Pops' Big Day

 And . .  for the reason we were in Edinburgh in the first place: Pops' Speech!

Pops is an orthopedic surgeon and was given the honor of being the keynote speaker for an annual surgeon's meeting in Scotland. When he found out about this invitation, he decided he wanted his family there with him, by his side.

Well, we were ALL too happy to share this moment with Pops and show how proud we were of him!

Bekah put her party dress on and we were ready to go!

Special thanks to our friend Ava for giving her this dress! It was the debut of this darling smock and we couldn't have timed it better : ).

Now, there was much to think about, when preparing for a trip like this, but would you believe that I didn't think twice about what we would do with Bekah during the speech? Yes, I thought about what she would wear, from her head to her toes. . . But really? Bring an 18 month old into the auditorium and cross our fingers that she doesn't disturb anyone?? Probably not the best way to go!

 Enter Plan B: Mommy and Baby Playdate in the Lobby!

We had lots of fun together and got lots of smiles from doctors passing by probably wondering what the heck a baby was doing at a conference. Poor Bekah had to deal with techno challenged mommy because I had never used the IPad all by myself! Look at her face, she's like, "Whatcha gonna do about it mommy?" after I am sure she accidentally exited a program that we really NEEDED to get back to : ).

The faithful farm animals and Polly Pockets were revisited:

I did take a leap of faith and bring her in there to stand in the back, while holding her and  stuffing : )  fruit snacks into her quiet, chomping mouth. It worked . . . until the fruit snacks were done : ). I was grateful just to see a few minutes of what he worked so hard on. When we walked back out to the lobby, Bekah started crying and said, "Pops!" over and over! Teehee, guess she was paying attention! ( I think she was fascinated by how he was on "TV"!)

Important thing was, Daddy got to see his father give that great speech of his completely child free!

After the speech was over, Bekah made her entrance and showed us what she would have done, given free reign over the auditorium, bounce on those fun chairs!

The speech was a complete success and we couldn't have been prouder of Pops!

Even from those 5 minutes Bekah saw, she too could tell that her Pops just did something great!

But you could easily tell, the proudest family member of all was Pops' number one fan, Gramommy!

After the speech, we decided to check out the local playground and park. It's important to know where these things are when taking a toddler to a new country, always map them out ASAP! I wish we would have found it sooner, it was wonderful to take her to : ).

Nora and I among one of our favorite things, flowers! 

Being in a gorgeous place like this just makes you flat out happy!

 Stuff you imagine out of a storybook : ).

 Bekah loved exploring the grounds of the park, here she is looking very much like she was superimposed! We call this one the "Inspector Gadget/Where's Waldo" picture : ).  If she knew her fairy tales better, she might  think she was standing in front of Hansel and Gretel's house : ).

 We finally made it to the actual playground, where Bekah got a good taste of how British kids play.

 I liked how the ground  was not gravel, sand or woodchips, it was this strong, yet softer, rubber material.

 Everything was the same, but different too, such as this spin-around-saucer-contraption.

 And then, there was this log ride swing that was too tempting for even daddy to resist:

Bekah had so much fun and it was the first time during the trip where I felt like she had the freedom to do as she pleases, and just be a kid! She sure deserved that, sweet thing, she was doing so well adjusting to the new world around her!

It was a perfect last day in Great Britain, for the very next morning,  we would be heading off to Vienna!