09/06/2023
After completing the North Coast 500 last week we hoped that the grandparents were not expecting a sleep-in, they chose the wrong hotel if that was the case. Lachlan made sure to kickstart the week bright and early, consistency is key.
Sleepy Eloise was excited to show the grandparents her nursery. It is good for her to get back into her routine as she has missed her last four days of nursery while we were in the Highlands. After dropping off Eloise, Lachlan sprung into action as tour guide for the day showing Nali and Grandpa DAVE how to catch Scotrail.
Mr No-I’ll-do-it was not letting anyone help him, he was insistent he could balance on the train himself while looking very serious.
Turns out Lachlan had a tricky time balancing and happily retreated to a comfy chair before Nali train cuddles.
After successfully making it into the city, the grandparents sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere in George Square. Perhaps it was lucky we were in the Highlands last week, otherwise, Glasgow would have looked very different “Celtic fans filmed crashing through bus stop roof during trophy celebrations at Glasgow Cross… during trophy day celebrations”.
Nali and Grandpa DAVE’s wee tour guide then led them to admire the Duke of Wellington, luckily he had a traffic cone on his head saving Grandpa DAVE the climb.
While they were in the area they popped into the Gallery of Modern Art although their tour guide then got distracted in the kids’ play area.
Lachlan then lost it because he needed a banana STAT, after eventually finding one in the city to calm him down we made our way up the Style Mile before Nali and Grandpa DAVE rendezvoused with their Croatian Crew for lunch, well, they are actually from Adelaide too, but their Croatian travel buddies, small world. We all enjoyed the mural walk which ended up at Glasgow Cathedral. Nali thought the cathedral had “beautiful large stained glass windows”.
The heart rate climbed as we made our way up to the top of the Necropolis, it was a great day for panoramic views over the city.
Super Mum and Lachlan then rushed home to pick Eloise up from nursery before belly flopping in the backyard.
Another Dinner Impossible with Lachlan deciding the only way he was going to eat was on “sister’s lap”. Eloise was not so keen to begin with but was a good Big Sister and helped him out.
Meanwhile, it had been a long day for the Croatian Crew who were still out exploring the City of Glasgow with an Italian restaurant back in George Square.
First thing Tuesday, Lachlan dragged the grandparents through Milngavie to show them his favourite cafe, he was disappointed that his best pal “Juuju jjjuu juj juj ju” was not about.
We are still recovering from the NC500 and Tuesday was a bit of a rest day for all. Once Lachlan and Grandpa DAVE were done with their post-lunch naps we headed outside for a bit more Lachlan roulette.
Now that Lachlan had taught the grandparents the ropes and they were both well rested, Nali and Grandpa DAVE left the house early Wednesday morning and caught the train back to George Square. They then jumped on the hop-on hop-off bus to the Riverside Museum. They were able to enjoy the museum as they didn’t have to worry about Lachlan legging it, they even managed to jump aboard The Tall Ship Glenlee. Xavier would have loved the pirate ship, Nali took lots of photos to show him.
Meanwhile on the cycle to work, Liam had a standoff with his archenemy. Their fourth encounter. Luckily this one was slower-paced.
After checking out the large Riverside Museum Nali and Grandpa DAVE hopped back on their bus, next stop Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. One of the top sights of Glasgow.
The grandparents enjoyed their time in Kelvingrove with Grandpa DAVE saying they “could have spent a few days there”. It was then a quick wizz around the city on their City Sightseeing bus before they got home just in time to find Lachlan up a ladder.
Lachlan took a while to get to sleep Wednesday night as he was thrilled to be wearing his new dino pyjamas that Nali and Grandpa DAVE had brought over for him.
Thursday morning, Eloise was delighted to have found her eye patch which had traveled around the world with her, Nali had to give Xavier a call so they could compare pirate stories.
It was a packed car once Grandpa DAVE had folded himself between the back seats. Super Mum drove the kids and grandparents out to see the Sumptuous Stirling Castle. Grandpa DAVE and Nali were able to sneak in with our Historic Scotland cards while we waited out the front and guarded the Statue of Robert the Bruce. Lachlan was having a ball with no shortage of castle grass to run about on.
Once Eloise had got a “good setup Mum” we made our way down into the Ye Ol’ Stirling . However, we did not get too far as Eloise and Lachlan spotted rides from a mile out.
Nali and Grandpa DAVE inspected the castle and were impressed by all the intricate wooden carvings.
The next stop on the FIK Grandparents Tour was of course the Kelpies, one of Lachlan’s favorites. Eloise and Lachlan were looking great in their matching Tartan leggings.
Super Mum did her best to recreate a photo from one of our first Scottish adventures.
It was then another short trip to one of Liam’s favorites, the Falkirk Wheel, however, by this stage they had to dash off quickly as Lachlan was starting to voice his concerns of lack of bananas.
Friday morning alarm clocks were going off before 03:00 (THREE AM) as the son of the year drove Nali and Grandpa DAVE to Glasgow Aiport to catch the World’s earliest fight.
A few hours later Nali and Grandpa DAVE touched down at Frankfurt Airport, or Frankfurt Flughafen should we say. However, this was just the start of their journey.
While the grandparents were in transit, Eloise and Lachlan whipped up some banana muffins before we headed to Hoolies. During the session, Lachlan released his inner kangaroo and Eloise got a lot of compliments on her backwards balancing.
The kids had a lot to catch up on with Emma so we headed to Milngavie, Eloise borrowed Emma’s scooter as Emma locked eyes on our pram. Amazingly, Jo then remembered she had a spare scooter at home plus a new Peppa Pig toy, it was the kids’ lucky day! Thank you Jo!
Lachlan then realised he is faster on his two feet and launched. Swooping in like a red kite.
In the evening Liam was working hard at the work mini golf event, it started out brilliantly, I finally got may hands on the limited edition ice cream Irn-Bru, which was nice, more ice creamy than I had expected.
Similar to Holey Moley, it was a fun evening and it was good to win the mini golf World Cup for Australia. The basement had a glow in the dark course which was a bit trippy.
Around the same time Nali and Grandpa DAVE had jumped on another plane and were touching down in Catania Airport, as Fensoms in Kilts visits Italy for a third time!
Although a bit tired from the World’s earliest flight, Nali and Grandpa DAVE hit the ground running, interested to see how Italy had changed since their last visit.
Nali and Grandpa DAVE were exploring Catania when all of a sudden they bumped into best friends of the blog! Amazing, you are all looking great, sounds like there are plenty of stories to catch up on. Have a blast!
Wow! What an action packed time!! Looks terrific!