Update & Braemar Gathering


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September 1st 2007
Published: September 2nd 2007
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As a commonwealth country Canada's flag flew proudly at the games! We even had a few competitors in the events!
Times have been a bit crazy for the last few months. Justin has been preparing for the start of his PhD, while finishing his work on his thesis which he should finish in the next week or so! I have recently handed in my LLM Dissertation and it is finally starting to sink in! It's an exciting time of year as all the hard work we put in this year is coming together.

As well, my parents will be arriving in exactly one weeks time! Its a welcome vacation and should be an excellent time! It will be a lot of fun showing them around Scotland - but also experiencing Ireland with them - none of us (mom, day, Justin, myself) have ever been to Ireland before so I am quite excited as is everyone else!

Yesterday Justin and I attended the Braemar Gathering - the last highland games of the season (http://www.braemargathering.org/). It was absolutely amazing to see the power and strength many of the competitors had! There were highland dancers and all the bagpipe & drums bands you could ever need! I have to say that my favorite events were tug-of-war and the one where people ran up a HUGE hill and back down again. I think the winner did it in under 30 mins! The caber toss was also quite fun to watch - such a traditional event where by big burly men in quilts lift a big log and have to balance it, then throw it trying to make it turn over once and land perfectly over! They also had races, such as relay and 2 mile, a potato sac race for kids in the audience and even a half track race of men in quilts!

The highlight for many people was when Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived for the finale.

Suffice to say it was an amazing experience and I think we might try to go every year!



Additional photos below
Photos: 30, Displayed: 23


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Tug of warTug of war
Tug of war

Tug of war Champs!
Caber tossCaber toss
Caber toss

It's tricky to balance the caber as you see here - he dropped it backwards! WATCH OUT! TIIIIIIMBEEER!
18 feet!18 feet!
18 feet!

If he would have gotten this over it would have been a new record!
Pipes & DrumsPipes & Drums
Pipes & Drums

All the pipes & drums bands marched around the field.
Pipes & DrumsPipes & Drums
Pipes & Drums

All the pipes & drums bands marched around the field.
Pipes & DrumsPipes & Drums
Pipes & Drums

All the pipes & drums bands marched around the field.
Pipes & DrumsPipes & Drums
Pipes & Drums

All the pipes & drums bands marched around the field.
Hill runHill run
Hill run

This is the hill/mountain that people ran up and back down in about 30 mins!!!!
Hill runHill run
Hill run

The winner of the hill race!
Queen arrivesQueen arrives
Queen arrives

The Queen in her little royal hut


2nd September 2007

Greeeeeeeeeaaat
I didn't see Justin in his 'KILT'. Like the pics and congrats on handing in the dissertation for Leigh and on the Phd. for Justin. Mom and I will be there in a wee week to visit the both of you.
3rd September 2007

tug of war
i was on one of the teams to pull and it was almost like giving birth, lol. everyone that went out to pull that day had fun and gave it their best, we came all the way from germany and now we are here again. i think that everyone enjoyed the drinking after. i deffo have to go to it again next year but this time insted of being second we will come first :)
4th September 2007

Great Pictures
These are some great pictures of the games. Is that a denim kilt Justin is wearing ??? I must warn you to beware of your Dad mixing in with the other Little People when you guys visit Ireland and make sure he has his passport ready to prove he isn't actually a Leprechaun!! Seriously though, I hope you all have a great and memorable time during the visit and congratulations to Lee and Justin on your academic achievements and keep up the great work. Love to all .......
4th September 2007

tug of war
I was most impressed by the tug of war events!!! Looks like it took a lot of strength and coordination!!
8th September 2007

Congrats
Enjoyed your update and the pics..Congrats to you both. Your hard work has paid off guys!! Have a great time with your folks. I'm anxious to see the pictures they will be taking and to hear about your adventues in Ireland as well as Scotland when they return... Keep on truck'in you two 'Scottish Monkeys'...Lady Jane

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