Emily visits!

Quinn and Merlin were both very excited about Emily's arrival, but they expressed their excitement in very different ways:

Quinn chose to dress his best in order to make a good impression on Emily. He spent hours putting together this outfit.

Merlin chose to chase shadows for hours and hours.

Finally she arrives and we try to keep her busy. In actuality we spent 90% of our time in our house waiting for Quinn to wake up from his naps, but we managed to squeeze a few activities in there too. Here's Quinn with his favorite pal checking out the scene in Ocean Beach.

Another day we decided to get outside and do a little bit of hiking. We went to Torrey Pines reserve. It offered some stunning views of the coastline.

And some stunning views of our little fasionista in his stripe/plaid combo.

Must always end with a self portrait. Friends good.

A Good Day

Why was it a good day? Just because. Q got himself a new pair of shoes to match mama's, we had some fun in the neighborhood, went to the park, ate some snacks. In many ways it was your average day, but after experiencing the clingy, cranky Quinn for several days since our return from Scotland, getting the old Quinn back was a welcome relief!

Here we are modeling our new Keens.

He was very serious about picking just the right rock to chew from the rubble pile on the side of the house.

Swinging with daddy!

Running on the court

Wheeeeeeee!

Sprinklers!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, sprinklers!

Drenched.

Mud puddles!

Naked, wet, happy boy having dinner.

Ahhh. A good day!

Separation Anxiety?

We really thought that Quinn would be happy to see us when we returned. Both Jeff and I dreamt of the long, happy hug...chubby arms wrapped around our necks. What we got instead was an accusing stare followed by rejection, acceptance, happiness, clinginess, and finally a bit of separation anxiety. We tried daycare one day this week, but he cried for the entire 2.5 hours he was there, so I picked him up and brought him back home. Today seems to be going much better so far. For one thing he's actually taking a nap for the first time since we've been home!

This morning was chilly so I thought it a good opportunity to try on his handknit sweater for size. Pretty cute...he'd better not grow too much between now and cooler weather!

He also has recently picked up a new pair of shades that actually stay on his face. He strutted all the way down the street showing off his new look.

Finally, I realized that this shot didn't make the cut for the Scotland photos, but since it took me over an hour to take I thought I had to fit it in here somehow! It's a triple exposure taken in a very dim room. The light is the bulb in the bathroom and the letters were formed by moving the camera. May sound easy, but it took me forever! Guess this was not one of our more exciting evenings. :)

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

It feels great to be back home. We owe my parents so much. They made it possible for us to take our Scotland vacation. I'm not sure how we will ever repay them! They're the best. Quinn sure was sad to see them go....and I mean really sad...I think he wanted them to take him with him. Jeff and I are hoping that he'll decide in the next day or so that he forgives us for leaving him.

Our first walk as a family in a month!

Quinny and Nana enjoying some Quinn video time

Bye bye Nana and Ervin! Safe travels. We'll miss you!

OK, posting marathon finished....

Scotland Day 8: Ard Daraich and beyond...

Our final stay before headed back to Edinburgh for out flights was at the most delightful B&B yet, Ard Daraich, located near Glen Coe. Andy and Colleen recommended it highly, so even though it was a tad out of our way we decided to give it a shot and we are so happy that we did! We got in late that night and were greeted by Norrie and Anna Maclaren, who welcomed us into their home with open arms. Once they heated up our pizza and insured that we had proper wine glasses for our vino we settled into their sitting room and talked for hours. It felt like visiting our oldest friends. Here is a view of the exterior of their home (they're preparing to repaint, hence the patchwork of colors).

Norrie in the kitchen

Norrie and Anna

The house was beautiful. This is the looking down the stairs from the second floor

Perhaps my favorite part...the super long bathtub. This is the best bathtub in the world!

More interior...

In the morning after a gigantic breakfast we were treated to a tour of the gardens. They keep many chickens. The gardens were amazing. They have hundreds of tree and rhododendron species planted. The place has a controlled wild feel to it, which was super cozy.

A view of the house from the gardens

Jeff and Norrie on the tour

After leaving Ard Daraich we drove through Glen Coe. Even though the weather was pretty horrible on our last day it was still beautiful.

An amazing trip! But we're both ready to head home.

Scotland Day 7: Skye

Our 7th day in Scotland was spent on the Isle of Skye, a place I visited 15 years ago and really loved. It's changed a lot since then (or my memory is fuzzy?), but we saw a few new and very beautiful parts of the island. We stayed at a cozy little B&B on the Trotternish Peninsula.

Can't seem to get enough of the sheep...especially the black-faced ones...

Andy and Colleen came to Skye 2 years ago for their honeymoon and I remembered seeing photos of a place called the Fairy Glen. It was not on our map, but we asked our host and she directed us to it. We were not disappointed. This was probably our favorite spot on the island.

And we were treated to a rainbow...the first of many that day.

Yet another rainbow...

Structure on the drive...don't know what it is, but liked the light.

Next up was a hike to the end of the Trotternish Peninsula. We were told that we would encounter some "boulders" and that we could climb down them if we so desired. Here's a photo of me at the top of the boulders. There was actually a path down, but we stayed up top and caught some great views of Gannets and a Minke whale.

The view out the peninsula

Songbird I still need to identify...Ross help?

Hooded Crow

Another place we were told we had to visit was the Quiraing. While beautiful, it was also quite crowded, but definitely worthy of a look.

I swear this is my last sheep photo...

While on Skye we were sad to not see more highland cattle, but luckily after we departed the island we found this herd at the base of Ben Nevis.