Scottish Borders: 7th - 9th Aug

We explored the castles, towers, and abbeys of the Scottish borders for just a couple of days before returning to England.  Visited Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument, and the ruined abbeys of Melrose and Jedburgh.

Once back in England we went to Hadrian's Wall (the northernmost border of the Roman empire) which was built to keep the Scots out of Brittania.

Back into the UK now for our final week of holiday before heading home. We will spend a few days in Durham and Newcastle before heading back south to London.

Into Scotland - 6th August

We left Blackpool this morning to head north into Scotland for a few days.

Visited our favorite Scottish castle - Caerlaverock - before heading off to Lockerbie for the night.

The Blackpool Incident - 4th Aug

It started out as a pleasant walk home along the beach for the kids...

But add in a treacherous slope covered in slippery algae and a human bowling ball named Jacob Ogilvie and what do you get...





STRIKE!!! ... Dad and Harry were wiped out by Jacob at high speed and we all ended up with blood and grazes wallowing in the sandy pool at the bottom of the breakwater.

Thankfully it is funny now looking back. Photos of the site of the incident and aftermath...

Blackpool: 3rd - 5th August

What better place to experience the English summer than the ultimate resort town of Blackpool...

As Tarsha said "Its a great place to come if you want to feel normal" - there certainly is the full range of humanity on display here... (Helped by the fact that there is a punk festival on this weekend!)





Plenty to do though and we have visited the Blackpool Tower, the Tower Circus, Madame Tussaud's, magic shows, Sea Life Blackpool, the Funpark, the Blackpool Dungeon, and of course the beach.

Legoland Manchester - 2nd August

Continued on our way up north today and called in at Legoland in Manchester. We got to see how lego was made, saw another awesome 4D movie, visited the lego mini world, and of course ended up in the lego shop!



The parents are starting to get worn out with all this fun!

Next stop is Blackpool though so I don't think there will be much let up...

Alton Towers - 31st July & 1st August

Another fun filled day today with a visit to the Alton Towers theme park!

It was a bit of a rainy English summer day but that was OK because we all got soaked anyway on the Congo River Rapids, The Flume, and the Battle Galleons...

There were plenty of amazing rides too - Nemesis, Oblivion, Thirteen, Submission, and the Ice Age 4D movie. We even got to battle zombies in the Duel in the Haunted House.

Cadbury World and Sea Life Birmingham - 30th July

A fun day out today in Birmingham! First we visited Cadbury World and toured the Cadbury factory. There were plenty of free samples to eat along the way and a huge shop full of chocolate.


Next it was off to the National Sea Life Centre with plenty of awesome aquarium displays and a cool 4D Turtle Vision movie.