It's Cousin Time!

December 6th: Katy and Liam are here! Just look at these smiles!

Seth picked Katy and Liam up from the airport. As usual with most of our guests we take them for a caffeine fuel up! It's so much fun when the kids get picked up from school by loved ones! Next stop Holyrood Park!

We ventured back to the flat for dinner, early Christmas presents and books before bed!

Kylie certainly has their attention!

We had a fun first day and are super excited we get to do it all over again tomorrow!

December 7th: We started our day at the indoor playground called a soft play. It is basically right across the street at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. For Christmas the kiddos got a couple month membership. This is in hopes to release some cooped up energy during the cold and dark times! Who best to go with than Liam. From there we went to visit the Edinburgh castle and watch the one o'clock gun. It was fired for the first time in Edinburgh on January 26, 1861. The gun was created to complement a time ball on Nelson's Monument, allowing ships in the Firth of Forth to set the maritime clocks they needed to navigate the world's oceans. The first gun took 4 men to fire!

From the castle, we popped in at New College and to Princes Street Gardens playgroud!

 December 8th: The stomach bug has hit...ahhh!! Everyone but Asher eventually went down! I think the rest of the Lovell crew on the other side of the pond went down as well... one after the other! Today was a pretty chill day of watching shows, playing in the garden, and baking cookies!

 Seth stayed with the kids so Katy and I could have a night out! We went to Pickles pub and toured around the streets of Edinburgh! (Hitting all the highlights - The Royal Mile, Victoria Street, and the Christmas Market) We had a super fun time just getting to catch up and talk without any interruptions!

December 9th: Katy and I started our day off by hiking Arthur's Seat for the sunrise!

Why hello Craigmillar Castle! We had fun showing Katy and Liam our go-to castle! The kids all got explorer packs fit with torches (aka flashlights), and binoculars. They looked in every nook and cranny!

What else do you do when waiting for a bus? What else do you do when waiting for a bus?

And because we didn't get in enough fun at the castle, we went out to dinner at The Doric, where we had the best fish and chips and then spent the evening at the Christmas market.

And of course we had to get the fresh sugar donuts

A good day had by all!

December 10th: This sunny day found us climbing the rocks in Holyrood Park.

Climbing rocks works up quite the appetite. Milkshakes all around.

We can't stand to think this is our last evening with Katy and Liam. We have had such a wonderful visit and seeing the kids reconnect just warms our hearts. They have truly missed each other and we are looking forward to seeing them play (and get on each other's nerves) soon! Katy and I went to a late dinner at what has become our favorite pub, The Old Bell Inn.

Cheers to you Katy for taking the long trek to visit us. We can't thank you enough! We love you dearly and can't wait to see you soon. Liam was such a strong boy to make the journey and did so great with his cousins! So many wonderful memories to cherish.