Playing in the city and Long Island... August

 Ryan's cousin Trina was in town from Georgia so her and his Aunt Michelle came into the city one rainy afternoon

Learning how to eat a crab...but mostly just playing with our food!

At Gilgo enjoying the beach and even winning an intense game of buck dice!

Chelsea Pier in August

Someone that Ryan worked with told him that he should go to Chelsea Piers so for weeks whenever we were trying to think of something to do he would always suggest that. He didn't actually know what was there he just knew he needed to go. I had to work on a Saturday so he came and met me after work and we walked from Murray Hill towards Chelsea

Sights along the walk

We finally made it!!! It is a pretty cool spot--lots of activities to do including the four story driving range

Taking Karma to the dog park one afternoon

Panama City Beach, Florida

We started out August with a trip down to PCB to visit Karen while she was fixing up the house down there. Ryan grew up spending his summers down in Florida so he was excited for my first trip to the beach house. 

Kayaking in the bay behind the house

Crabing--another first for me--after a day at the beach! I was so excited when I caught one

Out to dinner at Pier Park at Margaritaville

Photo shoot on the dock

A very stormy day at the beach

Last day in Florida soaking up all the sun and sand we could

New York in July

We came back home from California in July to a hot sticky summer! I was pretty miserable until we got air conditioning in our apartment (our living room got up to 93 degrees!) Once we had a place to escape the heat we had fun exploring the city and heading out on the LIRR to Long Island for beach days.

The bottom left picture is from one night when we had run out to the store around the corner...when we left our doorman told us that there was a storm coming and that we should probably stay in. I really wanted an orange and we had to walk karma anyway so we decided to go quickly before it started raining. I had no idea how quick storms move out here! It didn't take long for the thunder and lighting to give way to pouring rain. Needless to say our doorman didn't look to happy with us when we ran back through the door looking like we had just jumped out of the pool! 

Ryan's old room mate Brandon and his wife Brittany came and stayed with us for a few days. I had time off while they were in town so I got to show them around a site see along with them during the day. We went to ground zero, saw the stock exchange, walked across the brooklyn bridge, ate good New York pizza, rode the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island..just to name a few things! It was so fun having them here, we love visitors!

DUBLIN, IRELAND-TAKE 2

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to Dublin but we had a few more sights to see and one last night to have fun

On our flight back to Dublin, we needed to spend our last Pounds since Ireland uses Euros so we both decided we had to pick out a candy bar that we couldn't get at home

The classic Dublin photo...

You almost have to take this picture just to prove that you really did go to Dublin!

We each had to get one out front of the Guinness Storehouse

Kilmainham Gaol

Kind of the Irish equivalent of Alcatraz. They only way to go in and see the jail is by tour so we headed over and waited for our group tour to start

Checking out the jail cells. The jail part was neat, the stories were interesting, but the crazy history lesson was just dragging on!

At this point we were very ready for the tour to be over. Our tour was only supposed to be an hour. Here we are hitting hour TWO!!!!

We actually were trying to figure out if there was a way to escape. We didn't realize that part of the tour was to actually feel like a prisoner too!!!!! The warden is in the top right corner...

After our prison sentence was over we headed back to our hotel, relaxed for a bit then headed back out for dinner. We found a cute little pizza place to sit and enjoy good food and the "football" game. We flew out the next afternoon and amazingly were upgraded to 1st class again! We had such a great trip and saw so many amazing things. We made it home Tuesday afternoon, unpacked, did laundry, repacked, and headed to California on Wednesday! By the time we got there neither of us had any clue what time zone we were on, or whether we were coming or going!

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

We had a great few days in Edinburgh enjoying the sites, food, people, and history. Oh and not to mention the World Cup craziness going on everywhere during our whole trip!

Edinburgh Castle from below

Walking through the city to the Castle and Royal Mile

The Royal Mile

While walking down the Royal Mile we came across the Heart of Midlothian which marks the spot of the old gallows that were in front of the old prison. You stand on the edge of the heart and try to spit into the center loop; if you make it in its good luck.

As we were walking towards the statue on the far right Ryan told me that if I could tell him who the statue was of then he would take a picture of me with it (this is going back to him hating how people take pictures with any statue and me deciding that I have to!) Luckily I had already read all about the Royal Mile in our guide book so I quickly responded "Sir William Scott" 

The Hub (church), Edinburgh Castle, and the site of the last public execution in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

The next morning we made our way back over to Edinburgh Castle to tour around. It was really neat to go here because it gave you an idea of what they castles really were like. Most of the castles that we had seen on our trip were ruins or empty castles. This, however, still had everything there including the roofs, windows, interiors, and so much more. They also have the Scottish Crown Jewels which was awesome to see, along with the "Stone of Scone" which was recently returned from England but must be taken back for any coronation. 

This guy was amazing on the bagpipe, while he was playing you could hear him almost everywhere around the grounds

We got the audio guide to take around with us-- it made everything so much more interesting! 

Boys and their weapons! The top cannon is Mons Meg and actually used to be drug around the battlefield at a whopping speed of 3 miles a day! It weighed 6.6 tons...I can't imagine being one of the many men whose job it was to get this monster from point A to point B

Leaving the Castle

The bottom right picture is the plaque that commemorates the 300 witches that were burned in Edinburgh

That night we did a haunted ghost tour of Edinburgh. It was so much fun! They walked us around the Royal Mile and told us true stories of horrible things that happened, and of the ghosts that were now present in Edinburgh. Our next stop was 4 stories under neath the Royal Mile in the vaults
Left: We were only in the 3rd scariest room and I was already freaked out!
Middle: Ryan wasn't scared at all, he thought it was funny how I didn't want to get left behind the group
Top Right: Thats where one of the ghosts likes to chill...
Bottom Right: I was a volunteer for showing how they used to do the hangings

Around the city

The top right photo is Ryan holding a replica of the Death Mask

Back at our hotel we ordered room service...just for a bucket of ice!! 

We headed out early the next morning for our last day in Dublin...

RITA & NEIL'S WEDDING: INVERNESS, SCOTLAND

It was a beautiful ceremony full of bagpipes, kilts, and tears

Mr. & Mrs.

The beautiful bride

Catching up with everyone I haven't seen in years

The garter & bouquet toss

Enjoying the wedding

LET THE DANCING BEGIN!

Being taught how to dance by a "true Scotsman"

This was a workout! He was flinging me around the dance floor, but I did pick up on the dance!

Definition of a "true Scotsman": Wearing the kilt with nothin' underneath. I discovered why only women wear skirts and dresses...its just too much for guys to handle!!!

Rita and Ryan trying to figure out the dances. It was kind of the blind leading the blind! By the end of the song they almost had it down! I love the picture in the top right corner that shows them doing something totally different than everyone else!

Dancing the night away! We even tried to teach the Scot's how American's dance...line dancing!!!

We had so much fun at the wedding. The reason for the trip ended up also being the highlight of the trip! The Scottish people are so friendly and welcoming. The night was full of great food, laughs, and lots of dancing! By the end of the night Ryan and I were even partnered up doing Scottish dancing together! We were so glad to be a part of the happy couples special day!

INVERNESS, SCOTLAND

Inverness is in the Highlands of Scotland and is absolutely beautiful. We loved our B&B we stayed in for 3 nights, our host was so friendly and loved to talk! We were up here for my friend Rita’s wedding, which was on Friday. We were so excited to see them and go to a Scottish wedding. We got up Thursday morning and had a great breakfast before heading out for the day.

Our first stop was the Culloden Battlefield. This was where the final battle between the Jacobite Highlanders and British took place in 1746. The battle only lasted an hour but during that time 1,500 Jacobites were killed and about 50 from the British side. Because of the massive numbers they were actually all buried on the battlefield with their Clans. After this battle all Scottish culture was outlawed, no more bagpipes, kilts, clans, or tartans.

Ryan standing on the mass Clan Mackintosh grave, which is about 77 yards long

The building that was used as a hospital for the lucky few who made it out alive

The outside wall of the amazing new visitors center has 1,500 bricks jetting out as a memorial to the lives lost. At the far end there is a gap and then 50 bricks to represent those who died from the British side

Awkwardly standing with our tour guide! He kept saying that it was too hot for him to be in his full kilt and I thought he was kidding around until I realized that the Scottish people were roasting because it was "too hot" for them!

Clan MacLaren

Walking down an alley looking for an internet café

Relaxing in a throne at the haunted Tulloch Castle

Waiting for everyone else to arrive to celebrate the night before the wedding

All the girls

Strikin’ a pose

Attempting to lift Neil like the guy’s did with Rita!

Loch Ness

We headed over to Loch Ness the morning of the wedding to see for ourselves if the legend was true!

  

Inside the “Monster Exhibit” it was pretty funny to hear all of the stories and theories. People have spent their entire lives trying to solve the mystery!!!

The Loch Ness, even without the lour of the Loch Ness Monster it was really a beautiful place

In search of Nessie

“Oh look—there she is!!”

“I don’t know, maybe she’s out there”

I’m a believer

After our intense search we made our way back to our B&B to get ready for the wedding