Long day of travelling today. Left the farm at 9am and got to LA about 17 hours later. Tried to get the girls to sleep on the plane but they didn't. Then Hayley fell asleep after we landed! Got to the hotel then straight to bed!

Started packing up this morning :( The good news is that we can fit Nina in the suitcase! We went to Lake of Menteith for lunch - a favourite spot of the Smalls. It is the only loch in Scotland which is named a 'lake'. Mary Queen of Scots stayed on the island for a few weeks when she was 4 years old. The girls fitted in some last minute shopping and then home for a relaxed last night in Scotland :(

Happy Birthday Janet - would have been her 62nd birthday today. We had a big party with family and friends - 31 people altogether. Was great to catch up with everyone again. We got lots of family photos and ate lots. The girls had fun jumping from hay bale to hay bale with the other kids. The weather was beautiful so we were able to eat outside. A great day!

Spent the day at Loch Lomond today. Anni and Andrew, Nina and Matthew and Elizabeth all came too. The Queens Baton was coming through so there were lots of free activities on. The girls enjoyed pony rides, bumper cars and fire juggling shows. We also went through the sea life aquarium. We had a late lunch and lined the shores of Loch Lomond to cheer the Queens baton as it came past. John was filled with Scottish pride!

The weather was not so good today which worked out ok for a quiet day. John went off to Edinburgh to play golf and have a night out with 10 of his old school friends - sounds like a great night was had! We stayed at the farm and got ready for the big party to celebrate Janet's birthday. We helped Hazel (who works for Freddie) for a couple of hours but she had done an amazing amount of work. We met the couple who hire space off Freddie for an art school and the...