Shawn's 1st day of school 2012

We all walked up to school for the first day.  This year we walked with our new neighbors and friends, the Meehans!  Shawn and Charlie are in the same class this year, Miss Rzeznik.  We met up with the McMillans when we got to school.  Looks like the start of a good year!

Lunch on the first day of school!

Cruising!

So, since Brian had leave that had to be used, we planned a second vacation this summer.  It was an easy one, a cruise out of Malaga, Spain, which is only a 2 1/2 hour drive!  A fun beginning to our adventure was getting pulled over on the way to Malaga for not having my lights on through a very short tunnel.  I did not get a ticket because I didn't have a tax number to enter into their system!  The kids of course were quick to remind me after this to turn my lights on! 

The cruise was fun, however Brian and I were a little disappointed that the girls didn't like the childcare area.  All plans of adult time or gym time were lost!  But, the kids had a great time on the ship with lots of things to do.  Playing in the pool, rock climbing wall, roller blading, and putt putt by day and shows by night, and of course lots of eating ice cream!  There was even an ice skating show one day!  They also enjoyed the towel animals that we found in our room at night time!



Us with Kenny James, a musician we saw perform, and Alyssa loved him!



Amazing ice skating show.

Sunset from the ship!

Windy day at sea!

Playing basketball at sea!

Our first port was Valencia, Spain.  We decided to go to the Oceanographic Museum, or Aqarium!  It was a really hot day, but we enjoyed it and especially the dolphin show!

Next port after a full day at sea, was Citaveccechio, that leads to Rome.  Another really hot day, we took the train into Rome and made it to the Colusseum and Trevi Fountain.  A hot mess that day!

Livorno was the next port, and we took a van to see Pisa.  Shawn and I climbed up the leaning tower, the girls were not old enough.  Quick trip, but Shawn really enjoyed it! 

And I think our favorite port, Ajaccio, Corsica.  The boat was docked right there, so we could walk off the ship and into town.  Kelsey didn't want to wake up this day, so I took Alyssa and Shawn off the ship, walked around and came back to the ship.  We all had lunch together, and put bathing suits on and headed to the beach!  Kids enjoyed looking for sea glass and enjoyed the calm clear waters!