Saturday, September 7, 2013
First Day of School 2013
First day of school, Shawn is in the 4th grade and Alyssa is in 1st grade. They have amazing teachers for the year, everyone is excited and ready! Alyssa loves riding her bike to school and has her very first locker! They both have friends in their classes! And first night and they are reading together!
Monday, September 2, 2013
The Baltic Cruise!
Our big vacation has come and gone...and it was amazing. We were lucky enough to go with our friends the McMillans and Aimee and Tommy! I was a little nervous about a two week family vacation, thought it might be too long. Pleasantly it was not, we still wish today we could be back on the boat! We started from Dover, England, where we spent a day exploring the Dover Castle and Tunnels before the cruise started. We ate at a little pub, where people write on the walls and ceilings after they have completed the English Channel swim. The family that ran the pub were wonderful and accomadating for my family of picky eaters! And we discovered that Kelsey likes peas!
Onto the ship we went after Dover. The ship time was great, everyone was happy. Kelsey and her buddy Lee spent time in Camp Carnival on the sea days. The older kids enjoyed a little freedom running around the ship. The adults enjoyed time to work out and read and relax. Most nights we ate dinner in the dining room together and it was wonderful! We enjoyed the shows on board each night and a magician too. The kids swam in the pools and played mini golf. We called ourselves "cruisers" by the end of the trip!
Our first port was Copenhagen, Denmark! We spent our day wondering around the city, seeing a few sights and then hitting up Tivoli Gardens, the beautiful amusement park in the middle of the city. The kids had a fun time riding a few rides, eating the biggest cotton candy, and watching a childrens ballet. We even saw the mermaid statue, which was fun since the kids have been obsessed with mermaids all summer!
Warnemunde, Germany, next, a very cute seaside town. We decide to stay here and explore instead of taking an excursion to Berlin. The town was great, and we think there was a tall ships tour going on, as there were some in port and coming and going throughout the day. There were also a lot of non cruise tourists about, many sitting dockside and watching the tall ships. Also in true German fashion, lots of food and merchandise stalls all over town. The kids enjoyed a few rides and playing at a park on the beach. We got rained on a bit, but had a relaxing day!
Helsinki, Finland.....RAIN...lots and lots of RAIN. We made it to the Rock Church as the downpour started. Dave took the older kids to the Olympic Stadium and then we headed back to the ship!
Our big two days in St. Petersburg, Russia....amazing and busy. We had a great tour guide that took us around the city for two days. The kids all took turns holding the tour sign to guide the group, until they dropped it, then it was someone elses turn! Luckily the first day didn't rain too much, or we managed to be in the van or inside somewhere. After a short drive around the city, we took a hydrofoil to Peterhof Palace and visited the gardens there. The grounds were incredible, and it didn't rain! The trick water fountains were the kids favorite! After lunch we went to Catherine's Palace and went inside and around the grounds. Next we went to Peter and Paul Fortress to see the cathedral there. This is where a majority of Russian royalty are buried.
The next day rained quite a bit. No rain for our canal boat ride, but as soon as we went into the Hermitage Museum the rain started and never let up. Today was mostly inside churches, palaces or museums! We saw the Spilled Blood Church, and a Palace today. We had a great two days, but by the end we were all tired!
I think the majorities favorite port, Tallin, Estonia. This was a quaint little town that was easily walkable. We didn't go in anything, just enjoyed the old city! We did get rained on at the end of the day, after a yummy tex-mex lunch and wifi!
Last port was Amsterdam. Luckily since Brian and I had just been there we had an idea of what we wanted to do for the day. We took a canal boat tour around the city, had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then found a park for the kids to play in. Oh, and another fun trick fountain!
Our last night on the cruise, the ship went through the locks to get out of Amsterdam during sunset, it was a beautiful ending to our cruise. The kids ran around the ship and we just savored every last moment! No one was ready to go home, not even Brian. Amazing vacation!
Onto the ship we went after Dover. The ship time was great, everyone was happy. Kelsey and her buddy Lee spent time in Camp Carnival on the sea days. The older kids enjoyed a little freedom running around the ship. The adults enjoyed time to work out and read and relax. Most nights we ate dinner in the dining room together and it was wonderful! We enjoyed the shows on board each night and a magician too. The kids swam in the pools and played mini golf. We called ourselves "cruisers" by the end of the trip!
Our first port was Copenhagen, Denmark! We spent our day wondering around the city, seeing a few sights and then hitting up Tivoli Gardens, the beautiful amusement park in the middle of the city. The kids had a fun time riding a few rides, eating the biggest cotton candy, and watching a childrens ballet. We even saw the mermaid statue, which was fun since the kids have been obsessed with mermaids all summer!
Warnemunde, Germany, next, a very cute seaside town. We decide to stay here and explore instead of taking an excursion to Berlin. The town was great, and we think there was a tall ships tour going on, as there were some in port and coming and going throughout the day. There were also a lot of non cruise tourists about, many sitting dockside and watching the tall ships. Also in true German fashion, lots of food and merchandise stalls all over town. The kids enjoyed a few rides and playing at a park on the beach. We got rained on a bit, but had a relaxing day!
Our big two days in St. Petersburg, Russia....amazing and busy. We had a great tour guide that took us around the city for two days. The kids all took turns holding the tour sign to guide the group, until they dropped it, then it was someone elses turn! Luckily the first day didn't rain too much, or we managed to be in the van or inside somewhere. After a short drive around the city, we took a hydrofoil to Peterhof Palace and visited the gardens there. The grounds were incredible, and it didn't rain! The trick water fountains were the kids favorite! After lunch we went to Catherine's Palace and went inside and around the grounds. Next we went to Peter and Paul Fortress to see the cathedral there. This is where a majority of Russian royalty are buried.
The next day rained quite a bit. No rain for our canal boat ride, but as soon as we went into the Hermitage Museum the rain started and never let up. Today was mostly inside churches, palaces or museums! We saw the Spilled Blood Church, and a Palace today. We had a great two days, but by the end we were all tired!
I think the majorities favorite port, Tallin, Estonia. This was a quaint little town that was easily walkable. We didn't go in anything, just enjoyed the old city! We did get rained on at the end of the day, after a yummy tex-mex lunch and wifi!
Last port was Amsterdam. Luckily since Brian and I had just been there we had an idea of what we wanted to do for the day. We took a canal boat tour around the city, had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then found a park for the kids to play in. Oh, and another fun trick fountain!
Our last night on the cruise, the ship went through the locks to get out of Amsterdam during sunset, it was a beautiful ending to our cruise. The kids ran around the ship and we just savored every last moment! No one was ready to go home, not even Brian. Amazing vacation!
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