Ready, Steady, LinlithGOw!

Ros came to visit us last week for a few days, and on Friday we decided to go out of Edinburgh on a day trip to Linlithgow!

Audrey was very excited about traveling on the train. She said "train" a lot, and liked to walk in the bit in between the carriages, and push the button to make the between-carriage doors open and close. Can I just say, no matter how much I may whinge about my back or my sore feet, I love that she's too curious and excited to stay sat in one place for long. When did I lose that fascination with the world around me? When did I stop wanting to know how things work? I hope she never loses that.

That toy monkey? 50p from the supermarket, and Audrey's current FAVOURITE THING EVER. They had an identical one at the library and it took every ounce of my skill as a mother to convince her not to steal it and bring it home with us.

Linlithgow, by the way, is beautiful.

We saw the church, the old palace, the loch, and many many fabric and yarn shops (I was good. Two fat quarters and a new darning needle were all that came home with me.)

Audrey harassed the local wildlife, as usual. She followed this "duck" (pigeon) around with much glee. It was WAY more exciting than the castle.

And did I mention that Linlithgow is beautiful?

Because it is.

We followed a very steep slope (which Audrey tried to fling herself down) down to the loch.

We went on swings by the water.

Every kind of water fowl imaginable was on that lake. Ducks, coots, moorhens, swans, seagulls, GEESE even. There were a LOT of birds about. Audrey loved it.

We ended up at a fun little play park, where Audrey surprised us all. When she goes on the slide, I hold her at the top and say "one, two, three!" and then let her go. Another mama was doing this with her little boy, she said "one, two..." and Audrey yelled "FREEEEE!"

We headed home (with some very loud shouts of "Bye ducks! BYE-BYE BIRDS!") tired and a little grumpy, only to discover that yet another tooth had come through. She's getting quite a collection!

I love the way she can take a place and appreciate the heck out of it, make the most of every good thing and spend ages doing the stuff that's most fun. I love visiting places with her.