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Arran Trip

The big holiday, a holiday cottage on Arran so Daddy can go windsurfing and Mummy and Euan can explore the island.
We have arrived, eventually. We missed the ferry, well not quite, we missed the check in time so we got put in the standby queue. Luckily there was space on the next sailing. We popped along to Asda for our dinner, whilst waiting.
First impression of the cottage, in the dark, brilliant! Nice size, warm and cosy. "Fine" according to Mummy. "Awesome" according to Euan.
Looking forward to exploring in the morning.

Sunday

Out and about exploring today, a figure of 8 trip around the island. We think we have made a good choice of being based in Lamlash.
We now know where the distillery is, where the brewery is and the local pub is. We stopped for a cup of tea and sticky bun on our travels, well Euan had a raspberry brulee. Mummy and Daddy got a taste, just and very tasty it was too.
Once back at base we walked to the local beach, playpark and shop. Well we walked and Euan cycled. The beach looks excellent for Daddy to go windsurfing especially in a South Easterly wind direction, just what is forecast for Wednesday.
An excellent dinner, which was put in the slo cook pot before we went out, was followed by a relaxing evening watching a dvd and cheese and biscuits for supper.

Monday

We have been to the distillery and the brewery today, by bus. Mummy has a ticket for the buses all week so her and Euan can go to the spa whilst Daddy is windsurfing. The buses on the island are very good and the drivers helpful. The distillery times it's tours by the bus times!
We walked a short distance from the brewery back into Brodick and found the Chinese takeaway, that's dinner for another night sorted.
We visited the spa this morning and looked at the prices for bike hire for another day. The distillery was very good, a wee dram of Arran 14yr old malt whilst we watched a video about the distillery, before the tour. Euan got a sniff but not a taste. The brewery does a nice selection of beers. We are sampling the blond beer whilst typing this. Earlier Euan tried the Arran raspberry ripple ice cream - "Yummy" was the verdict. Later we will try the Arran cheddar with claret.

Tuesday

A relaxed start to the day, a scrummy breakfast was followed by the discovery that WiFi had failed! Never mind we went off cycling. We hired bikes from Arran adventure and set off to explore. A short ride up Glen Cloy was followed by a trip round the back of Brodick Castle. Lots of uphill was followed by a picnic and then lots of downhill! Mummy managed to fall off at one point, bruising her bottom, Euan walked up hill a lot and Daddy damaged the hire bike.
We returned to the cottage and there was still no WiFi. We walked along to a local hotel that offered free WiFi and discovered the problem was affecting the whole island! By the time we had walked back to the cottage the problem was fixed, yippee.
A scrummy pasta dinner was followed by a bath for Euan and a quiet evening watching some tv.

Wednesday

Today Daddy went windsurfing, well he drove around the island a bit, selected a location, rigged up and got in the water. He couldn't sail off the beach because it wasn't quite windy enough. The wind direction was onshore which never helps.
Meanwhile Mummy and Euan visited the spa! "top, excellent, brilliant" according to Euan. "It was OK" according to Mummy. She couldn't explore the steam rooms etc because they were away from the pool and Euan was not allowed in any of them.
We met up early afternoon and went for a short local walk, Euan cycled, before popping into Brodick to collect Euan's goggles that he left at the spa, buy some stuff for breakfast from the co-op and get a Chinese takeaway for dinner.
And what a scrummy dinner it was. We must all have been hungry because we ate the lot! After a short interval, about half an hour, we then had pudding.
A quiet evening in is planned since it is raining outside.

Thursday

Treasure hunt day, a birthday present for Daddy. We followed the clues around the south of the island and worked out the answer. We will now enter the answer into the prize draw and see if we win treasure.
Eating lunch seems to be a popular pastime on Arran, we tried three cafes in two villages, before we got a table. With this in mind we booked a table for dinner at the Glenisle hotel. Mummy treated us for Daddy's birthday, very tasty it was too and Euan was very well behaved all evening
A quiet afternoon was spent hiding from the rain, writing postcards and playing on the laptop. Mummy and Euan went and posted the cards and tried to visit Arran foods factory shop. It was shut, "Due to unforseen circumstances". Fortunately it is only a two minute walk from the cottage so I am sure we will get back there.
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Friday

Spa day, well a short visit to the spa again so Mummy could try the steam rooms etc. Daddy and Euan had a swim then moved to the playbarn. Mummy went to the farmers market and the bakers for lunch. We all met up at the bus stop, which is also the ferry terminal so we watched the ferry dock, very slick.
We got the bus back to the cottage and had lunch. Daddy decided not to go windsurfing, in the rain and very little wind. We had a quiet afternoon in the cottage and Mummy and Euan then walked along to Arran fine foods, it was open today
Dinner was fish and chips from the chip shop in Brodick, very tasty and very reasonably priced.
A quiet evening in watching the BFG whilst Mummy and Daddy slowly started packing for the journey home tomorrow.

Saturday

That's it for holidays for this year, until Xmas! Back home after a pleasant ferry crossing, on which Daddy had a scrummy breakfast, Euan had his first bowl of cereal for a week, then sampled bits of Daddys breakfast followed by an Arran ice cream. Mummy contented herself with a lorne roll and a small taste of the ice cream. It was a very damp drive back to Perth, Mummy was very glad Daddy was driving! Heating on as soon as we got in and an hours hard work unloading the car and unpacking, then relax.

The year so far.