We arrived home yesterday from a long weekend’s holiday in Coylumbridge, Aviemore. We spent several days relaxing and walking in the Scottish Highlands. Here are some of the beautiful things from our weekend…

1) Our timing worked perfectly on Thursday afternoon, and we intersected at North Queensferry train station at precisely the same moment.

2) We took a detour on the old road north via Dalwhinnie, Laggan, Newtonmore and Kingussie to avoid the roadworks. The stunning scenery made the extra six miles a pleasure.

3) On Friday, we walked from our lodge to Loch an Eilein, about a three-hour walk. The kids got all their whinging out of the way before we left and they were a delight to walk with.

4) Kate, a therapeutic masseuse, arrived on Friday afternoon – I spent an blissful forty-five minutes, and am still appreciating the results several days later.

5) The kids were thrilled to see their auntie and uncle again on Friday evening.

6) We sat, intently playing Bananagrams, the silence only broken by occasional shouts of “Peel!”.

7) As the rest of the family headed off to Inverness, K and I headed deep into the beautiful Glenmore Forest. We walked first to stunning Lochan Uaine, before heading up through the forest and out onto the hillside, before visiting another lochan, and heading through down through the heather-clad hillside back to Loch Morlich.

8) A hot shower warmed me through – that thigh-deep heather was very wet!

9) We ended our holiday by taking the kids to the Highland Wildlife Park – it as lots of fun!

10) The nice friendly RAC man arrived quickly, fixed our car and got us back on the road, and home in time for dinner 🙂 .