MONTHLY PORTRAIT: august

Sitting on the stairs in our Airbnb cottage in Scotland. They spent so much time there together - holding hands, chatting, scheming, laughing...I hope they remember. We'll cherish them forever no matter what.

SCOTLAND: sunday // trampoline

A last bounce on the trampoline before we packed up the car and headed back to the airport. I absolutely adore those last photos of Ben jumping with each of the girls. Look at their happy faces!

Such a wonderful, brilliant trip that we'll always remember. It was everything we hoped it would be. And I made a little film too, in case the girls ever forget :)

SCOTLAND: monday

We left our cottage to head back to the airport mid-afternoon on Monday, so we managed to squeeze in another adventure in the morning - before heading back to the house to eat an enormous lunch to use up as much food as we could!

I had read about the amazing Three Lochs Drive, that's open from Easter to September (I think!) and is a one way road that takes you past three different Lochs and through the most beautiful Highland countryside. The views were the best we'd seen, and there were places along the drive where you could pull over and see them better. There are car parks at each Loch and we decided to explore Loch Drunkie - best name ever!

It was such a lovely walk, along the edge of the Loch. We tried to be as quiet as possible - not an easy task with Coralie in tow! - to see if we could spot some red squirrels or deer, but I think we were just too noisy!

There were these amazing huge wooden instruments along the way too, which didn't help! There were bells that made different sounds, and two that made a cuckoo noise. Plus the huge Xylophone was a favourite with the girls.

The roads leading to and from the drive, which is off the main road, were really windy and fun too - very Top Gear-esque! Well, they would have been fun if the girls hadn't decided they were just too windy, and puked all over the back seats - in unison! - as we made our way home. Thankfully they were fine after that, but still - I had to drive the rest of the way home super slowly!

SCOTLAND: my sleepy doe

A few captures that I love of Josephine in her beautiful Sleepy Doe PJs. I must get Coralie a pair of these too. Phiney loves them, and I love the style, pattern and quality. They just perfect!

The house we stayed at in Scotland made the perfect backdrop for photos, especially this beautiful bedroom of my dreams (seriously - I took photos so I can one day re-create it!) That Bed Knobs and Broomsticks bed, that Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe wardrobe, the huge mirror that both our girls loved parading in front of!

SCOTLAND: sunday

On Sunday, we decided to head to Loch Ard. It wasn't too far a drive from our house, and it looked absolutely beautiful when we researched it. There were several walks to choose from and we went with the 2.5 hour walk - which was maybe a little long for Coralie and her tiny legs. Especially when I had left the Ergo on our bed at home!

Still, we made sure we had plenty of snacks packed (our girls eat, eat, eat and healthy - plus a couple of treat - snacks are a must!)

It was such a breathtaking place. We had lunch next to the most beautiful little lake on the edge of the loch, where the water was so still the reflection from the surrounding trees was amazing, and the girls fell in love with a little mouse that was running around near the picnic area. We spotted birds and dragonflies, and saw so many little waterfalls. We ran into lots of dog walkers and the girls climbed every rock and tree they could.