Hurrah! I have just booked our airline tickets which makes our trip OFFICIAL!
I am so excited I don't even know what to do with myself! For those of you who don't know, I have a long history with Scotland. When I was 16 I did an exchange program where I lived with a family (Charles and Mary Nasmyth) in Edinburgh for 3 weeks. The following summer Charles, Mary and their son Richard came to visit and stayed at my parents' home. The summer after that, as part of our 3 week family vacation, my parents, brother and I all made a week and a half stop in Scotland and stayed with the Nasmyths (we also did a wee bit of time in Ireland on that trip). In 2001 I completed my Winter/Spring semester at the University of St. Andrews, which is less than an hour drive from Edinburgh. This was the last time I was in Scotland, but the last time I saw the Nasmyths was almost five years ago, when they made the trip to this side of the pond for our wedding!
So I love Scotland, and truly feel that I could move to Edinburgh. But I haven't been back in what feels like a million years. Now, some how the fates have aligned, and Ray decided this should be the destination for our summer vacation! We had played around with the idea of doing a West Coast trip and visiting friends in San Francisco and Seattle.... but certain Seattle friends will be spending 6 weeks on vacation... so we figured that was better pushed back. I don't know if Ray's inspiration was (a) the desire to experience more international travel as sparked by last summer's visit to South Africa, (b) the fear that if he did not book an actual vacation away from home that he woudl end up just working throught he entire thing or (c) the fact that in order to have an actual vacation he will need to go somewhere where his cell phone will not work (if there was no internet, that would be even better)! 
Regardless, I am over the moon about our trip! With much research, planning, and a great deal of assistance from Charles, Mary and their daughter Mary Ann, I have planned a 13 day trip that includes the highlights of Edinburgh and Fife, some reminiscing in St. Andrews, a four day drive through the Highlands and Skye and three nights in London! Hopefully not too jam packed, but certainly fun, exciting and offering a plethora of vistas to be photographed! I just can't wait!
I don't know how I am going to sleep tonight...