The Louvre

Rolf and I were really impressed with how much the kids seemed to soak in at the Louvre. It is such a huge museum, we were there most of the day and still didn't see everything. They loved hearing stories from Rolf about the historical religious paintings. Many of the stories they already knew! They loved making the connection.
Here is a picture of the crowd around the Mona Lisa. It was crazy!

The kids with Mona Lisa in the background. There was no way we were gonna make it up front to get a picture. It was every man, woman, and child for himself!

This is one of my favorite pictures I took in the Louvre. Sculpture is my favorite art medium. Too bad I didn't get this artist's name. I'll have to look it up in the gigantic book Rolf bought!

Our handsome boy relaxing outside the Louvre. He's a keeper!

Quinn loved taking funny pictures with the pyramid, which is the entrance to the Louvre.

We spent a large part of one day in the Louvre. It is the most amazing museum. We didn't see all of the wings but we got around to many of the items we wanted to see. We were exhausted!

Versailles

Here are the kids in the most famous room in Versailles, The Hall of Mirrors. It was used as a ballroom in the time of Louis XVI and is just stunning. Gold leaf covers the walls & ceiling, and most of the light fixtures and decorations in the room. The floors and mirrors are all original, as are most of the fixtures.
Look at that gorgeous girl! Welcome to Versailles!

The kids in front of the main gate. It was a 2 hour wait to get tickets. Rolf was in line, so we had plenty of time to take pictures! The day was gorgeous!

Our men making sure we don't get lost. The Paris subway is not quite as easy to navigate as the London tube system. But they did a great job, we always made it to our destination!

We're in Paris!!

Well, of course, sweets! On our way back from seeing the Eiffel Tower we stopped in a pastry shop. Oh my, were the treats melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I've already told Rolf I need a chocolate croissant for breakfast tomorrow! We are going to Versailles tomorrow. Taking the subway there. We took the subway to the Eiffel Tower tonight to practice!
20 years since we've seen the Eiffel Tower and she still is awe-inspiring! Quinn took this picture of us. I still can't believe we're here again. 20 years sure has flown by, guess time really does fly when you're having fun :)

The kids' first view of the Eiffel Tower. Quinn's first comment: "Whoa!"

Our first lunch in Paris. We ate at a little restaurant down the street from our hotel. It was absolutely delicious. We told the waiter that we would probably be seeing him again this week!

Our last night on the ship

The Butler and Alexis families on our last night of our cruise. We made reservations in a fancy restaurant to celebrate our time together. 12 days sure did fly by!
Rolf got just a bit of sun on our trip!

Look at those beautiful kids!

Quinnie and Rolf in the hot tub. Quinn and Anna's goal at the beginning of the trip was to swim every day. We didn't think it would be warm enough, but they were able to achieve their goal! 12 days of record temps made it possible and even downright enjoyable!

Stockholm, Sweden

Oh, did we have a wonderful lunch in Stockholm! It was also one of our favorite cities on the tour. This restaurant opened in 1775, before the US was even a country! We had sandwiches, but most importantly, we had pastries!! They were even better than they look, and they look pretty awesome :)
The kids in the city center. It is a gorgeous city built on 24 (I think that's the number!) islands. We took a boat tour while we were there, plus its the easiest was to get around to all the islands. It was a one hour bus ride from the dock to Stockholm so we all had naps on the way to and from the city!

The ship, Vasa, sunk in 1628 in Stockholm's harbor on her maiden voyage. Not found until 1956! The ship and museum are just awesome. This is the back of the ship, it reminded us of the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean. If you want more info, ask Rolf when we get home, you know he had to buy a book on it!

Stockholm is just a gorgeous city! We all loved it and wished we could have spent another day or two . . . or three or four! Someday maybe we'll go back.

Helsinki, Finland

Quinn and Anna found a park to play in; it was our first stop of the day. This was a teeter-totter. It was really fun, it went up and down and also spun in circles. The city is full of parks and dogs!
Lunch break. We ate in a little stall that served sandwiches, pizza and sweets. We paid $4.50 for a doughnut, but it was worth it!

Here's one of the rows of stalls in the pavilion where we ate lunch. There was anything and everything at these booths, including elk jerky and fish heads! We weren't that adventurous with our lunch menu!

Now who doesn't want to sing a little karaoke when you stop for a potty break?!

Second day in St. Petersburg

The kids with our guide, Svetlana. She was so wonderful and knowledgeable. She really made our 2 days in St. Petersburg memorable.
At Peterhof Gardens. Peterhof was the summer palace of Peter the Great. There are about 40 fountains on the property and they are all stunning. There were many that you could walk or run though, which was nice considering it was so hot!

Our appetizer for lunch at the summer palace, borscht. Don't know if I'm spelling it right, but it is a typical Russian meal. Beets, cabbage, rosemary, and sometimes meat if its available. It was delicious even though it looked a little suspicious!

Ellie, Anna, Quinn and Travis taking a break from all the walking!

More St. Petersburg

Inside Catherine the Great's Palace. Yes, amazing and yes, absolutely packed! Summer is the high season and everyone comes to visit Russia during the warm months. During our 2nd day of touring with our guide, she told us that she couldn't remember 2 sunny days in a row in the past 15 years! On average, there are only 40 sunny days in St. Petersburg a year, let alone 2 days of 90 degrees! On the second day the air conditioning on the bus couldn't take it anymore and it quit running. Luckily, it was the end of the day and we were only 30 minutes from the ship!
The alter at the Church of Spilled Blood. It took 40 years to build. During World War II when the Germans bombed St. Petersburg, the church was almost completely demolished. It took another 40 years to re-build it!

This is a mosaic of Jesus as a 10 year old boy. It is one of only two representations of Jesus as a boy in the churches of Europe. It was at the top of a spiral tower, lots of zoom on this one!

St. Petersburg, Russia

Oh, were we so excited to get to Russia!! This was the only city in which we booked a tour. We thought it would be a little tough to get around the city and get to all the sites without a guide. We were so right! It was 2 full days of touring with our guide, Svetlana. She must have had a degree in art history because she knew every bit of history and trivia about every single site we passed. We did a bus and boat tour, along with walking, seeing the Hermitage Museum, and many other sites. It was just amazing to be in Russia and see all these sites that 30 years ago would have been impossible to see.

Quinn in a gift shop in front of shelves and shelves of nesting dolls. Not that she wanted to buy one, but it was a cool picture!


The kids in front of the Church of the Ressurection, also known as the Church on Spilled Blood. Every inch of the inside is filled with mosiacs that are just stunning. I'll post a couple pics from the inside on my next post.

Our little Russian girls, trying on fur hats in the middle of a heat wave!

Tallinn, Estonia

Here we are in Tallinn, by far our favorite city of our tour. It was a beautiful mix of old town, historic buildings, and shopping! We had no idea what to expect but we were so happy to have spent the day here. We would love to go back someday!
Ellie, Susan (a friend of Ellie & Travis' they met on the ship), Travis, Dave, Quinn, Lisa & Anna taking a break from all our walking. We probably put 4 or 5 miles on our shoes that day!

The kids in Tallinn's Old Town. We bought quite a few souveniers here, including 2 rings for myself! They are gorgeous, one amber and one peridot. Think that's my spending limit for the trip!

We were in a Marzipan Museum! It was weird but also kinda cool. Never thought I'd ever be in one. :) All the kids made a marzipan creation. Quinn made a mouse on a piece of cheese. Actually, I guess not all the kids made one, Travis wasn't interested in making one, but he did have a snack there at the snack shop!

Pics from the ship

Look at this pool! It was so crowded every day, the weather was the best it has been for this cruise in years. The staff couldn't believe how much sun we were getting. We felt truly blessed to be spoiled by all the great weather we were enjoying!
Quinn and one of her new friends, Kathanja. She is from South Africa and just the sweetest girl. Her dad was the doctor on the ship. She and Quinn exchanged email addresses and I'm sure they'll keep in touch.

Here's Quinn sleeping in the hat she bought in Germany! After she fell asleep I pulled it off her head so she wouldn't have heat stroke in the night!

Wardemunde, Germany

Rolfie up on a tower in the center of Wardemunde. We climbed up 135 steps to get up there. It was nothing compared to the 257 stairs they climbed in St. Paul's to get to the top there!

Our afternoon snack. This was the BEST pastry I've had in ages. It was covered in sugar and had vanilla filling. If I wouldn't have looked like a pig I would have gone back to get another one!

Here we are in Wardemunde, Germany! (Pronounced Ver-de-mund) It was another hot day but we welcomed it. Better sun than rain! This ended up being a great port. It was one of Quinn's favorites. One of the first shops she spotted had handmade winter hats in the window. Of course, she had to have one! 85 degrees and she's buying a winter hat!