If someone or something who can travel in time (possibly a neutrino:) showed me this photograph nine years ago I would most probably not have believed it, yet, here we are, nine years on to the day in the same place with a bit of experience on our backs and quite some company. The fruit is so plentiful that we can hardly believe our luck :-).

Gdyby ktoś (lub coś), kto potrafi podróżować w czasie (prawdopodobnie neutrino), zaprezentował mi poniższe zdjęcie dziewięć lat temu, pewnie bym nie uwierzył… a jednak… oto jesteśmy po dziewięciu latach co do dnia, w tym samym miejscu z odrobiną doświadczenia życiowego na karku, i w nietuzinkowym towarzystwie. Tak owocne były te lata, że trudno jest nam uwierzyć własnemu szczęściu :-).

After a very busy first week of his life Daniel has mobilised everyone to go on a hill walk. Even though it was not the highest mountain one can possibly imagine, it was a great adventure and everyone made it to the top where we had a picturesque picnic. Even the rain which got us wet on the way down was not able to spoil the day. More photos of the Dumpling adventure can be found HERE.
Plus, if you are interested in some details of Daniel’s first week, just click on the image below. He is eager to tell everyone about his first impressions.

Po pełnym wydarzeń pierwszym tygodniu życia Daniel zmobilizował wszystkich do wędrówki po górach. Chociaż nie wybraliśmy najwyższej góry jaką można sobie wyobrazić, była to wspaniała przygoda i wszyscy szczęśliwie dotarli na szczyt gdzie zrobiliśmy sobie plenerowy piknik. Nawet deszcz, który w drodze powrotnej przemoczył nas do suchej nitki, nie był w stanie popsuć nam humorów. Więcej zdjęć z tej przygody możecie zobaczyć TUTAJ.
Co więcej, jeżeli interesują was niektóre szczegóły pierwszego tygodnia życia Daniela, wystarczy kliknąć na poniższe zdjęcie. Z wielką ochotą opowie wam o swoich pierwszych wrażeniach (na razie jedynie po angielsku).

After a few years of bringing up boys one might easily come to the conclusion that life is all about scraping mud of shoes and trousers, listening to animal like noises and trying to dodge a shot from a water pistol.

Po kilku latach doświadczeń w wychowywaniu chłopców można dojść do przekonania, że życie polega głównie na odskrobywaniu błota z butów i spodni, wysłuchiwaniu głosów podobnych do dzikich zwierząt, tudzież na próbach uniknięcia obstrzału z pistoletów wodnych.

Well… almost… except sometimes, to everyone’s amazement, more refined interests seem to be coming to the fore. In such, usually quiet, moments some pretty amazing works of art emerge. At least this is so for us. You can judge for yourselves.

Hmmm… prawie… za wyjątkiem momentów, kiedy ku zdziwieniu wszystkich, bez specjalnego powodu czy przyczyny, ujawniają się u naszych chłopców nieco bardziej wyszukane zainteresowania. W takich, zazwyczaj cichych, chwilach powstają prawdziwe dzieła sztuki, a przynajmniej nam się tak wydaje. Oceńcie sami.

Stefan likes to play around his house and loves his family.
Stefan uwielbia bawić się wokół domu i kocha swoją rodzinę.

Patryk is a man of speed and aerodynamics. He naturally loves planes as he does everything very fast (or never), speaks fast and is always on the move.
Patryk jest człowiekiem szybkim i aerodynamicznym. Naturalnie uwielbia samoloty, robi wszystko bardzo szybko (albo wcale), mówi szybko i zawsze musi być w ruchu.

Apart from being an average 7 year old boy Jakub is also known to be an intellectual from time to time. He loves maths, astronomy and writes an odd poem. “Little Toe” was inspired by “Sam The Skull” by Harry Hagan.
Kuba, na co dzień normalny siedmiolatek, bywa również intelektualistą. uwielbia matematykę, astronomię i  w przypływie natchnienia pisze wiersze. “Mały Paluch” zainspirowany został wierszem pt. “Sam The Skull” (Samuel Czaszka) autorstwa Harry’ego Hagan’a. (nie odważyłbym się przetłumaczyć na Polski)

Rather intense but unfortunately short-lived (literally one day!) was the guitarist career of Kuba. It peaked during the only one unforgettable live performance on the 17 October 2010 in Carfin which has been luckily recorded and now is proudly presented to the rest of the world. What a standing ovation he received! Well, he never touched the guitar ever since as his mind is now completely preoccupied with… astronomy. Is this career change not too radical? 😉

Dosyć burzliwa, jednakże niezmiernie krótka (dosłownie jeden dzień) okazała się gitarowa kariera naszego Kuby. Mimo wszystko zaowocowała jedynym jak do tej pory, ale za to niezapomnianym koncertem na żywo, który odbył się 17-tego października 2010 roku w Carfin. Na szczęście koncert ten w całości został nagrany i teraz zostaje z dumą przedstawiony całej reszcie świata. Cóż za oszałamiająca owacja! Niestety, od tamtego czasu nasz muzyk nie miał ani razu gitary w rękach ponieważ umysł zaprzątnęła mu niemal całkowicie… astronomia. Czy aby ta zmiana kariery nie jest zbyt radykalna? 😉

Today we decided at the last minute to mark the end of mountaineering season by climbing Tinto hill (711m/2,333 ft). Although it was not raining the clouds were very low… so low that we could barely see each other and we were almost blown away by the wind (not by the vistas as you would expect on a sunny day). Later on I found out that there is an old Scots children’s rhyme which tells of the “kist in the mist” at “Tinto tap”, kist being the Scots word for “chest”.

On Tintock tap, there is a mist,
And in that mist, there is a kist,
And in that kist, there is a cup,
And in that cup, there is a drap.
Tak’ up that cup, and drink that drap, that’s in yon kist, on Tintock tap!

If only we had known about it we wouldn’t need to carry those 20 bottles of Fruit Shoot for Stefan to get him going.

Some photos from this year’s holiday trip to Poland. Click below to enter the album.

Trochę zdjęć z tegorocznej wyprawy do Polski. Kliknij poniżej, aby otworzyć album.

After earlier successful attempts at “the Dumpling” today we decided to tackle Ben A’an which is a reasonably serious mountain for little climbers. OK, it is not exactly a proper mountain as I found out later. It is merely a piece of rock on the south side of the less known Meall Gainmheich (no idea how to pronounce it). Nevertheless, Ben A’an is around 454m above sea level, has a rather rocky steep path, and was a great challenge for our three (out of four) mountaineers. As you can see we all happily reached the top (me behind the camera – much better than in front of it). You may also notice that Patryk’s footwear is not exactly what might be considered rock climbing boots. This was NOT our idea, by the way. He made it quite clear (by kicks and screams) that his new sandals is what he was wearing, end of story. He had it all planned very well and also made sure the sandals did not get dirty on the muddy parts. Whenever the ground was getting wet Patryk would shout “Mama, give me cuddle!” which meant “carry me to the dry bit (but not any further!)”. When Patryk decides on something, there is usually not much point in arguing…

We have recently discovered the Scottish Dumpling. If you haven’t come across this speciality it is a round shaped piece of dough (usually with dried fruit and spices) cooked or steamed in a piece of cloth (preferably not used for washing the floor before). However, in our story the Dumpling is not a type of Scottish dessert, but rather a very nice ball shaped hill on the south side of Loch Lomond, officially called Duncryne Hill, which although only 465 feet (142m) above sea level has a magnificent view of the loch. That is if you are lucky with the weather, of course. It has to be said we have been quite fortunate this year and managed two successful attempts at this cracking piece of a mountain. An additional bonus is the proximity of the loch where you can splash in the fresh but rather freezing waters. By the way, this is not for the faint hearted and was only attempted by the younger (and braver) members of the family.
Therefore, if you want to maximise the visual impact and at the same time minimize the physical effort the Dumpling is definitely worth a try. If Benon could make it to the top on a piece of carrot and a bottle of water everyone else can too.