The scene at 6pm on Friday evening, upon completion of frantically packing the back of our ludicrously large van with enough kit to outfit a small army:
It's 534 miles to the Cairngorms, we've got a tank full of the most expensive diesel known to man, and 3 small children under 3 years old in the back seat...
Hit it.
To our great surprise, the kids were suprisingly gentle with us on the way up. The evening stopover at Thirsk was fairly uneventful, with minimal grumbling at the late bedtime and the fact that 5 of us were sharing a single Premier Inn room. The next morning, as we made our way further up the country and into Scotland, Evie became very good at picking out cows, sheep and horses from the fields beside the road and fitting them into an extremely long rendition of Old MacDonald's Farm.
We stopped for lunch at a bakery in Douglas, just south of Glasgow. Little did we know we had just stumbled upon the home of some of the best pies and sausage rolls I've ever found in the UK. Seriously amazing, and the owners were happy to have a chat with us as we decanted half of the car into their seating area to feed the babies. Evie also managed to charm the owner into some free ice cream, so as far as she was concerned it was the best place in the world and there was no need to get back into the car ever again.
We made it to our home base just outside the Boat of Garten that evening, having driven through what was presumably some spectacular scenery that was completely obscured by rain.
The next morning, the rain had downgraded its status from regular cast member to recurring guest star, which let us get out and about to explore the surrounding area. Completely unbeknownst to us when we were planning this holiday, the Strathspey Railway just happens to run directly behind the holiday house - a surprise steam train in the morning is a great way to start the day! We spent the morning exploring the village, and in the afternoon Evie and I took a walk through the paths and nature reserve just behind the house.
Our second full day in the Cairngorms was fairly ambitious, to say the least. The rain had once again settled in for the morning, and our original plan was to take Evie to a soft play in nearby Aviemore. Alas, being a Monday both options were closed (one completely, and the other one between 11am and 3pm - because children don't play then I guess?) We ended up walking around town for a bit and then headed home for the lunchtime nap. We were back in the afternoon though to do a walk around Loch an Eilein near Rothiemurchus. 5 miles with twins in a buggie, and a toddler in a backpack!
Again, we were pleasantly surprised by how well everyone handled the walk. The paths were advertised as buggy friendly, and this was more or less true. The hills were less friendly to the person pushing the buggy, but that's probably more a statement about our general fitness than anything else. We were also less pleasantly surprised by the reappearance of the rain, but that shouldn't really have come as a surprise to anyone by this stage.
Today's adventure was another hike - 6 miles between Boat of Garten and Aviemore. Another buggy friendly trail that lived up to the name, it also had the bonus of running more or less parallel with the aforementioned steam railway, where we got to see it in action!
After making it in to town, we actually managed to snaffle a couple of last minute tickets to take the steam train back home. Having been on a few steam railways in the UK now, I was really impressed by this one - it runs 6 days a week during school holidays, and it's run as a proper railway. The staff have British Railways uniforms, the carriages are all painted up in BR livery and trains being pulled by a steam locomotive is the rule rather than the exception.
On the train trip home, the girls managed to charm everyone in sight - in particular a group of 90-something year old ladies let out on day pass from their retirement home. Evie managed to snag a Union Jack and a packet of prawn cocktail crisps from the retirement home staff too, so she chalked this up as another win. The train whistle was a bit scary, but she was still happy to wave goodbye to the train as it left the station.
We had a pretty light afternoon at home to finish off the day, but Rhiannon apparently wanted to mark the occasion, and proceeded to roll over from front to back not just once, but twice in quick succession! Lucy continues to blow bubbles and demand to be held by an actual person at a height of at least 1.2m above the floor - no bouncers or laying on the floor for this lady.
Tomorrow we are heading south to Dunbar for a family wedding - the first time most of Claudia's extended family will be meeting Evie, let alone the twins (such is the life of lockdown babies). Looking forward to catching up with everyone, and a proper Scottish wedding! Stay tuned for the match report...
Yours etc,
Patto