It was only a wee ghostie

We're back from not-so-sunny-Scotland, and I've posted pictures of our trip over at Flickr.com. (Also, there's a tab over on the side with a random sampling of Flickr photos from the 'Groove. In order to simplifiy maintenance, I will slowly migrate pictures into sets over there. If you have good/bad experiences with Flickr that you feel absolutely passionate I should be aware of, please let me know)

While this was intended to be a gathering of the KOA Gang in its full glory, we ended up a couple of couples short, unfortunately. Which left five of us (including the Critter) to rattle around in this house:

Gargunnock house. Sleeps 16. With a dining room, complete with dead animal heads and paintings whose eyes follow you around the room, a formal drawing room with piano made in 1848 and closet full of "Host Your Own Murder Mystery" games, and three stone staircases leading to random levels. There were bedrooms you couldn't get to without going to another level, crossing the house, and then back up/down another spiral stone staircase. The whole thing started life as a 16th century towerhouse, and you could feel the haphazard additions that created the maze it is today. Not to mention adding that special "did you hear that?!" feel that we so enjoyed all week. Did I mention the fire alarm that went off at 2:45am in the morning like a piercing banshee wail that woke me up with such a fright that I thought I was going to have a baby, let alone my increasingly gravid Bride?

The firemen said they had been out there three times in the last three weeks with false alarms. He says false alarms. I say poltergeist with a sick sense of humor. Yeah. I watch the movies.

The Critter, on the other hand, has a distinct lack of any sense of self-preservation. While we huddled together in the extremely well lit drawing room, playing poker over a bottle of wine and copious junk food from the nearby village shop cum post office, she would shout out "I'll be right back!" and go exploring every hidden nook and cranny of the house looking for a way into the attic. We have seriously got to start showing that kid more horror movies. You never say I'll be right back before separating yourself from the herd.

Truthfully, the whole place warmed up after the first day, and we had a blast exploring the countryside a bit more, vomiting at the top of hills and re-arranging the seating chart for the gargantuan dining table.

But best of all, I think, this trip will go down as The One Where We Taught Our Five Year Old To Play Texas Hold 'Em.