change of scenery

I'm excited for our #thanfulliving project to start tomorrow, how about you?
And I am so excited about it, I'm going to start early.  At least here on the blog.

This last weekend we headed up to Inverness for a weekend away.  It was sort of a one year in Scotland over/one year to go until we move back to MN/2 years overseas done kind of celebration.

We stayed at a hotel that we'd been at before that we knew we would like.  So grateful for having a sort of home away from home.  Great for a simple change of scenery, you know?

I've been reading a lot the last few days.  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller and then this book, Love Does by Bob Goff.  Its going to take me a bit of time to fully digest what I've been learning, and I'm looking forward to sharing some of the key points with you.

But the main point of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is that we each have the power to make our own stories better; and to live a life that will make a good story. 

Our trip to Inverness wasn't packed with sight seeing; we'd been there before.  But we did check out a new spot, Fort George.  Um.  It wasn't completely exciting.  But the kids left with new {foam} swords, so I think they'll have good memories of it.

 Its evidently one of the most strongly fortified military bases in all of Europe.  It sure had a lot of stone walls, so that I can understand.

J#4 had a new experience.  We skipped the stroller AND the backpack carrier, so she was a walker.
And the bridges got her. 

Back in his day, the bridges 'got' her brother too.  

But now? The brother is learning how to do the 'big brother' thing, and I'm grateful that he is pretty darn good at it.

After we conquered the bridges, we conquered the cafe. 

Meaning that everyone else there finished their lunches and left us alone in the cafe.  So nice of them, right?

So it wasn't an exciting visit. But it was a relaxed, fun visit.  And relaxed & fun is a story I'm happy to write.

And then on our drive home I got to appreciate the colors.  Lovely oranges, reds and greens intermixed among the Highlands.

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