Another Brilliant Birthday Weekend

The weekend really started on Friday when we made another trip to the beach. This had to happen because Skye, the birthday girl, hadn't been to the beach yet. So we went and it was an absolutely glorious day. It was sunny and breezy but not too cold. I was able to wear just my sweater. So we splashed around in the water a bit and then walked on to the military hut and then the dunes. On the dunes we also had a Lord of the Rings photo shoot because Marissa found a giant white stick so we each pretended to be Gandalf. I'll post a picture of that at the end. Friday night was a relaxing night. We just stayed in and watched Life as a House.

Saturday was another castle day. This time it was Crathes (pronounced Crath-iss) Castle. It's about 45 minutes away from Aberdeen just on the way to Banchory and it was amazing. It looks more like a tower house but it has a fantastic walled garden and it was actually a private residence until 1951. We got a guided tour of the castle and then we paused for lunch and then we went down to explore the gardens. Just as we were exploring them too the sun came out in all its glory. It was fantastic. On the way back to the bus stop we took a route that was slightly more scenic. The highlight of this was when we found the "Harry Potter" forest. This meant that some good old dueling was in order. I was also "snatched". This basically means that there was an evil guy (or Marissa) chasing me. It was brilliant fun. Then we made our way out the forest and caught the bus back to Aberdeen.

Today the highlight was brunch. We each had full Scottish breakfasts at this adorable place called the Sand Dollar Cafe. It's right along the beach so when we were done we just walked back to Hillhead. It was a little cold because it was very windy but it was fun.

This week is going to be very busy because I have a few assignments due. Next weekend though is Edinburgh so I'll post again after that.

From Scotland with love,

Haley

I'm being snatched.

Just a bit of frolicking.