Talking about teepees #wigwamsforallweather

School's out. And for us that meant a 5 hour drive virtually direct from the school gates up to Gairloch*, and the Sands Caravan and Camping Park we stayed at right after Auntie Stina and Uncle Si's wedding.

Honestly, it was as good the second time as the first, and that's from someone who rarely likes to go the same way twice because it's usually never as good.

We stopped off for the best pizza we've had in Scotland so far (in Aviemore actually...not seen a nutella pizza since Paris) and the rest of the drive in the evening light was gorgeous.

As we didn't have a motorhome this time, we booked a wig-wam, basically a heated, wooden shed. Which worked for us! But mostly because the weather was g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s. Like, 12 degrees. Glorious for the north of Scotland. I'm just kidding, it was a bit more than that and it was full on amazing for Scotland at any time.

Our wig-wam came with an outside table and a BBQ and some beautiful views. No doubt a totally different experience in the rain.

 

And its big selling point is the Big Sands beach, which is sheltered and stunning. Handy for some family fun and photos.

 

And on the way home we stopped at the very wedding venue. Last time this little one was here she was a nice little bump.

...and arrived home to more beauty.

*(and also because it was the only weekend with any space left when bookings opened up)

Keeping it Trim #June

What a week of firsts:

I did my first cold-water swim/hot-yoga half-day 'retreat', but it was more a case of ploughing on through than any chat of retreat.

We swam in the reservoir up near Dumyat, and it was considered a 'balmy' 14 degrees. That is enough of a shock for you to a) only be allowed to stay in for a few minutes without a wetsuit and b) to require some breathing training before you go in.

So we started off with some Wim Hof breathing techniques. You can look this guy up, but just by random chance I happen to be reading a book about him. He's a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures (not for nothing they call him The Iceman), and one of the ways he conditions his body is through a special breathing method that increases oxygen in the body. You can find loads of examples on youtube, but my regular Saturday-morning Boot Camp teacher practices the method daily and we used it before getting in to the water. 

I'll give credit where credit is due: I definitely felt all the things that they said the breathing makes you feel. And going in to the water wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it might be - could be because I was in a group and didn't want to lose face, or could be the breathing. Either way, you have to stay in for at least 90 seconds to generate a positive immune response, and at 4 minutes they called us out. Which is interesting because that's just when I started to feel warm. And so as you can guess, the right time to get out.

Some of you know that I don't have the best skin in the world - thanks aquagenic pruritus, which shows up most severely when I'm in a humid climate, but also quite badly after contact with chlorine, and most often after a morning shower. Anyhoo, I did have quite a bad reaction on my way to the yoga studio, which balanced out once I was in the hot box (37 degrees, very low humidity) and I started sweating in the dry heat. This severe tingling is quite normal as your warm blood returns to your cold limbs and is associated with the benefits of this type of exercise. Just not sure it's for me.

And of course in other firsts, Scotland were victorious drew in a Euro game, which was enough reason to celebrate lavishly. In this household at least we have multiple reasons to celebrate lavishly fairly regularly (and no excuse not to support one winning team):

In other firsts for me, I got in to the hair thing, responding to Fingerling's demands and inspiration, as well as her first ballet exam.

 

And someone else got his first cut in 10 months:

The merry, merry month of May #andintoJune

I somehow lost the month of May. I blinked, and it was June. I have a full calendar for the whole month, so I know it happened, but it's hard to remember individual days. But there are some things worth remembering...

Like how a l'il lady turned 1:

And no. 14 joined the clan:

Activities started back up, so El Puma and I could have a coffee...alone...

..Which we so enjoyed we quickly followed it with a dinner out, and then a night away.

..and...well...

In the meantime, our garden exploded around us (thanks Oma)...

 

... and equally in Nantes (thank you gardening company):

Small Fry completed his karting training and loves most things on wheels:

Fingerling got a fringe:

And crevette got an eye infection (suncream and sand), a mask, a haircut, power over her own wardrobe, a love of Elsa hair, and a bedroom stuffed full with all of Fingerling's her toys.

El Puma got another year older:

 

And I got a new mahoosive mirror for the lounge wall (which I totally love. It's huge)

..and a new professional (as in for my job, not done by a professional) website:  

www.ingridkelling.com

But our total family highlight has got to be the weekend we spent near the Borders with our long-time Scottish friends from Paris in their beautiful home and land. 3 sets of matching ages, a burn, a field, a den, rope swings, and a large house to play in for the kids. And plenty of wine and good food for the adults.

Shame that shortly after arriving home we had to let them know that Small Fry had been identified as a positive contact and his school bubble now had to isolate for 10 days. Thankfully his PCR came back negative but a couple of days later the positive case was identified as the Delta variant and secondary contacts also had to isolate. That meant 3 kids at home again for the rest of the week. Ongoing negative tests mean we have not caught nor passed on the gift that keeps on giving.

What a merry, merry month indeed.