European vacation...two months later!

So how long does it really take to make a 9 day trip? The entire week before we left was spent making trips to Walmart, getting new clothes (a must for vacation, right?), packing up the girls, cleaning house (can't come home to a dirty house), playing our hearts out with the girls since we'd be gone for so long, figuring out how to feed us without buying more food for the week...basically it's crazy to try to get out of town. Then, we finally send off the girls to my parents' house and somehow end up with time to make a final Walmart run, a trip to Sephora, and Tim's Pizza...almost a date. Oh yea, I forgot packing. Yes, I got everything but two very flat pairs of shoes into a carry-on size bag. Ask Topher how much he appreciated that in the London Underground! Bright and early (okay, a little before bright, but definitely early) we finally got on our way!

The trip was amazing. Sunday and Monday spent all day in London...Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, Parliment, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, double-decker bus, AMAZING!! We got to see Wicked while we were there (my surprise Valentine present!!), eat some great meals, and best of all hang out with our great friends Mike and Corrie (who traveled there with us) and catch up with our great friends Todd and Diana who are living in Scotland.

Monday night, we boarded a sleeper train, and Tuesday morning we woke up in Scotland! Todd and Diana are living in Edinburgh which is where we spent Tuesday and Wednesday. Sooo fun. It was so good to see Todd and Di. We had such an amazing time and laughed soooo much. They showed us around their town...the castle, the Royal Mile, the palace, beautiful cathedrals, solemn cemetaries, oh yea...the pubs. We all tried a little bit of Haggis, but I wasn't brave enough for black pudding. I'll spare you the details unless you really want to know!

On Thursday, we rented a little van and headed of for the Highlands...yes, Braveheart country! It was beautiful!We so enjoyed the time together driving, and got to see so much of the Scottish countryside.

The trip to the Eilean Donan castle was definitely a highlight. It's the most photographed castle in Scotland and has rich history. It's crazy that much of the history we saw was from times when America was just beginning to write her story! Although the castle was beautiful, our favorite part had to be the moment we walked outside the castle and looked down the lake to see a Royal Airforce jet come flying by just over the top of the castle! It was awesome! I saw parts of that jet that I've definitely never seen before...yep, it was that low! Okay, not that I've seen lots of jet parts, but you know what I'm saying. On the way home, we had to drive past Loch Ness. I know, you don't think Nessie exists, and neither did I, but now, I'm not so sure. You can judge for yourself, but we have all the proof we need!

Without a doubt, our favorite part of the whole trip had to be just hanging out with our friends. We ordered "take-away" Chinese, pizza, and even cooked one night together. We had the best conversations sitting around Todd and Diana's flat. It was so neat to see where they really live life...their favorite places to go, where they work, where they worship...off the beaten path of where our tour book would have taken us. That, friends, was "priceless"!