OK so we try and make every weekend fun, but not every weekend involves a visit to the beach, especially not at this time of year!
Saturday mornings are always taken up with shinty training for the oldest three boys and daddy the coach. Last Saturday when training was finished we headed off to watch a real shinty match.
First we had our picnic ('nic-nic' to Alasdair) lunch. We ate it in the car as it really is nowhere near picnic weather yet. That just added to the sense of adventure though.
When the match got underway, David and Calum spent the entire 90 minutes running up and down the pitch following the play and hitting the ball back to the players when it went off.
I should point out that as this was a really lower division match (I was told which division, and honestly I was paying attention, I just don't remember) the crowd totaled about 25 people. This was including the six of us and a friend of my husbands!
The pitch is right by the beach and so once the game was over, we went across to the sand. Alasdair had been eagerly waiting to build sandcastles all day and kept asking when we were going to the 'sea-side'.
In the car on the way home, there were some chocolate muffins to keep us going.
Sunday afternoon was spent at my husband's sister's house, where the highlight is always playing with Cuilean (coo-lan) the rather energetic dog!
And final news for tonight is that I am without my big boy until Friday!
This will be the longest he will have been away before. He is my right hand man when dad is working away through the week so I'm really missing his help! His brothers are missing his company too, especially his little buddy Alasdair.
School camp is at an outdoor centre on the West Coast. He phoned tonight to say he is having a great time. Last night they had a night-time walk and today he went abseiling and gorge walking.
Fun doesn't even start to cover it!
Wow! What a fun weekend! Sounds like James will have a great time. We've done an "outdoor school" with our kiddos, but since we homeschool, the whole family gets to go! One year we found a live octopus that had gotten caught in a tide pool. We actually don't meet up w/ that group of people anymore, but it was certainly fun while we did it!
ReplyDeleteHow is it that I lived in Scotland, but never heard of shinty? It looks like field hockey, but after reading up on it, it does have several differences. Thanks for always teaching me something new. Hope your big boy is having fun at camp.
ReplyDeleteAbout the pi thing...perhaps you could make the 31st of April work!
ReplyDeletePi day is so very necessary! :)
Ah Keri, you are obviously far cleverer than me to have thought of that :0) Might just try that though.
ReplyDeleteWendy, did you live in Scotland for long? I wouldn't be too worried about having never heard of shinty. I'm pretty sure the majority of folk you asked here wouldn't have heard of it either, although it is gaining popularity now.
I did write a post about it last year, around about this time of year actually. The post is called 'It makes football look like hairdressing'
I lived in Scotland for 2 years and England for 5 years. My mom is Scottish, born and raised in Edinburgh (my dad is American). I love Scotland and miss a lot of things (although the weather is not one of them)!! I hope to visit again soon and after reading your blog (and "Homeschool on the Croft"), I want to visit the Inner/Outer Hebrides. The islands seem beautiful with such a rich heritage and culture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the post you wrote last year about shinty. I am going to read it right now.