One of our favorite things to do is walk to one of the two nearby parks. St. Andrews has several great playgrounds and two are found at different parts along the Lade Braes, a beautiful walking trail close to our house. Joey often takes the boys to meet friends on Saturday mornings at one of the parks and I enjoy some time to myself. One evening, we set off to the park together before the sun set.
The Lade Braes deserves a post all its own, for it really is beautiful. It's such a pleasant walk to the park through the trees and over the stream. The boys paused for a photo op on one of the picturesque bridges.
I'm always amazed at how much Joseph and James change, grow and adapt with new challenges. The playgrounds here are (in my opinion) a little more physically challenging and intense than the ones we knew in the States. It's fun to watch them master different parts of it that were more of a challenge when we first arrived.
We love this little park because there is also a closed in basketball/"football" court. We bring our soccer balls (I still have to call it that!!) and on this trip, both boys worked on their skills. Joey doesn't seem to mind to join in the fun.
When it started to get dark, we headed towards home. Here's my view of a few sweet boys walking through the woods.
The schools here took a wee break over Valentine's Day. They had Wednesday through Friday off which allowed for a short soccer camp for Joseph. He had a blast and loved going each day. One thing you learn in Scotland is the weather doesn't stop outdoor play. It was cold and a little rainy over those three days but they just suit up and spend most of it outside.
This is the same organization that runs Joseph's soccer practice that he goes to on Fridays. We have been so impressed by them and how much he has learned in the few short months that he has participated. They don't play on teams but they work on learning skills and it has really shown in his focus during scrimmages and his knowledge of soccer.
At the end of practice, they set up challenges for the kids to complete. I caught this one on the last day of camp. Joseph is in the blue jersey and he is trying to kick the soccer ball up over the obstacle and hit the crossbar of the goal.
The Lade Braes deserves a post all its own, for it really is beautiful. It's such a pleasant walk to the park through the trees and over the stream. The boys paused for a photo op on one of the picturesque bridges.
This is the same organization that runs Joseph's soccer practice that he goes to on Fridays. We have been so impressed by them and how much he has learned in the few short months that he has participated. They don't play on teams but they work on learning skills and it has really shown in his focus during scrimmages and his knowledge of soccer.
At the end of practice, they set up challenges for the kids to complete. I caught this one on the last day of camp. Joseph is in the blue jersey and he is trying to kick the soccer ball up over the obstacle and hit the crossbar of the goal.
Our soccer player (thanks to Aunt Stephanie for the Adidas track suit!
Joseph loves wearing it to soccer)
Joseph loves wearing it to soccer)
One of our favorite things about this season in Scotland is our slower pace of life that helps us focus on our family life and traditions. Sometimes the busyness of life makes it harder to carve out time for meaningful experiences. A few weeks after we got to town, the lovely Brewer family invited us over for dinner. We learned so much about what it looks like to move to Scotland and life here from reading their blog (http://www.thebrewerclan.com) and had connected with them through email. Since it was Friday, we got to experience their Family pizza night with delicious homemade pizza. Not long after, we decided that this would be a fun tradition for our family. And so, Sherrard family pizza and a movie night was born! Every Friday, while Joey and Joseph are at soccer, I make pizza from scratch (cheese for the boys and pepperoni for us...though the adults are looking to expand our horizons with new toppings soon). Then, the boys pick a movie and we enjoy the start of our weekend together.
a heart shaped pizza for Valentine's Day
One beautiful Sunday, we headed to the East Sands to play on the playground and walk along the beach. The boys love donning their wellies and looking for treasures in the sand.
For my birthday, we celebrated with dinner out at Rocca, right next to the Old Course. We got a deal on groupon and loved cashing it in for a birthday dinner (thanks to our friend Forrest for babysitting!) For Joey's birthday, we celebrated with treats from Fisher and Donaldson, a wonderful bakery in the heart of St. Andrews. I bought a deal on Groupon for there as well but didn't realize just how far £10 would go. We had breakfast treats and a few desserts to last us for a couple of days.
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