Hot Dog Cookout at Muckle Ayre Beach

We had the most amazing night to celebrate the end of school with the McPhersons.  It was the 3rd of July and finally a day that felt like summer!

The kids built a sand fort and defended it against attackers.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and feasted!

What a night!

Hiking to the Hams... well Hiking at the Hams

There are two protected inlets, hams in the local dialect, on Muckle Roe.  They are one of the top attractions in all of Shetland, and just on the other side of the island from us.  Andy and Drew have hiked over to them twice already, but with Samuel's little legs and mommy's preference for walking over hiking, we've been waiting for a day when we could drive most of the way and all enjoy them together. It was our last week on the island when we had a perfect afternoon.  The drive was a good opportunity for me to trust Andy's ranch driving experience and to just close my eyes until we got past the turns and twists and over the bumps.  But my was it an amazing sight!

When this was a place where boats were regularly loaded, there was a village out here, but now there are a lot of abandoned ruins.  But the sheep still feast across the hills.

Three cheers for a beautiful day and a picnic!

Boys and Rocks - Samuel would have stayed here forever!

Drew is getting to be quite the rock climber.

More of Unst

Unst has a museum featuring the fishing culture that supported life here for so long.  The Boat Haven was very interesting and the local docent taught the kids a bit about rowing and fishing here in the kids area.

The Muness Castle was small, but fun to explore.

Locals have a tradition of leaving comfy old furniture in the bus stops to make the wait a little better.  Some have recliners or old couches, but this one is famous as the most elaborate!

Then we drove out to the most northernly inhabited place in all of the UK, Skaw House.

And then we returned on the ferry, back to the mainland, Shetland Mainland that is!

Our trip to Unst, Viking Island

We loved our first trip on a car ferry!  It was so exciting to drive aboard.  Then we got to watch from the deck and there was even a playroom in the passenger lounge.  To get to the outlying island of Unst we took a ferry to the closer island, Yell.  Then we drove across Yell, and took another ferry to Unst.  

We made it!  Here is a reconstructed Viking Longhouse.  The locals on Unst are doing major excavations and projects to discover more about the vikings who lived here.

We had fun playing on this replica of a viking ship.  The kids were very attracted to the role of vikings if mom and dad could be made their slaves.

But even a viking can have a hard time, if he's three!  "I wanted a big oar!"

A Visit from the Bowens

Well, we're still not home, so maybe I can catch up a little while we're still relaxing on vacation.  On June 25th our friends the Bowens came up from London to visit.  They arrived on the most glorious day we had seen in Shetland.  We took them to St. Ninian's and the kids had a great time on the beach and we all praised God for the wonder of the sun!

Then we introduced them to some locals!  The puffins!  It was like the sunshine had made them as excited to get out as we were.  The last time we had visited their nesting ground at Sumburgh Head we saw just one lonely puffin.  This time they were all over the cliffs!  Aren't they cute?

And the next day, the weather got back to usual.  We still managed to get up to Echaness to see the rocky coastline, but we only got a few breaks in the rain to hop out of the cars, so no hiking around on the coastline.  It was a fun time though and then we all went down to Lerwick.  Andy was amazing and took the four kids to play at the museum while the rest of us did a little shopping downtown.

The Shetland Football Cup

Well here's an update that's a little bit odd.  Drew has taken up football, aka soccer.  In fact, he's been practicing on the local team for six to eight-year-olds here in Brae.  He was kindly invited to join them in their tournament on Saturday, and spent the better part of the day playing for the "Deltings" against other local teams. Its a wonderful program really focused on skills and improvement and the kids have been very welcoming too. He had a great time playing and is still really excited about his medal from the tournament.

Even after receiving his medal, he was back out with friends playing again.  I guess this means I'm finally a soccer mom, or will be back home.  For now, in Shetland, I'll be a football mom.

The much awaited midnight picnic!

If you had asked our kids two months ago what they were looking forward to about our sabbatical, they would have told you, "The Midnight Picnic!"  This far north, the sun just barely sets and its light never departs in this season they call the "Simmer Dim."  So as the light started to dim... around 10:30 pm Tuesday night, we packed up the car with a bag of firewood, yummy biscuits aka cookies, and a thermos of hot tea.  The wind had been blowing all day, but the beach at the end of Muckle Roe island is in a valley, and there are two fire pits sheltered by the ruins of a stone fisherman's hut.  So began the long, promised "Midnight Picnic."

Andy built up a great fire and the kids enjoyed their treats while remarking endlessly that they just weren't tired.  It was pretty amazing to all be out on the beach until Midnight, exploring the rocks, scanning the heather covered hills for rabbits, and listening to the surf.

And of course, you just don't get over how light it is - at midnight!

Yes, a promise kept, and a wonderful memory made!  We loved the midnight picnic!  And, yes, in case you were wondering, there was no flash in any of these photos.

Walking in the only wood, on a cloudy day

Shetland does not boast of many trees.  But in a green valley, out of the wind, a few patches of woods grow.  Today we went to explore them.

To get in, pass through the gate, and then climb over the fence with the help of this little bench.  The chicken wire gives helpful footing when your boots are covered in mud on the way back.

Then you can run through the woods.  And when we came out, the sun did too!

An old mill turned art gallery and restaurant.

It is a pretty place

A Sunny Morning

It didn't take too much convincing to get the kids to leave school behind for the morning to take advantage of this lovely sun.  Now I won't say the afternoon return was easy, but everyone did get their lessons done before we left for tea time with friends.  

We went back to the lovely sandy beach crossing to St. Ninian's Isle.  Today we played on the sand and climbed on the rocks.

Drew is getting to be a little mountain goat.  Andy joined him out on the point, but the seals had already heard us and weren't hanging out in the cove now that it wasn't so quiet anymore.

It was a little too windy for our picnic, so we came back to Fladdabister for more shelter and more rock throwing.