W32 of Y2

Whitney has become great friends with our Italian neighbors.  The oldest speaks a little English but that's it.  They teach each other words but have so much fun anyway!  They are soooo sweet to Whitney!!

They treat her like their little baby!! lol!

This week we had some time to spend on the yard.  We got our garden started and planted some flowers.  Well, actually Jeremy and the boys did it all.  

I love that Jeremy enjoys making our outdoors beautiful!

Kayla!! lol!! 

 Cousins!!! 

Ok, they're not REALLY our cousins but that's what my kids call them.  We love them like Family!!

The Deshler's are in Europe for only a week and we are lucky enough to get a few days to spend with them while they are here. 

Clue - a great way to break the initial awkwardness! lol!!

We didn't waste any time getting them their first Italian Gelato at our favorite Gelateria!
(Yes, the sign behind them says not to sit in the window - but the shop was closed)

We also got to celebrate Malia's birthday with her!  She got to spend her birthday in a plane flying to Europe all day!!!  Lucky Girl!!!

W31 of Y2

2016 Cruise Continued....

Day 3: Palermo, Sicily

Woke up to watch the ship pulling into port

Benefits of having your own balcony.... lol!! :)

There was a group carrying a coffin in the air with a long line of people following them through the street.
Something you don't see every day!

A beautiful Cathedral

Entering the catacombs... wasn't expecting what I was about to see!

Skeletons as far as the eye can see!

This one was the creepiest - she still had hair and eye lashes!

After seeing all those skeletons we really worked up an appetite!

Time for dessert!!  These were beautiful!  Sugar coating filled with a white cream.

After all this we ended up getting some Granita... yum!

We caught a ride back to the ship

Jeremy was quickly best friends with our driver and they were both laughing the whole way!

The boys were so sweet and held Whitney's hair back during the ride so she could eat her ice cream without her hair blowing in it

Back to the ship!

Time for a dirty banana and some pool time!

Bowling after dinner

Great show tonight!

Day 4: Valletta, Malta

Pulling into Malta

Must have been a rough night!

The limestone fortress, Mdina, in the background

Mdina is an ancient walled city where St. Paul lived after being shipwrecked here in 60 AD and is said to be over 4,000 years old!

I had to take a picture of Aiden offering Whitney his brand new jacket that he just bought with his own money because she was cold!

Boys! lol!

Whitney is so lucky to have such sweet brothers!

This guy was restoring old statues.  Our guide said this one will probably take him a year to complete!!

Aside from the beautiful limestone, Malta is also known for their decorative door knockers

lol!  The Ottoman Empire was taking control of the Mediterranean in the 1500's however, they were defeated in Malta and forced to retreat. Apparently someone is still holding a grudge!

Some kind of a field trip for some local school kids

I was surprised that I didn't see a single Maltese puppy... not even a statue of one!

Our guide insisted on buying these Maltese Pastizzis for us.  There are 2 different types - ricotta cheese and smashed peas.  Our guide said that obesity is on the rise in Malta and she blames these pastries.  She says the Maltese eat them all day long, several times/day.  I can see why - they are so good!!

Mnajdra Temples

These temples date back to 3600 BC!!!!  That is 1000 years before the pyramids!  I just couldn't wrap my head around this.
This model shows how the temples were built in perfect alignment with the sun to see the solstices and equinoxes so the people would know what season it was and when to plant their crops.  There were also several altars all around the temples that were used to sacrifice animals.

We watched a 4-D video about how they excavated these temples and the history of them.
There are currently over 50 excavation sites today in the same area!

We had the temples all to ourselves - very rare!!

The tallest slab on the right is the first piece that was found during the excavation that led researchers to these temples

This small island which once had a church, among other buildings, was so badly bombed during WWII that this is all that remains

BEAUTIFUL fishing village!!

We did NOT have enough time in Malta!  This is one place we plan to return!!

More yummy meals!!!

After dinners Whitney goes to the kids club and loves it! There were only 1-2 other kids that spoke English though.

After dinner the boys usually played ping-pong or fussball since we got done with dinner at 8pm and our friends didn't go to dinner until 9pm so it was just enough time for a quick game.

The kids club would sing a song just about every night before the nightly show would start!

We put a movie on in the room for the kids and Jeremy and I checked out the night life on the ship

So handsome!!

Day 5: Palma De Majorca and Whitney's Bday!!!

Birthday girl!!!

Started out the day with dirty banana's pool side for breakfast!!

The kids club went to get their picture taken with the Captain and then got to do a cooking class in the kitchen!
I was jealous!!

Enjoying the pool with my baby!

Whitney's Chef Certificate

The boys playing Marco Polo and Aiden accidentally touched this lady - they all had a good laugh about it!

Cruise 2016

Cruise 2011

Whitney decided to jump in with her clothes on! lol!

Whitney's first gift of the day!  Our friends gave her a beautiful watch made with Murano glass!

We decided to skip the fancy dinner and go to the Sports Grill for something different for Whitney's birthday

She was just a little excited!! :)

LOL!

Our waitress here was from Romania and also has a 9 year old daughter at home.

May all your wishes come true Whitney!
Happy Birthday!!!

We didn't pull into Palma De Mallorca until 8pm!!  So Jeremy and I left the kids in the room to watch movies and bought 24 hours of wi-fi for them while we went out! 

We ended up finding this place for dinner and spent the whole night talking to these two.  So fun!

Day 6: Valencia, Spain

Valencia

The kids didn't want to do any touristy things today.  They just wanted to hang out on the beach all day!
So that's what we did and loved it!!

Yes, the water was freezing but the kids barely seemed to notice

As true with many European beaches - tops are optional.  We found Valencia to be more topless than most!

Our cruise boat in the distance

Connor paid this woman 10 Euro to massage his legs/feet. lol!

We had some little sandwiches/chips for lunch on the beach and of course ice cream treats for dessert

Back on the ship Connor got a hair cut!!  So handsome!!

Another delicious dinner

Tonight's celebration was for the Baked Alaska!

There was a beautiful wedding on the ship.  The couple is from Russia and seemed to have brought both of their entire families with them!!  Some workers on the cruise said that cruise weddings/honeymoons are becoming more and more common.  Whitney declared this how she will get married!

Another beautiful sunset

Whitney wanted to take a picture of us! :)

Kid's club performance

My favorite of all the shows - Avatar

A little surprise in our room that night - an invitation to a birthday party on the boat the next day for Whitney!

Day 7: Marseille, France

Our final day of exploring

Local fish market - I was wishing I could take some home with me!

The Notre-Dame de la Garde on the hill

Marseille is known for their soaps - so we had to check them out!

For the first time Whitney wanted lipstick instead of a toy - *sniff*

Petanque - this is a popular game played in France.  We got to learn a little about it from watching this guy practice.

Marseille Cathedral

A model of the cathedral made out of matches

Beautiful statue of Jesus and Mary

The boys pointed out that Jeremy and Oscar were twins - lol!! #bromance???

The boys fitting in with the locals

ummm... no thank you!!

I think Marseille wins for the most beautiful graffiti

A delicious lunch with perfect weather!!!  Life is good!!

This little cutie came begging for some food

Dessert!

Shopping

More dessert

Saying good-bye to Marseille

Enjoying beautiful views of the French Riviera as we moved north

Last dinner - we loved William the best!!  He is from Honduras and loved speaking Spanish with Jeremy!
He also loved to tease the boys.  He has 2 almost the same ages back home. 

The teen club where the boys would hang out

Oscar translated the "generation trends" for us -
now I'm wondering if it was a good idea to leave the boys in this place - oh my!

Final show

Saying good bye to Whitney's friends at the kids club

Last breakfast before getting off the ship

Saying goodbye to our dear friends and promising to meet up again soon!!

On the road back to Lerino!  Whew.... that was a fun trip!!