UPDATE...

We are in Texas waiting for Daddy to get back from his trip to Brazil and Venezuela. He's been gone for 2 weeks now! We celebrated my 2nd birthday (pictures to come later when Mommy has some free time), have been running around like crazy, and have been REALLY HOT!! The thermostat in the car read 107 today! Earlier today someone made the comment, "It sure is hot outside" and I replied, "I know. It's hot out here!" Looks like we will be heading down to Argentina the week after next to do some house hunting, check out what our new city will be like, AND hopefully, get some cooler weather since it is winter there now. I went to the doctor last week for my 2 year check up and I'm doing great! I'm even talking in complete sentences and I remember EVERYTHING! Mommy promises to get some new pics up once we get settled down! We're missing Aberdeen and our friends but look forward to the new experiences we will have in Buenos Aires!

FUN STUFF!!

This past weekend Mommy, Daddy, and I went to the park to feed the ducks, BUT no ducks! You can't feed them right now because the Moorhen has eggs in her nest and if you feed the ducks, the seagulls come and will prey on the chicks....I looked for the Moorhen but couldn't find her in the reeds so I said "Go swing!". We headed up to the playground and I played on the swings and the slide and ran around for a good bit. After the park, we decided to go to one of my favorite places to have lunch...I call it the "Yellow Castle"! Mommy and I come here every Wednesday with our friends Alice and Camilla after our sign class to have lunch and play. This time, I pretty much had the whole place to myself. Here are a couple of pictures from this trip and one with Alice from a recent trip there with her. Having some fun in the ball pit!

BALMORAL

The last weekend in April we drove out to Balmoral Castle to have a "little" look. Balmoral is owned by the Queen and she uses it as her "summer" home. It is situated in the Scottish Hills between Ballater and Braemar. The river Dee runs right beside the castle. We took a walk around the grounds and were able to go into the ballroom and view an animal exhibit. I REALLY had fun listening to the animal recordings and kept saying "push this one". (meaning, push the button again so I can hear the fox, the deer, owl, etc.) I had a good time running around outside and sitting in the Queen's garden. They were having the Balmoral 10K marathon that day as well so there were LOTS of people there. We watched a few runners coming in after the 5K race. I clapped and stood on the fence for the people who were coming in to the finish line. I even "raced" with Mommy and Daddy out to the car! After the castle visit we stopped and had lunch at a great tea room at the Falls of Feugh. It was fun to get to see a little bit more of Scotland before we move to Argentina.

Balmoral Castle

Me, Mommy and Daddy by the River (I started getting really upset ("no cheese, no, no, no,no")b/c some stranger was taking my picture with Mommy's camera!)

Hanging out in the Queen's Garden (her roses weren't blooming yet so we sat by the tulips and pansies) Running around outside the tea room after we ateA Closer View of one side of the tea room...Mommy loved all the flowers!

Easter

We had GORGEOUS weather this past Easter weekend! Daddy got confirmed into the Catholic Church on Saturday night....we were in church for a little over 3 hours...I slept through most of it, but I was very intrigued with the candles that Mommy and Daddy got to hold. Then on Sunday, when I woke up we went downstairs and checked my Easter nest to see if the Easter Bunny came to see me....boy did he come see me!! I've been telling him to bring me "stickers, backpack" and he came through for me! Man, I LOVE that Easter Bunny! That afternoon, we had some friends over for a BBQ and an egg hunt. I was a little slow to start on the hunt, but once I figured out the game, there was no stopping me! I would even stop and check out my friends baskets to see how many eggs they had! I had a great time! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

Getting ready for our picnic lunch

Daddy and Dylan cooking

Our friends enjoying the sunshine

Man, they hid this one good!

Spring Has Sprung!

Waiting for my lunch...

I love to stop and smell the "roses"

Mommy had to include this one...love how the sunbeams came out in the photo

We have been so lucky the past two days! The sun has been shining and we've actually been able to play outside....our favorite place to be! Mommy and I had a picnic today in the back yard! It was great! Here are a few shots of me that Mommy could get when I wasn't running around or saying "no cheese!"

Stonehaven/Dunnotar Castle

View of Dunnotar Castle from the Car Park

The Castle and Grounds

A few weeks ago, while Brandon's replacement was in town, we drove over to Stonehaven which is about 25 minutes from Aberdeen to take a look at the castle there. It was amazing! The wind was blowing like crazy and Adalyn and I decided to head back to the car after about 15 minutes of being out in the wind. It was blowing so hard, every time she tried to walk it looked like she was running! The castle and its out buildings all sit atop a cliff overlooking the North Sea. The ruins included a church, stables, and a distillery. It was amazing to see the architecture and details that the people took in to consideration so many years ago....and we think we're smart!!

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

We had quite a bit of snow the first part of this month. It just kept snowing and snowing and snowing! Adalyn enjoyed looking out the window at it and after we played in it the first couple of days, she would look outside and say "more snow" in a tone which seemed to imply "not again". We had booked a trip for Valentines Day weekend with a few other couples to head up to a place called Aviemore last month so we could all take the kids to play in the snow being that Aberdeen hadn't had much snow in the past 18 years. Needless to say none of us were real excited to go see more snow, but we did end up having a great time.

Two Red Deer Playing in the Snow in Front of Our House

Adalyn Checking Out the Snow

Frozen Lake in Aviemore

(we stopped here to let the kids play around in the snow)

The Three of Us in Aviemore
View of the Lake and Mountains