It was Valentine's Day, February 14th when we left for Scotland. This was a long weekend in the US because Monday was President's Day. The third Monday in February, near to George Washington's birthday February 22nd (although the British Empire was still on the Julian Calendar and his birthday was February 11th under that system). The point is that it was to be a big travel weekend (remember those?) so we really should have left earlier than we did. The traffic to Newark was grim the whole way and the airport was completely packed. It was lucky my frequent traveler status let me use the business class check-in desks and my TSA Pre-Check expedited security.
Once past security we had just enough time to eat a quick dinner and drink. Normally I like to be at the gate before they start boarding but this time we were one of the last on. The flight left more or less on time after 8pm and then we drove around the airport for an hour before taking off. It is a very short flight to Edinburgh - at least having eaten I could skip whatever passes for food in United Economy and tried to sleep.
At Edinburgh I handed over our passports. He scanned mine and then looked puzzled at Hatty's. "Do you know this passport has expired?". I knew it was close to expiry but I had forgotten to check because I used her (unexpired) US passport when we left. I handed over that passport for him to scan and he waved us on.
Once we had the bags we collected the rental car and drove to Maddiston, to Gran and Grandad's for breakfast. J and Mikey were already in Scotland and met us there. Our next stop was Anne and Iain's. Lana was there too although neither were too keen on sharing with each other.
Once past security we had just enough time to eat a quick dinner and drink. Normally I like to be at the gate before they start boarding but this time we were one of the last on. The flight left more or less on time after 8pm and then we drove around the airport for an hour before taking off. It is a very short flight to Edinburgh - at least having eaten I could skip whatever passes for food in United Economy and tried to sleep.
At Edinburgh I handed over our passports. He scanned mine and then looked puzzled at Hatty's. "Do you know this passport has expired?". I knew it was close to expiry but I had forgotten to check because I used her (unexpired) US passport when we left. I handed over that passport for him to scan and he waved us on.
Once we had the bags we collected the rental car and drove to Maddiston, to Gran and Grandad's for breakfast. J and Mikey were already in Scotland and met us there. Our next stop was Anne and Iain's. Lana was there too although neither were too keen on sharing with each other.
Our next stop for entertainment was a trampoline park near Alloa. The weather was absolutely horrendous, even by Scottish standards. There was a road closure due to flooding and my GPS decided to stop working so it was a bit of a struggle to get there but we made it. Mikey absolutely loves this.
The next day we went swimming in the morning at the Mariner Center in Camelon. The pool has barely changed since I was Hatty's age but it is a perfect pool for both kids. After the swimming we went to the adjacent bowling alley - now that is completely transformed from the days I used to go. Everywhere was really busy because of the weather but we got a lane eventually.
In the evening J, Lynsay, Craig and I had a grown-up night out in Edinburgh. We went to Six by Nico on Hanover Street. The concept at this restaurant is they have a six course tasting menu that changes every few weeks. J and I went for the wine pairing too and the food was absolutely superb. The only downside is their insistence on describing it before giving it to you - get a move on was what I kept thinking!
The next day we visited another soft-play, pizza for lunch then another trip to the same trampoline park in Alloa.
We were staying at a Premier Inn in Falkirk that is next to a pub so we had been there a couple of nights for dinner. It was very convenient because it had a soft play area attached (though the Health and Safety jobsworths would sometimes try to stop Hatty going in). Everyone came round with a cake for Hatty's birthday on our last evening.
The next day we went our separate ways. I returned to Edinburgh airport for a flight to London. Everyone else had one last breakfast at Maddiston before they drove to England. We had emptied the case we borrowed from my parents last time to give them back but it remained in the car while they had breakfast and stayed in the car all the way to England. So you see it isn't just me that does these things!
