Day 266: Bottles for bunnies

17/04/2022

Yesterday morning, after a late-night flight home from Amsterdam the kids were up and early and in good spirits considering Eloise was operating off only seven hours of sleep. She bounded downstairs, ripped open her suitcase and put on her clogs. Eloise was enjoying clogging about making lots of noise as she does best, luckily the lounge room is carpeted. She punted Super Mum’s phone across the room and obliterated the screen “hahhahha mwhhehehe”, kicked Dad a few times, she was out of control. We made sure to keep her away from Lachlan who could already sense danger.

It was a sunny but cool day, one of those leopard print vest, tutu and gumboots kind of days. Now that we were home, Eloise made sure that Foxie wore her beanie. We were off to the playground.

After our week abroad, we had been craving Irn-Bru.

As we passed Bearsden Primary School, we noticed that tulips had bloomed, perhaps we did not need to go all that way?

After a week of eating out three, four or five meals a day, depending on how much Eloise had been running, it was nice being able to eat a relaxing meal at home. We were well overdue for some veggies. Lachnado was just glad he could make a mess.

After dinner, Eloise remembered that she had Dutch hagelslag, perfect with her yoghurt.

Since we left Glasgow a week ago, the sun is setting noticeably later. This can make putting the children to sleep tricky as Eloise thinks bedtime is still midday and Lachnado does not need another excuse to not sleep. We have been trying to get Eloise off of her bedtime formula bottle with no luck. It was too difficult dropping it while we were away but now that we were back the propaganda could begin. Eloise was excited about the Easter Bunny, always making sure the Easter Bunny was up to date with our “new home days”. A little birdy may have told Eloise that if she left her two bottles in her Easter egg basket the Easter Bunny would take them away and replace them with chocolate bunnies if she slept well. Double win!

This morning was Easter. Super Mum went to help Eloise out of her bed and hinted there may be a surprise. Eloise was not phased, probably because she had been eating Belgian chocolate all week. Once she was a bit more awake and had greeted the nine stuffed animals at the foot of her bed, “good morning Foxie, good morning Wha Wha, good morning Kangarooooo, good morning Dino, Good morning …”, she was excited to follow her easter egg trail. The Easter Bunny had taken her milk bottles and swapped them for chocolate bunnies. An Easter miracle, she rushed into Lachlan’s room to wake him up and tell him the good news. Kindly offering a chocolate bunny to Lachlan.

The show continued downstairs where Eloise was zipping about, hunting eggs. She was moving so fast that even Lachnado could not believe his eyes. We had to reset a few, to give Lachlan a chance at his first Easter egg hunting experience. Watching Eloise he picked it up quickly.

Lachlan tried his first Easter hot cross bun, which he gobbled down swiftly.

After all that sugar the kids were starting to get restless. Although we had a good rest yesterday and Lachlan was off the back of one of his best nights’ sleep, a few extra hours would be good for all. We decided it was a nice day for a scenic drive through the Scottish countryside.

By the time we had arrived at Inveraray, Eloise had fallen asleep holding her Easter eggs and some had melted all over her, she was not disappointed.

It had been a couple of weeks since our last castle adventure so we made our way to Inveraray Castle, ranked number five on the 10 Great Scottish Castles list by VisitScotland and made ‘famous’ by the “chosen location for the Downton Abbey Christmas 2012 episode”. It was not the cheapest to enter, so we decided on walking around the Castle’s Gardens…

… When I say walking, I mean Eloise convinced Super Mum to carry her and Foxie on Super Mum’s back in Lachlan’s carrier. It was refreshing, nice to breathe in that Scottish air again.

After some general hooliganism which resulted in Liam losing his jacket to Foxie, we started to make progress around the Castle’s Gardens, glacial like progress, but progress nonetheless.

It was a nice spot for lunch, broccoli soup and scones. We have not eaten at many castles.

Inveraray Castle is a country house near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Loch Fyne, Scotland’s longest sea loch. It is one of the earliest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. It has been the seat of the Dukes of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell, since the 18th century… James V stayed at the old castle of Inveraray in September 1533. A new lute was bought for him in Glasgow and carried to Inveraray by his servant Troilus. The present castle was built in the Gothic Revival style. Work on it began in 1743. This castle replaced an earlier 15th-century castle.

After covering the Castle’s Gardens we walked back to the car in the town. Credit to Eloise, what she lacks in speed she makes up for in determination. Lachlan always finds it amusing when the Big Sister is pushing him, although he does not appreciate the frequent stops.

Lachlan had a nice nap on the way home too which was good. When we got there we set them loose in the backyard. It was sunny but still fresh. Eloise decided her need for Lachlan’s hat was more than poor Lachlan’s. After surviving her first Scottish winter, Eloise appears to have thicker skin, apparently, it is now warm enough for swimming.

Lachnado has levelled up and is at it again. Got to keep an eye on him.