Is that? No... it can't be. It is. It's a SUNNY DAY!! 5/366

I woke up this morning, after a horrible night with not much sleep and a Wide! Awake! Max from 2am-4.30am, and I actually thought I saw SUNLIGHT peeping through my blinds.

Turns out - it was!!

Which had me so excited I got dizzy and had to sit down again after getting out of bed so quickly to look!

Did I mention I was woken by a solid lump of a 4 year old Max using me as a diving board for my bed? No? 

Well... he's definitely better from whatever it was that was wrong with him (fever, grumpy, tired, not his usual self, basically).

So, we're finally ALL feeling well, and more than a bit stir crazy from staring at the same walls every day. 

Not that any of us actually stare at walls - that would be strange. 

No, I prefer to attempt to lie down for a snooze and stare at the ceiling. Much more interesting. 

ANYWAY, the furthest we've ventured since the schools were out (that was the TWENTY THIRD of December, mind!) was the shops which are like a 20 minute round trip to walk. That's including actually *doing* the shopping, by the way. 

So we (ok, I... the boys are too young to decide these things! *cough*) decided to go up The Knock, to have a bit of a picnic (what do you mean pop tarts don't count?? The boys loved them!) and head back down. 

Really it was to get us all the hell out of the house and somewhere that would tire everyone out!

Well, we met some gorgeous, friendly (i.e. scavenging for food type) horses on our way, who followed us as far as their paddock would allow. 

Zack was smitten with this one, as he was with us. He was the one who must have got the whiff of the last crumbs of pop tart as we were giving him pats and scratches behind the ears. 

[Note to self: You've now found your horses to go and cuddle when you want to, yay!!]

We had a good long walk. It's gorgeous up there. 

Max had a great time and the only time he got upset was when we had to go home. 

If we'd stayed any longer I'd have ended up carrying him home. You should have seen the state of his feet! Caked with muck! He really seemed to enjoy the way it felt - all squelchy underneath his boots. That was pretty awesome to see. I wasn't sure how he'd take to it!

So, all in all? A good first attempt at a longer walk for my boys and me. It was an hour and a half by the time we got back home. All of us rosy cheeked and sooo glad to get into the warmth of the house, cosy up with a drink and some chocolates, and watching Rio. The new favourite movie in our house!

Oh, and look at the gorgeous view we had when we were nearly back on the highstreet:

Other than being cropped, I haven't done anything to this one either - not bad for being taken with an iPhone! 

Like Mother, Like Son... 4/366

Zack is at that age (six and a half) where the *only* photo I'm allowed to take of him are silly ones...

I think he's learning The Pose pretty well, don't you? 

My not so little guy is growing up, and with that, comes having to be more careful with what I post about him. 

Seems I'm not immune to having to be selective about my blogging either. 

Mind you, I figured that one out a few years ago now, but I didn't think I'd have to be so careful about what I write about Zack already. 

Things I am allowed to tell you:

Zack is "awesoooooommmmmmee!!".

Did you know, Zack got Sonic Generations at Christmas, and he completed it two days later? Well, he did. He's 6 and a half. Did I mention that? Genius boy when it comes to gaming, I'm telling you!

Zack is hoping to get a 3DS for his birthday this year, which is in July. He will be 7, you know. A BIG boy!

Zack doesn't want to go back to school. He wants to "stay at home and play video games and eat junk food, but not too much junk food, because it's not good for you, and you need to keep healthy you know". 

Zack has the coolest dance moves. Even better than Got To Dance. 

(edited to add: I was forced to write that one. I actually told him that they're better than him. He was *outraged* that I could possibly say that he wasn't better. But he wasn't, and I'm not going to lie to him about things like that!)

So... we're I'm counting down the days till the boys go back to school and nursery... on Monday. The 9th. Yes, that's right. Not for another 5 sleeps. 

Zack may be enjoying the holidays you see, but Max most definitely is NOT. 

It's too long, there's too many things to play with, not enough structure to the days, and the weather's been so horrible that we've been pretty much stuck inside since the New Year. 

When I say the weather's been horrible, I mean we've had torrential rains, and hurricane force (literally) gales to enjoy since Tuesday. Did I mention the RED warnings from the met office? 

Oh the joys of living in Scotland! 

I bet you anything the weather will start clearing up nicely on Monday. 

Which would be nice, as it means I can go on a photowalk. 

One of my "not resolutions, GOALS" is to attempt to go on a photowalk once a week - at least while the kids are in school. 

And at the weekends I'm going to attmept to take the kids up The Knock in nice weather for a wee picnic, and to get them used to walking more. Well, Max anyway. Zack's a good walker, though he whines a bit. 

Anyway, eventually the idea is that once the summer comes around, the boys will be used to walking further, and up the hills around here, so I can take my camera with me, and we can still enjoy our gorgeous country. 

Rain or shine. 

That's the idea at least. 

Why I love Scotland

I just finished reading Laura's post on how she'd love to leave Scotland behind her one day, and it made me start to think about why I could never feel the same way.

Yes it rains a lot, and we have too many dark and dreary days around here for my liking, but it sure as hell makes us appreciate the days that are full of sunshine then I don't know what will! Even on  the coldest of days, if the sun comes out everyone will get wrapped up and go outside to enjoy it.

We have some of the coolest history to look back on, and still cherish today. We have our Highland Games every year, our kilts, and our accents. Who doesn't love Scotland, I mean really?

We have some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my life and they're almost on our doorstep.

We have such a varied culture here that it's hard to think of a place without every kind of language being spoken at once, and such a variety of things to see and do it's hard to know where to start.

Most importantly, I have my family here. A family who I've not been able to spend as much time with since I left for boarding school some ten years ago. I love having them close by and would never want to be far from them again.

Scotland is my home, and as far as homes go, I figure this is a pretty damn beautiful place to live.

(Now remind me of that the next time I whinge on twitter about the weather)