We arrived in our first camping stop and set up in some gorgeous sunshine, but do not let that deceive you as to how the week went with our weather. The kids loved that we were right by a small creek, we as parents thought that wasn't as much fun. We were constantly drying items over the fire and we maybe should have just put the kids in swimsuits and let them at it, but it was also freezing! The kids did end up winning that battle of being wet and for hours they just played and splashed in the creek. I don't understand how their feet can become so red from the cold and them not complain!
Taylor was helping to build a fire pit with her rock collecting, all the kids helped and they felt awesome getting the perfect stones for the fire.
The joys of starting a fire with a bunch of wet wood made for some interesting nights waiting for warmth. The big boys had to go into the closest town for a small hospital visit when Jacob cut his finger and needed stitches, they took the opportunity to grab dry wood and fires only got better from then out.
potty training a kid who had been totally fine for weeks before this trip and suddenly regressed to taking a poo on himself=a really cold clean up in the creek. sorry Brennan
playing "Go-Fish" around the fire
We had to do the tradition braiding of hair while camping. When I told Taylor that this is what myself and her aunties would do when we went camping as a family she was all ready! It actually lasted all week which surprised me.
Building a rope swing was also done, the rope just wasn't quite long enough. At times we just had to look away because of how high they were flying on that thing, it was scary.
I couldn't let the boys have all the fun with the sharp toys in camp...and besides Jacob could no longer do it and Mike's back was acting up..what's a girl to do?
This was the morning we left the first campsite. After having a couple nights were we listened to the rain and prayed it wouldn't float our tent away it was nice to see a bit of sunshine over the mountains.
We started in Glencoe, which is the town you will find shortly after entering the Highlands, and then from there we made a little circle travelling a bit west to the Isle of Skye. These shots are of one of the many Lochs we passed by. We always love the drive through Scotland, and this was no different!
Although we had been to this castle before, our travelling companions, the Schmidts, had not and it is a must see. Once our kids see a castle there is no way to tell them we aren't going in, so we made our way through this very cool and historic castle, Eilean Donan.
Mason was having so much fun picking up the rocks and throwing them into the surrounding Loch. It is always a joy to see how much he loves just being outside, walking around, and exploring with his family.
I'm not even sure why Brennan was pouting, but he suddenly went to the tree and stayed like this for a good 10 minutes, then he was fine. I love that most of his 'moments' include silence in a pouting position and not screaming.
Carter was again mesmerized by the bagpipes that were playing through the air. Carter, Mason and Taylor were sitting there for quite some time listening and loving the music. They didn't actually want to leave when we said it was time to go, we had to bribe them with donuts that were in the car. 
Yes, it is true our Mighty Mouse has turned 10! Mason has made life more interesting than any child on earth. He keeps us on our toes, keeps us guessing, and keeps us smiling. Happy Birthday to a wonderful son who makes our family want to be better always!! We love you so much.
I forgot about these pictures. After the Natural History Museum we ran into a couple Elders leaving the museum, they had been there on their Preperation Day and saw us as we were headed out the exit. We didn't realize that we were around the corner from the Hyde Park Chapel, so the guys showed us where it was. When we got there we found out that the missionaries had had a meeting that day and there were a group of them still there. Luckily, some of our favorites were there as well! It was so good to see Elder Hales and Elder Machen, and I think the kids thought that was the perfect end to a great day!
More often than not we are just home relaxing, cleaning, playing on the trampoline, and making more chaos than is normal for one family.
You had to go through the Dinosaur section of the museum and after the robotic T-Rex we had the kids take a picture by the big head. Brennan was pretty nervous, but finally touched it for about half a second. I don't know how I caught the moment he touched it--but it worked out. Justice was not having any of it! She wouldn't even pretend to smile from 5 feet away, it was pretty funny and gave us parents the chance to torture the poor wee one while trying to get a picture.
