Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Bo'ness

Today the wee ones and I are loaded with the cold, so maybe while they sleep I'll be able to bust out a couple of posts from our trip to Scotland....we shall see.

My dad attended Glasgow University for his law degree....pictured below. It's such a cool looking building. In 2004, Ryan and I went for a wee mini-tour around it with my dad. We weren't able, however, to go into the Kelvingrove art galleries at that time, which is located just minutes away, as it was under renovation. Ryan was pretty anxious to get a look inside this time around.

The Art Gallery is stunning, but compared to when I was little the permanent exhibitions aren't as cool. They used to have an amazing dinosaur gallery, and an 'under the sea' room which I remember being incredible. Maybe they weren't really that great, but that's how I remember them. My granny and my aunt Joy (my mum's younger sister) met us there.

Here's a picture of the enormous organ located just inside one of the entrances. For half an hour each day a wee lady comes out and plays it...and all the old biddies sit fascinated and give her a standing ovation when it's over...I loved it.
Ryan and I looked through some of the permanent exhibitions, but we spent the majority of our time looking through the visiting exhibit 'Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880-1900'. There were some really lovely paintings. We got a nice surprise when my cousin, Nevada, appeared as we exited the exhibit. Later after Nevada and my mum reused our tickets for the 'Glasgow Boys', we went to the 'Uni cafe' ( I think that's what it was called) and had some yummy lunch. Ryan got his first irn bru( Scottish drink) since arriving and had a wee pork pie and beans....I think he liked it? Ryan has some issues with some of the things we eat in Scotland...it's funny to watch him try new things.

The following day, we got together with my brother and his family again. We took a 45 min drive to a wee town called Bo'ness. This is where the real 'Thomas the tank engine' lives...oh and Percy.....and the annoying Fat Controller.They charge an arm and a leg to get into this place, and really there isn't a whole lot to it, but it was still worth it for the wee ones sake. They, at least, had a fun filled day.

The train(pictured below) takes you on a 30 min ride through some pretty countryside, and then dumps you in a fairly isolated area with a few kiddy rides and a tent with a guy doing a 'punch and judy' puppet show. Ryan and Jack actually loved the puppet show....jack laughed the loudest every time 'Judy' smacked 'punch' in the face with a mallet....great.

Me (holding Peter), my brother, John, Isaac, Samuel, and Jack.

Ryan with Peter, Jack, and Percy.

We stood in a queue for a few mins to get a look inside Thomas' engine. The men that work here and are pretending to be Thomas' drivers take their job VERY seriously.

Another wee train we got to ride on....it simply went back and forward a few times...and was powered by our smiles!!! haha

Jack (and some random overly excited girl) enjoying the swing ride.

Jack got his face painted as he watched the puppet show....he wanted #4 for Gordon.

Just before we left the wee ones saw this little carousel of cars, etc.

Oh how I wish they hadn't. Jack, Samuel, and just about every other kid in the vicinity wanted to ride on the bloomin' double decker bus. Specifically the top of the bus. It turned into utter chaos and the woman in charge of the ride started screaming like a nutter that there was no way she was coming back to work tomorrow. She was even heard exclaiming " I don't care if you're related to God himself, you are not getting on the top of that bus unless I say so!" Baaahhaa

I was extremely happy it was time to leave after that.