Scone Palace

Posted on October 17, 2016 by aidan

Sorry about the lateness of this post, I decided it was still worth posting though!

One weekend, before the summer holidays we decided to go out in the beautiful sunshine to Scone palace – but, just like Culzean Castle, which we did last year – when we went to Scone palace, the only thing we didn’t do was visit was the palace itself! The weather was just so brilliant we just took a walk around their stunning grounds and had some scones to eat afterwards (ba-dum crash??).

We had a delicious lunch, straight from the Tesco deli!! Pork pies, cheese, ham, bread – was very nice – and the perfect start to a great afternoon. From there, we went down past the castle to the river – the palace was in pretty good condition for its age, though it was covered in vines! Once down at the river – Megan and I went down onto the stone beach – while Mum & Dad walked through the bluebell covered forest. Looking up the river was pretty spectacular – one of the nicest views since New Zealand! It was so nice, in fact – I later turned it into a felt picture!

We then moved on to continue our walk around the grounds – and we encountered a huge hedge maze – in the shape of a clan tartan – using two different colours of hedge. Megan thoroughly bet me to the centre – she was waiting for me in the centre – because I essentially went the entire circumference of the maze, and some more! Megan took a more direct route. We also encountered a large wooden shelter, with a modelled pineapple on top – and inside it explained about how in the 17-1800s pineapples were known as the food of the rich!

Towards the end of our walk, we encountered white peacocks, roaming around – something none of us had seen before! They were just strolling around the park, where Megan and I were. After we had left the park and made our way back along the road to the castle – we went inside to get afternoon tea, and then came back out to enjoy it in the beautiful sunshine. And then, after a lovely day out, it was time to head home – but with the intention of returning at some point, in the future – to explore inside!

White Peacock!!!

Wheeeee!!!

Holiday in Ireland

Posted on August 3, 2016 by megan

Today we went on a plane to Ireland.

Here is a picture of the plane.

It was about 1 hour long. Once we arrived we got picked up by our friend Josh. Then we went to bed. The next day we went to the park with all the other kids. It was really fun, we played all sorts of different games. Then we went home for lunch. Later on we went up a lovely hill and got lots of incredible views then we got some ice cream. After that we went back to there house for dinner. For dinner we had Cheese burgers. Then we all got ready for bed.

On Monday we went into Dublin and first we went onto the Open Roof Bus Tour which was very interesting. Later on we went for lunch and I had Thai curry with noodles – which was delicious. Then we went to a very nice park. Later on we went to the Guiness Museum which was pretty interesting especially when we saw the massive amount of Barley and a water fall.

Then we continued to explore. Later, on the way back on the bus, we played the seven second challenge. Then for dinner we had chille con carne.

On Tuesday morning Amy, Daniel, Aidan and I all built a fort to sleep in. Later on we went for a walk along the pier. Which was really fun and we caught lots of water type pokemon. Then we got some really flufy ice cream. Later on we went to the park. So Amy, Daniel and I all went straight to the basket swing and we basically spent the entire time on it! Then we took the bus back and we all played seven second challenge again. Then for dinner we had a green Thai curry with noodles. Then for pudding we had caramel ice cream which was delicious. Later on we watched Star Wars 6. After that Aidan and Daniel slept in the fort.

Then on Wednesday morning we said our goodbyes because we where travelling to Belfast. First we went to a Science Museum with Dad’s friends from NZ. Later on at the gift shop I bought a Pin art thing. Later on we went to a place for afternoon tea with them. Then we went to the train station. Thankfully we got to our train on time but we had not had dinner. So we ended up buying dinner on the train. Aidan and I both had a cheese and bacon toastie. Once we arrived, we went to the Premier Inn. Then mum and dad went to Tesco to buy us some supper.

Then on Thursday we went on an Open Top Bus Tour. This is one of the buildings we saw.(There has been a bit of editing in this we did not use an old fashioned camera).

Then we got of at stop number 4 to go to the Titanic Museum which was really interesting. Here is some pictures. (This is the outside of the Titanic Museum)

(This is the Titanic Sign thing)
Then we had a delicious lunch. Later on we hopped back on the bus and continued the city tour which was really interesting. Like there was a really long wall with lots of art that might be destroyed in 6 years. Then we went to a very nice restraunt for dinner. We all had pizza.

Then on Friday morning we went to a market and I got some stamps. Then for lunch we had savoury crepes. Then we went went back to Josh and Mel’s for dinner. Later on Josh and Mel went out for a dessert. While Mum and Dad looked after us all.

Then on Saturday we had a lazy morning. Later on we made some delicious bramble tarts with hand whipped cream. After that we went on a lovely walk to the beach. Aidan, Noah, Cassia and I all went and swam I the sea. It was so much fun. Then we went back home for a delicious dinner. Then a bramble tart with the cream. Later on weed all said goodbye given we had to go really early in the morning.

(Sunday) Today we got up at 5.15 because our flight was at 7.45. A taxi came for us to take us to the airport which is about 1 hour away. Once we got to the airport we got breakfast. I had a pain aux chocolat and Aidan had a croissant

After that we had to go to our gate to board or plane. Then we had a safe flight home.

Holiday in Liverpool

Posted on July 30, 2016 by megan

We are in Liverpool! We had a very fun travel from Caenarfon to Liverpool which Aidan will explain about in his blog post. Anyway today [Wednesday 6th July] we had a delicious breakfast then we got ready to go out to Formby. Once we arrived at Formby we went to the beach which was really fun. Mum and Dad sat around on the bank though. Then after that we went on a very nice walk around the place and we saw a red squirrel which was really cool. Then later on we got some ice cream; I had a chocolate sundae and Aidan had just a vanilla ice cream with a flake in a cone. Then we went back home. For dinner we had a chicken stir fry which was very nice.

The next day it was AIDAN’S BIRTHDAY. So later after a bit of a lie-in we went to the center of Liverpool. First we went on the Wheel of Liverpool which was really fun even if I was a bit scared the first time we went round. Then we went into the Beatles Story Museum which was really fascinating. Then we went home to pick up Mum’s new phone. Later on we went back to Liverpool for afternoon tea (it was delicious). Aidan had a Rocky Road Sundae which he shared a bit with me and I had a Lemon Curd Cheesecake. Then we stopped by a Liverpool Rock place. Aidan got some Liverpool rock, sugar mouse, with choclate sprinkle disks and a broken chocolate piece. I got some sour blue raspberry bubble gum and a packet of blue raspberry nerds and tropical punch nerds. Then we went back home for dinner.

On Friday we went to Blackpool. First we went to the Blackpool Tower which was awesome. We then went all the way to the top of the tower which was awesome but it was freezing even though it had an incredible view. After that we went to the tower gift shop and I got a mini Blackpool tower and an ice cream flavoured Blackpool rock. Then after that we went to the Tower Ballroom which looked very grand. Later on we went on a tram to Pleasure Beach fun park. The beach itself was sadly was closed because it was high tide. Instead we went to the central pier which was awesome first Aidan and I went on the Dodgems which was awesome then we went on a ride called Extreme which was really fun but a bit scary. Then we got 10 fresh donuts and a lemon and lime slushie. Then on our way back we went through an arcade. Dad said to try not to get distracted but we failed I did a coin drop machine that had other prizes in it to. I spent about 5 mins on it and I then won a crystal lizard keyring. Then we went on a long walk which was really fun. Then we went to a shop to buy some Blackpool rock for my friends. Then we went home for dinner.

On Saturday we had a lazy morning because we where feeling quite tired from all the travelling.Then in the afternoon we went to a place called Knowsley Safari Park. Which was really fun. We saw lots of different animals like Rhino’s, Camels & lions. Here are 4 pictures.

Then we went to the gift shop & Aidan bought a snow globe. I didn’t buy anything but I did do a coin press for Knowsley Safari Park. Then we had a nice journey home.

Aviemore Weekend

Posted on June 18, 2016 by megan

This weekend we went to Aviemore with Grandma & Grandpa. On Friday when we arrived it was very late. For supper Aidan & I had cheese & crackers which was very nice. Then the next day I woke up at 9:00 & Aidan woke up at 8:45. For breakfast we had toast. Later we went on a very nice walk thhrough the woods, it was really fun. We got to see lots of lovely views. Then for lunch Grandma, Grandpa, Mum & Dad sat on a bench & we found some roots to sit on with a lovely view over the loch. For lunch I had a cheese & salami & Aidan had a tuna mayo wrap. Then we went to get ice cream: Dad & I had a double caramel ice cream & Aidan & Mum had a cornetto each. Then we got back to our lodge to relax & Aidan & Grandpa played a game of chess. Then for dinner we had steak pie & chicken pie. Then after dinner we went on another walk down to the river. It was a lot different from last time. Then Grandma, Grandpa and Mum went to the Wood Shed ( The Bar ) while dad took Aidan & I home. Later Grandpa came home because Mum & Grandma wanted some girly time. Then on Sunday Aidan & I got out of bed by 9:00. For brunch we had bacon, eggs & toast. Then we packed up & left the lodge. Later on we all went to a cafe for early afternoon tea. I had a lint chocolate cake with cream, Aidan had carrot cake & Mum & Dad had a Chocolate Dream cake.Then once we finished we bought some plants then went home.

Dancing Display

Posted on June 17, 2016 by megan

On Monday and Tuesday I had my dancing display it was lots of fun though very tiring. My first dance was my graded tap dance. Here it’s a picture of my costume.

Then I had my jazz dance. It was a really fun jumpy dance. The song I was doing it to was called Cowboy! I really liked the costume even though it was itchy. Here’s a picture of the costume.

In part two my ballet dance was the second dance on. I was doing it to Swedish Rhapsody. I loved my costume even though the bottom half of the tutu was really itchy even wearing ballet tights! Here’s a picture of the costume.

Then my final dance was my other tap dance. The song I was doing it to was called USA. I really liked this costume. It was my favorite costume. Here’s a picture of the costume.

Then there was the finally. We had to stand on stage for ages. This was my favorite over all outfit though because it was really comfy. Here’s a picture of it.

Last School Term & Holidays

Posted on June 17, 2016 by megan

This is the last term of school & we are all really excited for school to be over. Our topic right now is the Olympics. We are all really enjoying it. At one point we were told that we were going to be learning Spanish given the Olympics are being held in Rio. We haven’t started learning Spanish yet though. For our homework we were told to make an Olympic themed bard game. Mine is a cross between Monopoly & Questioner. It has lots of easy & hard questions in it but its played like Monopoly. It is really fun & I have almost finished it. I’m really happy I’ve nearly finished it because its 1 less thing I have to do.

Everyone can’t wait for the final assembly of the year! Its because that’s when all the P6’s find out who are going to be the new school captains are as well as vice captains, house captains, events captain & ambassador. When Aidan was in P7 he was an ambassador. Ambassadors help out at open afternoons & lots of other stuff as well. I can’t wait to take all the stuff home that I’ve made this year! We also get to meet our new teacher soon!

This year we’ve got lots of plans for our Summer Holidays. First we are going to Wales, it is the first time in years that we have went. Then we are going to Liverpool to visit some friends & see the place. Then we are going camping somewhere near Braemar for 3 nights. Then we are going to Dublin in Ireland to visit Josh, Mel & kids. Then later after we get back from Ireland Aidan & I will be going to holiday club. Then we will be going back to school after holiday club is over. I imagine we will be very tired after all of that.

Touring The Country [Part 3]

Posted on March 23, 2016 by aidan

Touring New Zealand was a very exciting time, though it did involve huge amounts of driving! I have split my diary of our six day tour into 3 segments, this being number 3. I hope you enjoy reading my posts, thank-you!

Day 6
Today was quite a mixed ‘touring the area’ sort of a day, which we began by a walk on the beach, collecting pretty shells, like spiral-shells, a fragment of paua, and some beautiful and weirdly coloured mussels. Then we went to one of the many Hawkes Bay vineyards, so my mum and dad could fill their up their travel wine bottle allowance with cheaper NZ wine (not fully); but also to have lunch. We then made our way up to Te Mata Peak (thought it was tomato-a!), which was a reasonably steep drive up and around the mountain, which we spent watching exhausted hikers scramble up, as well as watching the views – then looking down ever so slightly to see the almost unprotected 10-15m cliffs and 60 degree slopes going down hundreds of metres! From the top we peered over cliffs and steep banks, and watched a low flying Cessna aeroplane – except it wasn’t low flying, it was over the valley and we were just so high up! After attempting to find two geocaches, and only getting the second, we began our decent to the Strawberry Patch, a berry farm not too dissimilar to Cragies in Edinburgh – but the Strawberry Patch did something Cragies doesn’t – fresh ice cream made from your choice of berries which are blended into the ice cream right in front of you. Today had been an exciting day, but I am glad to be in bed now!

The beach…

SELFIE! (Yes… that is a 15m cliff right behind me!)

Some steep drop-off, isn’t it!?!

Day 7 -Part 1
We had to be fast this morning, 9am departure rather than the 10am we normally would have, we had a long drive in front of us, but then we had no clue quite how long! Here is the story of our weary way to Rotorua (beware: slightly over dramatised! P.S To be fair – it wasn’t quite as bad as I’ve described!):

We say goodbye, it’s sad we were leaving again – it doesn’t get any easier, does it?
Breaking News! Crash on State Highway 5, the only route from where we are to Rotorua avoiding hours of detour
Took the many hours long detour…
Realise we have 90km to do on gravel roadways 🙁
After some really pretty landscapes, we remember that ‘every cloud has a silver lining’
Gravel road. 30km before the map says it starts. 😐
Tarmac road: )
Gravel road 🙁
Tarmac road 🙂
Gravel road 🙁
Gravel road starts on the map.
Twisty, turny! Twisty, turny! Up and down(y?)! Up and down(y?)!
Reach random massive lake 570m above sea level – for some reason it isn’t surprising that my dad has done the 5-day circumnavigation of it – twice…
Visitor centre by said lake – frozen pies that need to be microwaved in store for 12mins for all 4
Microwave for 5mins – I finally got to taste what frozen, cooked egg tastes like (because that’s what I always wanted?!?)
Patches of tarmac road 🙂
Three vehicles ahead: dust, Dust!, DUST!!!!!!!!
End of gravel!!! PARTY TIME!!! 🙂
5mins later: Hisssssss Poof! Out comes the replacement tyre – we’re so late it doesn’t actually affect us much at all!
End of mountains!!! Straight, flat roads and…. – we’re limited to 80kmph, (grrr) Still, it’s flat though!
ROTORUA!!!!!!! At long, LONG last!!!

Day 7 -Part 2
After a very dramatic and eventful journey to Rotorua, we decided to go in to relax in the Polynesian Spa, but sadly there wasn’t a private Spa available (at least not for half an hour) so we had a great time swimming in the public pools. After some pizza for dinner (and spotting a Pukeko!) we made our final journey back to Auckland, stopping only at McDonalds for supper. Megan slept most of the trip – at first, I was sure I hadn’t slept, but after realising we were more than 20 miles from where I closed my eyes I realised I actually had slept in the car- first time in many years! After our arrival at the Motel I finally fell straight asleep, after a long, long day!

A Pile of Steaming Rocks at Rotorua!

Boiling Mud!

Pukeko!!!! Finally!

Touring The Country [Part 2]

Posted on March 21, 2016 by aidan

Touring New Zealand was a very exciting time, though it did involve huge amounts of driving! I have split my diary of our six day tour into 3 segments, this being number 2. I hope you enjoy reading my posts, thank-you!

Day 4
It was Sunday morning and we all (at least in the tent) woke quite late, to the sound of being called to breakfast, which in my opinion is probably the best thing to wake up to! Church this morning was nice, I rarely get to stay in for the sermon, so it’s always interesting for me when there’s not Sunday School to go to. The sermon was about New Year’s resolutions and the book of James, we even sung a song we know from our church (I was surprised as I thought it wasn’t even known as far as Linlithgow!), but the actions were different(not surprising!). We had lunch with one of my dad’s cousins, and their children who we had fun playing darts and shooting each other with Nerf guns, we didn’t go anywhere else today except Great Aunt Elsbeth’s place for dinner, where we updated an old family photograph of hers in which I was a baby and Megan wasn’t present.

Wanganui Church

Day 5
Today was our second goodbye, and a third drive we’re going on to see friends, at least this one’s shorter though we still had the same time to get there which meant more stops. No giant carrots this time, but plenty of geocaches – of the hundreds there were to choose from, we searched for (and found) three – of which I can claim 2, unusual for me I thought (to be fair they were the easiest). We had morning tea and lunch on the road, which meant we did a little walking around the towns/villages, learning about the Scandinavian influence in the area. But the most interesting town was by far Bulls, which was very enjoya-bull! as Bulls is well known for it’s laugha-bull signs! Seriously, everywhere you looked were these horri-bull-y bad puns. I loved seeing all the hilariously bad jokes on all the signs in the town, pretty much everywhere, it seems everyone was taking part in the pun spirit, even the extinguish-a-bull fire station, it was probably the highlight of my day, other than arriving at our friends place.

Geocaching!!!

Touring The Country [Part 1]

Posted on March 20, 2016 by aidan

Touring New Zealand was a very exciting time, though it did involve huge amounts of driving! I have split my diary of our six day tour into 3 segments, this being number 1. I hope you enjoy reading my posts, thank-you!

Day 1
Vvrrrrooom!!! Our two hour drive down to Waitomo had started, we were already practically out of Auckland because our lovely motel was right on the edge already. There wasn’t much to see on the road for quite a long way, just rolling hills on the massive Waikato plain, stretching out as far as the eye can see, and only farms, trees and houses dotted around. The Waikato plain covers hundreds of square miles, so we wouldn’t get out of the plains until we reached our final destination for today, which was not Waitomo, we only went out of our way to Waitomo to see glow-worms in a cave system there, and then we were going to head back north to Pirongia – where we are staying with friends. After finally arriving in Waitomo we went to see the glow-worms – they were amazing! In the cave we were taught all about stalagmites and stalactites, about limestone in the caves, about the Maori history of the cave and finally, glow-worms. The glow-worms were amazing – the cave was filled with tens of thousands of them – we were on a small boat in the undergrounds water, it was beautiful having no other lights and only the sound of dripping water in the background, it was so peaceful. After a long day we whizzed back north to Pirongia – where we then had fun with the friends we were staying with.

Day 2
Yesterday had been a long day, so we got up relatively late (for us!), but we were all excited because today was going to be a fun day as we were planning to go swimming in the river. After playing until lunch, we headed off – seeing some of the neighbourhood’s stranger sights along the road including:

A microwave on a pole for a postbox
A fence covered in literally Hundreds of Toothbrushes!?! (Click to view on Google Maps)
A car parked on the side of a 60 or so degree slope,
A Tardis postbox!

Before our swim we decided to go to see the Kaniwhaniwha Caves, which took a fair bit of walking to get to, but were definitely worth it – though not the sort of caves you’d expect. It was really just a narrow crack in the rock – 30m from one end to the other, between 40cm at the narrowest point to about a metre wide; but what was particularly interesting was that at one point it was 7.5m high, big enough for some curtain-like stalactites and a cave wetta. Now it was swimming time, sadly it was a mountain run-off river (aka freezing!) – but we had some fun boogie-boarding, both for and against the current, Megan also tried the rope swing, and overall it was a great time!

LANDSLIDE!!!!

Down into the cave….

Day 3
Today was sort of bitter-sweet, holding a goodbye to friends we don’t see much at all, long drives and then saying hello to other friends who we are going to be staying with for the next few days. After finally escaping the steep gravel driveway, we began our drive – which wasn’t particularly interesting, except: the giant 2500m Mountain Ruapehu which my mum still doesn’t believe exists! (it’s been in the clouds every time she’s passed it); a bridge over a massive gorge in which our great, great grandfather had some involvement in; and, a 18km detour to see… a giant carrot! After the 3-4 hour drive we finally arrived to see our friends, we had a great afternoon/evening with them before we (the children) went out to the tent where we were sleeping.

The Carrot Itself!!!

Ruapehu – Or is it?!?

The massive Railway Bridge, under some repairs.

The Final Part of our Trip

Posted on February 9, 2016 by megan

This is what we did when we were visiting some friends in New Zealand.

Then once we left Auckland we went to the glow worm caves which was absolutely beautiful and very fascinating. After that we went to see Mel and her kids Amy, Daniel, Noah and Cassia. Amy was 14, Daniel was 12, Noah was 8 and Cassia is 5. I spent lots of my time with Amy staying away from the boys. First Amy and I built a fort which was really cosy meanwhile the boys where setting up pranks. Then Amy and went out on a walk for 10 minutes then we had dinner. The next day we went to a river and went on a long walk to the caves. Then on the way back Amy, Noah, Daniel and I ran of ahead pretending there was a Zombie apocalypse. Then we went swimming in the river which was really cold first I went body boarding with Amy then we went on the rope swing. Aidan didn’t want to do it so I got ready to do it but I slipped just above the water and it was actually really fun. So I did it again I slipped but I let go too late and bashed my knee which feels much better now. Then we went back and Amy and I made rainbow cupcakes while the boys were out building a den. Then when they came back we put yucky stuff into their water to get them back for the other pranks. Then we said goodbye and went to see some other friends.

Then we met some friends of ours called Benjamin and Toby. They were really fun to play with. It was really funny to watch and help them out when fighting each other. Then we spent quite a while playing a game called Geometry Dash making levels for each other. One of my favourite parts was sleeping in a tent outside with Benjamin and Toby for two nights. The next day we went to church after that we had lunch then played some darts which I really enjoyed. Aidan was with Toby and I was with Benjamin. Aidan and Toby weren’t that good whereas Benjamin and I were very good. Later that day I showed them my back bend and asked them to try and do a bridge. I have to admit that they weren’t that good though I know that they did their best. Then we had dinner with Auntie Elspeth and some of her friends which was delicious. Then the next day she came to say goodbye to us which I thought was very kind.

After that we went to see Hannah and Alethea. Hannah is 9 and she had an adorable pet rabbit plus a swimming pool! Then we spent the rest of the day chatting. The next day we went up a mountain and went exploring. Then we went to get a fresh fruit ice cream. Then when we got back we went swimming in their pool. Which was so much fun. Then we went back to Auckland and the next day we went to the Zoo which was so cool we even saw Kiwis. Then the next day we said our goodbyes and hopped onto the plane.

Two Adventurers

Aidan and Megan's blog