Stirling and Doune

After 2 days of severe jet-lag, hanging out at home with my family, and enjoying some local parks with my brother and his kiddos, we decided to go see some castles! We got really lucky with the weather that day....it was beautiful and so warm. When Ryan and I went to Scotland in 2004, prior to having any children, we went to a bunch of castles. I wasn't sure if we'd get to see as many this time around, but we had a couple in mind that Ryan for sure wanted to visit. Growing up we'd go to castles for school trips, on days off with my extended family, and I even went to a couple on youth trips with the church. Despite being to so many, I never tire of the experience....there is always breathtaking scenery to enjoy and it was really cool to take Jack inside a real life castle.

Our first stop was Stirling Castle. That's a statue of Robert the Bruce that sits outside the entrance, and in the distance you can just barely see the Wallace Monument.

Jack got fairly excited about this "big water gun"(as he called it) and sat on it for quite some time while Ryan walked around trying to figure out where in the castle he was supposed to be according to his audio tour...very amusing.

Here's a nice wee photo of Jack and I in the courtyard of the castle grounds. This kid has become a pro-poser...that's what happens when your mum is a nutter like me and takes hundreds upon hundreds of photos.
I love Jack's wee tiny self gazing at the side of the castle in this one. And in case you were wondering, Peter stayed outside roaming the grounds with my mum. He managed to spill an entire cup of juice down himself and when we returned from our wander around the inside he was wearing a "Nessie" t-shirt that my mum bought in the castle shop.
After a spot of lunch and a "luxury Scottish ice cream" (at least that's what the ice cream van claimed) we headed off to Doune Castle, only 20 mins away. Heard of Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Well, this castle was primarily used in the movie and apparently they actually have an annual Monty Python day at the castle...interesting, I'm sure there are lots of weird and wonderful people that attend that!
We took both boys for a look inside this castle and they loved it. I did too. This one, to me, had a "true" old castle feel, it really was something else.