School Trip to Grindelwald

Hi this is Devin. I want to tell you about our school trip to Grindelwald. We were gone for a week. We went skiing every day and at night we went sledding, ice skating, a movie in german, and karoke. It was great fun and Lucas and I also got a lot better at skiing. We'll never forget the experience.
This is the boy's room at the hotel. There were 6 boys sharing a room. This room had two floors. The bottom had the bathroom and shower with two beds. The second floor had another two beds and a bunk bed.
The hotel provided us all of our meals. After breakfast we packed a lunch of bread, meat, cheese, and a candy bar. For drinks, they gave us a choice of Ice Tea, Carbonated water, or Chocolate milk. We had fondue one night and it was good.

This picture is from the parking lot of the hotel.

One day we took a train through the mountain to the top of Jungfrau Mountain. It was warm and sunny at the top. The view was awesome.

I took these pictures at look out points on the way up. The train stopped for five minutes at every stop.

The snow and ice was huge and I felt like I was in the ice age.

I made it to the top of Europe. The sun was so bright I had to squint really hard just to stop myself from tearing.

This is me pretending to fall off the mountain.

We visited the ice palaces inside the mountain. People touched this spot so many times that it has left a print.

There were many sculptures around the caves.

This is a good picture of what the tunnels look like. This section wasn't open but had a neat polar bear sculpture.

They had a funny looking cow with a backdrop so Lucas and I decided to jump on for a funny picture.

Time for Sledding

The kids had one more week off before they had to head back to school. They couldn't wait to go sledding. Neuchatel didn'tget much snow over the holidays. I think more rain than anything. However, up in the mountains there was enough for a good time.
Katelyn and Parker had a good time playing in the snow.

Devin had a good ride down the hill on the Taylor's new sled.

Parker and Kate pretending to be sledding.

Lucas pretending to be a "Hotshot".

We went up again yesterday and there was probably around a good 5 inches more of new snow. I forgot the camera but the trees and landscape were beautiful.

Today has been a good day. I am caught up on the blog, the kids are at school and the house seems a little bit too quiet. Have a good week!

Crete & Happy New Year!

Day 12 we were at the port of Crete. It was a beautiful day and the warmest. We decided to stay on board and go swimming.
We pretty much had the ship to ourselves for about 2 hours. It was lots of fun.The water was nice and warm. I had to post this one!

The discussions are still continuing about Lucas having his hair "longer".

Kate taking a break.

The next 2 days were at sea and we celebrated the New Year. They had quite a few things happening around the ship.

Jason, Devin and I decided to try out the Mexican Specialty Restaurant. The other 2 were at Kids Club.

We had some very rough seas heading back to Barcelona. One day we pretty much hung out in our cabins and watched movies. It was too much to move around.

One of the waiters in the dining room was always playing around with Katelyn. I have no idea what his name is but we got a picture of him the last night.

It amazes me how hard the staff works on the cruise ship. Everyone is always very friendly! We had a vacation of a life time and all went well. It is another adventure that we won't forget!

Athens

Day 11 - Athens, Greece. We were having wonderful weather and I remembered to have Jason take a picture of our little gadget. I believe the temperature says 64.6 degrees F.
We made it to the top of the Acropolis and already Lucas didn't want to listen to the tour guide.

I didn't even think about scaffolding being in every picture. They are doing a huge renovation of the Parthenon.

This is looking down on the Temple of Hephaestus. Is the most intact of all the Greek Temples.

In the background is the Erechtheion. This is where the oldest and most sacred relics of ancient Athens are found like the Olive tree of Athena.

Athens is one big city!

A different angle of the Erechtheion.

On the patch of green below Kate is what remains of the Temple of Zeus.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It has 32 rows and can hold 5,000 people and is used every summer for the Athens Festival of music and drama.

It wasn't too bad hiking up. The boys helped carry the stroller. There is an elevator some where but we didn't bother finding it.

We then visited the National Archaeological Museum. Jason took quite a few pictures but I only posted a few.

After the museum we had a nice late lunch and went back to the ship. It was a great day in Athens!

Izmir, Turkey

Day 9 we were suppose to go to Rhodes, Greece. However, the wind was so bad that the Port was closed. It was pretty chilly up on deck so the kids went to Kids Club and Jason & I headed to Bingo. We really enjoy Bingo. We won 2 games but it wasn't quite enough to cover our habit but almost!!!! It's the only time we gamble.

Day 10 was Izmir, Turkey. We booked a little excursion but it wasn't much. We would have been better off going on our own. I posted this picture because it really show how much taller Devin has gotten since summer!
Katelyn and Lucas didn't even want to get off the bus. The bus had to change parking spaces and Kate thought it was funny to wave goodbye to us.

I think the kids are thinking "more pictures by old rocks and columns?".

Jason being "Hercules".

Enjoying the sun after another museum.

Cruise ships sure are big.

The coast of Turkey.