First Family Trip of the Year! // SCOTLAND-BOUND

What's that Aoife? Grandma! Is it? Grandma! Wow! Wow Aoife! What's that? Stroopwafel. Good trail food. Stroopwafel. Clip. Also good food. Hold your hand up flat. Just hold it flat. That's it. Just hold it flat. Hold it like that. There we go. Yeah! Hello everybody. It is Sunday today and we are out hiking. We have actually just hiked over Blencafra. I haven't filmed a lot for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's really windy today so we kind of just wanted to get up and down out of the wind as quickly as we can because obviously we've got little one in tow. She actually was asleep all the way up the quite exposed ridge up to the summit and then she woke up when we were at the summit and then we had the wind at our backs mostly so that was alright really. So it actually worked out quite well and we kind of just blasted up, didn't we? Yeah, I mean classically she slept through everything. Yeah, she slept through the whole thing. It's so funny she always sleeps through the worst weather and I always think, oh god, it would be if she was awake now would she hate it? Would she be alright? I don't know. She always sleeps through the worst weather honestly. So we've been quite lucky in that respect but yeah, so we've been over the summit already we're doing a 9km route and we've done 5km already so we've got 4km to go. It was also quite busy up there which is another reason why I didn't film. But we're just actually heading back down through the valley now along the gill which is a really lovely bit more sheltered, really lovely gill and back to the car and then we might go and try and get a Sunday roast. Yeah! Yummy! Sunday roast. Although I'm probably eating my own body weight and street waffle and nut butter. Yum! So I am just about to make some lunch and this video is actually sponsored by HelloFresh who I am making for our lunch today. So I'm making this teriyaki sesame chicken recipe and things that I really like about HelloFresh are that some of the meals are really quick to make. So this one only takes 20 minutes which you can see here and it also tells you the nutritional value. So this one has one of my 5 a day and it has all of the nutritional information on the back as well which is really handy. So we really like shopping locally. We get a veg box delivered and we go to our local butcher a lot. But for us it's also really helpful to just have meals ready for us in the fridge for those times in the week where we're really tired, we've had a busy work day, we have a toddler running around so HelloFresh is great for us for a few meals a week. It means that we know we're getting something nutritional, stops us from just picking something up that's not very healthy and it reduces our food waste as well because all of the ingredients are pre-measured and it gets delivered to our door in a box which is just really handy for us. So if you guys are interested in trying HelloFresh for yourself then you can use my discount code to get 60% off your first box and then 25% off your next 2 months by using the code HelloAthena or scanning the QR code that I'll put up on screen. Hello everybody, it is Monday today so it's the day after our little hike up Blenkathra and we are heading to Scotland this evening so we are driving up through like the evening slash night which we've just found works best for us having a little one with us. It's like a four and a half hour drive and it would just be quite difficult to entertain her for that long and we also find that driving in the evening slash night is good because it just means that we don't waste a day and now we have a van which is not finished but it is liveable so we can sleep in it basically means that we can drive up through the night, park up at like 11 I don't know what time it will be, maybe midnight and sleep in the van and then tomorrow morning we'll be in Scotland and we'll get a full day so that is just kind of what works for us. So I thought I would take you along on the slight mayhem that we'll be packing up the van for a trip. Just generally packing for a trip with a baby and a dog and all our outdoor gear, there's a lot there's a lot of stuff even though I like to think that we try and pack fairly minimally there is always so much stuff and this time we are taking our bikes as well so we're taking two bikes, the bike trailer which is Aoife's boogie as well, helmets yeah all of the gear that goes with that although we kind of wear like the same gear but still bikes, helmets, all of that jazz so yeah Aoife's actually been with her grandma all day today, she's just got back and we are just about to pack the van up I kind of was hoping that we might have started packing the van before she got here but it just didn't work out, Harvey was out actually working on the van this morning so we're just starting to pack it up now but I have packed quite a lot of stuff, there's boxes all around here that are going to go in the van so yeah let me show you the state of the living room and then I'll show you how we're packing the van up so we've got a little pile of boxes here the bottom one has food in it because we're staying in a self-catering holiday cottage so we're taking some food with us that one has bike bits in it and then the top one just has a few boots, shoes Aoife's helmet, that'll just have miscellaneous items and then what have we got we've got Aoife's car seat which needs to go in the van we've got Aoife's little bike which is coming we've got this is me and Aoife's bag that we are sharing, Harvey hasn't packed yet but he will literally just shove a bunch of stuff in a bag we've got the Osprey baby carrier which needs to go in the van, we've got a bag here of just random bits and bobs that's kind of over spilled from me and Aoife's stuff like our toiletries, nappies underwear muslins, just a few random bits, we've got the duvet which needs to go in the van and then we've got a few bits of camera gear lying around like we've got the drone there and a little camera bag here we've got the dog, he needs to go in the van and we'll sit by the door really annoyingly for the next couple of hours while we pack because he gets a bit stressed when we're like packing up the van because he gets scared that we're going to leave him I think but he's coming of course he's coming with us and then let's have a look what's through in the kitchen what have we got here, so we've got Oslo's stuff is in there, his food his coat, a few bits we've got a few random kitcheny bits here foody bits and then this is an IKEA bag full of coats, poles just like stuff full of like gear basically so yeah we're kind of getting there, this is definitely a time where screen time is very useful Aoife's watching the toddler club while I go and see what Harvey's up to okay so what's Harvey up to Harvey is trying to make everything fit bikes trailer bikes don't quite fit with keeping the back wheel in they're like just a bit short but hey ho but it's all kind of going in yeah the two the two lay all folded down with the wheels off just gets in because I kind of when I did this all originally I didn't really think about I was like oh that'll be enough space for bikes definitely we'll be able to get that I just kind of took a rough guesstimation measurement and the two lay wasn't around when the original drawings were done but luckily it all fits just we got this Dometic cooler for our trip to Scotland last September and we're going to bring it with us again this time so I'm going to fill it up, it's a good size with everything from our fridge so we're not wasting anything it's not finished but I'm trying my best master yeah I am is that sausage good a little sausage in a little sausage what are you doing he's just playing in the bag and the washing basket are you in a bag is that a baby in a bag are we packing you in there are you emptying all the bags you're funny how's it looking Harvey good everything is just disappearing into the boot great, that's good skis are in just packing some of Aoife's books well actually these are library books so what have we got in here we've got this is what the hiking bag is used for these days we've got a few books taking with us Badger's Band a book about snow she really likes yeah those are going in my bag what's the matter baby bear you want the walking pole you want that one you want daddy's walking pole ok let's get it out there we go you happy ok Aoife and I are just having our dinner that classic pre-trip leftovers eating out of a Tupperware it's like I don't know what time it is actually but Harvey's just gone to put some fuel in the van before the petrol station closes so we can just hit the road once we've had dinner we've just got a final few bits to put in the car and then yeah then I'm going to put Aoife in her pyjamas might give her a bath if we've got time if not she can have a bath tomorrow you ok and then yeah hit the road on the way up to Scotland might try and do a little bit of work in the car if Aoife falls asleep quickly probably be quite tired might just read my kindle or something ah good morning from Aoife and I so we drove as far as Dunkeld last night which is just a little bit south of the Cairngorms and we decided to stop here because Aoife woke up and she was crying and then she did actually go back to sleep but we were a bit tired so we just thought we'd stop here and then we've got about an hour to go an hour and a half I think it's about an hour to Aviemore and then an hour and a half to where we're staying um today at some point oh look Harvey's back disaster we've got a disaster we don't have any lighter fuel in the lighter it doesn't work can you go get one from the co-op yeah we've not been able to have tea this morning and I can't function without tea so well you come and have a go but I can't get it to work daddy's back daddy's just taken Oslo for a little walk ok do you want to come down or are you happy up there do you want Baba up there yeah what do you want Marie to sing hello you are my everything love you high and Baba Mr golden sun shining across the sea we all came so we could I don't know the words we could come out and play with you Mr sun Mr golden sun shine your light on me shall we go on the swings yeah shall we go and find them yeah yeah on the swings yeah if you're driving up to the Cairngorms from anywhere south I'd really recommend stopping in Dunkeld there's lots of really nice little spots there's the lovely Arran bakery that we went to and then they've also got a store called Lon store which is really nice you might pop in there there's a playground there's a really lovely big river there's a pub called the Taybank there's a butcher there is some really nice little delis and cafes and yeah there's a nice wine shop called Redwood Wines yeah it's just a nice little stop along the way if you want a bite to eat or just like a little break yeah would recommend so we're about an hour south of Aviemore I think is that right about an hour an hour and a half south of Aviemore so we're going to do the rest of the drive we're going to see if there's burned off some energy on the swings music so we've just driven out into the Cairngorms from Dunkeld this morning and we have come straight to Loch Eilean. Is that how you say it? Loch Eilean. I thought it was Eileen but Harvey says it's Eilean. Let us know. Aoife's having a little nap in the Thule. It's great in Scotland because you have a lot of forest trails so we can just take the Thule, I don't know, maybe all the way round, I'm not really sure. Yeah maybe all the way round because it's just like forest tracks all the way around but it's so nice to be in the forest. So nice to be here, so beautiful. It's quite warm it's like a little bit chilly but it feels like spring is on the way yeah so yeah we're just gonna walk round here while Aoife sleeps and manifest our dream life then make some lunch in the van and then pop into Aviemore before we go up to check in at our holiday cottage for the week so yeah not a bad Tuesday, not a bad Tuesday at all. It could be a lot worse, couldn't it? Lunch time. Thank you. Woke up just in time. It's like she's my daughter. Made it. Made it. This wasn't too bad a drive was it? No. What did you think Aoife? Are you excited? Coming. Hello. Are you coming in Aoife? So we have arrived at the Dell of Abernethy where we are staying we stayed here last year as well when Aoife was only like two three months old and we're staying in a little Dell so nice here which is obviously where we're staying again and we've arrived to a beautiful evening just before sunset and we're tucked up right in the Abernethy forest here and there's like little gardens and like big grounds here it's just so nice so yeah very excited to be spending the week here.