W51 of Y3

Columbus Day weekend

This was a much needed weekend to get away and enjoy some of Europe.  

Right after work/school on Thursday we set off for Croatia!

Driving through Slovenia we had to stop for these delicious things! 
Mine was full of cheese but Connor got one with sausage and the rest got pizza ones.  

Zagreb

Jeremy booked us a really cool apartment with wonderful views and sounds of the city

Whitney never amazes me with the necessities that she packs in her suitcase. lol!
I think the people below enjoyed her bubbles as much as she enjoyed blowing them. 

Walking to the parking garage to go to Plitvice National Park for the day

We started off our hike with a delicious lunch

This was their kitchen!

Ready for our hike even though it rained almost the whole time!

Where to start?  Ever since I saw pictures of this park, right after moving to Italy, I have been wanting to visit here!

Oh My!  It was even better in person!  I am telling you... this was the most beautiful place on earth!  I couldn't stop taking pictures and I couldn't decide on the best ones to post, so.... I'm posting them all!!

The ABSOLUTE BEST time to go here has GOT to be in the fall.  These colors were breathtaking!!

Hot cocoa and interesting desserts

Back in Zagreb, they had a market in the square outside our apartment. 
That's a lot of dried tomatoes!!

The biggest loaf of bread I've ever seen!

Jeremy and I had dinner at 50 after we got pizza for the kids at the house

Not your ordinary cheeseburgers! 

Bosnia and Herzegovina/Banja Luka

We took another day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit the city Banja Luka which is the capitol of the Republika Srpska.  Banja Luka is the 2nd largest city in Bosnia (after Sarajevo).  Interestingly, the majority of the population in Banja Luka is Serbians.  Such an interesting (and confusing) history!!

We could immediately tell that we were no longer in the European Union. The border checks took more than an hour!

Everything was in Bosnian and Serbian Cryllic

Looking down on Banja Luka

Our tour guide took us to an art show of an American artist describing life in London on tapestries

Old men playing chess

This is a Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.  

This store was full of beautiful hand-made embroidery.  This was the traditional clothing of Banja Luka.

Zmijanje embroidery  was inscribed  on UNESCO’s  Representative List of  the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,  This pattern and style of embroidery has been passed from one generation to the next and has a strong symbolic meaning of creativity, social equality and diversity.  Zmijanje is a small village outside Banja Luka.

A piece to take home with us

Time for a typical Bosnia/Serbian lunch

Aiden ordered a filet mignon.  We were all so confused (even our tour guide) when our waiter served him this!  Believe it or not, the steak was inside.  It was wrapped with the thick pasta holding all the gravy inside and on top of the steak which was laying on top of the potatoes. Aiden is smiling but he actually wasn't too happy. 

I got this delicious casserole!!  Whitney asked if they were serving me leftovers! lol!

One of the several mosques.  There seemed to be one on every corner!  You couldn't tell who was muslim though because they don't wear the traditional clothing in Bosnia. 

Here's another one.  They were all quite different and unique looking.

Krupa Falls.  This was like stepping into a Fairy Tale. 

Flour produced from the water mills

This lady was in there making "doughnuts" from the flour.  The kids were very disappointed that it was just balls of fried flour and not actually sweet at all.  

This was a very popular place for wedding photos.  There were 3 couples who came by just while we were there!

A very unsafe bridge!

Our tour guide snapped this pic of us - I wish it would have turned out better

We hiked up to a monastery nestled in the middle of the woods

There seemed to be fruit stands, among other things for sale, on almost every corner as we left Bosnia.  

On our last day in Croatia we decided to explore more of Zagreb. 
The Zagreb marathon was going on in the morning so there were a lot of people out and about. 

Whitney's pointing at where our apartment is

As we're standing in front of the church outside our apartment, all of the sudden these "knights" and horses come walking out in front.  We were really not sure what was happening!

The seemed to be protecting the Mary statue behind them

We found a museum of torture

Looking for a place for lunch.  This street had food from just about every nationality.  It was so hard to decide what to eat!

We finally agreed on Indian food.  I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture until it was all gone!

One last date with my sweetheart!

Zagreb is a really cool city! 
So glad we could get away for the weekend.

W50 of Y3

Court of Honor

We had our Court of Honor this week where all the boys received multiple merit badges that they earned over the summer.  Jeremy does such a great job as Scout Master!  These boys are really lucky to have him - especially since we live overseas.  Jeremy works so hard to ensure these boys get everything out of scouting that they would if they were in the U.S. 

At scout camp this year, Connor and Aiden were nominated by their peers to complete their order of the arrow.  I had never heard of this but it sounded crazy!  They had to work really hard all day, doing heavy labor, but could not speak a word for 24 hours!  Aiden actually cut his leg pretty bad and couldn't say anything.  Another adult did it with them and had to be driven away in an ambulance because he was getting high blood pressure but couldn't tell anyone that he was feeling sick.  

Jeremy got to do it with the boys.  

At camp, Jeremy also completed his wood badge project and is getting his certificate of completion.

You have to have food!

Vicenza vs. Hohenfels #67

W: 62-0

I was sad to miss Connor's game this weekend.  Jeremy and I stayed back for Aiden's birthday and sent Connor on the bus to Germany for Hohenfels homecoming football game.  Luckily, enough parents went so I still got some good pictures!

This one is my FAVORITE!!! :)

Yes, we killed them!  However, I was so proud of our team for being good sports and good winners.  The other teams coach sent an email to the school saying how impressed he was with our boys for their sportsmanship and conduct, on and off the field.   He said he heard several comments about this from staff, parents, and their players.  The last 2 games we lost due to unfortunate events and injuries and both teams were taking full advantage to rub it in our faces - the players and the parents.  There is nothing worse than a bad winner!  I'm so proud that our boys didn't take the opportunity to make Hohenfels feels worse than they already did for such a bad loss and at their homecoming game even!

Aiden's 14th Birthday Party

Aiden didn't want a party this year.  However, when I suggested a bonfire, my little pyro couldn't resist!!

A little ghost in the graveyard

None of the kids had ever heard of this game.  Jeremy had to explain to everyone how to play and it ended up being the highlight of the night!

Scavenger Hunt

After the party and everyone recovered we did a scavenger hunt for Aiden's birthday.  All he ever wants for his birthday is money - which is so boring!!  So, I have to figure out fun ways to give it to him.  I am pretty sure he liked this idea! :)

Yes, he had to unload the dishwasher for his first clue

Afterwards we went to Steak and Shake for dinner.  Yes, there is a Steak and Shake here and it is just like the one in the U.S.  (NORMAL MILKSHAKES!!!)  It is, however, an hour away and cost $100 for all of us to eat but.... it was worth it!!
(Jerome has been staying with us for the last 3 weeks while his Dad was in the U.S.)

Happy Birthday Aiden!!!