Roundabouts, Royalty, and Lamb, oh my!

Evening all! This has been yet another fully packed weekend for me and I must admit, I am quite tired tonight. Of course, it is a good kind of tired! :-)

My weekend was surely off to a great start on Friday evening when my online grocery order was delivered without delay and was accompanied by a bouquet of fresh cut flowers, compliments of Asda. I cannot express the delight I feel when I think of the time I will save utilizing this service. In celebration of our grocery delivery, we ate fresh deli pizzas for dinner, which cost me 1 Pound a piece. That's right, $1.45 is all it cost for a 10" freshly made (not frozen) pizza. I fed the entire household of 7 for 7 pounds, and we had food left over. Brilliant! We all went to bed happy and full and I was eager for rest, since bright and early Saturday morning I would have my driving lesson.

Saturday morning arrived, and with my nerves in my throat, I awaited the arrival of my driving instructor. When Dave, a true Scotsman arrived, I prepared myself for my adventure. I asked Brian along for some moral support. For four hours I drove about Aberdeen, encountering one lesson after another, and rehearsing one Roundabout after another. Dave, a right patient fellow, and I did not always communicate effectively and I came across a blithering idiot at times. (Not that this is necessarily different from my communications with any other sort of person.) In my defense, however, I don't think he always understood my questions. After a break for some coffee and scones, we finished my lesson, returning once again to the safety of my own driveway. There he assessed me as a High Level 3 or Low Level 2 risk...meaning, keep off the curbs and watch where you are going cuz there is a crazy American woman on the loose in town! LOL Seriously, he said he wasn't too worried about my driving and that I would do better with time. I was so thrilled to be through with my lesson that I quickly ate lunch and then crashed into bed for a long unwinding nap while everyone else went shopping.

Saturday evening came about and the kids and I spent some time outside playing in the yard, where I was able to meet my neighbor Tim's wife, Susan. She is quite a lovely lady and I could see us having a nice friendship, especially since our children seem quite taken with each other. (She has 4, all around the same ages as my littles ones.) She invited me to coffee sometime, as well as invited the children to her son Josh's 4th birthday party next Sunday. Aubrey and Bryson are so excited about that! Her youngest, Sophie, is Sadie's age and it is uncanny how much they resemble one another...with blonde curls at the nape of the neck and chunky little knees. I should get a picture of the two of them together.

Sunday (this morning) we got up and decided to take a trip to Balmoral castle, the Scottish home of the Royal family. It is about 40 miles from Aberdeen, up north in the Highlands. This was the perfect day to make the drive, as we awoke to sunshine. In fact, the first words I heard this morning came from Bryson's mouth "Mommy! It isn't gray outside today!" Before we left, our neighbor Susan suggested we take in lunch at the Old Royal Station Cafe in Ballater. So, before heading to Balmoral, we stopped off and had lunch, (I had a beef and lamb burger) picked up a few souvenirs, and snapped a few pictures of the town. Once we finished lunch, we headed to the castle, where we were pleased to see that the Royal flag was flying, indicating that someone from the Royal family was on the estate. We were unable to tour the inside of the castle, with the exception of the Royal Ball room, but the outside of the castle was charming enough and quite beautiful.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend and I look forward to closing it out with a few pages from a book about the history of Scotland. I wonder what adventures are in store for us next weekend? Until next time, good night!