If It's Gonna Be Hot, We May As Well Be Home

As temperatures soared into the 90s in Milwaukee for the first time in two years, Maggie and I decided that we'd rather be hot at home. So, we packed up and headed to Pcola/Mobile . . . where temperatures soared into the 100s. But what's 10 degrees among friends? 90 and dry versus 100 and humid is really just asking whether you'd like to be baked or simmered....either way you end up cooked.

As a side note, I figured it's worth a mention that Maggie and I nearly had to pull an all-nighter driving from the ATL to Pcola as our Delta flight from Milwaukee was about an hour and a half late. After sprinting through the airport while carrying our luggage in my arms, we made it to our flight just in time. And for those of you curious, I'm just now catching my breath.

We arrived into Pcola pretty late on Thursday and headed to Mags' house, where Mark was just finishing cooking the blue crab for dinner on Friday. Maggie, in her zeal for Lent to return, remembered that it was now officially Friday and ate 3 1/2 blue crabs in its honor. What a Catholic.

The next morning, the whole family rose early and headed to the Gulf. Mark had loaded down the truck with six kayaks, paddles, and all neccessary accessories for an above-water adventure. Accompanying us on this excursion were Mark, Mary, Ryan, and Chrissie, all seasoned kayaking veterans. Maggie and I were relative newbies. While we had been once before in Mexico, its government had asked that we never kayak again in its waters as a condition of our release. We were happy to oblige.

So Ryan and I put in first and floated around for about a minute, which apparently was long enough for the wind to take us halfway to Cuba. Shortly thereafter, Maggie, Mark, Mary, and Chrissie joined us, which was good because they had the sandwiches. We spent most of our time paddling about looking for wildlife, which everyone saw (except me). Allegedly, there was a giant fish that leapt out of the water, a giant manta ray that leapt out of the water, and a bull shark that we're all glad did not leap out of the water.

A little while later, we began our arduous trek back to the mainland, fighting the wind and waves the whole way. We thought some of us might not make it back, but apparently Maggie's fear of schooling fish is a powerful motivator.

The kayaking crew.

Next up was lunch at Peg Leg Pete's, where I dined on my dish of choice -- Oyster PoBoy. Everyone else had similarly delightful meals. Post-lunch, Mark and Mary headed home to get dinner prepared, but Ryan, Chrissie, Maggie, and I headed back out to the beach. We actually went down toward Ft. Pickens, where the speed limit is precisely 5 mph. Luckily, for those speed junkies out there, it does eventually get up to 15 mph. When we all had calmed down from that mad rush of NASCAR-like action, we took the first left we possibly could to get off of that road! We had arrived, albeit slowly.

Unfortunately, we spent about 15 minutes at the beach. There was some type of jelly fish or sea nettles that stung when they touched skin. It wasn't a lasting pain, but like a sharp, hot knife digging into your skin for a millisecond. Pleasant, I know. Mags and I tried to fight through to a sandbar, but fearing some type of paralysis, we instead limped back to the beach in defeat. Without the water, the beach was just hot, so we packed it up and headed to Chrissie's new place, which was quite nice and comes with a pool.

We soon found ourselves headed back to Maggie's house, where we showered up and prepared for the festivities. Jeff, Rita, Tim, Kelly, and Kathy joined the pre-assembled crowd for a dinner of grouper, a grouper-like fish that I cannot remember, and blue crab. Consensus opinion was that it was quite delicious. After post-dinner chatting, we hit the sack.

Saturday was Mobile day! Mags and I woke up early and headed to the Yellowhammer State for a visit with the Larche/Cotton/Gatlin/Kluge family. Liz, Miles, Ian, Laura, Celi, Diane, and Nana all joined in the festivities. Dad had bought many pounds of crawfish, which marks the first time Mags and I have eaten crawfish since before we were married. After decorating my pants with crawfish brains (who hasn't done that?), I needed to change into another pair of shorts lest my pants stain. So, Mom threw my shorts in the wash and I did my best impersonation of Sven the Tennis Pro, an impersonation that comes complete with really really short shorts. Thinking that I could somehow counterbalance the smallness of my shorts, I borrowed a pair of Miles' swin trunks when we went swimming in our neighbor's pool. It actually worked out well, as what amounted to parachute pants helped keep me afloat.

After swimming briefly, Mags and I (and my folks) got changed to go to the wedding shower of two of our good friends, Angela and Patrick. It had been quite a while since we had seen them last, and although RSVPing with the hosts, we did not tell Angela or Patrick that we were coming. I think they were excited and surprised to see us both, and we all had a great time. Mr. Matt Shelby and his fiance were there, as were Mr. Chris Reeves and his fiance. It was really great to visit with everyone, and the food was excellent -- ribs and BBQ chicken. Yum. Once the shower was over, we said our goodbyes (until September) and hit the road.

Angela and Patrick

Not wanting the evening to end just yet, we made a pit stop at the Original Oyster House, where Brian was able to join us for dinner. We had fried crawfish tails and fried crab claws. I gotta say that the crawfish tails were disappointing, but no so with the crab claws. As with all good things, our dinner came to an end. Mags and I said goodbye to my parents and Brian (or so we thought), and hit the road back to Pcola.

No plans had been made for Sunday, Father's Day, but at approximately 9:45am, we decided we were gonna go "yaking" down the Coldwater. Now, unfortunately "yaking" was not quite what I thought it was, but kayaks are fun too and they are much easier to carry to the river. Mark, showcasing his e-savvy, posted a tweet that the fam was hitting up Coldwater. Shortly thereafter, Kelly and Kathie were in for the adventure. Mags and I also phoned Brian, who made the drive over to join in the fun. So, for the second time in three days, we loaded up the kayaks and hit the road.

It was a nice hot day, and Coldwater felt fantastic. It was about as crowded as I have ever seen it, with constant floats to avoid all the way down. At one point, I believe Kelly attempted float-herding, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. So, we cruised on down to the exit point at a nice relaxing pace.

Kathie and Kelly

Shortly before the exit, Mags and I distinctly remember there being a short canal that leads to one of the coldwater springs that feeds the Coldwater. In fact, we had been there before, and it couldn't have been more than 75 yards from the river. Thinking this would make a fun detour, Maggie, Brian, and I headed up the river. Approximately 300 yards later, the expedition was losing steam. Brian had malaria, Maggie had lost our only wagon tongue, and I was still trying to figure out how to pronounce "diptheria." And alas, no spring in sight. As I was the leader of this caravan, I offered to run ahead to see if we were close. After another 100 yards through the raging current, I gave up all hope of ever finding the spring and headed back downstream. I believe Maggie and Brian were pleased that they could finally stop walking, but I reminded them that we wouldn't be walking at all if Maggie hadn't lost our wagon tongue. So, a slight downer at the end of the trip, but all and all, fun was had by all.

Mags, Brian, and Mark

Once back to Mags' house, we feasted on Sonny's BBQ, which was deliciously awesome, sauteed crab claws (ditto), and a crab bisque that was phenomenol. Everyone was pretty well stuffed, so we proceeded to chill on the couch, answering random Trivial Pursuit questions until Hercule Poirot came on. Soon after solving the mystery (which we always do, of course), Mags and I called it an early night. Our flight left at 6:05am, so an early morning was unavoidable.

Well that's our trip in a nutshell -- a really really large nutshell. To recap, here are the key points: we saw family and friends, ate lots of seafood, and yaked twice (but in the good way). Thanks to everybody for showing us a good time!

Red Sox (2-13)....But What a 2!!

I figured that it was about time I memorialized my team. For those of you who do not know, or for those of you who wonder why I am randomly sending you the box score for Little League games, I am coaching a Little League team this year with one of my law school buddies, Nick. We both did Sports Law together and basically ensured that despite general apathy running rampant at the law school, we would have intramural teams each year. So, it's a good fit. We were bored and wanted something to do, so we jumped in.

Nick is "manager" and I'm "head coach." That means that he has all of the "responsibility" and has to carry the heavy equipment bag. We generally split the duties. He coaches third base and I keep the book and serve as bench coach. Other than that, we pretty much talk pregame and throughout the game to make any decisions. We've also got a "go to" dad, which makes life a lot easier. He's hilarious, too, so that's an added bonus.

Coach Nick and I discuss last-minute line-up changes.

We, the Red Sox, are an expansion team this year, so we only have two "returning" players, i.e. 12-year-olds. That means we have eight 11-year-olds. We are young team, and it shows....most notably in our record....and our ERA. Still, they've gotten a lot better, and next year we will be loaded. Everyone's had a blast (I hope), so no complaints.

Below is the team:

Front: Nate, Calvin, Nathanial, Bobby, Jacob
Back: Nick, Sam, Luke, Joey, Tom, Will, Me

I told you we have fun. This picture was taken after we lost to the previously winless Padres by a score of 12-2.


In case you all are curious, which I'm sure you are, here are some fun facts about our team:

1. I am the only person in the above picture wearing a youth small jersey.
2. Coach Nick has never seen a baseball game without sunglasses.
3. If you are in Timbuktu and want to know how many outs there are, ask Calvin. He'll know.
4. If you instead want to know where the play is, ask Nathanial.
5. If someone asks you who the greatest (insert position here) in the world is, the answer is always Will, or so we're told.
6. We've lost five games by one run and three on walk-offs.
7. Our first win came against the first place team on a walk-off RBI double by Jacob, on his birthday. Look for the made-for-tv movie on USA this fall.
8. Our second win came on a triple play. I can't make this stuff up.
9. The above picture was taken on the first day this season that I have not had to wear long-sleeves under my jersey.

Go Red Sox!

We're Goin' to Jackson! (ville)!

Maggie and I recently (ok, within the last month) have returned from Jacksonville, where we attended the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Eli George. Much fun was had by all. The wedding was great fun, and we got to visit extensively with Ninalee and Greg Beckham, which was a blast. Here's the play by play.

Mags and I arrived in Jacksonville, rented a car, and headed off for our hotel, which was right next to a Mayo Clinic. When Maggie tried to print the directions off of google, our printer messed up and would only do one turn per printed page, so she aborted. Unfortunately, she did not then write down the rest of the directions. To further complicate matters, we had the wrong address for the hotel! But, if anyone is interested, the Jacksonville Beach area is very nice no matter how many times you drive past it.

Eventually we arrived at our hotel, which was quite nice. We had a balcony overlooking the pool. Fantastic. At the time, it was still 50s in Milwaukee (motto: Our Spring is so long that you forget what it feels like to be warm).

It was now about midday and we were hungry, so we drove around looking for this restaurant recommended by our hotel when the Maggie and Spencer curse hit again. You can take us anywhere you want -- Rome, Paris, or Paul Prudhomme's kitchen -- we will find a bad meal. It was nice to be outside, but the meal was a two thumbs down. Not a good start. However, while we were driving around, we popped out to the entrance to TPC Sawgrass, which for those of you who do not follow golf, is home to the PGA Players' Championship. I quickly snapped a pic and emailed to Dad. Who knew? I took that as a sign that our fun adventure was just getting started.

Since Friday was already half over, Mags and I decided to postpone the beach and take advantage of a large block of free time. We headed down the coast to St. Augustine, which as Maggie will surely tell you, is the oldest (surviving) settlement in the United States. As an attorney, I can spot another attorney's handiwork from a mile away, and I gotta say that every sign in St. Augustine has been vetted thoroughly. There are a lot of half-truths and stretches, but no blatant lies. Still, it's enough to ruffle at least one Pensacolan's feathers (Maggie!).


It really is a lovely place, but they've chosen to commemorate the first Mass at St. Augustine with a fifty foot tall cross that can be seen from space. It's a bit gaudy, but I did see a dolphin and a turtle while I was there, so I guess I'll forgive them.

So on Saturday morning, Maggie and I decided to beach it up. Since our hotel was roughly 7 minutes from the beach, this was pretty easy to accomplish. Realizing the need for a good base burn, we opted for no sunscreen on day one, a decision that would haunt us for weeks. The beach was great. It's no Pcola, but let's be honest, what is?

Most importantly, Maggie and I found a great seafood place at the beach that is outdoors and above a seafood market--it doesn't get any fresher than that! I had an oyster po boy and Maggie had a grouper sandwich, and we both instantly remembered what we've been missing. My next three meals (except for the wedding) were all oyster po boys. Oh how I miss oysters. So, Saturday = yum.

Saturday evening was the wedding, which was a lot of fun. The ceremony was nice and we got to spend lots of time with Ninalee and Greg. I know Maggie enjoyed seeing her friends again, and I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them for the first time, so all and all, good times.

On Sunday, Courtney came to Jacksonville to play with us, and we all hit the beach. This time, I went prepared with a $10 boogie board curtesy of Target. The current was exhausting, but man it was awesome to be in the waves again.....stuipid Lake Michigan. All the customary beach things were done -- sunning, swimming, body surfing, boogie boarding, hole digging, and frisbeeing. We only had two days, so we really had to pack it all in. Naturally, we fell back into our Southern roots, and by Sunday afternoon I was giving directions to tourists.

Maggie and I at our seafood market/restaurant.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and after an evening dip in the pool, Court had to leave us. Mags and I crashed very hard that evening, and we also became aware of just how burned we were. As I related on twitter, Maggie was a lobster, but I only resembled a fire engine. Lots and lots of aloe was used.

So that recaps our Jacksonville trip, which was mucho fun! And we're getting ready to head back to Pcola/Mobile for more fun in the sun, so buy some stock in Aloe!!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Well of course this has to be a vacation post. Milwaukee, while interesting and fun in its own right (read: come visit us please), is certainly not the happiest place on Earth, especially not in January...unless you're a snowman or maybe a polar bear. Everybody knows that the happiest place on Earth is none other than Disney World!!!!!

Yes, Maggie and I have just returned from a weekend excursion to Disney World. We left Friday evening and after a slight delay, got into Orlando (direct flight, no less) around 11:30 eastern time. We hit Disney Saturday/Sunday and flew out again today (Monday), arriving back in the MKE around 3pm. Woot!

I'm not gonna give a play by play, but a nice overview is in order, I believe. In the interest of providing some background, I'd like to note that I have been to Disney World only one other time (technically twice if you count in utero), when I was two years old. Needless to say, I remembered very little and wasn't really so sure why Maggie always gets so excited about Disney World. Now I know.

Welcome to Disney World!

Day 1

Mags and I woke up from our hotel, which was a nice little extended stay place about six miles away from Disney. We had our own stove, microwave, fridge, etc....very nice set-up. We weren't sure what park to hit first, but decided on The Magic Kingdom because Splash Mountain was supposedly going to be closed on Sunday and we had already decided to split our time between Epcot and The Magic Kingdom. We walk in the park, take a ferry across instead of the monorail (bc I thought it looked like fun) and arrive at the gates of The Magic Kingdom. The place is freaking huge! I had no idea. We went straight to Splash Mountain, whose song I still can't get out of my head, and rode it a few times. We intended to then head straight over to Epcot for the rest of the day, but once in the Magic Kingdom, that's just impossible. So, we hit Thunder Mountain, then the Haunted Mansion, then Peter Pan, then Snow White, then Pooh, and finally decided to head to Epcot. By this time, it was already noon. Whoops...time flies and all that jazz.

Nothing about this picture says "Tourist," right?

So off to Epcot we go for lunch (we decided to hit Epcot for lunch bc they have the world tour area and we could pick our country). We picked Italy, where we had some fantastic lasagna, that having recently been in Rome, we can say tasted exactly like it did in Rome....like Chef Boyardee! Still, it was quite good, and after a short nights sleep and a heavy lunch, we were a bit tired. We rested while we waited for our Fast Pass to kick in at the GM Test Track and couldn't help but wonder how this is considered an okay investment for GM....but don't get me started. Anyways, the Test Track was pretty freakin' cool. It basically takes you through all the tests they do normal cars, culminating in a 75 mph lap through hairpin turns....very fun.

Greetings from Epcot!

After Test Track, we finished our tour of the worlds, spending time in Japan, Mexico, France, Morrocco, the UK, Norway, and of course, CANADA!!! Canada was actually pretty cool, and after watching a ten minute video on it, I can honestly say that it looks gorgeous and Maggie and I are probably gonna try and go there in the near future. We also went on a Viking Cruise while in Norway, vich vas very awfjsome. Apparently they're known for two things: vikings and trolls. Again, who knew?

Speaking of trolls....apparently, not a tire troll. Just FYI.

After hitting some more rides at Epcot, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom until the park closed at 11pm. We rode just about everything except Space Mountain on Day 1. That line was ridiculous all day. After we departed the park, we drove back to the hotel to meet Courtney, who drove down from Tallahassee to go with us on Sunday!!! After quick hellos, we crashed hard.

Space Hero Spencer and Navigator Maggie fresh back
from slaying the evil Lord Zurg in Sector 9.

Day 2

We woke up early again and got to Disney about fifteen minutes after it opened. We had a gameplan. We shot straight for Space Mountain, got a fast pass, and got in line right away anyways. We walked straight through to the front of the line, rode Space Mountain, got in line again, no wait again, then wandered off for a bit to wait for our fast pass to kick in. First thing, three times in a row might be a bit much. For the record, Space Mountain really is that awesome. We then covered the park from top to bottom, from Pirates of the Carribean, the Jungle Cruise, and Aladdin to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, all of Fantasy Land, the tea cups, Toon World, It's a Small World, and even the Country Bears Jamboree. I can't say that anything special happened because everything was so awesome! Disney rocks hardcore!

The three of us on Thunder Mountain. (Pardon my expression, but I was holding the camera and hit the button before I remembered to smile correctly. Whoops.)

Mags and Court gearing up for Peter Pan!

Mags and Court prepare to thwart Captain Hook all by themselves.

So as you've noticed by now, I've sprinkled some pictures throughout. My favorite picture is not included bc we would have had to buy it. It was of the three of us going down the big drop (into the briar patch) of Splash Mountain. Court and Mags are in the front row, huddled against each other in fear. I'm by myself right behind them with my hands spread out and raised, screaming my head off in enjoyment (and I'm even wearing my mouse ears).

Arrrggghhhh!

So all and all, great time was had by all, and we'd be back in a second if we could keep this "earning a living" thing off our backs....but such is life.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope everyone had as nice a Christmas as we did. With speakphones on both ends, it's like we were there with y'all on Christmas morning.....well, almost...

Anyways, so I'm gonna back up to Christmas Eve and give a full recap of our festively fun holiday. Mags and I decided to go with hors d'oeuvres instead of a full dinner, which I think was a good call. You can see the spread below. We picked our way through Christmas Eve and it was delicious. Maggie then watched The Bishop's Wife, whilst I crashed on the couch. Naps are great, especially when you're expected to go to Midnight (11pm) Mass.

For those of you keeping score at home, we have shrimp,
artichoke dip, cheese and crackers, and sausage balls.

Maggie and I then headed off to Midnight Mass at our new parish, St. Matthias. It was packed out, and a good Mass as well. No complaints, although our priest's homily focused on the whole light/dark dichotomy in the gospel by explaining Lord of the Rings. While interesting, I felt bad for those not well versed in the ways of the Rings. Post-church, we scurried to our car, where a nice sheet of ice had formed on all the windows, and proceeded home to bed.

I should note here that while it did not snow on Christmas, I think having two feet of snow already on the ground constitutes a white Christmas. So there.

We woke up on Christmas morning at around 9 something. What's the rush, right? We had all day to open presents; we might as well be well rested. And then, the present opening began, starting with stockings. Now I won't go into great detail about the Christmas gifts so as not to bore you all, but here are Maggie and I with our Christmas loot.

I gotta say, we made out like bandits. Thanks everybody for making our first "alone" Christmas not feel so alone. After leaving a decent amount of time to play with our presents, (I mean, this is Christmas after all), we set up the Wii we received from Mags' parents. One word: awesome. I have to say, though, that Maggie is better than me at every single one of the Wii games. It's embarassing. And that's no knock on Mags, but seriously, can't I be better at at least one game? Well anyways, here is Maggie kicking butt on Wii boxing.

Here, she is executing what I have dubbed the Crouching Maggie, or alternatively, the JabberMaggie. She crouches into the position above and lets loose a flurry of knee-high punches that leaves her opponent dazed and occassionally unconscious. It's a fearsome sight to behold.

After Wii-ing it up for a bit, we went sledding on Dead Mans' Hill because, let's be honest, what better way is there to celebrate our Lord's birth than careening wildly out of control down an icy cliff? That's what I thought. But, having two feet of snow down makes climbing said cliff incredibly exhausting, so we only sledded for about 30-45 minutes and then headed home.

Christmas dinner was also fantastic. Maggie made two lovely cornish hens (pictured below), I made some twice baked potatoes, and Mags finished it off with some sauteed zucchini and rolls. Delicious. Once we regained the ability to move, we Wii-ed it up some more and called it a day.

My, what a festive apron she's wearing!

So there you have it. The first Larche/Marcilliat family Christmas celebrated in Wisconsin. Ta-da!

Our Christmas Tree

So Mags and I finally erected our 9-foot Christmas tree. Did y'all know that 9-feet of Christmas tree is an awful lot of tree? We did not. Now we do. We only have 1/2 the necessary lights and ornaments, but luckily we've backed it into a corner so you can't tell. It looks fabulous!

Here's our Christmas tree, full of presents!

Now here's a picture to give some scale to the above photo.

Merry Christmas!!

The Twin Cities.....but in Half the Pictures!

So recently, grizzled Brian the scruffy lumberjack, which I'm assuming is Mobile Brian's midwest alter-ego, stopped over for a weekend in Minneapolis in between weeks spent in the Dakotas, America's Arctic. Mags and I have never seen Minneapolis/St. Paul, so we headed over to meet Brian and play around in the Twin Cities.

St. Paul

It was a whirlwind weekend trip, but fun was had by all. On Friday, we attempted to see just how long it takes someone to freeze to death. Quickly getting bored, we headed back to the hotel, taking note along the way that Target apparently owns all of Minneapolis.

Saturday morning we went to Hell's Kitchen for breakfast, a place recommended by at least two people I know, which makes it practically famous! We felt like rock-stars, except of course, that we were awake at 8am on a Saturday morning. Still, breakfast was delicious. It was fun to actually descend into Hell's Kitchen where the waiters/waitresses were all pajama clad. I believe Brain ate Bison Benedict for breakfast, which may be the first time I've seen anyone eat Bison for breakfast. Kudos to Brian.

We then headed to the Mall of America....for four and a half hours. Wow. What a place. I dont even think we did any shopping....we just walked, ate, and rode multiple roller coasters inside the mall. Yes, inside the mall. These weren't fair rides. They were real theme-park style rides. They even had a log ride. Amazing.

Mall of America Theme Park

When we finished there, we headed back toward St. Paul to see the cathedral. It was quite pretty and pretty big in its own right.

St. Paul Cathedral

We then left St. Paul and headed back to Minneapolis. We went out to eat and watched a parade go by called the Holidazzle Parade. Really and truly, it's a few floats and a lot of people all covered in Christmas lights. It was pretty neat. We then went swimming back at the hotel and called it a night. Sunday morning we went to church at a basilica near by, dropped Brian off at the airport, and headed home.

Twin Cities? Check.

Time to Decorate for Christmas!

Yeah, ok, so I realize Christmas is only five days away, but this post has been coming for weeks, I promise. We decorated right after Thanksgiving, minus the tree (to be featured in a later, less time-lapsed post).

To give some context on these lights, I put them up while it was snowing cats and dogs (frozen cats and dogs, of course). But, I wanted to get them up before we had snow everywhere and ice was causing problems. Of course, being the bright guy I am, I did not think to check and make sure that they all worked. At about 10:30pm I "finished" and realized that two strings didnt work. I called it quits until the next day, by which time there was a solid sheet of ice over the strings I had to replace. So, I had to chip away at ice chunks to unhook the lights. Again, being the smart guy I am, I did not realize that I could just replace the fuses. Well, I'll chalk this year up to experience. Either way, the lights are up and they look great!

We went festive inside too!

Here's our Nativity set.

And what post would be complete without a picture of our snow-covered courtyard?

This, my friends, is a foot and a half-long icicle hanging off our balcony. Pretty awesome, huh?

Happy Halloween! (A day late, but not a dollar short)

Hi everyone! Mags and I went to a Halloween party last night, so we got to dress up, which is always fun. Everyone guess who we are! (I warn you that this is sort of a trick question bc Mags is a genre.)

Yay for Halloween!

We also crafted what I think is one of the scarier pumpkins I've ever helped carve. Coming up with the name was a compromise, but I think it turned out well.

Behold! Harvey the Criminally Insane Pumpkin!!!

I think he likes you......

Highland Games!!!

Maggie and I were bored, but as it is summer in Milwaukee now, we have all sorts of festivals. So what did we do today? We went to the annual Highland Games (aka Scottish Fest)!!! People in kilts abounded!! Bagpipes were everywhere. There was even an invasion of border collies!! All and all, a good time was had by all.


Unless I'm mistaken, this is called the caper toss. Basically, these gigantic men (the Scottish are a stout people) pick up telephone poles and throw them as far as they can. It's really rather scary to watch.

This was part of the sheep herding demonstration. They had three or four border collies putting on a demo. The best dog even managed to split the sheep into two groups and keep control of both of them. It was pretty cool.

No, I'm not dumb enough to try it, but there was Haggis available. Unfortunately, I know how they make it.

Here's Maggie at the sheep herding demo. As you may notice, she's not wearing any sleeves! Summer is here! If you look closely, you can even see a shadow....caused by the SUN!!!!

I can only assume that this was a reenactment of a scene from Braveheart. I've never seen the movie myself, but I hear good things. Although the guy in the blue kilt was rockin' the face paint, the guy in black was a pro.