Puffins and Goodbyes

The sun was shinning in North Berwick, Scotland for our last day together.  From Edinburgh we drove to the Scottish Seabird Center for a run on the beach and a trawl through the lovely little seaside village.  

When it's time to say goodbye to the boys we feel like we've left a piece of 

ourselves somewhere or other.  For days after we wander about wondering 

where the car keys are, where our phones are, where our wallets are and 

eat nothing but fish and chips.  It's maddening being with them.  

There's boy smells and boy sounds.  There's wrestling and shouting.  

A banana is a lethal weapon.  It's constant packing and unpacking.  

It's up a mountain and back down again.  It's lost swimsuits and goggles.  

It's action movies and fart jokes.  And yet.  It's what makes us Clan Flett.  

Until next time then...  we can't wait!  

On The Fringe

A Clan Flett summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to Edinburgh's Fringe Festival and Royal Military Tattoo.  Rain or shine, we pounded The Royal Mile, taking in the best of those living on the fringe.  Street performers, musicians, actors, singers, magicians, acrobats and all around weirdos.  

Can you find the boys in the picture below?  They crawled in front of the crowd to take in a fire-breathing, mono-cycling, strip-tease doing the cha-cha.  

The Massed Pipes and Drums at Edinburgh's Military Tattoo 

- the light show on the castle is highlight of the show.  

Successful geocache trip at Greyfriars Bobby's Kirk - Bobby was the 

faithful Skye Terrier who spent 14 years at his master's grave.

Robin Hood and His Merry Men

An 8 hour drive down from the north of Scotland with 7 stops for a pee 

(thank goodness for hedgerows).  Not soon enough, we entered Nottinghamshire 

where we were warmly welcomed by Robin Hood.  

An action packed week of archery, tree climbing and geocaching.  

2 noteworthy bike crashes - Eddie's bum took 3 weeks to recover and 

Connor's ego even longer - though really, 

it was the telephone pole we should have been worried about.  

Uncle Robert of Newark, Nottingham, presented Master Alex and Master Connor 

with their very own geocoin from Help for Heroes.  

This coin will travel the world with Alex and Connor, charting their journeys.  

We're Back!

Dear loyal fans,

We're so sorry to have kept you waiting for a new post.  But!  

We've all been super busy over the last three weeks.  

Alex and Connor got to move into their new house in Newcastle with their mom where they unpacked and moved into their new bedrooms.  They've cycled around their new neighborhood, 

where they found a great hill that has a bumpy ride.  

Dad, meanwhile, spent most of our time apart on a 747 flying back and forth 

between China and the rest of the world.  

Particular highlight was the 24-7 table tennis and badminton Olympic showcase on Chinese TV

 - he's now fluent in Mandarin - or at least when it comes to scoring a match point.  

Erica and her mom flitted about Europe, 

drinking wine in France, limoncello in Italy and martinis in Croatia.  Bliss.  

Not to worry though, we all found our way back to each other again and the world has 

rightened itself up.  Here's a small update of our most recent adventures...  

Our first activity back with Clan Flett - hiking up to Dunnottar Castle in dad's hometown 

of Stonehaven in Scotland.  That's grandma's dog, Pebbles, with us.  

A day out wouldn't be complete without a geocache!

Here we are at Stonehaven's War Memorial on Black Hill.

From Stonehaven we drove to the Highlands where we star gazed late into the night

 - who would have thought the roof of the car would have been so cozy!

A sunny afternoon in Drumnadrochit, Scotland, rambling about. 

 

 

Another sunny afternoon (two in a row in Northern Scotland!!!) 

at the Strathpeffer Highland Gatherings 

 

A windy day on Loch Ness - getting ready to cross the water!  

Tree houses and Pirates

On Friday we visited Palmetto Bluff Inn in Bluffton, South Carolina.  

After a full week on the island we'd all come to the conclusion that the mossy oak trees 

this far south are the most fantastic trees 

- and we were itching to climb them.   

The Inn at Palmetto Bluff was paradise - tree houses galore! 

We didn't even mind our scrapped knees.   

From Bluffton we headed over to Savannah.  

We enjoyed walking around on River Street 

and popping into the touristy shops.  

After a painfully BORING ghost tour in Savannah
(not a single bone rattled or scream shattered the drone of our
BORING tour guide as he rattled on about southern belles
jumping in the Savannah river to escape their cloistered lives)...  

We headed to the Pirate House for booty and cocktails
(seriously $7 for a kid's peachy treasure!)

Eddie was still bored.  

One in the Hand is Better Than Two in the Bush

Our new background is in honor of Alex - he's the next Donald Trump!!! 

Today Eddie and I came to the shocking realization that we simply can't have it all.  

As we circled Sea Pines, looking at real estate, we mulled over the knowing that our time in the mountains is limited, our time on the beach is limited, our time with the boys is limited, our time with family is limited...  No doubt we live a lucky life.  We travel continuously, live abroad, love each other, enjoy each other's families...  Still, in the small moments when we're not running to catch a connecting flight, jumping on a train, returning a rental car or packing a bag we can't help but wish for a smaller existence.  One that would give us the joy of spending weekends with the boys and holidays with family.  A life that doesn't require a different cell phone for the four different continents we rotate around.  And yet.  By our third loop on Maple Lane, we knew instinctively that life would come around for us in it's own time.  That for now, we live the way we do so that the boys can go to Newcastle School for Boys, so that we can discover each other while discovering new cultures, new food, new friends, good beer.  

It will be hard for me to say goodbye to this place.  To the Oak groves and the shrimp boats.  But this island isn't going anywhere and that knowing fills me with more confidence than mastering a level 3 yoga class in Beijing with a Chinese instructor.  

The boys back from their second day of Sailing Camp - off the water just in time for a storm

The rain clouds weren't going to stop them - chairs and boogie boards at the ready 

Able bodies 

Sun set off our deck this evening - kayakers in full force 

Eddie getting dinner ready 

The boys set a lovely table - their sunflowers made all the difference 

Erica's Bliss

The Low Country is where my heart is.  The place I am most wanted.  

It is where Eddie met my family for the first time, where I fed the seagulls with my grandpa Wendell, where I shop with my mom, bike with my dad, play football with my brother.  And now it's where Alex and Connor geocache, hurl themselves into the waves, bury each other with wet sand, devour barbecue, cheer on the dolphins and count the stars at night.  

Life Is Good

You Must Forgive Me, If I'm Up and Gone to Carolina in My Mind

Our first day on Hilton Head Island was just as it should be.  Pool passes in hand, bikes rented, fridge stocked, yoga classes paid for, geocaches found, kayaks reserved, sailing classes registered, beer cold...  Life Is Good.

Our little "hobbit hole" sits right over wooded marsh land

Sundowners on our private stretch of beach 

with little sand crabs keeping us company while we ate our dinner 

Cooling our feet in the Atlantic 

Heading home along our little marshy trail

Farewell North Carolina

We had a wonderful time hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina.  It was so great to stay with Chad and Jodi and Bonnie and Barley.  We've listed a few of our favorite things...

Hiking with in Bonnie and Barley (in the rain)

Camping in the yard (in the rain) 

Chasing the dogs when they got out of the yard (in the rain)

Playing Settlers of Catan with Chad and Jodi

Eating tapas in downtown Asheville (then running to the car in the rain)

Gorging ourselves on all things Mexican at Papas and Beer

Driving through the mountains (in the rain)

Catching up with our wonderful friends, Sandy and Paddy

Geocaching (in the rain)

Riding in Sandy's Model T

Yoga with Jodi

It took us five plus hours to go from the High Country in North Carolina to the Low Country in South Carolina.  For your pleasure, we've posted the best of our Mad Libs written on that LONG drive :)

Afraid of the Dark 

by Alex, Connor, Eddie and Erica

I was home alone and scared out of my horses.  I could hear the wind driving and off in the distance, a bag was howling!  I crossed the room, locked the house and climbed into bed, pulling the kittens over my testicles.  Then it happened!  I could hear a fish frolicking up the stairs.  My head started to chatter.  My knees began skiing.  The blanket was thrust open and there was a huge bucket with hair all over its breast!  It was my father.  "Hi.  We're home," he said patiently.  "Hope you weren't afraid of staying home alone."  "No," I said, lying through my eyes.  

Geocaching in Western North Carolina

Our first geocache of the day - here we are running to find it....  

for the second time (we couldn't find it the other day)!

Searching in the wet woods - all the rain made the ground slippery. 

Finally found it - it was buried deep in the woods - we felt great when we found it!  

This picture is from our second geocache find of the day.  

Hint:  crook of a holly tree.  

The crook of a holly tree is nearly as strong as the crook of our arms! 

Signing the log book - this time we had a pen to sign it properly.  

Our third geocache of the day - for this one we had to search under rocks.

We put in the Travel Bug that dad and Erica picked up in China - it's been traveling around the world!  

Pisgah National Forest in the rain and good eats

Getting ready to hike up to John's Rock in Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina 

 Skipping over dry stones on the way up - by the time we came down it was a river!  

 We made it to the top just in time to put our new ponchos to use - 

we brought a bit of color to the grey day

 Slipping and sliding our way down

Instead of grilling our hot dogs outside we had a feast inside

S'mores on the porch - we didn't let the rain keep us from roasting a few marshmellows 

Another great meal - Papas and Beer in Asheville, North Carolina.  Best Mexican in town