aberfeldy 2014

 Just to prove we are not totally heartless parents, abandoning Dulcie at the first whiff of a weekend away, here are some pictures of the week we all spent in Aberfeldy earlier this month.

We were in the local charity shop so much we realised Dulcie thought this shop WAS Aberfeldy.  Dulcie loved it in there - they had loads of toys on a bottom shelf, so she played happily for ages while we browsed the rest of the stuff.  I don't think we made any amazing finds this year (we usually do) but we all got some good books.

 Most of our time was spent hanging out at the swimming pool and play park, or drinking delicious coffees and eating cakes, but we did manage to make the most of the scenic circular bus for a day trip to Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre near Comrie.  We all had a fantastic day and I couldn't recommend it more highly for a day out with a small child in tow.  There was so much for Dulcie to see and do and plenty in place for entertainment had it not been such a glorious day.

 The setting of the place is absolutely beautiful and it was great to lunch surrounded by such gorgeous scenery...

 ...and crisp-loving peacocks!

There was a great outdoor play area - fun for all the family, as you can see!

 Aw!  See?  She loves him really!  (She doesn't always like to show it.)

 There was a giant sandpit and tunnels to explore.  Poor Dulcie came a cropper while trying to join in with the big kids, tripping over a slightly bigger little girl and landing face first on the pavement.  She had a gigantic bruise and graze on her forehead and skint bits by her eye and on her chin.  She was a brave soldier, certainly braver than her dad about it!

 After a brief recovery spell, she was all set to tackle the soft play area and we had to drag her kicking and screaming to the last bus home.

Animal highlights included tickling a lemur's armpit, seeing a surprisingly cute baby goat, holding fluffy little chicks and explaining what that appendage on the horse was...

 Here are some snaps from our wanders around town.

We like these fish.

 I convinced Dulcie this golfer was Cruella de Vil.  She's never seen 101 Dalmatians but we like to sing the song and realised we could get Dulcie to move much faster (when tight for time for a bus, for example) if we pretended we could see Cruella de Vil following us.

 On the Saturday we bussed it to nearby Logierait to visit the monthly market.  Dulcie had been wanting her face painted for weeks (after seeing it on TV) so we were happy to pay £2 for the experience.

 Dulcie chose to be a ladybird and was very pleased at first...

 ...turning into the bad-tempered ladybird shortly afterwards!

Dulcie has been going through a contrary phase lately and it really reached its peak while we were on holiday.  Oh, the screaming...  Every choice she made caused a huge strop, with Dulcie allegedly wishing she'd chosen differently.  And screaming.  And screaming and screaming.  She screamed and screamed about wanting the face paint off (this was after screaming about wishing she'd been a clown instead of a ladybird) and then screamed and screamed about wanting the paint back on once I'd caved in and set about her with a baby wipe.  Ugh.  But this was less than a fortnight ago and, touch wood, a lot has changed since then.  We've made some major progress with her sleep issues and, possibly connected, the screaming seems to have taken a back seat again.

Last but not least, I finally found and read this message from past-Graham in the Watermill guest book.

Ah, the joys of holidaying in the same place every year, a la pensioners!