frequently mislead people here when I mention enjoying taking walks…they often think I am much more athletic than I really am (since I am not at all).

Onto more pictures!

Love these big trees with the cattle

Highland Cattle

Beks

me with the kids

A lovely little cottage

adjacent field

gated gardens

Bridge!!!!

Huge pine trees!

Seriously, HUGE!

Loved the knotty trunks

...and the multiple shoot-off points

Luke loved the creek.

the back of Glamis Castle

Bekah ziplined and Luke slid

They both loved this "tree tunnel!"

Josh was psyched about a root beer he found.

Luke quickly spotted this hiding place.

Such a cool oven!

I would highly recommend Glamis Castle, a good picnic, and several hours of play time.  The castle itself is bonus.  ;)

After the castle, we drove home, put Luke down for a nap, and Beks and I took off on a Mommy/Daughter date.  We headed to the park and the beach and had a super-fun time!