Day 2

1000 GMT - Yes. After waking up many times to deal with crying babies, and "lonely" kindergartners, Amy wakes me up at 10am. Unfortunately she has been up since 0530 while the rest of us slept. She has eggs, sausage and back bacon warm and ready. There is also some warm, instant coffee. Eventually we finish eating and after Amy expresses her disinterest in "sitting around" the lodge all day, we pack up to head out.

1200 GMT - After I accidentally distract Amy at the start of the in-town parking in the road insanity by saying "Do you want to go up that hill?", we actually find a free parking spot. We have lunch at the Scottish Wool Center and shop around it a bit. I see some nice wool sweaters and a great jacket (polyester and rayon?), but decide that I can't possibly buy the first thing I like in the first store I shop in. If I don't find something by Friday, I'll head back here. Due to the day (Sunday) and the season (winter), there are no animals or shearing shows, merely a balloon animal man and a chance to have a picture with Mrs. Claus.

Hello all. We are here safe and sound. I am in Aberfoyle, Scotland

 
 
After lunch is completed, we stroll around Aberfoyle. We spend a good chunk of time in the visitor's center which has an interactive area history display which Eamon enjoys quite a bit. We buy our first travel stickers for our Thule rooftop carrier, but our first purchase was some postcards at the wool center. There is little else to see, and darkness is falling, so we head back to the hotel.

1630 GMT - We hit the pool. Connor is sleeping so it is just Amy and Eamon in the pool. I hit the Fitness Center for a 5K run. I have to fill out 3-4 pages of medical questions prior to exercising...something I have never had to do prior, but I guess in every country the liability laws must vary. I immediately regret forgetting to bring my hp iPod to the pool, I have grown attached to running to the soundtrack of my workout playlist. On a sidenote, if you haven't tried one yet, do. I am so attached to it now after 4 months, I bring it everywhere. I have only uploaded a little over 1100 songs with plenty of room still remaining. After my workout I head into the pool as well.

1830 GMT - Next we head up to the pub (over the pool) for dinner and a pint (or two.) I have a mediocre rib-eye, I should have said yes to the peppercorn sauce. Amy has a shrimp appetizer, Eamon has fish and chips and Connor has sherbet and melon. I start with Guinness, Amy already had a pint of "extra cold" Guinness before Eamon and I arrived. Another oddity of the UK is the serving of warm beer rather than our "icy" beer in the States. I stick with the warm "regular" Guinness. My second pint is and Ember from a local brewery, which frankly, I can't remember. Eamon goes for the sherbet as his dessert and the chef "accidentally" adds an extra scoop after I specify two, so Amy and Connor help him with the third.

2030 GMT - We return, and though I try to read a comic to Eamon, I can't make it far and end up bringing him upstairs to brush his teeth and read a chapter of "The Reptile House" form the Lemony Snickett series, "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Here we learn of the playfulness of the "deadly" snake and learn of the impending death of the nice Uncle before being reintroduced to the dreaded Count Olaf. I get out of his room only to crash in my own. Amy is already there.