Scotland

We have just returned from our trip to Scotland! We have finally gotten over our jet-lag but now everyone is stuffed up with the cold. I suppose these long flights must mess with your immune system. So we have been taking it easy and trying to get back to normal.

Melbourne is basking in an early spring mini heatwave and the extra sunshine has helped. Everyone has been stripping down to short sleeves and getting out to the parks. The temps have been above 20. Blossom is bursting from the trees and bushes. It is all quite surreal given that we were in Scotland only a few days ago . . .

How did it go? It all went very well thank you. It was great for us to see all our Scottish family and friends again and they were all excited to meet Isla; but of course 3 weeks doesn't feel like long enough. No sooner have you spent time saying hello to everyone than you have to get ready to say your goodbyes and that is hard going.

We survived the flight over ok. Taking a baby on a 24 hour flight is a real challenge. Isla was brilliant. She did her usual routine of eating, sleeping, playing and pooing. I think she enjoyed having her mum and dad on hand every minute. Normally on a long flight like this your main concerns are what films to watch, whether to have the chicken or the fish and when you should have a pee. Taking a child changes all that. You spend every minute either getting the baby up, or putting the baby down or feeding the baby or playing with the baby. It was exhausting, though Julia did point out to me that it is just like a normal day for her.

I managed a couple of hours of sleep and Julia managed perhaps one. We were all knackered by the time we arrived.

We stayed in Bridge of Earn with my parents. Thank you to them! Thanks for putting us up and putting up with us. Thanks for all the wonderful food and for the use of your car and washing all those clothes. Thanks for helping us out with Isla and providing baby sitting and medical advice. Now we are back in Melbourne we are trying to remember how to look after ourselves.

The first week was spent acclimatising and getting over the jet-lag. It has been very hot and wet in Scotland this summer and we enjoyed some incredible summer weather for the first couple of days. Coming back to Scotland after being away for the last nine months (which is not very long I know) you see things afresh. I was amazed how green, lush and overgrown Scotland looked compared to Victoria. I saw both my sisters and Isla got to meet all her cousins for the first time. We travelled through to Glasgow and Isla got to meet her Great Granny. Isla was very excited about this and spent most of the visit laughing, smiling and bouncing up and down. I think Great Granny was very excited too. That week we also travelled up to Grandtully near Aberfeldy and had a night away with our friends Scott, Lisa and Rosie. It rained for much of that trip but we did enjoy a visit to the Crannog (reconstruction of iron age house on stilts) on Loch Earn and a chocolate shop nearby.

The weekend after that we had a family BBQ in Bridge of Earn with the whole family. My mum did a great job preparing it all and my dad did a great job cooking the burgers. It even stayed sunny the whole afternoon. The day after I met up with my friend Malcolm and his family who all live round the corner in Abernethy. Julia and I managed a short lunch out by ourselves without Isla in the 2nd week and I went on a hillwalk at Glenshee with my Dad on the one day it wasn't raining. 

And then before we knew it we are saying goodbye and packing our bags. We made one final tour of the country in the last week and everyone got one last cuddle with Isla before we got our flight. The journey back was long and tiring and emotional but at least we knew what to expect and Isla did very well again. We arrived back in Melbourne at 6am and Larry and Ange were kind enough to pick us up and run us home and tuck us up in our beds.

We are all now trying to get back to 'normal'. I am getting back to work. Julia is getting back into her routine as a mum. Isla is getting on with being a baby. Isla is now 8months old! She has been growing and developing so quickly it feels like we are returning with a different baby. She is now standing up with a bit of help, rolling backwards and forwards and has even done a little bit of crawling. She is a lot more interested in everything now and loves playing with her toys and interacting with people. She made many friends on the flight and her cutest smile can crack the grumpiest of faces. She loved all the attention she got from her Scottish family and I think she got very used to crowds doting on her and hanging on her every goo gaa. It will come as a bit of a shock then to not have her own personal fan club and be only her and her mum in the house together again!

A big thank you again to all our family and friends in Scotland for spending time with us and for your lovely warm hospitality. We already miss you lots and look forward to planning our next trip back to the Old Country. And perhaps we'll even see some of you over here in the not too distant future.