We had the day in Stirling today. Left the girls attacking John on the couch and mum and I went with Russell and Gerry to Stirling Castle. We had a 45 minute guided tour through the chapel, the great hall and the kings palace. Then we wandered through the Queens Chambers, saw the Stirling heads, kitchens and tapestry weaving. The Stirling heads are carved wooden disks with the head and shoulders of kings, queens and nobel men and women. They were originally fix...

Spent the day in Edinburgh today. Walked up the Royal Mile to the Castle. Girls fleeced us in the souvenirs shops! We met up with Russell and Gerry, John's business partner, and had lunch at John Lewis before heading back to the farm for steak and chips.

Quiet catch up day today. Got the washing done and John's other grandmother, Christian came for lunch. Was great to see her looking so good. Andrew is still finishing the landscaping around his house so we helped a bit with that. Then up to the pub for a drink before having Haggis for dinner with John's dad Freddie. Lauren liked the Haggis but Hayley was not too fussed.

Caught the train today up to Scotland. Was sad saying goodbye to Chris and Sinclair - hopefully we will see them in NZ soon. The train journey took 4 hours and we got good views of the English countryside. The highlight was seeing Durham Cathedral - was a scramble for the camera. John couldn't get a park near the station so we walked out and was a quick load into the car on a taxi stand. I think John got more beeps in that 2 minutes than I did in the whole of F...

We had two lovely nights in Baston, Peterborough with Chris and Sinclair. Mum and the girls stayed at the Premier Inn and I stayed with Chris and Sinclair so we could have a bit more time together. The girls have been eating like horses since we got here - the English diet is more like home I guess! It was a beautiful hot day for our first day in England. We went to a park in the village and had an ice cream. Then a yummy BBQ dinner. Sorry about the mess on the...