Caleb Getting his "Character of the Month Award" 09.03.2010

Here are some pictures of Caleb getting his Character of the Month Award today at school, in reverse order.

Sorry We've Been Gone...

Sorry, we have been gone for such a long time, but we spent the last week traveling around the country. Here is Brittney's report:

Highlights from the traveling around Scotland:

Ghost tour- So we went on a ghost tour of Old Edinburgh where we went into the vaults under the city. The vaults are basically these catacombs under the bridge that they have closed over and built on top of. The city sold them to workers who used them for their shops until they flooded and then the vaults became territory for the violence and criminal activity of the people. They were stone walls with no light and apparently many ghosts lived down there. It was fun to travel through time, but I saw and felt nothing. Caleb did the tour with us and was very brave. He does think that he saw something behind me. He was incredibly frightened. The best part of the tour was when the tour guide took us to the Mercat Cross, which is the area where they would punish those who committed crimes in the city of Edinburgh. The crimes could be as bad as murder and as as simple as stealing bread. The punishment was pretty much the same, beaten, tortured, and hanged. This was the entertainment for the townspeople. It was pretty amazing to see this. We walked over to the St. Giles Cathedral and basically stood on the graveyard, as they have paved over the graves and they are now a covered by a parking lot. Some restless bodies there. It was a really neat tour and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to learn more about the city.

Time for dinner...tbc

Aberdeen - 07.16.2010

Today we took a nice stroll thru Aberdeen to The Gordon Highlanders Museum. The Gordon's were a Scottish military regimen that existed from 1794 to 1994. Prince Charles was the last commander of the Gordon's.

London Calling

Tuesday 07.13.2010

The morning came early as Brittney and I headed off to London for three days. We left Aberdeen and 9am and landed at London Luton airport at 10:30. We then took a bus to the train depot and a 30 minute ride south thru the English countryside. We arrived at St. Pancras and purchased tube (subway) tickets for the next few days. We figured out our route and eventually made it to our hotel north of Hyde Park at around 1:00pm. We had a lot to do and very little time to do it in so we rushed off to the Tower of London and The London Eye. Both were absolutely amazing, but we had a strict timetable to keep as we had 8:30pm reservations at Gordon Ramsay's Maze, a tasting restaurant. We selected the six course meal from the chef's menu and spent the next 2.5 hours dining exquisitely.

On Wednesday morning, the 14th, we woke early to get a full day of sightseeing in. We saw The British Museum, Abbey Road, Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden Piazza, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The Tate Museum of Modern Art, and Shakespeare's Globe.

On Thursday morning, the 15th we had the morning to spend finishing the sight before departing that afternoon. We slept in just a little bit before heading over to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard and spent the afternoon at and around Harrod's department store.

Quite the city.

DISCLAIMER: THIS VIDEO IS ABOUT 9 MINUTES IN LENGTH, SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO THE RESTROOM AND GET YOUR POPCORN BEFORE THE FEATURE BEGINS.

Photo Update and combined update to St. Andrews and Dunnottar

Brittney has asked me to post movies instead of the photo link. So, here are movies of our Sunday trip to St. Andrews and our Monday excursion to Dunnottar Castle.

Sunday 07.11.2010

On Sunday morning we woke up and headed down to St. Andrews, about 1.5 hours south of Aberdeen. The city was bustling with people from every nook and cranny. We finally realized that the British Open was this week and everyone was in town to watch. We visited St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral. Some breathtaking views and history. The golf course was closed due to the preparation for the upcoming tournament.

Monday 07.12.2010

We set off this morning for Dunnottar Castle, 15 miles outside Aberdeen City in the shire. Brittney didn't feel well, so she stayed home and rested for our trip to London the next day. This castle is Amber's favorite in all of Scotland and she went on and on about how beautiful it was. She was right, very right...

Monday at Stonehaven - Dunnottar Castle

On Monday, 07.12.2010, I slept until 12:00pm local time, which was very nice. By the time I awoke, Brittney and Amber were just returning from the market with groceries. We had lunch and decided to head to Stonehaven to see Amber's favorite castle in all of Scotland. Brittney had developed some 24 hour bug and taken way too many drugs. She decided to stay at home and rest while we toured the castle. This was probably a good thing, seeing as how Britt and I are heading to London first thing in the morning.

Dunnottar Castle was simply amazing. It is situated on a cliff jutting out and covered by the North Sea on three sides. The scenery, in addition to the castles history, was simply amazing.

I posted a link to photo album on line. It would seem that each time I upload photos to the album it just adds the photos in one big album called "Maddox European Adventure". So From this point forward check the photo album out online and bookmark it to keep up with all the new pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/justin.maddox/MaddoxEuropeanAdventure?authkey=Gv1sRgCOq1zo6v383mAQ&feat=directlink

Sunday at St. Andrews

We spent Sunday about 1.5 hours south of Aberdeen in beautiful St. Andrews. Of course, we forgot that this is the week of The British Open. Oh well, it was crowded, but still breathtaking. Please click here for a selection of photos from our day.

Made it here

So, after having to wait for a plane in Amsterdam I finally made it here. Jet lag seems pretty much nil. I took a 5 hour nap yesterday and went to bed at "12:00 am" local time (or 6pm for those of you keeping score). Here is a movie Kimberly put together of the 'fams exploits from a few days ago.

*So it is Brittney now and I want to tell you a little about what this video is showing. We left in the morning and walked to a bakery to get breakfast. On the way home, we stopped for cupcakes because it is never to early for cupcakes. They were so beautiful and they tasted fabulous. We got home from our walk just in time for lunch! It was perfect. We left to pick up Ian from work and then went to the animal farm. The farm is right on the beachside and was so pretty. For 12 pounds we got two buckets of carrots to feed them. The sheep and goats would follow Aidan around because she kept giving them carrots even after she said last one. There was a huge bull there and we were very intimidated by it, but Ian decided to feed it. He was really brave because we stood three steps back. When we walked away, the bull let us know it was his territory by letting out a call. The horses were so sweet and there was a baby that loved my mom. She would try to play with her and my mom sure was sad to leave her. We crossed the road to be by the sea and there were more cows and some huge Clydesdale horses. It was amazing to see them.

*Yesterday we picked up Justin and while he slept, Amber, Mom, and I went shopping downtown. It was a treat and I bought so many cool things. I am excited to show off my new stuff and everyone reading this will be sooooo jealous! I did pick up a few things for friends though. Today we are headed to St. Andrews and pictures will follow. Love you all!

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think there is some old world fable warning of traveling with small adults. Anyway, I am now blogging from my iPhone via text message. How cool is that? Fixing to leave Nashvile en route to JFK.

So I'm at the airport getting ready to leave and I am surrounded by little people which I believe is the politically term for midgets nowadays

Scotland Day 4 (For Brittney, Kimberly and the Kids)

Brittney called this afternoon and reported that all is going well in Scotland. They spent the day touring two castles and below is video of pictures from their outing and Brittney's report.

"Although I woke early, I had to drag the kids out of bed this morning because they were still suffering from jet lag. They really woke up around dinner, which is when I was tired. Didn't exactly work out well. We left around lunch to head to downtown Aberdeen, where we ate lunch at Pizza Express. They had the neatest kids' meals there: salad, dough balls with garlic butter, pasta or pizza, ice cream sundae, and a small milk with chocolate sprinkles. I have to admit, my sister and I were jealous. We went from there to the Provost Skeene House, which is an example from the 17th century of life in Aberdeen. It was really beautiful with many painted walls and paneled walls. The nursery was at the very top of the house. It really made us ponder why they would put a child's room at the top of a very long spiral staircase... Now on to M&S: a department store with a grocery store inside. Seriously. It was really strange, but both the clothes and the food were fantastic. The final stop was an awesome store called Primark. It was like heaven and I was a little sad that I had only a little while to shop. From downtown, we drove to pick up Ian and went home to make dinner. While Amber cooked, Ian rescued us by taking the kids on a long walk with the dogs. My sister, mom, and I really needed a break from the kids...or we might have stuffed them in the closet."

Stupid Ears

Awesome. That's all I can think of to say. 72 hours before I take my first international flight, I get a freakin' ear infection. My ears generally have issues "popping" on flights so this a big help for me. At first I thought I might just tough it out but then I thought better of it. Luckily enough I was able to get an appointment at my family doctor last night. I was diagnosed with an acute ear infection in my left ear. I told the the doctor to dose me up. She gave me a steroid, antibiotic, and ear drops with hydrocortisone.

Awesome, simply, awesome. The guy who can't swallow pills now has to take the following:

- (1) High-blood pressure pill

- (1) Beta blocker

- (1) Allergy pill

- (6) Amoxicillin

- (1) Row of steroid pak

- (4) drops in each ear

Kille me now.

Brittney's Day 2 Round-Up

*We woke this morning and decided to go to the beach. The drive took about 15 minutes and the park we went to was amazing. You parked and then had to walk a little ways to the beach through the sand dunes. The dunes were huge and had many little trails through them. We chose a path and just walked with the dogs. The views from the top of the dunes was breathtaking and we could even see a castle at one point. The weather was beautiful and the sand was just right. The shells here are quite different from the gulf and we collected some to bring home. As we were there, the tide changed quickly and I took the kids out to a sandbar. We had to cross water that only reached my ankles, but I thought my toes would freeze off in the short walk. There were Scottish children playing on the sand in the underwear and I have never seen skin so white! We found crab skeletons and claws and salvaged them before the dogs could eat them. Overall, the beach was amazing.

*After showering off the sand, we went to a coffee shop with Amber's friend, Jen, whom we just love. She is a teacher at the international school here and I pumped her for all the information I could because it sounds totally awesome. Maybe I will leave St, B and become a teacher abroad. The whole process was unbelievable. We then went to pick up Ian at his very cool office next to an Audi dealership. The seagulls were all over the place and Amber told us that they won't move for cars, so they have to be careful not to hit them. Ian then told us how his favorite seagull story is when he was going in to work and seagull walked by him with a sandwich in his beak, like he was going to work too. We came home then and Amber cooked dinner for us: Mexican, because why not come to Scotland and have Mexican food? It was awesome!

*Our plans for today are to head to downtown Aberdeen and see some churches, shops, museums, and churches that have been converted into pubs. I am excited for all of it!"

The Adventure Begins!

So, on July 4th Brittney, the kids, and Kimberly began their European adventure. Luis and I dropped everyone off at Nashville International at 8:00. Aidan cried. Caleb was seemingly unaffected. Brittney had to fight back tears, I know. I went home and did laundry.

So, I got up with the sun on Monday July 5th. Not really. Actually, I got woken up by my cell phone ringing at 10:00 CST. It was Brittney. She was sleepy too. The flights reportedly went fine with no issues. Here is her report on her first day in Aberdeen.

"Good morning love! I wanted to send you an email to let you know that I miss you very much. We spent the day yesterday just basically relaxing and getting used to the time change. We arrived at Amber's and unpacked and had an early lunch then we took about a 4 hour nap. When we woke up we took the dogs on a walk to the park for about an hour. It was beautiful to see all of the greenery. When Ian came home we went to dinner at a pub and drove through the town. At about 9:30 we arrived home and the sun was still shining brightly. It was very strange to go to sleep in the bright sunlight. I mean people were still washing cars at almost 10:00. So very strange! We woke up this morning and Amber and Aidan just left to take Ian to work. We are going to the beach today and to walk around the town a little bit. I will upload some pictures tonight when we get home. We miss you very much and I sure love you. The kids send their love and I appreciate the video. That was super sweet. Have a great day and I will send pictures later tonight!

Love, Brittney"

In the Beginning....

Here we have my first attempt at blogging. I am not a blogger nor do I read a multitude of blogs, but seeing as how we are going to Europe I thought this would be an easy way to keep friends and family updated on our coming and goings and share pictures. Please check back daily as I hope to keep this site regularly updated, yet given my penchant for laziness, I wouldn't count on it.