Heading to the Homeland

As I mentioned before in my post about the kids' summer adventures, Dave and I have been anxiously anticipating a trip to Scotland/Ireland for years.  Of course our ancestors are both from that region (I mean we are McArthurs and my granny was born in Scotland) so it makes sense it has been calling to us!  Once we had plans for the children, it was a green light and we decided a perfect place to celebrate our 20 year anniversary!  It had been a decade since we did Europe together on our dreamy Italy trip, so it was time to go again!  YAY!

Time for the travel log...We kicked off the trip in Edinburgh.  We arrived before our room was ready so we immediately told ourselves we were not tired and started walking to Calton Hill and and the Greyfriars Cemetery.  

We learned all about Greyfriar's Bobby-the cute little dog and wandered around looking at headstones where Dave discovered Tom Riddle himself!

JK Rowling was highly inspired in Edinburgh and you can see sprinkles of HP all over.  

I would say some of the best food we ate on the trip was in Edinburgh and the worst food ever in my life I ate there as well.  The first night was my favorite meal

Steak and Ale pie-delish.  The Royal Mile was lots of fun to walk up and down

 and the little restaurants are first come, first sit.  Pretty convenient way to work it.  

The next morning was the worst food of all time and while it looks appealing...it was not.  Never will I eat blood/black pudding again.  NEVER.  Haggis was actually fine and we promised ourselves we would try the local cuisine.  I did it and I will never let it pass my lips again.  Bleh.

After a traumatizing breakfast, we went to catch our tour bus for our Scottish Highlands tour.  We didn't read the instructions thoroughly enough so we didn't arrive 15 min early, but just as the bus was getting ready to go.  That was ok, except we didn't get to sit by each other.  By the end of the day, Dave had made friends with Steve the Scottish tour guide who had the best accent ever and asked to sit up front with him.

I had spent the day with a 20 something Brazilian tourist, Giovanni, who wanted me to share his ice cream cone and stay in the hostel where he was...so I'd say that turned out great.  

The Highlands tour was beautiful.  We drove by the James Bond road from Skyfall,w which is obviously important, made our way through The Caingorms National Park, up to Inverness and Loch Ness.  

At Loch Ness, we did not see Nessie, but we did tour the Urquart Castle ruins that are standing and did a boat ride on Loch Ness.  

The water is dark and it was pretty chilly, but we enjoyed the landscape with some new friends from Singapore.  We have his business card if we ever find ourselves in Singapore and in need of a barber.  The tour continued through Glen Coe and we learned all about the different clans and William Wallace as we passed by Stirling Castle.  Since we stayed in Edinburgh the entire time in Scotalnd, our tours were very long.  We traveled far out of the city and then returned to the city, so we got back super late and caught cat naps on the bus along the road.  The only restaurant open when we got back seemed to be owned by the Italian mafia, so we ate quickly before we were roped into their gang.

The next day in Edinburgh, we stayed in the city and explored via the Hop on Hop Off bus.  

We had an appointment at the castle, which was really like a fort.  

It was a little town even.  I walked around with my headphones on taking in the history and Dave walked around with his headphones around his neck and sitting on the bench while I listed to the audio tour!  Ha!

We loved the city of Edinburgh- the architecture, the bagpipes, the little alley ways a and stairs everywhere, the new town/old town areas, just the whole vibe.  Highly recommend.  

The next day, we had a tour that touched a couple areas we had already been to...but it was on the Jacobite train!   So, it was totally necessary.  We caught a bus first and then boarded the train in Fort William where we met our new besties from Ireland.

James and Emma hung with us for the day and we loved getting to know them.  Really, we would hang out again if they ever come our way.  We ate fish and chips but passed on the mushy peas.  

The Hogwarts train was so great!  We passed through beautiful countryside,

 ate treats off the trolley and squished in our  little booth.  I don't know what Harry, Ron and Hermione did to get their seats, but I will say, they were first class...we were not.  

The way up on the tour, we rode the train OVER the viaduct.  On the way back, we rode the bus so we could stop and see/hear the Hogwarts express going over the viaduct.  It is so funny, there are just loads of people on both sides of the track on hills just videoing and cheering as the train rolls by.  Seriously cool.  

The next day was Sunday and we thought it would be neat to attend a ward in Scotland.  We caught an Uber to the address on the church website and that Uber driver dropped us off and hit the road as we approached a barricaded building that turned out to be a military anti-terrorist base.  So, no sacrament meeting there!  But, alas, the Lord still blessed us because there was another couple trying to attend the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was also dropped off at that location.  They knew how to work the bus system and accompanied us part of the way back to the city, so yay for a worldwide church with fellow saints because the Ubers were nowhere to be found.  We said goodbye to Scotland that day and took a little flight to Dublin.  Our flight was delayed so I was able to get on our ward link and see the farewell of a YW I really was sad to miss as soon as she and the other departing missionary gave their talks, our flight was boarding.  So another little appreciated blessing!

Ireland welcomed us with dinner and a good night's rest so we could prep for picking up our car to drive on the opposite side of the road. 

 Dave was so excited about this part of the trip and had been pumping me up to take a turn at the wheel.  Luckily it was a bank holiday the day we rented a car, so less cars out in the city.  Dave jumped in the car and took us to the Glendalough area to Wicklow Mountains National Park.   It was so pretty and fun!    We hiked and really enjoyed the park.  Dave finally talked me in to taking a turn behind the wheel...I was just a little nervous and didn't think I wanted to.  But, I hopped in and took off.  I had a great time and I know I was doing a spectacular job but Dave was a basketcase and insisted I let him be the driver!  

We just really explored this day.  The driver that took us to our hotel from the aiport the day before suggested we find the local sheep dog tournament.  So, we went to a tiny rural competition and watched sheep dogs herd the animals.  It was so cool.  We went to a little fishing village for lunch, we went to a garden estate that is ranked #3 by National Geographic called Powerscourt Gardens.  

We meandered through the different themed gardens, smelled the roses, felt the moss,

hid behind giant leaves, you know, the typical garden tour.  

It really was relaxing and lovely.  We had to have the car back by 5:30pm and had a bit of a hairy time with that but walked into Hertz at 5:25pm.  phew!  We stayed across from St Stephen's Green so we moseyed through the Green in the rain and stopped at this fantastic chocolate shop.  The worker was so friendly, gave us some samples and then everytime we passed the shop the next couple of days, we wanted to get a treat.  He happened to be there almost every time and would give us free bags of chocolates.  It was so so nice and kind of weird but we weren't complaining! We had fancy room service that night and enjoyed our extra sleep because we had another early tour coming our way.   

We needed to get to the train station by 6:30am for our train ride to Bunratty Castle.  We had the greatest Google Translator conversation with a group of travelers from Italy.  They were blown away that we were celebrating our 20 year anniversary and had 4 kids!  They had been all divorced and were shocked at our success and craziness at home.  They pretty much offered to babysit our kids next time we went somewhere and planned a getway for us in Italy.  It was so sweet.  

Bunratty Castle was a great little village/castle tour.  

The people were all dressed up and immersed in the history.  Reminded me of our time at This is the Place.  They had a little farm area, house, castle, shops, etc

Those Dark Age castles would have been no fun, let me just say....and so stinky and everyone would be getting sick and dying from the cold or smoke inhalation.  Bless our modern day miracles.  

The tour took us to a little village Pub for lunch  before getting to the ultimate destination of the Cliffs of Moher.

One of the most beautiful places we have ever been.  We walked as far as we could on both sides of the cliffs until it was time to be back with the tour group.

  It was stunning.  It was there that we really got to know our tour guide, Ian, who is a self described 'bit of a wit.'  

Ian entertained us for the entire 3 hour train ride back with his history lessons, stories and scientific theories.  I was shocked Dave didn't pretend to fall asleep at some point! 

Our last day in Ireland was a jam packed day of Dublin.  We hit another Hop On Hop Off bus, as it seemed to get us everywhere we wanted to explore.  We walked and walked.  We went to the long room library at Trinity College where I could say I had a spiritual experience.  I just had to stop and take in the books.  

We actually ran into our Italian friends from the tour the day before.  It was like reuniting with good people.  We loved our interactions with so many people on this trip.  We really connected with so many new friends from all over the world.  People are good, people are different and we all have stories to tell.  It is nice to remember that.  

We went to the Dublin Castle which was the most bougie of the castles/buildings we saw.  We should have gone to the queen's fav spot in Edinburgh and that might have won, but for us, Dublin Castle was the fanciest.  

We went to a couple of the famous cathedrals where you are supposed to pay unless you are going in to worship, so we made sure to pray each time.  

We walked by the Temple Bar and rode by the Guiness Factory where ADP spends all of its time when traveling.  We heard about a new Immigration museum which turned out to be very interactive and fun.  

And we capped off our anniversary trip with a steak house (Dave wanted some GOOD food) and Ireland's own RIVERDANCE at the Gaeity Theater.  Riverdance was phenomenal.  We were dying of heat in the old theater but we were so impressed.  

The trip was outstanding!!  We had such a great time and feel pretty great about making it to 20 years!  People from across the globe celebrated us and congratulated us on a dang big accomplishment.  And we appreciate your support, world!  We were so tired because this vacation was run run run and up early lots of days.  Our flight got delayed and canceled going back to the states which was problematic since Dave had to make it to Atlanta to grab Harrison and Brenna in time to bring them to me before he collected Katelee and Rylee in California.  So...it was a bit hectic as he landed in Utah and took a read eye back to the east coast, but it all worked out.  He is a master trip planner and I am so grateful I get to spend my life with him on these adventures!

 

Worldwide Adventures

Dave and I had an epic vacation planned for the summer to Scotland and Ireland.  Three different years at ADP Dave was supposed to go for President's Club to the Emerald Isle, but for various reasons it was canceled.  So, we decided instead of joining the ADP destination this year, we'd take the trip we've been anxious to go on and head to Scotland and Ireland on our own.  (yes, it just so happened that after we booked our trip and secured it, ADP announced Ireland for 2023...but what do you do)  

Anyway, we knew we'd be out of the country for 10 days and what would our children do in our absence? It just so happened they too had amazing adventures planned...ok, it didn't 'just so happen,' it was strategically orchestrated.  Thought I would share what they were experiencing before I chronical our trip in more detail.

GRANT

Grant has been wanting to do a humanitarian trip for awhile now.  He saved up a good chunk of money and we told him we would match it.  He chose a destination and registered with an incredible company (Humanitarian XP) and set out for Cartagena Columbia for nearly 3 weeks.  

The purpose of the trip was to help build  a center for the community there.  It was extremely hard work.  Every morning they would have to bale out the water that accumulated and so progress was slow.  

But, Grant threw himself right into the hard labor and embraced it.  He wanted to knock out some of the projects (I think it was a re-bar day) that he just went a little too hard.  We were actually at home preparing for our European trip when I got a text from Sam from Humanitarian XP asking if I could call because there was an issue with Grant.  The text let me know he was ok but I needed to get a hold of them.

Of course, my stomach just dropped and all sorts of scenarios played through my mind.  Dave got a similar text shortly after and was a bit frantic as well.  We called and it so happened that our fair little red head had heat exhaustion/borderline heat stroke.  He was dehydrated and hospitalized for some fluids and electrolytes.  He had become disoriented and didn't even know where he was.  After hours in the emergency room, he was released but we were worried we needed to come get him, make sure he was ok etc.  We actually didn't even speak to him, just to his coordinator and they assured us he was recovering and didn't need to be sent home, just to take it easy the next few work days and get shade/water better from there on out.  We were definitely concerned but felt like we could continue our plans and knew he'd be so disappointed if he had to come home, so Columbia continued!  The funny part is they told Grant they talked to his mom and all I pretty much said was to tell him to "feel better soon!"  Ha!  As if I wasn't pacing and praying from home but just wishing him luck on his recovery.  

So, for four days of each week the group of teens would load the bus and continue their work service.  He had a great group of people from all over the US volunteering with Grant.  They stayed in a hostel/air b n b place in the city and they loved walking around at night.  Grant thought the food was incredible and he loved the people.  

They were able to go to church, do activities and socialize a lot with locals of Columbia and immerse in the culture for his few weeks.  He met a great guy that Grant gave a ring to (he has plenty to spare) and the guy wrote the nicest note about how the whole group impacted him, particularly Grant.  He told Grant that whenever he looks at the ring he will think of him.  It was great to see how people from different countries and beliefs could bond and Grant felt the same way.  

Of course the group spent time being travelers and adventurers-they snorkeled, canoed through a mangrove forest, went to an aviary, rode a party bus through town, swam in the ocean and my personal favorite hearing about was the mud volcano.  Grant said it was such an odd feeling floating in mud.  Afterwards, the elderly woman that lived there insisted the boys get "natural" as they no-nonsensily scooped water ALL over them to rinse off.  Grant had us cracking up as he explained it.  

When Grant decided he wanted to take his volunteer time in Columbia I was a bit of a basket case imagining drug cartels adopting one ginger thug.  But, the only danger he experienced was sun burn and a visit to the emergency room from heat stroke...nothing Columbia's fault, truly.  It turned out to be a very impactful opportunity and one Grant will look back on fondly for the rest of his life.  

KATELEE

Katelee was home for the first few days we were out of the country.  Shannon and Grandma stayed at our house a couple of days until Shannon accompanied the younger two to their destination.  Katelee stayed at home a couple extra nights with Aunt Lisa and Lizzy who were in town.  Luckily Aunt Lisa was here so she could yell at the people that kept toilet papering the house repeatedly in one night!  The final night before her adventure, she stayed at our neighbor's the Sanchez's so they could take Katelee and their daughter, Rylee to the airport to get to California for their AFY week.  

Katelee and Rylee spent the week at a church camp on a lake experience spiritual devotionals, lake activities, friends and pure fun.  

They chose that location for some of the adventures- mountain boarding and rock climbing...which both got canceled and that was a total bummer.  But, these two girls know how to make the best of any situation and partied hard anyway.  Plus, they were in a gorgeous locale with some fun new friends and 

 cute boys so they weren't that mad!  Ha! 

They had a great time and came back bruised and scarred from "dock wars" but now Katelee will have forever memories etched into her legs.  

BRENNA AND HARRISON

The two "littles"  (don't know how much longer I can refer to them as this, but probably forever) had a cross country adventure as well!  They stayed home for a couple of days and then Shannon flew them to stay with Aunt Anna and Uncle Curt.  

And boy did they live it up!  Aunt Anna and Uncle Curt took them to a Braves game

 which of course gained a new super fan in Harrison.  The Braves won, they met a previous Braves pitcher that sat by them and even signed their hats, 

and they had a post game dance party...so pretty much couldn't have been better.   

And this was just the beginning of their stay!  They road tripped from Atlanta down to Pensacola to spend a couple days on the beach.  They had a great time at their hotel swimming and fighting pirates, going to the beach and making memories.  

The weather wasn't as sunny as they hoped but they got lots of play time and lots of laughing time.  I was sent  a video of a bubble gun and little bum farting  with giggles galore, so we would call their trip an overwhelming success.  

Uncle Curt and Aunt Anna were the ultimate hosts (as well as Coco, of course) and planned lots of fun for the kiddos.  I am pretty sure all four of our little people would love for us to leave anytime if it means they get to go trippin like they all did!  We are so happy they each had amazing experiences and appreciate everyone who helped get them where they needed to be and help them have the time of their lives!

 

Sunshine and Summer Days

School ends and the kids think it is the greatest time of the year.  Dave and I both are not so much fans of the heat, but we do try to dab the sweat and jump into the fun.

Katelee kicked off summer with the first summer camp- FSY with her buddy Rian.  She and Rian stayed for a week at the University of Utah in dorms and had a fab time.  

Katelee said she and Rian were a little unsure how about how the week would go when they realized they were the older peeps of the group (especially when it came to the boys) but never fear, they were able to meet some fellas from other groups and came to appreciate the youngins' in theirs.   

They have already connected with some of the boys they met there and one even picked Katelee up on evening.  She had been asking if we were going to be around that summer evening  and we told her we would be, but she was acting slightly odd.  I had a church function in the backyard and Dave was out shooting hoops with the younger two and cleaning up the yard a bit.  A car pulled up and a teen boy got out and walked up to Dave and shook his hand just as Katelee came out of the house and got in the dude's car.  The two drove off and Dave turned to our neighbor who was also enjoying the summer night and Dave exclaimed, "what just happened? Did Katelee just go on a date?"  Our neighbor, who has been through a couple teens already just busted up and assured Dave that was indeed what had happened.  Katelee came home and as we were teasing her, she explained that they met up with some other FSY friends...but after some digging, we did discover that Jack (the hand shaker) drove the two of them and paid for her dinner and movie.  haha!  Sounds like a sneaky (and fun) first date!  So, FSY would be considered a success in the connections Katelee made.  Ha!

Grant did not get to start out his summer with as much fun as he had a tonsillectomy.  Those throat lumps have been causing issues for years- sore throats a plenty and snoring since a toddler.  The kid's neck and throat have been sliced through a bunch this last six months so why not some more?  

  

But really, we were concerned that Grant's throat had some permanent damage from the breathing tube from the broken neck surgery so this was also to test his voice after the tonsils were removed.  He shouldn't need vocal therapy at this time, but we will keep an eye on it.  Tonsil removal is no joke and Grant did not enjoy it, but he's a trooper and sucked up the painful first days of summer.  

Brenna and her friend Sami went to Hogwarts for a day, 

we kicked off kids bowl free at the local bowling alley

and these three water lovers started using their season passes at the water park.  I opted out of that, but pruney fingers, sunburns and swimsuits don't stress them out.  

It was a Christmas gift and I think they will definitely enjoy this gift all summer.  We also gave my parents a Christmas gift that had been held onto until summer- a magic show with dinner.  It was so fun!  They were uber impressed and while my dad was adamant he would not participate, when the magician asked for him to help out with a response, he answered like the woman was his best buddy.  

It was an excellent celebration as was this guy's birthday!!

He is the hardest worker and we appreciate him so much.  

While we don't have all the crazy busy activities spring demands, we still had a few soccer games for Harrison and a new lacrosse summer team for Katelee.  Mostly we have enjoyed that the majority of the tournaments are held in Park City, so that's a respite from the heat down here below.

Brenna keeps up with dance, of course year round.  She offered her first neighborhood dance camp to earn money and it was a big hit.  

She had the girls come each day to learn a routine for a different style each day (ballet, hip hop, jazz and contemporary) then they performed it at our church building.  It was so cute! Brenna made a big dance move after about 8 years at Rocky Mountain dance.  We felt like it was time to go to a different studio.  It was a pretty strong feeling but really scary for Brenna.  She has had a few classes at her new studio- she was so anxious to start but all is well so far! 

July always starts off with a bang (of course!) but our city decided to not to fireworks on the 4th. The parade was still the night before the fireworks, so we hit that up with our peeps.   

 While we were disappointed to not have our regular holiday tradition, it meant that we got to see the show with our cousins and friends on the 2nd

and then go to the BEES baseball game on July 4th- which turned out to be SO fun! Shannon and Paige still came with us.  Grant didn't come to the city fireworks with the fam but he and Katelee were with us for the baseball game.  And he was thrilled, as you can tell in this picture.  Katelee was thrilled because she got a visit from her friend Jack from FSY at the game (see description of Jack in paragraphs above ;)  

The following week, Katelee, Brenna and I got to go to GIRL's CAMP!  Wahoo! It really was so great having both my girls there.

We were all princesses and wore crowns the entire camp.  There was lots of camp drama- someone covered in spots, cow pies, fights between one of our leaders and the camp host, chasing girls down in the middle of the night, scaring campers in their tents, some contraband items, a camp host displaying a gun, anxiety, etc...

BUT, there was also TONS of laughing, bonding, dancing, zip-lining, singing, stories, testimonies and friendship.  I am super grateful I get to spend time with the awesome girls in our church group and especially my two little princesses.  They are absolute queens.

May the Force Be with Us

We always need some extra force when April/May roll around.  Wrapping up a school year and fitting in all the activities is crazy!  Brenna had dance comps and recitals and solo performances and it is exhausting, but she loves it.  We are looking into trying a different studio next year so all these final performances with Rocky Mountain have been a bit emotional.  

We do love seeing the people perform and enjoy all their sports.  Harrison continues to be our sports enthusiast and spends all his extra time drawing/designing uniforms and logos.  He has been playing basketball at recess and comes home to tell us how each game goes.  He came home upset the other day and when reporting the recess game, he relayed that he he was swatting the ball away from people trying to shoot.  He was very adamant about how that is perfectly legal and everyone else was able to block the shot and swat, but no one would let Harrison because he's just too good.  He collapsed into tears while telling the story and exclaimed "curse my basketball skills!"

Katelee had tears of JOY when she got to join the lacrosse season for the last few weeks after sitting out with her broken wrist.  

She had such a fun time and can't wait to play next year...hopefully the entire season! She was filled with even more excitement when she passed her driving permit test!!  Are we ready to train another driver??

  Not my fav part of parenting, but alas, she is thrilled.  These kids are growing up and are hardly recognizable to me.  I still picture them as little babes but here they are driving and dancing and dating and being shot down because they are just so skilled.  hahaha  

I did want to be unrecognizable at a recent youth activity.  We took our youth group to the mall and they had to play Where's Waldo with some of the adults in the neighborhood.  My friend has wigs and costumes galore, so she made me a blonde

I walked right by so many of the teens and they had no idea it was me.  It was on May 4th so one of the adults felt like her disguise needed to be Star Wars themed...which was perfect but pretty easy to spot!  

I loved coming home even more because Dave and Harrison had to do double takes.  They didn't even know what had happened that night and didn't realize I was incognito.  They didn't approached me cautiously, even in our home, unsure if I was indeed Kara McArthur.  It was so funny.  

Our annual Petrick Family Memorial Day extravaganza was a rain out.  It rarely happens that we can't go to the park and do all our outside activities, but we made do and played Jack Box games with Rachel and Toren's device and played with their new babe Forrest.  The kids had a great time loving on their new cousin, as is apparent by Harrison's face in this pic...although I think they were making Forrest have ridiculous faces on Snap filters, but still it was with love.  

End of May-end of school for some of these guys.  It was a big end of school for Miss Brenna.  She graduated elementary and is ready to hit the pits of despair in middle school.  Just kidding, some people love those junior high years, here's to hoping Brenna is one of them! 

We snapped a couple pics of her with her friends at their clap out...which wasn't really the last day of school, so that was slightly weird.  They didn't actually end until June, but it was still momentous.  

Every school year we take a deep breath and fall on to the couch (or floor) thinking 'we did it!'  Then, we realize there is so much ahead and a summer full of days to keep them all busy.  I know we aren't alone in this journey, but I will definitely admit I need more than the force with me!  I need God's help and often a good Diet Dr Pepper!