My next stop on my 30 things to do before 30 journey took me to the beautiful Isle of Arran.

I went with my family and we stayed in a beautiful cottage in Kilmory, near Lagg, which is in the south of the island.

We arrived on Sunday - a day after celebrating my dad's 60th birthday - by ferry, and our first stop was

a wee beverage in The Lagg Hotel.

After a chilled evening, we spent the next day on an almost deserted beach. The beach trip was extra special because it was my nephew Daniel's first feel of sand and he just smiled, like he always does. Such a content wee man. My niece Olivia was also loving the freedom the sand and enjoyed making sandcastles. We were doing well until a rather big wave put a stop to her liking the water whilst paddling, think she just got a fright at how cold it was.

The family then headed back to the garden at the cottage for a spot of lunch. After food, my mum and dad headed off to the Arran Creamery, which wasn't far from us and they purchased some ice cream for our dessert for later. I went off for a walk in search of a local shop, which unfortunately for Lagg, does not exist. Who needs salad with lasagne anyway? It just gets in the way of the good stuff!

That evening, I realised that I had caught a little bit too much sun, most likely from the beach. Now people who know me will know how randomly I get burnt lines and patches and this is nothing new. In fact I have seven from my day out in the sun. But actually neglecting my shoulder blades that were peeking out of my vest top and getting proper burnt is devastating for me, and I'm really upset about this. I carry a factor 50 with me in Glasgow, nevermind whilst on a beach in shorts and a vest. It's a travesty! I hate seeing red skin especially on me, it'll leave its mark for ages. Gutted. Smothered in after sun and radiating heat for us all we watched some of the Commonwealth Games. Glasgow looked fantastic and I am genuinely proud of my city.

We finished the night with crackers and Arran Dunlop cheese. It was immense. Does anything beat non stop eating whilst on holiday?

The following day brought some showers and cloud, not that I minded but I'm sure the others would have preferred another scortcher. But I welcomed the break.

We ended up doing a tour of 'Scotland in miniature' and started our journey in the two cars. We made our way to Blackwaterfoot Bay and then kept going to Lochranza in the north is the Isle. It was here we had our picnic beside the ruin castle. Stunning location actually, we did well. It was the coldest windiest day, yet we were out on our chairs lapping up the 'Scottish summer' (much more like it) even with about four layers on and all wrapped up.

We then celebrated my Dad's birthday - again - by heading out for dinner. After researching and reading reviews, we went for the Kildonan Hotel restaurant. The view at dinner was lovely, Alisa Craig and the Holy Isle all in one setting. More family joined us that evening for the following day. It was certainly a full house but a good one.

My final day on the Isle. Work beckoned. We had a lazy morning, big breakfast, a long walk along the beach again followed by...more food. Lunch, the food bags that we brought over were Mary Poppins esk in that they don't stop feeding us. Sun came out so we played in the garden before I packed my bag and was taken to ferry. Olivia was so upset when she found out I was leaving, it melted my heart. She informed me that I was her best friend and that she'd miss me. I'm sure I was quickly replaced but it was lovely to hear. She is very special to me. I've loved spending time with her, my nephew and of course all my family. It wasn't nice sitting on the ferry knowing they still had a good few days of the relaxation and general getaway in Arran. But I did thoroughly enjoyed my mini break.

Number seventeen, Isle of Arran with my amazing family!