Hello All,
Well this is going to be quite an experiment for me. I take photos and I journal but I have never done both together on a blog until today. I'm setting up this blog so that if you would like to follow us on our summer adventure, you may do so.

We leave for our month-long trip to Europe on June 21, Rolf's birthday, what a present! We'll be in London for my birthday on June 23 and for Travis' birthday on June 26. We won't be in London for Quinn's birthday on January 28 - haha!

On June 28 we travel to Dover, England and board a Norwegian Cruise Line ship bound for the Baltic Sea. We will spend 2 weeks traveling to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, and Estonia.

We then are traveling UNDER the English Channel via the Eurostar Train, otherwise known as, "The Chunnel". I may need heavy medication to get on that train! We'll arrive in Paris and spend 5 days there before flying home.

This 'Trip of a Lifetime' has been in the works for the past 20 years! Rolf and I went to Paris for our honeymoon and always said that when we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, we would take our kids back to Paris. We celebrated our 20th this past November and here we go! (I didn't want to go back to Paris in November, it is cold and rainy!) We thought since we would be over there anyway, we would also work London into our plans.

Our friends, Dave & Lisa Butler, who live in Nashville, but who we grew up with, were planning a cruise for this summer. (Dave sat in front of me in first or second grade, can't remember which one now, but now you know how long we've known each other!) We have kids the same age, in fact their daughter Anna was born on the same day as Quinn, just one year later. (They are two peas in a pod!) We have always talked about taking a trip together, and they called us to see what we were doing this summer.

As luck would have it, we were planning on being in London the same time they were planning this cruise that leaves from Dover! We just couldn't pass this opportunity up.

So here we go, off to Europe, first to London, then with the Butler's on the cruise, then to Paris for a few days before returning home. I hope to be able to post pictures and updates on this blog. I'll practice before we go so that I know a bit about how to work this thing!

We are really looking forward to this trip, can't wait to see these cities through the kids' eyes. The cruise will be something new for all of us, we have never cruised before. Yes, I have sea-sickness tablets! Wish us luck!