Tain Hill

One evening we took a walk in the woods on Tain Hill, a mere fifteen minutes drive from where we were staying. It was a chilly evening, but the sun was bright, the air was fresh and I relished the chance to spend some time in the woods. I was thrilled at the variety of toadstools and mushrooms I saw (one the size of a tea plate and I'm not exagerating) and I yearned for my nature books as I was only able to identify a fraction of what I saw in those woods.
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Contemplation

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Someone had gone to a deal of trouble to build this fabulous little den in the woods. Made from moss and branches, it enclosed the base of a tree.
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My most excellent husband, well-hatted as usual

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Lily had a lot of fun with the binoculars

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Worth the walk - The view from the top

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Over the sea to Skye

Skye Bridge at Sunset

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Mainland Scotland from the Isle of Skye
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Loch Morlich

I took a lot of pictures on our holiday, so I thought I'd share some my favourites over several posts. We were extremely fortunate with the weather the week we were away and were able to enjoy a picnic almost every day. We spent one glorious afternoon by Loch Morlich, about eight miles from Aviemore. It was a picture perfect location for a picnic and the Podlings had a lovely time splashing in the Loch. I donned my wellies and splashed right alongside them and we had a wonderful time throwing stones in the water, watching the fish and getting each other wet. It was a perfect afternoon.
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Emma was more than happy to share our picnic with the ducks

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Emma is a real water baby, you just can't keep her away from it
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Emma cunningly adapted the traditional crawl to save her knees. Clever girl!

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Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

Emma has always had a lot of hair and it is now long enough at the front to get in her eyes. My attempts to brush it away from her face are usually thwarted by the little lady immediately messing it up again. I'm too much of a coward to attempt to take scissors to my very active baby, so I've taken to putting the front of her hair up in a mini-pigtail. If you get the band in quickly and immediately distract her, she forgets it's there and crawls around quite happily with her crazy up do. I think she looks adorable!
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Sophie's School Days

Having discovered that I can knit quite happily in the car as long as we are on a reasonably straight road (obviously I'm not the one driving!), I managed to get some knitting done whilst on holiday. This school uniform, made to match Lily's own uniform, is the latest addition to Sophie's wardrobe. That little doll isn't doing badly for clothes at the moment!
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Lily's First Day

Lily looking adorable in her new school uniform.

The cardigan is very big on her, but it was the smallest size they did!

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Today was a big day for Lily as she ventured into the realms of formal education. She was very excited and couldn't wait to carry her new princess lunch bag. She told me that she was a schoolgirl now and set off happily on our walk to school. She had a big smile on her face for much of the walk! When we got into the classroom, we hung up her coat and bags and then I took her round the room. She was uncharacteristically quiet for Lily and stayed close to me. This didn't worry me as Lily would often behave this way when we went to playgroup. She has always been uncertain how to join in when large groups are already playing together, though she has no trouble once she finds someone to play with. I have found that Lily tends to get on better with those who are older than her as opposed to those her own age, though she has many friends her own age too. She loves the company of adults more than any other, so she was quite happy when her new teacher took her by the hand and encouraged her to say goodbye. I knew that she would settle down well and hoped she would have a good first day.

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Walking to school.

I had to take a sneaky photo of Tom, who was refusing to pose for me this morning!

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At the end of the day, Lily came trotting out of school as if she had done so a hundred times before. She had a lovely day and seems to have taken to school like a duck to water. She found assembly rather dull ("We just had to sit") and unfortunately she was pushed by one of the boys, but she has already made friends with an older girl (who apparently picked her up!). She got very weepy and emotional about an hour after we got home, but I think that was simply down to tiredness and over stimulation (I could rant here about what I think of having to send four year olds to school, but it's probably not a good idea to get me started on that one!). She is quite happy about going to school again tomorrow, so Lily's first day of school can be rated as a success. The house certainly is quiet without her bubbly chatter and constant stream of questions, but at least I can relax a little knowing that she is enjoying herself. Let's hope they can keep up with her!

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An uncharacteristically quiet Lily surveys her new classroom
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We're back

We returned from a wonderful family holiday in Scotland on Sunday evening. We had a lovely week and I have dozens of pictures to share, but I'm afraid they will have to wait. What with back to school preparations, a very messy house to tend to and about 48 loads of laundry to get through, I find that blogging is pretty low on the priority list this week. Expect to see lots of pictures of our Highland holiday soon though, and I will post this evening about Lily's first day of school. Now, I really must tend to my laundry...
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