The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster

This was by far the BEST WEEKEND EVER! That is what Denman kept saying as we started our Loch Ness adventure.  I took a ton of pictures so we could remember it ALL!  We loaded up the car and headed to see if we could find this Loch Ness Monster.  We decided to spend the night there because we were all in need of some new scenery and it was a three hour drive to get there. 

Now this was sooo FUN!  Getting to go on a weekend trip WITH Rusty was starting to be an every weekend thing and each trip gets better and better! 

 

This was the view for most of the drive.  The roads were very small and very curved. 

Watching the kids see all of these amazing sites for the first time was priceless.

The windmills were HUGE! 

Denman counted them all and hated it when he missed

 one because he was talking.

Denman really wanted some juice, but we ran out after the first hour!!!

Natalie enjoyed her songs on her itouch.  I tried to record her singing.

I wonder who she gets that from...LOL

When we got there, the first thing we saw was a Scotland flag.  Now the reason I know what this flag looks like is because Kelly made us a Scotland Flag cake that was soo yummy!  Check out this one we found.  Denman is still sporting the Texas outfit.  I don't even know where he found this shirt.  It was his Rodeo Day shirt, but he loves it.  Our every day lego shirt now has a pretty purple stain on it so it is at the DOCTOR.

The kids were so pumped about getting to see another castle and to ride on a boat to get there.  We did the tour where you get to ride out to the castle, look around for a while, and then ride back.  If you are ever in Scotland... it is a MUST DO!

This is the Loch Ness Cafe where we got the tickets and ate lunch.

The sun came out so we all headed to find a table outside.

The inside cafe was PACKED!

Can you tell Denman is all about the waiting game. LOL

This was the view of the mountains from the boat.

Denman found his grin as soon as the boat started moving.

They decided to stand up so they could look over the boat for the Loch Ness.  Natalie saw two brown things that she thinks had to be him, but he never came out of the water.  Denman said he saw if jump up as we were leaving.  I didn't see either so I missed the photo OP. 

This is the Urquhart Castle from the water.  We are headed there to look around.

The kids got Loch Ness bags to take home.

This castle is one that the kids can run around and actually go inside and see what it was like to be in some of the rooms.  Denman didn't like all the walking around.

He did find a few places to run to and smile. :)

This was the prison in the castle.  This was the only open space in the whole room.

No idea what this is but Natalie thought she should Strike a Pose.

I even had to resort to dancing to get Denman to get in some of the pictures.

Natalie loved how you could see over the water from the top of the castle.

Another flag we found.  We are now on a FLAG hunt.

This is the kitchen and where they stored their food.

The hole is a fire pit that Denman said was just like camping with PePaw and Mimi.

We got to climb in this part!

Here is the Loch Ness.. We found him!!!

Natalie decided to relax a little on the boat ride back to the car.

We found the BEST place to eat so far.  It was an Italian restaurant near our hotel and it was sooo yummy.  We had to wait a while for a table, but it was totally worth it. 

We took some pictures outside the restaurant while we waited.

We love this girl!

My partner in crime!

We found an AWESOME hotel that had a fun house for kids, a playground outside, free breakfast, and bunk beds for the kids.  Denman was beside himself.  He got to sleep on the top bunk. 

Check out that grin!!!

They both slept GREAT!

We then headed to the Fun House that was there.  It was just like a chuck e cheese but different games.  Natalie got her a polar bear out of one of the machines.  She was determined to leave with a stuffed animal and five pounds later.... She has it!

This is a snow skiing machine. 

This was a horse race machine that I think Rusty liked more than Denman. :)

So now that we are broke... We are ready to make the trip back to our "first" hotel as Denman calls it.  On our way back we found a little surprise for Rusty.  It was the Glenlivet Distillery.  He went in hoping to do a tour, but you have to be eight to go and it took 45 minutes.   So, Rusty went in to find a souvenir instead while we stayed in the car. 

 

Pretty sure this was Rusty's favorite part of the trip.  :)

It was such a great way to spend our weekend.  We are praying that our next weekend will be spent getting settled in our house!!!