After doing some research we found an interesting site not far from Glasgow called the “Falkirk Wheel.” This is the only one of its kind in the world and that is enough for Team Lilla to seek it out! We set off for the wheel early (well early for the Lillas) and arrived just as the clouds rolled in to rain! We headed down to the visitors center, not quite sure what we were looking at! We found the wheel easy enough as a it is a 115 ft high mechanical marvel. We enter the visitors center and Erik bought our tickets.

The girls (all of them) were shopping in the giftshop and did not realize that the best seats on the “ride” were quickly being snatched up by the rest of the ticket holders – oops! So we climbed aboard and sat haphazardly among the – ahem – “older” population on the boat. Soon the doors were closed and we – were – off! Well, not really, this “ride” is an engineering marvel but not exactly speedy. The Falkirk Wheel was created to transfer boats from a lower river canal to an upper river canal. While the process was fascinating to me, it made for a slow, boring ride for the kids. However, we had a great Scottish tour guide who kept things lively for them, telling jokes and also sharing some football wisdom when they saw Juliette was fan (by her headband!). As the boat was lifted in the air it starting to really rain! This made us grateful for even a slow ride! By this time the small boat made it to the top and we took a short (very!) ride through a tunnel, turned around and came back to the wheel. We then took the ride in reserve. Here are some facts about the Falkirk Wheel:

• The world’s first and only rotating boat lift
• It cost 17.5 million pounds to build
• It only uses the energy of 8 boiling kettles to run
• The lead architect used his daughter’s legos to conceptualize the idea

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After our intense ride we needed some lunch! Lucky for us the Falkirk Wheel has a café! So we found some toasties, soup, and macaroni and cheese! Here I must explain that Juliette was determined to find some mac n cheese that she would like but alas this one didn’t taste like Kraft either!

After lunch we were on our way out when the kids noticed a different “ride.” There was a man that had created his own wheelchair complete with a stand on the back.

In Sam’s words “It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. He even gave me a ride. It felt fast like a magic carpet ride.” He should have sold tickets!

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All ready for more adventure we loaded up in the car and noticed that the rain had stopped – YEA! We decided to drive to attraction #2 – Stirling Castle. We had a little drive and caught a glimpse of the William Wallace monument on the way. Although a hike to the top sounded great (to Erik!) we chose the castle instead! We arrived to Stirling Castle and found it quite busy but thankfully they had a parking lot and we got a spot right up front. We queued (UK for line) up at the ticket counter where the helpful attendant informed us that we had so many children we should just buy the “Scotland Castles Pass” and save 20 pence (about .20). We are all about a bargain and this pass would allow us to enter other Scottish castles later on in our trip – perfect!

We toured the Stirling Castle which was once the residence of Mary Queen of Scots. We saw there was a tour beginning soon and decided it would be a great way to learn more. The tour started and the guide was quite informative! However, the Scottish winds were strong, someone needed to go to the bathroom (can you guess?), and Erik had a phone call he needed to take. So Erik headed off to take his call and I made the executive decision to abandon the tour and find the children’s area. In the bottom of the castle we found a really great children’s area with a dress up center, instrument section, and an interactive map teaching about how they made fabric different colors. Of course in addition to this Charlie had taken the children’s trail so we had to make sure to check off all the clues along the way!

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After exploring this area Erik finished his call and we continued our tour – (self guided this time)! We entered a beautiful room which was the King’s bedroom. In this room we found costumed guides who answered questions. The guide was so welcoming and answered the kids’ questions graciously. It was in this room that we learned they discovered the oldest football in Scotland in the walls of the castle! It is believed that people would put much loved objects in the walls to protect the well-being of its inhabitants. The football may have belong to Mary Queen of Scots and that perhaps she had it placed there to protect her family from witchcraft.

We continued our self-guided tour until the castle closed. The kids did a great job completing their children’s trails and won……a Stirling Castle flag (which was a little disappointing to Charlie as he had earned 15 chocolate coins after completing the Bank of England trail).

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By this time we were all pretty tired (and COLD!) so we were ready to head back to Glasgow for the night.

We figured we would find something to eat along the way but unfortunately the options were pretty limited. I starting searching Google Maps and found a large shopping center not too far away. This seemed like a good option as Juliette kept asking when she could get a new football anyway (we left broken Sonny D in Wales!). We arrived and were surprised at how big this center was! With loads of options for dinner we all agreed on Frankie & Benny’s. This satisfied the parents as it was something we can’t eat at home and the kids as it was American food! Everyone quickly chose their meal and Juliette ordered macaroni and cheese – again! Maybe this one will be the winner?! (spoiler alert – still nothing like Kraft!)

We had a great meal and then the best moment of dinner arrived! Evidently they celebrate birthdays at Frankie and Benny’s by singing and bringing out a treat to the birthday person – just like home! What isn’t just like home is that NO ONE else joins in the celebration – except the Lillas! So we hooped and hollered a Happy Birthday celebration like that Scottish girl had never seen! And lucky her she was right next to our table! Everyone else in the restaurant seemed very confused but we sure did have a good time!

We finished up dinner and did a little shopping. Juliette finally picked up a new ball – this time it was more than £4 so we hope it lasts longer than Sonny D! The kids also found a toy store so they were content. We shopped around until closing time – 10pm – and then decided we had filled the day as much as possible!