December 2016 Christmas Letter

Brrrr, it's getting cold(er). After 9 months of spring rolling into autumn and seemingly missing summer more or less altogether, we find ourselves once again at the tail end of the year wondering where on Earth all that time went.  It's not that we've not done anything this year; in fact, "doing things" is something we do quite a lot. 

Eilidh with her crown cake

January is always a busy start to the year. An early highlight in the year was Eilidh starting Beavers. Joining with her friend Ethan, she quickly settled in and has so many badges, Craig and Gwen are struggling (but just about managing) to get them on her uniform.  She’s about half-way through her two years of Beavers, and in November, escorted the Beaver flag at the Remembrance Sunday service.

The now traditional early-year party season got into full swing for Eilidh and her classmates, with her own "kings and queens" party, and getting to experience 10-pin bowling and roller-skating for the first time. 

Some attentive cousins and Auntie Kathryn listen to Craig's story

It was lovely to have Auntie Kathryn, Kieran, Gemma and new baby cousin Logan at Eilidh’s party.  Despite the sad circumstances which had brought them over from Australia, it was lovely to be able to spend some time with them in the first part of the year.

Iona blowing out three candles
on her dinosaur cake

In early March, Gwen got a rare solo trip to London to go to Uncle James’s 40^th birthday party, before we welcomed the Peplers to Bankton Terrace in a weekend that was so busy (it included Iona’s birthday, Gwen’s birthday and Easter Sunday on consecutive days) that there was no room at the inn for Grandma and Grandad, and they had to sleep in a nearby stable-cum-nice-hotel.  The girls all enjoyed solving the clues to find their Easter Eggs on Sunday morning, and Gwen enjoyed the treasure hunt that led her to her birthday present!

Chilling in Rasputin costume

The second week of the Easter holidays gave us a chance to escape up to Sallachy for the week; a very welcome break to allow us to recharge our batteries before taking on the first three months of spring.  Shortly after, Craig was away helping with a Cub camp for the weekend, and was visited by Eilidh and the Beavers who came along for a fun day on the Saturday.  The last weekend in April was dominated by Eilidh’s dance show, with a tough schedule of dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon, afternoon and evening shows on the Saturday, and an afternoon show on the Sunday.  She had a great but tiring time performing her Pocahontas, St Trinians and Rasputin routines, but enjoyed them and definitely deserved her end-of-show family dinner at Tony Macaroni’s afterwards!

50s chick!

There was more fun for Eilidh, as she attended a fun day later in May with around 100 other Beavers to celebrate 30 years of Beavers in the UK, which Craig also helped at, in a difficult quest to have a fire and make sure that the Beavers baked their bread rather than themselves.

Also during May, whilst Grandma and Grandad were visiting, we spent a memorable 50s day at the Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride, practising hula-hooping skills, watching and joining-in with a jiving troop, and finding out a bit about what life was like 60 years ago.

In June, in the midst of holiday preparations, Craig took some of the Scouts to Glencoe to assist in stewarding the Caledonian Challenge, a long-distance hiking event, in return for a donation to the Group.

Taking a break from the history

Come July, it was time for the Family Browning to escape to France for a well-deserved holiday.  Leaving after work on Wednesday gave us the opportunity to stay in the ever popular Westmorland Hotel.  The kids love staying over there, principally due to the bunk bed tucked away in the cupboard.  The ducks at breakfast time (to watch, as opposed to eat), also help to give the hotel “favourite” status.  Next stop was Swindon for two nights.  We had no desire to spend time in Swindon itself, but used it as a central base to travel between Iona’s godmother Auntie Lynne in Bath and her 3-month old (at the time) son Ethan (and James when he got home from work), fitting in a quick stop at soft play to catch up with Craig’s friend Brian and his daughter Beth, and Auntie Fiona in Didcot.  From Didcot, it was a short drive down to Portsmouth to catch the overnight ferry to St Malo.  After a stroll round the walled town in the rather dreich morning, including our first pains au chocolat, we meandered down to our campsite on the outskirts of Carnac, beside “les alignements” (French for “the alignments”), fields of pre-historic standing stones (“menhirs”) which was one of the main reasons for our visit.  

Intrepid explorers!

We tried to escape the tourist route by finding our own campsite rather than going through a UK operator.  As a result, we finished up the only English-speakers on a campsite that doesn’t operate in English; it was during that 10-day spell that Gwen and Craig realised that their high-school French was less than perfect and had deteriorated!  Eilidh did enjoy practicing her French, though!  Having said all that, Gwen did manage to order a glass of wine at the bar, and (more impressively), book us tickets for a boat trip out to one of the islands in the bay.  In addition to the menhirs, we also enjoyed exploring dolmens (prehistoric tombs) and tumuli (burial mounds).  

Ice cream!

Enjoying the ride!

Visits to these were given the added attraction of finding some more geocaches, and frequently ice cream as well.  We enjoyed crepes, trips to the beach and several other local attractions, including a dinosaur park (which Craig had visited as a child), and a museum of local life through the ages, as well as a visit to a ruined castle and, one of the kids’ favourites, a trip to Kingoland, a theme park, on the way up to our next destination, Mont St Michel.  We spent the day at the medieval monastery, drove to Caen for the delayed ferry back to Portsmouth, and spent a few days with Grandma and Grandad where we were able to enjoy the New Forest and the beach, which was a lot colder than it was in France.

The following weekend, Craig rolled back the years by playing for Real Maroon at Worldnet, answering the call to help boost an unusually small squad and ended up playing every minute of every game, which was more than he did back in the days when he was actually “young and fit”!  In between those weekends, Craig took in Hearts’ disappointing defeat to a Maltese team in a European game, which saved him completing his plans for a trip to Russia (silver linings and all that).

August also tends to be a bit on the busy side.  Craig’s birthday weekend saw him participate in Rough Runner, a fun (yes, really) 15km obstacle course “race”.  We have tended to take in a bit of the Fringe in various combinations of family members, and a visit from Grandma and Grandad allowed Craig and Gwen to go out on their anniversary to take in a couple of evening shows.  

A weekend at Sallachy was followed by Craig taking the Scouts down to the English / Welsh border for their summer camp.  

They grow up so quickly!

Eildh and Iona insisting on a kiss as
the toll for going through the gate!

Finally, on 30^th August, and after seemingly being ready for months, Iona started the first of two years of nursery education.  She’s settled in well, made friends, and has made a generally positive start to it, although everyone is a bit taken aback by her irrational dislike of wearing stickers, which every other child in the world seems to love!  She’s moved up into the pre-school gymnastics class from the toddler class, and gained a lot of self-confidence from going into her classes on her own as opposed to being accompanied by Craig.  Iona also started dancing lessons after the school holidays in the same dance school as Eilidh, and very much enjoys being in a class which includes some older girls.  Both girls are learning ballet, tap and jazz / modern dancing, and Eilidh is preparing for her first dance exam in March.

September saw another busy weekend at the start, which included 3 birthday parties and Craig going away on a watersports-based Scout camp.  The following weekend saw Eilidh’s music school restart, and in addition to her “musical foundations” class, she has joined the choir and embarked on violin lessons.  The family took a break to London to stay with the Peplers for the September weekend, and the following weekend, Eilidh had her first overnight Scouting experience at the Beaver sleepover, which Craig also attended as a helper.

The London-based cousins joined us in the Highlands

October began with a celebration of Grandpa’s “retirement”.  It turns out that retirement for him so far looks pretty similar to the way things were before retirement; although the business has officially been sold, he’s still very much involved at the moment, though hoping to phase out in 2017.  The October break began with a trip to Sallachy with the Peplers, and ended in a cottage in the middle of nowhere near-ish Moffat for the now-regular weekend break with the Andrews and Jenkins families.  The final weekend saw Craig take to the hills with some hardy Scouts for an overnight expedition challenge, before the month ended, as often seems to be the case, with Hallowe’en.  Gwen and the girls attended the children’s Hallowe’en concert at the Usher Hall on the Sunday.  With Hallowe’en falling on the Monday guising opportunities were limited as Eilidh had to make a sharp getaway for her Beavers’ party.  She did, though, manage to visit a couple of houses with Iona in tow, and had the confidence to tell her joke this year, for the first time.

November, by comparison to the previous months, was fairly tame.  A visit by Auntie Eleanor, converting a fleeting work visit into a more prolonged stay, opened the month on a bright note, as did the fact that it coincided with Guy Fawkes night, so everyone decanted to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a hearty meal followed by a spectacular display.  A visit by Grandma and Grandad followed shortly in Eleanor’s wake.

And so to December, where we seem to be pulled in as many directions as it’s possible to go in, and some that aren’t.  Christmas preparations are well underway, and we have been enjoying hearing Iona practising her songs for her first nursery nativity, while both girls will be angels in the church nativity.

By the end of the session, she didn't
even need the penguin!

The year has seen Eilidh grow up a lot.  She had impressive improvement in her swimming ability; in mid-January, she overcame some fears to move up from level 2 to level 3, in early May, she progressed to level 4, and in October, she moved up to level 5.  In August, after frustrating Craig for months, something clicked in her head, and she is now able to ride her bike, while noticeable improvements in her confidence in other areas are showing.  For example, this photo from a trip ice skating early in the year was her first time on the ice with nobody keeping her on feet.

Iona too has developed from last year’s happy cheeky two-year-old, into an even cheekier three-year-old.  She goes swimming with Craig each week while Eilidh is in her lesson, and can’t wait to be old enough to attend lessons in her own right (though she’ll have to – they don’t start until school-age!).

Gwen is still enjoying playing her violin; she plays as often as she can with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra in their quarterly concerts. She continues to work six sessions at the practice, as a GP and GP-trainer.  As has been the case nationally, the practice has been under a lot of pressure and seen a lot of changes over the past couple of years, and we hope that 2017 will be a little more stable, albeit more busy.

Craig took over as Scout Leader from the assistant position after the previous leader left early in the year, and is still (mostly!) enjoying going to see Hearts in their home games.

If you’re ever in the Livingston area and want to pay us a visit, just give us a shout.  The Family Browning would like to wish all our friends and relations a very merry and peaceful Christmas, and offer our best wishes for a happy and prosperous year to come. 

December 2015 Christmas Letter

Wow – it’s that time of year again; it seems to have come round incredibly quickly.  As we look back on another year gone, and look forward to the year ahead, we can appreciate some of the special moments and anticipate what might be in store for us.

Eilidh is now in P2, while Iona is rampaging around and generally just doing what two-and-a-half year olds do (it’s quite similar to what one-and-a-half year olds do, but faster and with more words).

It’s been a busy old year, both in terms of work and leisure.  We brought in the New Year up at Sallachy with Judy and Russell (and Kyle and Shiel); it’s always good to bring in the bells in the Highlands, though work commitments mean it sadly won’t be possible this year.  We’ll have to ensure we drink a dram of whisky to compensate (the grown-ups, anyway – Eilidh and Iona aren’t quite at that stage yet!).

The first “event” of the year was Craig’s annual Brass Monkey camp with the Scouts.  The temperature this year got down to a mild -10˚C – cold enough to convince Craig to put on some socks in his sleeping bag!  On the same weekend, Eilidh filled her social calendar with two birthday parties.

The next weekend saw Eilidh celebrate her own birthday by inviting some of the girls and boys from her class to a Ceilidh Kids birthday party.  Everyone joined in admirably and appeared to have great fun; certainly Eilidh enjoyed herself.  Three parties in the space of a week was sufficient justification for Eilidh to have a rest the next weekend, before taking in another couple of parties the weekend after that!  She currently has the most active social life in the family!

The February holidays provided a last chance for Iona to fly on an infant fare before she turned two, so a trip to see Grandma and Grandad in the New Forrest was in order.  One of the highlights of the weekend was a trip to the zoo, meeting up with the Peplers; our Christmas present from Judy and Russell had been family membership of Edinburgh, which also gained us entry to most other zoos around the UK.  We also had a trip to the beach, which was significantly colder in February than it was the previous July!

Iona’s & Gwen’s birthdays passed in a fairly low-key fashion mid-week, but were followed up with a weekend trip to the zoo.  Craig, who never gets sick, missed all of these due to being ill.  A couple of weeks later at Easter-time, the family made an escape for a week up to Sallachy.  A relaxing week was just what the doctor ordered, and it was duly delivered.  Gwen also had a weekend away with some of her friends to Lindisfarne in May, while the following weekend, the weather was less kind to Craig when he went camping in Ayrshire with the Scouts.

The first week in June proved to be an anxious one for Craig; all the arrangements for that weekend’s Scout trip to Alton Towers were going swimmingly, until the theme park hit the press for all the wrong reasons in the middle of the week.  Fortunately, Drayton Manor Theme Park was able to accommodate us at short notice and everyone was able to have a good time.  (More on that venue later.)

As has become usual for us, we took our summer holiday during the first two weeks of the school holidays.  After a weekend with Auntie Lynne in Bath, we moved onto Pembrokeshire in south-west Wales, where we camped for the best part of a week.  Despite the poor summer weather that we’ve had in general, we got quite lucky for the camping part of our holiday, which enabled us to enjoy a couple of trips to the beach, a couple of castles, an iron age village, a tidal mill and a monastery based on an island (Caldey Island, if you’re interested).  That’s not to say that we had it all blazing sunshine; the sunscreen and waterproofs were required in broadly equal measure, but we managed to plan our trips so that the weather didn’t interrupt our fun.

After striking a wet tent on the middle weekend of our holiday, we spent a fab couple of hours at the National Showcaves of Wales, which included a dinosaur valley; all tastes were truly catered for.  Some of the caves were quite difficult to manoeuvre round, so it was perhaps just as well that Craig had guidance from Iona in the back-carrier with repeated warnings of "watch my head!" After leaving the caves, we carried on to Welshpool, just on the Welsh side of the English border, where we checked into a semi-detached self-catering cottage on a farm; our next door neighbours happened to be the Peplers.  In a second astonishing coincidence, Brenda and Roger were staying B&B in the farmhouse.  This week had been organised as a belated celebration of Brenda and Roger’s Ruby Wedding anniversary, which had occurred in December 2014.  One suspects that arranging a celebration for two daughters who’d flown the nest with attaching sons-in-law and four grandchildren between them was quite far from their mind when wedding preparations were being made back in 1974.

The week involved a lovely celebration lunch at their wedding venue all those years ago, more castles (more of the stately home variety than ruins), many picnics, some walking and nature and a steam train.  Craig and Gwen also managed a meal at the Lake Vyrnwy hotel, where they had had a romantic weekend back in the year 4 BC (before children), and we all got to catch up with the wider Beamond family on the farm, with plenty of fun to keep the youngsters (and young-at-heart grown-ups!) amused.  However, one of the stand out day trips, certainly from the girls’ point of view, was a trip to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor.  Eilidh is gradually stepping up her adrenaline rush enjoyment levels, and after exhausting the rides in Thomas Land in the morning, we moved into the more grown-up section of the Park in the afternoon.  We thought Thomas Land itself was great – a good combination of tranquil rides a la our visit to Peppa Pig World last year – and more exciting ones to get the heart beating that little bit faster.  In the grown-up park, Eilidh went on every ride that height-restrictions allowed; it’s great to see her adventurous spirit developing.  Our final day out of the holiday was a trip to Chester Zoo on the way home; what a great zoo that is.

Later on in July, we were delighted to spend some time with the Rouse clan as they visited Bonnie Scotland.  Both girls loved spending time with their cousins, and, since his birth in November (sorry for the time-jump), we’re all really looking forward to meeting Kieran and Gemma’s new little brother, Logan.

We didn’t have time to get the tent dry after Wales before going away camping with Uncle Mark and Auntie Wendy to Newtonmore in early August.  (Technically, we did have the time, just not the weather to do it!).  The weekend itself was one of very mixed weather.  The Highland Wildlife Park was great, especially getting a guided tour round in a Landrover, and the (outdoor) Museum of Highland Life was also well worth a visit.

Craig, who never gets sick, spent the following weekend in bed ill; bad enough on its own, but compounded by it being his birthday / our anniversary weekend.  Still, Gwen was able to have a good night out with her friend Debbie standing in to make use of the Fringe tickets.  Fortunately, we managed to get a weekend at the end of August to catch some other shows (an Irish comedian called Chris Kent was very funny), and Craig also managed to catch the especially geeky (but also very funny) science / maths show with Colin (Gwen had very much enjoyed it on the original weekend).  In between times, Craig had a Scout camp with a very unusual feature: not so much the group of Austrian Scouts touring Scotland and staying in Paisley, but the fact that we were able to put the tents away dry.

The September weekend saw a fun trip down to London to spend a long weekend with the Peplers, during which we were able to feed Iona's ever-growing dinosaur interest with a visit to the Natural History Museum, and please Eilidh with a trip to the Science Museum.

September also saw us inject a bit of culture into the family with a visit to the Scottish Museum of Modern Art to see an exhibition by Craig’s favourite artist, MC Escher.

The October week saw us head up to Sallachy, where we were delighted to welcome the Peplers to the Highlands, and show them some of the sights that the Skye and Lochalsh area has to offer (as well as some obligatory Nessie hunting along Loch Ness).  Not content with a busy week up north, we then drove straight down to the Dunbar area to spend the weekend with the Jenkins and Andrews families.

It’s probably fair to say that 2014 and 2015 up until late summer has been one of the most challenging times that we have had, in terms of the workload that Gwen has carried professionally.  However, the practice has successfully appointed some new partners to share the burden, and Gwen’s 50-hour (officially 3-day) week is now a more-manageable-but-still-quite-a-lot 40-hour (officially 3-day) week.

When we're not away on holiday, life goes on.  Iona goes to various play groups with the childminder, and Craig takes her to gymnastics on Fridays; she's turning into a great wee climber / monkey, though she seems more interested in getting straight to business in the class rather than bothering with warm-ups!

Eilidh has been learning a little bit of French, but has just finished her last class in order to make way for starting Beavers after the Christmas holidays.  She still loves her dancing, and is now in practice for her next show in May 16, and she is carrying on with her Saturday morning music classes.

As for the grown-ups, Gwen has been able to squeeze in a few concerts with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra around her work, while Craig has had a fairly satisfactory year going to the Hearts games at Tynecastle (and the odd away game), and from time-to-time takes the girls along.

As a family, we've been able to indulge in a bit of geocaching, or treasure hunting as the kids know it, which is a great way to make a short walk a bit more exciting.

Heading into Christmas, everyone is getting quite excited.  The girls have written their Santa letters, and it’s fair to say that this time around, Iona knows what’s going on (to an extent at least).  Gwen is looking forward to a week off in the run up to Christmas, while Craig has some time off in between Christmas and New Year.

As time ticks down towards Christmas Day, the Browning Family would like to wish all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

December 2014 Christmas Letter

It's hard to believe it's that time of year already.  2014 seems to have flown by - a sign that things have been very busy indeed.  However, you only need to look at the change in Iona over the last 12 months to see that it's really true!

Before 2014 had even started, things got exciting with the arrival of a new antipodean cousin for Eilidh and Iona when Gemma Maisie Rouse was born the week before Christmas. With the other Livingston Brownings having deserted Scotland in favour of the warmth of Australia and the company of the new and less-new members of the Rouse clan over Christmas, Brenda and Roger were our sole family companions over a happy Christmas.  2014 itself started quietly for us, with a quiet night in and bed shortly after the bells (we're getting old!).

As has now become customary for us, we celebrated Eilidh's birthday towards the end of January (given that that's when it is).  Eilidh had a party with a bumblebee theme and a bouncy castle, held in the local Scout hall.  Having had years of experience managing 8-10 year old Cubs, and more latterly Scouts in the older age range, Craig thought that a hall-full of 3-4 year-olds would be a breeze; it turns out his logic was flawed.  Nevertheless, Eilidh (and her friends) really enjoyed themselves, so much so that every time we now go past the Scout hall, Eilidh talks about having parties there!

In February, we took a trip up to Sallachy for the February weekend. It's an ideal place to escape to and just relax. The end of March was a little bit hectic. Whoever decided to put Iona's and Gwen' birthdays on consecutive days should get a severe talking to.  Of course, for a one-year old, a birthday is the same as any other day, only you can get away with making even more mess than usual. (Perhaps that applies to all people?) Anyway, we had a little birthday tea for Iona on the Tuesday, and then, thanks to some obliging baby-sitters (thanks Grandma & Grandad!), we had dinner in Edinburgh in a new (to us, anyway) restaurant just off the Royal Mile called Daft Jamie's.  Very nice it was, too!

Easter's a time we always enjoy, and this year was a particularly pleasant one.  We were joined by Auntie Eleanor, Uncle James, Bronwen and Imogen.  Amongst other things, we enjoyed a visit to the Scottish Owl Centre (Bronwen loves owls).  Spring quickly passed by, and by the end of June, we were well and truly ready for a relaxing summer holiday.  So we went camping!  We had nearly a week on a lovely campsite on the Isle of Wight, and had a great time going on steam trains, dinosaur hunting, going to the beach and eating ice cream.  Iona got her first taste of a chocolate milkshake, and given the paltry amount that she left in Daddy's glass, she wasn't disappointed!  Fortunately for us, it stayed dry (and pretty warm) for nearly the whole time.
 

After leaving the island, we spent a few days in Lymington with Grandma and Grandad.  The weather turned a little, but that didn't stop us having a good time.  Eilidh and Iona (and possibly even Gwen!) got to visit a theme park for the first time.  It didn't take terribly long for Eilidh to decide that the rides in Peppa Pig World were too tame for her, so she quickly moved on to the more grown up rides in Paulton's Park.  She was a bit peeved when we told her she was too small for some of the more adrenaline-filled rides!

There was time for one more stop on the way home - we spent a day and a half with some of the Beamond clan in Bishop's Castle in Shropshire.  Eilidh had a great time turning the garden slide into a water-slide with Jamie, Tom and Edie, and we introduced the Jayne, Tony, Jamie, Tom and Edie to geocaching.  Eilidh also really enjoyed helping Howard doing the silaging in the tractor!

 

So that was our summer holiday. However, summer had much more in store for us.  No sooner were we home than we were away again to the Crieff Hydro (where Eilidh enjoyed some pony trekking) to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's Ruby Wedding anniversary, and we had a lovely time. Good company, good food, good ambience, good weather (on the Sunday at least!).  One of the highlights of the weekend was getting to meet the aforementioned Gemma for the first time.  The following weekend, we went to the Bo'ness railway for a "Day out with Thomas" (the Tank Engine, for the uninitiated).  It was most memorable not for the steam trains, the magic show, the fun that Eilidh and Kieran had together on the bouncy castle, the cakes baked by the Brownies that all got thrown in one bag and ended up a squidgy mess, or for the two irritating little boys who blew high-pitch whistles at each other across the canteen at lunchtime, but for Iona taking her first steps.  Given the nature of the occasion, we had both a camera and a video camera there to capture the moment for posterity and provide footage which is sure to make Iona blush in years to come!

 

The following weekend took us into August, and a camping trip with Uncle Mark and Auntie Wendy (Eilidh's godparents).  The campsite, just south of Strathyre, is in an idyllic location, slightly spoiled by the fact that it turned out to be home to 65% of Scotland's midges (they seemed to take a penchant to Iona on Friday night - the poor soul was covered in blotches), and that a new loch was created between the two tents in the downpour that weekend.  Nevertheless, we were able to press ahead with our plans regardless, and so very much enjoyed our afternoon cruise on the steamship Sir Walter Scott on Loch Katrine, and our visit to Blairdrummond Safari Park.

 

And then, all of a sudden, our little girl grew up.  In mid-August, and with much excitement, Eilidh went through the gates of Williamston Primary School and turned left to go into Primary 1 rather than right, into the nursery class.  After the first day, she came home and asked: "can Adam come round for a sleepover?"  We didn't think she was growing up that quickly!  She has settled in very well, quickly made new friends (inc Adam), has learned all her letters / sounds and a good few words.

We had another relaxing break up at Sallachy at the September weekend, but our return from that was soured slightly with the news that one of Gwen's colleagues had gone off sick for what was likely to be the long-term.  With one of her other colleagues already off long-term, and insufficient locums to cover all the vacant sessions, her work since then has been incredibly busy, resulting in regular occurrences of 45+ hour weeks - a fair amount more than the three mornings and three afternoons that she is supposed to do.  Mitigating that to a small extent is the change in Craig's working hours.  Craig went part-time in January, allowing him to spend Friday afternoons with Eilidh and Iona. We have also been very grateful for the flexibility and willingness to help shown by Grandma and Claire, who have both stepped up to look after the girls in times of extreme hecticness.

Another couple of weekends away during the October holiday, going to see the Peplers in London the first weekend, and then going away with friends for a weekend in Peebles the following one.  To describe either weekend as "relaxing" might be a bit of a push, with 4 and 5 girls aged 5 or under at each weekend respectively, some of whom were sharing rooms and not terribly willing to go to sleep, but they were certainly "fun"!

Other than all that, it's been life as normal.  Eilidh has started doing after-school French lessons on a Monday, which she enjoys and is doing well at, and she still loves her dancing.  She took part in a big show in April, which included  2 evening performances and 2 afternoon performances over 4 consecutive days, 3 different costumes, loads of practice, and seemingly hundreds of girls of all ages (and few boys!).  She really enjoyed the whole experience, particularly the "end-of-run" meal and chocolate milkshake!

Iona is coming on leaps and bounds – almost literally, as she has joined a baby-gymnastics class (though she's not quite at the aerial summersault stage yet)!  She is starting to learn to talk, and is finding it useful to be able to communicate.  For example, "Mummy" is useful when she wants Gwen's attention, "Daddy" is useful when she wants Craig's attention and she realises he's not answering to the name "Mummy", "no" is useful in just about circumstance under the sun, and "bluergh" is useful when Daddy wipes snot from her nose.  Funnily enough, another of her first words was "banana", but she doesn't like them; it's often accompanied by "no"!

Following Hearts' relegation last year, Craig is enjoying visiting new stadia this season, aided no doubt by the fact that they are, currently, winning more than they are losing! Gwen, in between those long weeks, is managing to squeeze in some concerts.  If a rehearsal for one of those happens to be on a Saturday, Craig is more than happy to take the girls to Tynecastle!

If you happen to be coming near Livingston, please feel free to get in touch, and/or leave a comment below.  All that remains now is to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

December 2013 Christmas Letter

It’s hard to believe that December has come round again.  So far, the weather hasn’t been too harsh in Livingston – just a little dusting of snow so far - but all things are comparative – it’s very, very cold compared to Australia, where we were only a few short weeks ago (though it feels a lot longer ago than that).  

The year started with a change for Eilidh, moving into a bigger room at the front of the house.  She’s now got more room to do whatever it is that little girls do in their bedrooms (like stories, and pretending all sorts of things, and playing with the dolls’ house).  As a bonus, it has a lovely subtle pink theme, which of course Eilidh loves.

We were blessed in March with the arrival of our second beautiful daughter. Iona Mhairi Browning arrived in a very straight-forward fashion a couple of weeks early on the afternoon of 25 March, having been due on 5 April.  Perhaps the perennial Browning family problem of being late has been shaken off by the next generation.  Iona met her sister and Grandma & Grandpa for the first time that evening, and kept Gwen company on the morning of her birthday the following day, before the two of the went home later that day and met Grandma & Granddad. She has since then been both utterly adorable and utterly adored (sometimes a little too much by her doting big sister!).

Iona went on her first road-trip in May, the first of hopefully many enjoyable trips up to Sallachy.  At the end of June, Iona became the first person to be christened in the newly-formed Livingston United Parish Church.  Despite the service being on the equivalent weekend as Eilidh’s Christening three years previously, the weather was very much colder and wetter; we are so glad that wasn’t an indication of the summer weather to come.

The day after the Christening, Gwen, Eilidh and Iona went back up to Sallachy for the week, this time with Brenda and Roger; Craig joined them at the end of the week.  This trip was memorable, not least for two national reasons – Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, and the start of the summer heatwave.

A bit later in July, Gwen and the girls flew down to Southampton to spend some time in the sunshine with Brenda & Roger, while Craig went to Preston for his annual football tournament, which this year included an appearance in the British Cup final.  Sadly, Real Maroon lost the game on penalties and after the tournament, Craig “hung up his boots” on his Saturday morning football “career”.  He still plays “5s” where possible though, so isn’t totally out the game!   He is doing his best to continue supporting his big team and ensure that the enthusiasm spreads to the next generation. Iona joined him with Eilidh at one match, and Eilidh has been to a few matches now and has her own pink and maroon Hearts scarf specially for the occasion.  Craig hopes that Hearts will still be around next year to go and see!

The summer also saw Iona experience camping for the first time when we went up to Blair Atholl with Uncle Mark & Auntie Wendy.  Everybody enjoyed it, and I think there could be lots more camping in store for the girls in years to come!

There were more treats for the girls in the summer: they got to meet Thomas the Tank Engine and some of his friends when we went to Bo’ness railway with Judy & Russell; Grandpa is learning to work in the signal box there!  We also saw some shows at the festival – mainly children’s things, but Gwen and Craig also managed to get into town one evening to see a comedian.  It makes a change for Gwen to be able to laugh naturally rather than pretend that Craig’s jokes are funny! 

 

In August, our extended family extended a bit further with the birth of Imogen, second daughter to Eleanor and James.  A visit to London was therefore due; we waited until the September weekend and some time off nursery for Eilidh, which she started in August!  It’s difficult to believe that our little girl has now entered “the system”, where’s she’s going to be now for a long, long time!  She’s really enjoying the nursery; she goes on four afternoons a week, Monday to Thursday, and gets Fridays off.  A further sign of her growing up is that she quit her Baby Ballet class to join a dance school. She really enjoys this, and is looking forward to preparing for a show in May.  Mummy has already had a sneaky look at the costumes and thinks it’s going to be great fun.

All these UK flights were good practice for the girls ahead of our trip to Australia in October & November.  We were away for three weeks, and stayed with Auntie Kathryn and Kieran in Perth – sadly, Uncle Sean was away working.  It was spring-time in Perth, and the week before we went Perth was experiencing the same temperatures as we had in our little Indian summer in Scotland.  The week we arrived, the sun decided to come out in Perth, though Kathryn, clearly spoiled by a few years of Australian-living, had the temerity to say it was cold when she picked us up from the airport and it was 20°C.  Perth soon had its own heatwave, getting in to the 30s and setting a record for October at 37°C, which was probably a bit hot for us in all honesty!  We had a fantastic time cuddling a koala, feeding kangaroos and wallabies, learning about Aboriginal life and exploring the area around Perth (we had a holiday within a holiday with a wee break to Pemberton and the Margaret River region).  Eilidh got to play in a multitude of Australian parks, and drink a multitude of chocolate milkshakes; fortunately, Craig was able to assist in the latter – and the former, come to think of it! 

We stopped over in Dubai on both journeys, which helped us to get used to the temperature changes – roasting on our way out but noticeably cooler on our return.  So we went from mid-30s in Oz, to low 20s in Dubai, to 1°C when we landed in Glasgow, at which point Eilidh cheered with joy and was ever so excited about being back in the cold.  A true Scottish lass!  The girls were really good on all the flights, slept when they were supposed to (all but the last one were night flights), and they only really got jet-lagged once we were home.

It seemed like we were no sooner back from Australia than we were off jet-setting again, this time to London for a thanksgiving service for Imogen and birthday party for Bronwen.  It was a lovely weekend, though quite tiring.  Rather than just relaxing at home the following weekend, we decided to recharge our batteries in front of the log fire up in Sallachy, with Auntie Lynne joining us on the trip.  It was an interesting journey up, with the snow starting to lie on Rannoch Moor, meaning that the bulk of the journey had to be completed at very low speed.  On the plus side, we were able to have a snowball fight in the glen the next morning!  

That’s about it for the year so far, but there’s more excitement to come.  We have Eilidh’s nursery nativity service, Iona starring as Jesus in the church nativity, but most exciting, Auntie Kathryn is due to have a baby girl, sometime around Christmas.  Other than that, we are all hoping to just relax and enjoy the last couple of weeks of Gwen’s maternity leave, with a real aim to carry over at least some of our relaxation and reduced stress when she restarts at New Year.  Craig is cutting his hours to have Friday afternoon off with the girls, which will be great for everyone, especially as the girls get older and will have early finishes at school on Fridays.

The family Browning would like to wish you all a very relaxed and stress-free Merry Christmas too, and best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2014.

Love

Craig, Gwen, Eilidh and Iona