Once the summer is over, it's all about the term-time routine, which in many ways can be comforting, and in other ways, not so comforting.
This year, right before we left on our summer break, crevette was informed by both her ballet and gymnastics coaches, that she was being invited to join the competitive groups. I can see why (and how necessary) it is to do it this early if you want to have competitive athletes, but it threw our carefully planned schedule into a bit of a tizz with an extra hour of performance dance per week and an extra 7 hours of gymnastics.
She loves them both though (of course), and has already started competing, qualifying for the finals in Blackpool in January (prestigious, but why not Aruba I ask).
The biggest event of the term has to be Fingerling's 11th birthday (of course):
We had a new set of friends here this year, as well as some older ones, and they all seemed to like last year's spa-like theme again (with biscoff cake, which the birthday girl requested).
But the most challenging thing for me by far this term, were my sporting challenges. If you can't be bothered looking at all the coming photos, then here is a quick summary:
If you're brave, then I'll start with The Big Yin, which Liz cajoled me into 15 months ago, and which dominated my training and thinking since then (ie basically trying to keep up with Liz).
It involved starting from Nairn at 7 in the morning (meet at 06.15!), running up to Cawdor Castle, and then biking along to Fort Augustus (staying high above Loch Ness), spending the night, and continuing on to Fort William by bike, before running the West Highland Way to Loch Leven, and crossing it by kayak to the finish line. SOME brave souls did it in a day, but we opted for the sensible sauna-at-the-campsite-halfway option.
Still, it was some muckle challenge:
It was technically an 'adventure' and not a race, but #Liz. So it was a race. And I know it's a lot of photos, but I was so chuffed. And Liz bought them.
It DID give us a great excuse to spend the day before on Nairn Beach with Jimmy and Kay though:
And, as they always say, it's actually the training for these events that takes over your life. Aside from plenty of biking and running in Europe this summer, I also biked and ran in Scotland (turns out, the cool is actually more comfortable).
And actually, I was doing SO much of it, that I thought I might even sign up for a couple of extra races. One of these was the Scottish national middle distance championships, held in Aberfeldy in August on a SCORCHER of a day. And we won! I say we (and I did get a PB), but my female relay teammates were lightning fast in the swim (30 mins for 1.5km) and run (90mins for a half marathon) and I clung on for the 90km bike ride (3hrs15mins over Schiehallion) so that we were crowned champions.
Literally my biggest achievement was figuring out how to sleep in the car without the alarm going off ahead of the 5am start.
Obviously I was feeling a bit big for my boots, because I'd also signed up for the last ever Craggy Triathlon, on the island of Kerrera opposite Oban. Note: swim in the sea. Unfortunately, it wasn't that great. Maybe I was tired. Maybe it was the shocking weather. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. But I was getting pretty fed up spending my weekends with frozen feet and soaked on a baltic and bleak Scottish hillside wearing bits of lycra and covered in mud, in the rain.
And for all that, we HAD actually had a long and sunny summer, and the sun made a last gasp for the most local of races: the William Wallace running festival. Again, I teamed up with my tri-besties and tackled the 50km relay challenge (somehow I ended up with the 19km bit). And came third.
We DID actually do other things, you know, as a family:
And Nandi braved what must have been the worst day to climb Ben A'an, and was even cheerful about it.
Cousin Tabitha came to visit, with Tante Helga:
And we had two great family meet ups. One annual BBQ with the Lambs:
And some official photos taken with Oma:
Otherwise, Small Fry is being not-so-small these days:
And we have enjoyed the nights closing in and watching the sun rise:
And that brings us to the October holidays. Finances, and an attempt to share my love of the great outdoors with the kids, meant we spent the holidays in Scotland, biking and walking in the Trossachs...with hot chocolate bribery being the only way to stop the kids grumbling.
On the coldest day of the year so far (more grumbling), we visited Inchmahome Abbey on Lake of Menteith. It was stunning, but really very, very cold!
Whadayamean "more biking"?
We also went pumpkin picking, and then pumpkin carving, which took at least a full day and most of El Puma's willpower:
While the girls were at gymnastics camp and Small Fry was at cousin camp, El Puma and I conquered Ben Ledi. Honestly, quite a hike, and I'm told the views are fabulous.
And on a cold and rainy day, I finally caved, and we stuck closer to home, climbing Dumyat in 1.5 hours (a record for us) so that we could hightail it to Gargunnock and its very warm Inn for lunch.
And, as its October, a visit to my dad's grave in Kinclaven:
But these are the photos I want you to remember: biking to Fallin and finding a field full of haystacks, on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon in early September. Can't beat it.
