Quality time with the Parents

Well here it is mid-June and John's parents have arrived for a 2 week visit.  

The first few days they relaxed and enjoyed their morning coffee in the sun room, reading and relaxing. (There were a few naps taken during the day also.)   By Friday afternoon they were more acclimated to our time zone and were ready for some sightseeing.  We decided to go for a drive and have some lunch.  We drove around the Rosneath peninsula and had lunch at the Knockderry Country House Hotel.

It's a beautiful house built in 1846, all the turrets make it feel very grand.  

We enjoyed relaxing in the lounge, waiting for our lunch to arrive, then moving to the dining room when it was ready.  It was a good way start to their visit. 

On our way back to Helensburgh we decided to take a scenic drive thru Glen Fruin, a beautiful scenic drive with rolling hills, great views, and lots of wildlife.

On Saturday we took a road trip to the east coast.  Our first stop was at Loch Leven Castle.  It is a ruined castle on an island out on Loch Leven.  We had to take a boat to get to the island. 

Loch Leven Castle was possibly built around 1300, the castle was the location of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357).   Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned here in 1567–1568, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the Queen's gaoler inherited the title Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. It was bought, in 1675, by Sir William Bruce, who used the castle as a focal point in his garden; it was never again used as a residence.  (Now I'm thinking I might need one in my garden)

We then continued on our road trip to St Andrews.

 The town is charming and the scenery is gorgeous.  We had lunch and walked around the town, enjoying the sights.

(Where Prince William met Kate for Coffee as they were students at University of St Andrews)

And of course everyone has to have the iconic UK photo in the telephone booth

The St Andrews castle ruins sits atop a rocky cliff overlooking the North Sea. 

There has been a castle standing at this site since the 1100's.  It was the official residence of Scotland’s leading bishop (and later archbishop) throughout the Middle Ages.

Continuing on we found the St Andrews Cathedral.  The Cathedral of St Andrew was built in 1158 and became the center of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews.  It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation.  The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 391 feet long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland.

We found many tombstones bearing the Mitchell name.

St Andrews is considered by many to be the "Home of Golf" because the sport was first played on The Old Course at St Andrews in the early 1400's.

John and his dad, Cliff (an avid golfer) were excited to be on this beautiful and iconic course.  What a great memory for them to have made on Father's day weekend!

We spent the remainder of the weekend and the following week working around the garden and enjoying the beautiful sunshine! 

John and Cliff had a week-night evening tee time while CJ and Kay enjoyed an evening downtown for dinner, ice cream and a stroll along the waterfront. 

On Friday we hopped the train to Edinburgh.

We decided to take a double decker sightseeing bus for a tour around the city. 

We hopped off the bus and took a tour of the Castle.

They really look like they are enjoying their time in prison, don't they?  

We enjoyed the amazing views from the castle on this beautiful day.

We had some lunch and did a little shopping before hopping back on the bus for the remaining part of the tour. 

Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Park

Saturday we had to get up early and go take the theory and hazard perception parts of our driving test.  We were both nervous and not sure of how we were going to do.  Good news!  We both passed!  Whew!  Now for the driving lessons and practical driving test.  UGH!

So after getting our good news we decided to take a celebratory day trip.  We headed south to Weymss Bay and hopped on the car ferry to the Isle of Bute. 

We visited the Rothesay Castle.

(CJ had visited this castle with our friends Carl and Dee Dee last month.)  

  We then drove around the island and enjoyed the amazing views and the wildlife.

Since it was a spontaneous trip we didn't have our camera with us, so we had to make do with our cell phones.   

We saw some seals in the water.
(wishing we really had that camera now)

We came back to the mainland and stopped at Newark Castle in Port Glasgow on the way home.

Sunday we did a little shopping, stopping at a local farm to check out the animals.

Monday we celebrated Kay's Birthday.

CJ cut some fresh flowers from the garden and made her a special bouquet.

The remainder of their trip we spent walking downtown, enjoying the sunshine, reading and continuing to work in the garden.  We had the most amazing weather while they were here, you couldn't have asked for more sunshine.

Well our visit with Cliff and Kay has come to an end.  

We really enjoyed the quality time and the memories made with John's parents.  It was especially great that we got to celebrate Father's Day and Kay's birthday with them.  I'm not sure how we are going to live up to those expectations next year, I'm thinking they might be a little disappointed with just a card.

 Stay tuned for our upcoming blogs:

  * 2 weekend getaways we took in July to Perth/Dunkeld and Inverness/Loch Ness.

* An upcoming trip back to Florida and a Florida friend visiting us in August.

* An upcoming trip to Prague, Budapest and Vienna in September.

We hope that everyone is having a fabulous summer with great adventures!  Sending love to all of our family and friends and we hope to see you all soon!

Cheers!

John and CJ