We were thrilled to have my sisters come and spend a week of our trip with us (again! they also came to Thailand in the fall), especially as we wrap up the trip and emotions are high.

On their first day, we drove up to the village of Arbroath to check out the abbey and cemetery in town. Our great-great-grandparents on our mother’s side emigrated from there, and the townspeople have a history of being rebels as they declared their independence from English rule in 1320 with the Declaration of Arbroath. They are in the process of restoring the abbey so we couldn’t go in, but there was a nice museum we visited and then we just walked along the grounds.

Then we walked through town down to the water. We had a delicious pub lunch and then walked along the water to the lighthouse. It was a beautiful sunny day and nice that my sisters could also see a bit of the Scottish countryside.

The next day we needed to return our rental car to the Glasgow airport, so we all made a day of it. Only 7 of us fit in the minivan, so Megan graciously offered to take the train. It was about a 45 minute ride, and (after a little confusion as to which train station), we were reunited. We walked through the city, stopping at little shops, admiring the architecture and taking in the sights. There was a protest walking through the city center, and Luisa stopped to ask the police about it. Love her courage!

We then spent some time in the wonderful The Tenement House museum which was very interesting. Luisa especially loved the typewriter and wrote this profound poem.

We walked through the city some more, stopping at a delicious Chinese restaurant on our way to the Riverside Museum, a free museum with historic vehicles, technology through the years and a lot of interactive spaces. We stayed until they literally closed the doors. A sure sign that everyone loved it!

There was one last thing I wanted to do before leaving town: check out some of the large murals that are peppered throughout the city on the Mural Trail. I loved it!

And then, on our way to the train station, we spotted some inspirational quotes. What a great way to end a great day! So glad we were able to squeeze in a visit to Glasgow.

The next day was a very important day: Olivia’s 14th birthday!! It is hard to really celebrate on the road, but we do the best we can. She had the idea that Hannah could wrap some of her belongings, so that the gift table was more festive. We sprinkled in some small new items (she was happiest about the water bottle after having lost two along the way), and Megan and Christie each brought a special gift. We started the day with singing, cake and presents, per tradition.

Then it was time to head into the city for some sightseeing in Edinburgh. We wanted to show Megan and Christie some of the beautiful spots we had “discovered” earlier in our stay. We just had a couple of hours to explore before our main activity: an escape room! That was very fun, though very difficult and we did not make our way out. LOL

After we escaped (somewhat), we had a delicious pizza and then it was time to call it a day. We are so proud of Olivia and the young woman she is becoming. She’s smart, driven, kind, thoughtful, creative and so much fun. She has grown so much this year, taking on more responsibility, becoming more independent, especially when it comes to schoolwork, and being so thoughtful, especially when it comes to celebrating others. She approaches new situations with optimism and preparation. We can’t wait to see what challenges she steps up to in the next few years! And we were so glad to share her special day with her aunts. They make everything better!

On Wednesday, May 20th, we flew to our final country of our Bigger Trip: Ireland. Our flight didn’t leave until late afternoon, so we were able to squeeze a few more hours in Edinburgh in. We all went to the airport where Steffen worked/sat with all our bags, and then the rest of us took the tram into the city center. We tried to catch a glimpse of J.K. Rowling’s suite there, but no such luck. From there we walked through the East Princes Street Gardens to the National Galleries of Scotland. A few of us grabbed some lunch and the rest of us looked through the galleries.

We really loved Scotland and hope to be back one day!