Battle of Waterloo Displayed by our Son

After a unit of inquiry on the ins and outs of the Battle of Waterloo, our son has become quite the expert on the subject. We've mentioned before that we live only a few kilometers from museums and memorials from the battle. Discussing war and guns in school - what more could a little boy want? He came home acting as soldiers, placing markers as warriors in the armies, and reliving the stories from the battle. The first picture is Wellington's army, with fewer men (sticks) since he was outnumbered. The bottom picture contains Napoleon's army (rocks) ready to attack. Various cannons (pine cones) wait for the soldiers to utilize them.

This display remained part of our back patio for a few weeks as the studies in the classroom continued.

Fun on the Cruise

There's soccer:

Nothing's getting past this goalie.

Rock climbing:

This little girl received a lesson in perseverance. She tried 3 consecutive days to climb to the top, and on the third she finally achieved her goal. Way to go!!

These were my climbing mates.

Made it to the bell with the spotter's help. I won't lie, my muscles were sore the next day.

Then there's the pool area:

After swimming for 6 years at Nana and Papaw's heated pool, colder water is difficult to get used to for this guy. While vacationing there are many days he can be spotted in the hot tubs.

People make fun of us being a family "into cruises", but my kids are happy doing these activities instead of waiting in airports or traveling in a car for hours. So we've found that cruises allow us to see a variety of areas of Europe in a short amount of time.

Iraklion, Greece (5th stop on cruise)

The kids are such great little travelers that we try to allow them to have some down time, so we ventured out on our own. Leaving the kids in the Kids' Club, we decided to stroll around the city. We were blessed to have another gorgeous day! I didn't keep track of what any of these places are, but thought they were just plain pretty.

One of our traveling buddies

Mykonos, Greece (4th stop of cruise)

The family making our way to Mykonos by tendering on a smaller boat.

Windmills on Mykonos Island:

After arriving on Mykonos Island, we decided to taxi to Paradise Beach. How can you go wrong with a name like that? Well, my husband's only complaint was the larger size sand, but I didn't have a complaint in the world as I sat under my thatched umbrella watching the kids play on the beach.
Entrance to Paradise Beach
What a beautiful day!
Later, the kids tried catching tiny fish, but the bright green netting must have given the predators away since we didn't catch a single one.
K doesn't look like the sand is bothering him too badly here!

My view of the kids from under my umbrella. I could have stayed for another few weeks, but our ship was leaving soon.

Santorini, Greece (3rd stop of cruise)

Looking at the island from our ship (above)

The books say there are 3 ways up the cliffs of Santorini: walking, riding a donkey (my husband weighs too much for this option), or riding a gondola.

Our ship from the gondola ride (above)

Monks ringing bells

All the blue and white buildings of Oia.

What an amazing creation. Santorini is basically a volcano with a sunken inside which filled with the sea.

Below you can see the volcanic rock that makes the island

House upon house was layered on top of each other almost. Narrow cobblestone sidewalks paved the way through the area, which would have me lost quickly.

My personal photographer snapped so many shots of this island that it's impossible to choose my favorite pictures.
The taxi driver helped us find this little restaurant so we could watch the sunset during dinner. It was on the left of the picture, right on the water making us nervous about the kids plummeting into the water.
Watching the sunset in Santorini...

Corfu, Greece (2nd stop of cruise)

With this cruise being a little more leisurely than most of our other trips, it was nice to slow down and enjoy some amazing scenery, good times with friends on the ship, and sunshine!

We did happen to take a tour this day only to have our tour guide repeat how lovely the "turqu-ahs" water was. Our son heard this over and over and finally asked, "Why does she keep calling it 'turqu-ahs'?"

It was stunning, so I can see why the locals were proud of their beautiful water (like they had anything to do with its color).

While enjoying the view we spotted a yellow submarine - and had to sing to the kids.

These lilies adorned the island with a pop of color.
Love that sunshine!

Split, Croatia

Many men are cursing this island! Yes, the necktie was first developed here.

The kids enjoying some exploring time.
Belltower in the Old Town

Flowers growing from underneath palm branches - how beautiful!

After strolling around the island during a beautiful day, we parked it for some lunch near the water and the kids watched rowing races between Croatia and a few other countries. Even though by the looks of their attire Croatia seemed haphazardly put together, they won the race. Must've been the home seas advantage.