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.

Greek Island Cruise starting from Venice

We flew into Venice on a Friday night, spent the night at a hotel, and then took a water taxi (60 Euros for a 10 min. ride) to the Norwegian Gem. (Boy is Venice expensive!) This was the beginning of our week long vacation with a few other families from school.

There's our ship!

R's face looks a little contorted here because he was sucking on a gummy worm under his upper lip. Nice.

The view from the cruise ship leaving port in Venice.

Many people were in my way, so this was one of the only good shots I got. Of course, my husband who is taller than most was being lazy (already in the relaxing cruise mode) and wouldn't come take pictures. Next stop: Croatia - home of the necktie!

U.S. Embassy Visit

You know you've been traveling too much when you're running out of passport pages before it expires in 10 years. So, as K's personal secretary (since I don't have another job at this point in my life) I had to make an appointment online for the American Embassy here in Brussels to accompany his passport for the gluing session. My appointment was for 1:30, and with the horror stories of road work in Brussels, I thought I'd leave at noon to make sure I could find a parking space and be on time. Everything went so smoothly that I arrived at 1:00, thinking they would have some comfortable waiting room for us Americans living abroad. I would just sit and spend some quiet time reading a book waiting for my appointment.

No. Not the case. I arrived at 1:00 (while it was raining) only to have every guard there look at me as a suspected criminal. You can't walk on the sidewalk closest to the Embassy, but across a small street behind a fence. You can't go in early to read a book or magazine. You can't just walk in whenever you'd like, you wait to be called inside (yes, even in the rain). You can't take pictures of the outside of the building or your camera will be confiscated for the removal of pictures from your memory disc (my friend had this happen).

So, with umbrella in one hand, my purse guarded with another, I fumbled around to find my phone and call my husband to tell him he owed me one. I ended up waiting outside for the entire half hour while the rain never ceased for even one moment, but once inside I was treated nicely, didn't have to pay a single coin to use the water closet, and the lady gluing the new sheets even finished with her glue stick early! I only had to wait for 30 min. while it usually takes an hour. Now there's more room in K's passport for traveling - can't wait to see everyone in 14 days!!!

That's Life

Our household is a little frustrated today. Daddy was supposed to arrive around 8:30 and I found myself glancing out the window to see if the gate was opening as I flipped pancakes and stirred scrambled eggs. 8:45 I received a phone call from Daddy and I was thinking, "Oh, that silly gate won't open. I bet he wants me to push the button so he can pull the car in the driveway."

Nope - he was calling from NY. Halfway through the flight home the plane 'had something wrong' and needed to turn back to the States. My heart sank (just a little because I knew he was safe) as I listened to what had happened. They made it safely back to NY, however, after being gone all week K doesn't get back now until tomorrow night. He's sleeping for a few hours in NY, flying to London, and then coming to Brussels tomorrow night.

In the meantime, the airline lost one of our bags (better not be the one with J's favorite dip) and I have two kids who really miss their Daddy who was supposed to be here today. Even though we're missing him and a little frustrated, we're just glad he's safe.

Happy 8th Birthday R!

After some fun Lego games outside, we had come in for cookie cake (R's favorite, which is unheard of here so I have to make my own) and the opening of presents. After about 15 minutes we were ready for the next wave of outside play. As you can tell in the pictures the boys are having a great time. There were 10 total, and can I just say that 10 boys in the same house is A LOT!? I was just thanking God for the decent weather so they could release their energy outside instead of in the house with my new Murano glass vase from Venice on the mantle!

This is the last picture containing the snacks neatly displayed on paper plates...later on some were catapulted to classmates, so the picture taking ceased for the photographer to turn into the "crowd controller".

The boys had a great time and we even had one friend tell us their son reported, "They sure know how to throw a party!" (Can I just say how thankful I was that it was such a success in their eyes? That same little boy had gone to 3 birthday parties that weekend, so I was amazed he thought my silly games were fun!)

Like I said, we were busy keeping these boys active and involved to the point where pictures became a nuisance, so there aren't many to document R's birthday. Hopefully the memories will last and be good enough.

As the last boys left, J announced, "Those boys are naughty!" (This comment was concerning ALL the boys - ours included as he was given a warning of a time out at one point.) I'm not so sure the boys are truly naughty, but I will say that they love to party!