Matt's favorite

(This post could be titled "Matt's favorite" or "the day I wanted 'to batter' Susanne".)

When our Scottish friend Susanne suggested a 3 hour walk both Matt and I quickly agreed!!
It turns out our definitions of "walk" were very different.

We set out on a sunny day, with our lunches packed, for what I thought would be a nice stroll through rolling hills and maybe around a lake.



After an hour of moderate hiking we came upon this lake and I assumed this was our stopping point.

It turns out we were barely halfway there.

We spent the next 1 hour and 20 minutes climbing stone steps straight up the side of the mountain.

now high above the lake

My legs were shaking and Matt (not knowing what we getting ourselves into) was still carrying a sleeping Abigail on the front of him and could barely see the steps.
 I kept telling him it was okay with me if we didn't go all the way to the top.

But we plowed on.

I'm pretty sure this story will someday make it into a sermon on endurance.

And we made it to the top!
Ben-y-Vrackie

Matt, Abigail, Susanne, & her niece Hannah

Abigail was all smiles after her nap

 there's that lake again from the top

Matt felt pretty mighty for hiking and carrying a baby to the top

the way down

me and my girl (on a nursing stop)

a tired mama, it was at this point Susanne told me that in Scotland they have a phrase "wanting to batter" someone and that probably I wanted to batter her at that point for taking us on such a mountain climb.

the sign post to Ben-y-Vrackie and the mountain on the right (almost a 3000 ft climb)

Whoops, we missed this sign on the way up!

So, should you ever be in Scotland and get asked to go on a 3 hour walk - be warned - you may actually be agreeing to a 4 hour mountain climbing adventure!