Slovenia

Our first port on the cruise was Koper, Slovenia. There were many interesting excusrion possibilities through the cruise line: Lake Bled (a gorgeous, glacial lake in the Julian Alps), Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia, some have said looks like a mini-Amsterdam), a visit to a famous Lipizzan Horses stud farm, among others.

We really wanted to see the Lake and the capital, but they were still quite a drive from the port, so we decided to take the kids to the Postojna Caves, which are the largest publicly accessible cave systems in the world.  The advantage to taking a tour sponsored by the ship, rather than doing it on our own, transportation to the caves was included,  the tour guide gave us useful tips about caves and our port town, she pointed out interesting places along the way, and was able to tell us about the history of Slovenia and answer any questions that we might have had. The caves were amazing (and of course huge)! It was also very cold inside and we were happy that we had been told by the tour concierge to bring jackets. We had hoped to explore the town of Koper after the cave trip, but we were all to exhausted by the time we returned to the ship. Fortunately our tour bus driver was kind enough to drive us around and through town while the tour guide pointed out interesting sites.  The city seemed very clean, the people very nice, and prices were moderate. Final review- Slovenia is definitely a place that we'd like to return to so we can explore more.

The river responsible for the caves

Kids playing while waiting for our tour of the caves to start

Caden and I on the little train to take us into the caves

Part of the caves themselves- photography was not allowed- so we stopped taking pictures

Adriatic Cruise, The ship, June 2011

After a long drive to Venice from Heidelberg, we finally made it on the boat. Parking and dropping off our bags to be put onto the ship was a little confusing, but we made it. We had a nice (but small) room with a balcony on Royal Caribbeans, Voyager of the Seas. We were so excited to explore the amenities, food, and attractions on the ship. Caden loved the kids club. The pools were ok. The baby pool was small, but and a bit too deep. The big pools were very cold. The water was chlorinated salt water, which really stung if it got in your eyes.  The food was excellent; we were very excited that there was a daily selection of Indian food (since that is one of our favorite kinds). Eating meals in the dining room versus the buffet had some perks (better food that was brought to you), but also proved to be a challenge in entertaining the kids with all the waiting time. We found the iphones and ipads invaluable. Alcohol was expensive and you weren't allowed to bring it on board with you, like you were on the Disney Cruise. Having an ice skating rink on board was totally cool. Caden went ice skating for the first time ever. I also went rock climbing for the first time. The mini-golf and rollerblading courses both left a little to be desired.

We're going on a cruise

I'm so excited for our upcoming cruise. We will be visiting the East coast of Italy, Solvenia, and Croatia.

Cruises are an awesome way to travel to regions of the world that you have never been. You basically get to spend a day in a new city everyday for the length of the cruise- without the hassle of having to pack up and move from hotel to hotel. Once you get a glimpse of a city or area, you will know if it's a place that you'd like to come back to for a more extensive visit.

Furthermore, you don't have to worry about where you will find your next meal, how to get from point A to point B, or if the kids will have fun. Many cruise ships are very kid friendly and have such great activities for the younger crowd- giving the adults a much needed break and time to spend doing something that they want to do.

For 2 upcoming baby showers

I love making things for baby showers. Here are some onesies and burp clothes that I made for upcoming baby showers.

My 2 yr old is crazy

Just in case you needed proof that Addison is a crazy kid- here are a few pictures. She is wearing 3 month old boys clothes in these pictures.


And here the little monkey is climbing the pantry looking for treats.

You're looking at the new MTV MOPS Coordinator

I've been lucky to find a great groups of Moms when I moved to Germany 8 months ago through the MOPS International organization. They have helped me to acclimate to life in Germany, find new friends for both me and my children, etc. I couldn't be happier. As the end of the MOPS year was closing in and they were looking for replacement leaders of our group, I knew that I wanted to contribute somehow. I wasn't quite sure that I was up to the daunting task of taking over full leadership as the coordinator of our group, but with the support of my new friends and fabulous steering committee, I am confident that this upcoming year will be fabulous!

Why I hate driving in Germany?

The roads in my neighborhood and many neighborhoods are very narrow. Often cars park on both sides of the road, which make the roads even narrower and with 2 way traffic, it makes driving up the road to my house an agonizing event for multiple times a day. I won't show you pictures of my poor car, which already has multiple scratches, but I will show you a picture of a truck that was trying to maneuver our street. We waited a good 5 minutes for the truck to move out of our walking path- although he was still stuck and had smashed the left front of his truck. We often have to back up on these narrow streets when on coming traffics impedes our progress. Just the other day, I had to back up to go a different way up to my house due to a truck blocking the road, only to meet up with another truck blocking my secondary route. After backing up, I finally made it home on my third attempt.