Just back from 5 highly eventful days in Scotland with Fraser, Moira and Lily. Decided to take the train all the way from Hastings to Glasgow, rather than flying - half the price and only a couple of hours longer. On paper at least. As soon as we reached the platform at Euston the true horror of the bun fight ahead emerged. Queues to get on the train, argy bargy with luggage and people pushing in front - not allowed I'm afraid, old chap, even if you are drawing a pension. Once we had shoe-horned ourselves on board we discovered, despite reserving seats, we didn't even have two seats together, still better than all the people who were standing and sitting in the aisles. A bit of jostling and seat swapping later, we had two seats together for the girls, me in a row behind, and Rob skillfully several rows ahead watching a movie on his iTouch. Still the 4 hour journey whizzed by, even though we never got to play the planned card games. The girls squabbled the usual amount until a kind lady gave them her iPad to play with for an hour. We arrived to find Moira's brother Neil at the station to meet us, a lovely treat. He and his wife Lorna having reached the end of their 2 week stay in Scotland, hung on for a couple more nights to see us. A top dinner at home and a rousing and loud game of Pit ensued before a reasonable bedtime. The next day Fraser and his mate Gav had their Christmas presents to enjoy - a day driving fast cars at a racing track. To be honest us spectators thought it would be a bit boring, but once we'd found a spot where we could picnic while enjoying a great view of the track, we became giddy with excitement every time Gav or Fraser's cars emerged around the hairpin bend. Brilliant fun.
Meanwhile, Neil, Lorna and their kids were trying out their new inflatable kayak on Loch Lomond with Moira and Neil's mum Anne. Unfortunately the day had barely begun when Anne, while gathering wood for a fire on the beach, tripped and fell, blacking her eye, cutting her face and breaking her arm. She spent two nights in hospital and had to be operated on.
The dramas didn't end there. After our day at the racetrack we returned home and were joined by Gav and Kirsty who pitched their tent in the garden with their kids so we could continue all hanging out together. We had another great night of laughs. Until 4am, when I was woken by Scarlett running to the loo to be sick. This continued for a couple of hours. We awoke to a day of cloud and rain, and the discovery that Lorna has also been sick in the night, but decided to go for pies and a walk to a nearby beach. Scarlett was still feeling rotten and there must few things worse than working in the rain when feeling so bad. Fraser kindly carried her most of the way there and back on his shoulders, because Rob was now not feeling the full quid. On the way home, Moira had to pull the car over so Rob could be sick. Later in the day Moira and Neil drove to Glasgow to visit Anne in hospital and on the way home, Neil was sick too. It was an early night with the remainder of us wondering where the lurgy would strike next. Moira and Lily were next, later that night. On Monday we drove to Balmaha for a pub lunch and walk around the loch before walking up to the lookout. Once home, Flo took herself off to bed at a strangely early 4pm before waking and being violently ill. Fraser and I now felt as if we had targets on our backs.
On Tuesday, with everyone quite recovered and the sun shining we packed a picnic, swimwear and chairs and drove to Ruth and Archie's place on Loch Lomond to spend the day on the beach and, in the girls' case at least, swimming in the loch. Scarlett and Flo, while big fans of a punch up with one another, both adore Lily and we rarely see the 3 of them, apart from at mealtimes and on outings, allowing lots of top grown up time. Another brilliant trip in beautiful Scotland. Huzzah!
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