February started out beautiful and surprisingly warm! We packed up the boys the first Saturday of the month and started the day with a picnic at Cannon Beach and then made our way to Astoria. Astoria has a special spot for Chad and I and we absolutely love this town and being able to share it with the boys has been amazing. Our favorite thing to do in Astoria is go and look for some Seals. We had a delicious dinner on the water and finished our adventure day at a very retro Video Arcade.
Ottos School Hosted a family dance and it was a fun filled night and the kids definitely lived their best life! Some fellow Kindergarten Moms and I took charge of the Photo Booth and Backdrop. It has been really nice getting to know Ottos Classmates family. Luckily, many of the families have younger siblings so Flynn has been meeting lots of new friends too!
Super Bowl my friends and I hosted our friends 40th Birthday and it was so much fun. We had amazing food, good company, and even some fun games. Otto and Flynn were very excited that Henry (Sheepadoodle) came over to play!
The Boys are wrapping up their swimming lessons. The lessons are through the City of Hillsboro every Friday night for 30 minutes. We feel very fortunate that we got a spot for a private swim instruction, considering swim classes are so hard to come by. The boys adore their Teacher and it has been so fun seeing how excited they are becoming leaning how to swim!
Chad and I had a Date Night in Portland. One of our favorite Portland Events “The Portland Night Market” happens each quarter and we always try to make it to the Valentines Event.
Sending lots of love to all as we embark on Spring Time adventure and entering our boys Birthday Month! 🌹🍀🥳
Hello family and friends, so I started off 2024 with taking a long break from social media. I can honestly say it’s been pretty refreshing being away from ALL Social Media. I still wanted a way to connect with Family and Friends so I figured this would be the best way for the Busch family to stay connected!
News Years Party with Ottos Classmates and Family!
Last minute I threw out the idea to host some of Ottos classmates and it quickly turned into a pretty big New Year Eves Celebration!
So much fun was had we had a balloon ball drop at 7pm and the kids loved running around with glow sticks. It was really fun meeting Ottos classmates and families, there was a handful of younger sibling about Flynns age!
Snow Days
The Busch boys definitely took advantage of our week off school due to snow and ice. We are luckily to live on a slight hill perfect for sledding. The Busch house was home base for the neighborhood buddies. We had such a fun week hosting friends and having lots of hot coco breaks!
Otto Wrestling
Otto just finished his 2nd season of Wrestling and he loved it. He participated in 3x tournaments and had an absolute blast!
Otto Started Cub Scout
Took part in his first Pinewood Derby and the Kinders took place in a “boxcar race” it was the cutest thing!
This was a quick trip to make our way up north to catch our boat that would take us to Bergen.
Chad picked up the car in the morning and we quickly realized we needed a larger car. The mid size SUV in Europe felt more like a small compact. 🤣
Luckily we all squeezed in and drove to upgrade our car to a respectable station wagon! We knew this would a longer drive day (5 hours total). We really wanted to check out the Mønsted Limestone Mines (The world’s largest limestone mine.)
We loaded up on coffee and delicious treats at a gas station. Let me tell you, the gas stations in Denmark are amazing, stocked with high end pastries and coffee. I was very happy about this because prices in Scandinavian countries are no joke so I was more than happy fuel up on breakfast at a gas station!
A few hours in we stopped at the most amazing “rest stop.” It was so beautiful inside and decorated beautifully. We stopped there and got a traditional hot dog wrapped in dough and let the boys get some wiggles out at the playground!
An pleasant unexpected surprise is that we drove over the 5th largest suspension bridge in the world the Great Bridge! This bridge is 11 miles long and we were lucky enough to drive on a clear day.
Mønsted Limestone Mines
“An endless maze of underground paths that stretches for 37 miles and up to six floors in height. Some of the caverns are as large as cathedrals while others are so narrow that a grown man couldn’t walk through them upright. In other words, the limestone underlying this region, beneath Mønsted in Denmark, is riddled with the biggest chambers, widest tunnels, and most mind-blowing voids anywhere in Europe.”
In the afternoon we finally made it to Mønsted Limestone Mines. Even though it was summer in Denmark, we knew that the “hiking” we were about to do that day would be in a much cooler environment. Once we got our tickets we took off on a walk to the entrance! The sidewalk path led us to a wooden bridge that went into a forested area. It was very pretty and relaxing, and we liked the idea of being somewhat elevated from the forest floor. Overall, the path wasn’t too long, and we arrived at the mine entrance in no time.
When we entered into the limestone mine, we had the complete feeling that we had found Denmark’s off-the-beaten path. When we walked in the boys immediately lost their minds with the vast size of the caves. We spent a good hour and half walking around exploring all the kooks of the underground tunnels. One of the most beautiful parts of our walk was the underground lake!
Underground Lake at the Mønsted Kalkgruber in Midtjylland Denmark
Once we wrapped up exploring the caves we made our way back to the entrance and the boys were happy to get more wiggles out at their Bat Playground. The Play area was right next to a lovely café and we got some delicious Danish Bread and Cheese.
Hostel & Dinner
After exploring the mines our hotel was only about an hour away. The drive was stunning as we drove along the Danish Countryside. I found this “Hostel” on Expedia and it has amazing reviews but was advertised as very simple. We pulled up to the cutest Danish Main house and behind the home was long rows of Single Rooms for guests. Our room was perfect it was two bunk beds and bathroom. This was going to be a short stay so we did not even have to really unpack. Once we checked in the boys immediately started playing with some other kids in the courtyard. Once settled in we made our way to the next town over to grab some dinner.
The next town over was so cute! The main street lines with shops and boutiques and we found 1x restaurant. The boys were very excited because it happened to be a pizza place.
I’m not a huge fan of theme parks but there was something about this one that just captured my heart. As soon as our family walked in we all quickly became memorized with everything around us. The rain was coming down the first hour so we decided to get some food and wait out out the heavy rain.
If you haven’t heard of Tivoli, it’s one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and was built long before places like Disneyland even existed. In fact, it was Tivoli that inspired and impressed Walt Disney so much that he decided to build his own Tivoli-inspired theme park, Disneyland.
There was such a variety of rides and activities. Our whole family (even Flynn) 😬 rode 3x a very intense and FAST roller coaster. Flynn and I rode a log water ride about 7x times! Overall the lines we’re not bad at all. One of my favorite memories was driving the iconic wood boats.
The day was magical in every way and I was really proud of the boys we walked the park for almost 8 hours! We ended the day with them picking out a traditional Danish Sucker!
We left Edinburgh on July 11th for Copenhagen! The morning started off early for us (4:30am) to catch our flight. Once we arrived in Edinburgh we made our way through check in and TSA. I did appreciate in Edinburgh that they had a line for families that seemed to move a lot more smoothly for us.
Once in Edinburgh we went right to the hotel but we had about 3x hours to wait until check in. We became aware very fast how expensive Denmark was by our taxi bill. In Copenhagen It cost about $70 to go about 5 miles and in comparison the taxi in Edinburgh from the airport to our home was 9 miles and about $25!
While we waited to check in we found a very chic and quiet lounge area so the boys could sleep for a few hours. Thankfully they both got some sleep and when they woke up it was time to check in. Our room was very small but it had everything we needed. Our room was on the 9th floor so we had a little view of the bay!
After we got settled we rented some bikes and hit the town! We had an absolute blast but I have to admit it was a bit scary at first because the bike scene is Copenhagen is intense. Bikes have not only their own lanes but also stop lights. We rode around for a bit and found an amazing park and playground.
The playgrounds in Denmark left me speechless. Most playgrounds have a paid staff during the day and also a clubhouse with kitchen , bathrooms and indoor activities if it’s raining! Toys and little bikes are left out all the time for kids to use as well.
We ended our first night with a delicious dinner at a circus themed restaurant!
Our first night on a road trip we had a little hitch. I had booked a Hostel months ago up in the mountains in the Highlands Tomintoul. During the day prior to our check-in, I tried calling and emailing and no response. We got to the city very late with some tired kids and there was not a person in sight to check us in. After waiting for about 45 minutes we finally gave up and decided to look for another hotel in the town. The problem was there’s only about three hotels in this little town and it was their second busiest weekend of the year that weekend they were hosting the largest biker rally in the area so I took the kids to a Park to get some wiggles out Chad went next-door to a hotel and thankfully they had a last-minute cancellation and the owner was so generous and got us a room for the night.
The universe was on our side that night because the closest hotel from that town was about 35 to 40 minutes and we were all really tired and very hungry. After we checked and we went downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel we had a great dinner and the owner went out of his way to assist us with food coloring books for the kids and just made a very fun night. The best part about the whole night is that we were surrounded by the Motorcycle / Biker community and they were so generous and so interactive with the boys we got to see motorcycles up close we met a man that night named Doom who had a prosthetic leg with flames on it. The boys thought he was a superhero straight up.
The next day we woke up and had a yummy breakfast at the hotel. We got some wiggles out at a local school playground. Then we hit the road for the West Coast of Scotland.
On our way we stopped at Grampian Transport Museum. This Grampian Transport Museum had an impressive range of transport exhibits, from travelling chariots of the 1800’s, to some of the fastest cars ever made. A fun surprise for the boys Was that we got to ride in a 1970s vintage bus around a racetrack! The museum had a great playground as well!
After the museum we headed to Aberdeen to check into our hotel and grab some dinner. We didn’t have much time to explore Aberdeen so we just headed downtown to the mall and grabbed some Sushi! We needed to mix up our meals a bit. We found it interesting that food prices in general had been very reasonable in Scotland but our Sushi bill was outrageously expensive! The highlight of this stay for the boys was definitely the amazing breakfast. 🤣
One of my favorite memories in Scotland has been our visit to Dunnottar Castle. Perched high in the Aberdeenshire Coast, is absolutely majestic. We arrived about 9am and it was a bit foggy but even with a little fog it was a phenomenal view.
I was so proud of the boys just walking to over 250 steps just to get to the castle! My mama heart stopped a few times on our trek but the boys surpassed my expectations and did amazing and didn’t even complain.
After our castle visit we walked down to the coast and the boys had a blast exploring the beach.
Our next stop was St. Andrew’s to grab some lunch. On Sundays, St. Andrew’s is open to the public to walk around the greens. It was very busy with tourists especially since it was a sunny day. This was special for me considering my Grandpa Bill played on this course and I know It was a very memorable experience!
After our time in St. Andrew’s we made our way to Glasgow. This was a special spot for Chad since his moms maiden name is Glasgow and there is some historic meaning! We spent about 2 hours walking around the downtown and exploring the area. Most museums were already closing but that was ok with us. We started to realize the boys were becoming a bit tired of museums and being confined inside. The vibe in Glasgow was completely different from Edinburgh, it was filled with a lot more vibrant energy and seemed a lot like Portland.
Our final and grand finale of our road trip was stopping at The Kelpies. Luckily there was a massive Playground because our boys needed a break from the car and we had a few hours to kill. We heard from many people that the The Kelpies are most beautiful at night. We made the decision to keep the boys up and see them at dusk.
Visiting them when it was completely dark would have kept us up until midnight. We decided to stay and see them about 10:30pm. The path there was stunning as it ran along a canal lined with boats.
We made it back to our home exchange in Edinburgh about 12:30 and we went right to bed!
Chad started the morning by taking a taxi to get our rental car! Once he picked us up we headed North on our way to central Scotland.
Our first stop was Blackness Castle just 20 minutes outside of Edinburg and it was definitely a sight for the eyes. You drove up to it on this one lane road and it’s sits all alone surrounded by water. I did a lot of research on Castle Visits and they all recommended always being the first there or get the first tickets of the day. I am so glad we did because when we got to Blackness Castle it was completely dead and the first 30 minutes felt like we had the place to ourselves. That day they had a Volunteer dressed up in Character as a Scottish Rein-actor from Outlander. Apparently later that day a bunch of “Outlander Tour Buses” were coming through. The gentleman was so kind and patient with the boys. The boys were so excited to hold a sword! This castle definitely had some spots that made me hold my breath while the boys were walking along some very questionable waking paths along a very narrow path with a pretty steep drop off 😬. My mama heart was a bit pumping on parts of this Castle Tour.
The boys had a snack break and then we headed North on our way to central Scotland.
I need to give a huge Shoutout to Chad driving (in a manual) throughout downtown Edinburgh. Our next stop on our trip was lunch about a few hours away and it was a cute restaurant and gift shop. By this time the boys we’re getting a bit full of Fish and Chips. Thankfully most places had Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets (called gojans in Scotland).
After lunch we headed to the Highlands Museum and we only had about an hour to explore before it closed. We have noticed lite of attractions closes about 3-4 even on weekends.
The Highlands Museum was a blast. We made the most of our time and explored as much as we could walking in and out of traditional highland homes. We loved that we could finally see some Highland Cows.
After our visit we made our way to our Hostel located in the highest town in the highlands Tomintoul.
I had the absolute best birthday! Chad and the boys went on some morning adventures and I was able to play solo tourist in the city!
Chad took the boys to a local children’s bookstore and they we’re in luck because when they arrived it was story time!
I took the bus into town and had the most delicious breakfast. In all honesty I have not had a bad meal while in Scotland!
After breakfast I took myself back to the National Museum of Scotland I went to the Beyond the Little Black Dress Museum. It was absolutely stunning!
“From design classics to cutting-edge catwalk creations, Beyond the Little Black Dress deconstructs this iconic garment and examines the radical power of the colour black in fashion.”
“Featuring over 60 garments, the exhibition charts a century of fashion through a series of themed, immersive displays. See early 20th century pieces by Chanel, Dior and Jean Muir alongside contemporary looks by designers such as Gareth Pugh, Simone Rocha, Comme des Garçons and ground-breaking Black British designers like Joe Casely-Hayford and Maximilian.”
After the exhibit I took myself shopping at the Royal Mile. There I went and I lunch at a very iconic spot!
Chad planned a great night we had a delicious Italian Dinner at a local restaurant and finished the night with cupcakes from a yummy bakery close by!
I can see why people rave about Scotland especially Edinburgh. We are half way through our stay here and everyday has been filled with a sense of adventure with a little exhaustion. The Public Transit here is absolutely amazing. We purchase a family day pass for about $10 and that includes all of our Busses for the day. Our Home is located near buses and it’s a 10 minute strait shot to downtown / Royal a mile! We have had fun checking out the local pubs and coffee shops. Everyone is so kind and all of the pubs have been so kid friendly!
We feel so lucky to have such a large home base and not be confined to a hotel. The boys are sharing a room with two beds and they are loving it. Chad is using a room for his office and our Master overlooks the park and has lots of old charm. Most importantly there is a washer and dryer. 🙌 the sitting room is my favorite part. The high ceilings, fireplace, huge windows and crown molding make it such a cozy spot! I have learned I can live without a microwave and flavored creamer. 🤣
The Royal Mile is just as it looks in pictures. The buildings are oozing history and there is charm around every corner. The travel sites were very correct in how many steps and hills are included in your walk to the Royal Mile!
We went and checked out National Museum of Scotland and it 💯 exceeded my expectations. The way the museum is set up has a great variety for all ages. It was if OMSI and a Smithsonian had a baby! The boys loved the kids area.
Last Sunday we had the first tour of the day for Edinburgh Castle and I am so glad we did. As we were leaving a few hours later the grounds were absolutely PACKED and it was pouring. We we’re lucky in that we made it through most of our tour with no rain and sun. The Castle was so fun and surprisingly the boys did pretty good following along to site to site so Chad and I could read along the way. We definitely didn’t get to read and listen to everything but we saw a lot. The views from the Castle are just breathtaking and the boys loved looking at every Canon. 🤣
Monday we woke up early and took the bus to train station to catch the train to Falkirk Wheel. I have done a majority of the planning for this trip and I knew this was was a must see for Chad.
The Falkirk Wheel is the only fully rotating boat lift in the world. The wheel was built as part of the £85.4m Millennium link project to reunite the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals in Scotland. The canals had previously been linked by a staircase of 11 locks which took nearly a day to pass through.
It was a lot of fun taking the Scotrail the 35 minutes to Falkirk, and we jumped on a 15 minute bus ride through residential streets before arriving at the Wheel and Canals. We booked the first tour of the day.
We got very lucky in that our boat was only 1/3 full so we sat near the back and we could see everything. One of the boat operators took a liking to the boys and half way through our ride he took them back to drive the boat through the tunnel. It was definitely an amazing experience and so glad we did it!
A wonderful surprise about this place is that it had an amazing and huge playground on site. After our ride we went and ate lunches I had packed and the boys could get some wiggles out! Then it was about to head home.
Monday Chad started back at work. He will be working from about 2pm-10pm. The boys and I go out in the afternoons for some adventures. Then we all have dinner together!
The 4th of July felt a bit different this year. We kept it really low key and headed downtown to go back the the National Museum of Scotland. This place is just amazing and there are two dedicated kids area to play and explore to get wiggles out!
Wednesday the 5th we headed out to Princess Gardens (located under Edinburgh Castle. There was farmers market so we hit that up and got some yummy pastries and bread and then headed to the park. The park was beautiful and so well kept. There are roses at every turn and just filled with color. The playground sits right next to the iconic Ross Fountain. There are some fun kids activities as well. We had a great picnic lunch and then the kiddos went and got some wiggles out!
Wednesday our journey across the pond officially began. Chad and I started the day at 3:30am and got the the boys up at 4am! Otto was so excited he jumped right out of bed, Flynn took a bit longer to realize what was going on.
Since a family is coming to stay in our house we had to have it turnkey ready so we had the boys sleep in sleeping bags! 😜
Overall we are so thankful the morning went really smooth and we made it to the airport with plenty of time. Thankful for our friend Logan who took us to the airport.
I have always been a huge fan of PDX Airport and even during construction we had a flawless check in and TSA experience. The new terminal “E” concourse includes the cutest kids area sponsored by Tillamook.
The flight was quick, surprisingly it’s only 1.5 hours from Portland to Calgary. The surprise win of what I packed was the boys new stainless steel bento boxes. The night before I packed their favorites and a few treats. But the best part about these boxes is that they open completely and fit perfect on the airline tray!
Once we arrived in Calgary we originally thought about heading to downtown Calgary via Bus since we have an 8 hr layover. Once we saw Customs Line we aborted that plan and decided to stay at the airport. There is a cute little play area in the “Calgary Stampede” theme. The only reason I know what is from my girlfriend who was just here for a work trip!
Surprisingly our 8 hour layover went by fairly quick. The only thing I wished I would have prepared myself for more was how “off” our boys schedule and sleep was going to be. We tried a few times at the airport to have quiet time but they we’re just too pumped to travel. They did get about an hour of sleep before we took off!
When we finally boarded in the evening Chad and I were wiped out but we knew we were in the home stretch. Our 8 hr was flight was LONG. The boys we’re so tired but not wanting to sleep and got really tired of sitting after a few hours. Flynn would watch some shows on the flight entertainment thankfully they had PJ Masks and Mickey Mouse Playhouse. Otto just wanted to focus on the flight map and update us every chance he got on how much time was left 🤣.
Thankfully I restocked there Bento boxes at the Calgary Airport before we left because boredom turned into I’m hungry really quick. The flight crew was amazing they we’re so sweet to the boys and gave them extra snacks!
We had a few meltdowns the last few hours, the boys just reached their breaking point with needing sleep and figuring out how to get comfortable.
Once we landed the process to getting through the Airport was really quick. Customs was very fast and they have a very efficient taxi pick up and before we knew it we were on our way to our hotel!
We couldn’t check into our hotel for a few hours so we hit up the grocery store and picked up a few things. Being so sleep deprived I accidentally excited the emergency exit setting off the alarm. 🤦🏻♀️ The security guard had a good laugh.
Our hotel had a little playground and picnic area so we had an easy lunch from food from the grocery store and played for an hour to wait for our room.
Once we checked into our room about 2pm Local time we had realized we had been up for over 24 hours with only a few hours of sleep. We took showers and laid down for a nap. Our room is small but we all have a place to sleep and we have an amazing view of Edinburgh Castle and the port!
After our nap we all felt so muck better. We took a taxi and went to explore downtown. The taxi system is very popular and very efficient.
We had the nicest taxi driver and he gave us a recommendation for a great pizza place. We had an amazing dinner and the boys loved the dough balls and cheese pizza. We learned that Lemonade is not a thing in Scotland but the boys loved Lemon Schweppes Soda Water.
After dinner we walked towards the castle and just explored the area. We noticed how dead it was and then we realized it was 9:30pm local time. Our first impression of Edinburgh is how beautiful the architecture is at every turn. This City is filled with so much beauty history. We walked for about an hour and then took a taxi back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel is was about 11pm and we all hit the hay!
Yes, we are so tired and Jet Lagged but we are so happy to be here and feel so lucky to be able to experience this!
Its Libby Time 