12 Day Mediterranean Cruise - Part I

       With no kids this summer and softball taking up all of our free time, we decided to celebrate our anniversary relaxing.  Actually just the opposite of relaxing.  A twelve day Mediterranean cruise will wear you out!  We arrived in Venice on Saturday June the 15th and stayed in a hotel that evening.  Around 10 am we headed to our boat, the Carnival Sunshine.  After dropping off our bags and checking in we headed into Venice.  I didn't really feel the need to take pictures of Venice, after all this was our 2nd trip there together and my third overall.  We decided to cruise with some good friends of ours Cliff & Summer Balcer.  Cliff's parents Big Cliff & Deborah Balcer met us in Venice and cruised with us.  What a blast.
       After a long and hot day walking around in Venice we headed back to the boat to shower and enjoy an amazing dinner.  Day two was also in Venice, so we decided to take a boat ride to Murano for some glass shopping.  Cliff & Summer bought the most beautiful chandelier.   Micah and I got a glass blown horse, he's been wanting one since we went to Venice two years ago.
       Day three was in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  What a beautiful village.  We walked around the Old City all afternoon.  We had the most beautiful view from the top of the Old City walls.  After walking the Old City wall we took a boat cruise around a small island.  When we got to the back side of the island there were quite a few sun bathers on the rocks and they were all naked.  Yes naked.  No pants and no tops, standing there watching us drive by in our little boat proud of what God gave them.

Walking thru Old City to the Old City walls.

 View from the top of the wall.

 Me and my honey.

 It took us about one and a half hours to walk all the way around the wall.

 It was worth it.  The view was amazing.

 It was so hot I wished I had my bathing suit.  There were swimmers just below us.

 That is the little island we took a boat tour around.

 The water was so clear you could see all the way to the ocean floor.

 Heading out on our boat tour.

 It was nice to sit down and relax.

 Sun bathers on the rocks.  Fortunately these guys were fully covered.

 What was waiting for us on the bed when we returned.

 Our room  It was a bit messy.

The rest of our room.  You can see Micah in his swimming trunks. 

       On day 4 we spent the day at sea.  This was new for Micah and I.  On our last cruise we spent all of our days at ports and didn't get any down time to just lounge and hang out on the boat.  We were really excited to spend two days at sea and get to lay out and relax.  We began our day at 8 am with a couples massage.  It was amazing.  From there we put on our swimsuits, although I wanted to nap after the massage almost put me to sleep, and hit the pool.  During our summer of softball we have received some awesome farmers tans.  It was time to get to work on getting rid of them.  

       We lounged by the pool all afternoon, only leaving our beds to get drinks and snacks.  Micah and cliff took in the water slides.  Our boat also had a high ropes course, mini golf, shuffle board, chess, adult pool and kids pool and of course hot tubs.  Not to mention tons of bars and a casino.  I'm proud to say that after days of laying out my farmers tan is gone!

       Day 5 put us at Messina, Italy.  We booked our first tour, Taormina & Greek Theatre at this port.  If your not familiar with Messina, Italy it is the island of Sicily.  You know, where the God Father was filmed.  After getting off the boat we took a coach to Mount Tauro where the medieval Taormina sits.  We visited the Duomo and walked the streets of the charming village.  After the tour we made our way to the Greek Theatre that was built in the 3rd century B.C.  The theatre is still used to host summer open-air performances.

 Hanging out at the bar beside the pool before leaving the boat.

 The medieval duomo.

 Charming villages.

 View of the ocean from the city center.

 Buildings built into the landscape.

Anywhere in Italy is amazing to visit.

 A cozy street in Taormina.

 Entrance to the Greek Theatre.

 Obviously the lower seating is not original, but the rest of the theatre is.

 Mt. Etna at 2900 meters.

 View from the top of the theatre.

 From the theatre with Mt. Etna in the background.

 Another view from the back of the theatre.

 Mt. Etna.

 The theatre ready for a performance with Mt. Etna looking on.

 The coast line.

Taormina.

       On day 6 we arrived in Naples, Italy.  I was very excited about this particular port, it's been on my bucket list forever.  We booked a tour and were headed to Pompeii!  A quick history of Pompeii.  First of all it's probably one of the most famous excavations in the world.  There were approximately 20,000 people who lived in the town and roughly 2,000 perished when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.  Twenty feet of ash and pumice stone covered Pompeii.  In the last 200 years much of it has been removed during excavation to reveal the amazing village and what life must have been like to live here.  After our visit to Pompeii we visited a cameo factory where we purchased to cameo's. 

 Castle at port.

 Where the gladiators were housed.

 The gladiators practice field.

 The ampitheatre.

 Wine was served here.

 Paintings on the wall inside of a home.  Everything was so well preserved.

 Skeletons of victims.

 Murals on walls inside of homes.

 Inside of a home.

 I'm not really sure what this is. 

 A ceiling to let in rain water.

 Cast of a body.

 Cast of a body.

 Tiny bed made of stone.

 Cliff and Summer.

 Micah and I in front of the Temple of Jupiter with Mt. Vesuvius in the distance.

 Town square.

 This man was believed to be a slave by evidence of the belt he is wearing.

 View of the outside of Pompeii.

Leaving Pompeii.

Camp Darby

       I arrived home from Kentucky on a Tuesday and had all day Wednesday to relax and pack and on Thursday headed out to Camp Darby.  The Camp Darby Memorial Tournament is the first big tournament we have played in this year.  It was our third total,  (After the Cinco and before this was the Wood tournament at Ramstein.  It's hosted by the Wood who are a team out of Ramstein.)  Ramstein has three teams that travel and play, the Rams, Lady Rams and the Morning Wood.  During the season we become very close with the guys teams and it all feels like family.  All three of our teams car pooled to Italy for this tournament.  It was a blast.  We won, making it our third tournament win this season.
       What I didn't know when the season began is that it's very expensive to play.  Travel and hotels are payed out of our own pockets, so everyone camps at the tournaments.  At this tournament the camp ground had cabins you could also rent.  They have no water or bathroom, so you still had to use the shower house.  Had I know that I may have invested in a tent from the beginning.  We attended the home run derby, we hung out by the camp fire, we played corn hole.  We visited Pisa and ate amazing Italian food.  I really wish I had played the past three years!

 Some of the girls from our team before the home run derby began.

 Another girl photo before the derby.

When someone strikes out/fouls out every team has a little something they do.  Some teams make the player wear a tutu, some a pink jersey.  You are required to wear your article of clothing until someone else strikes out or you get a hit, each team does it differently.  This guy had to wear a costume.  Most of the time you wear it over your uniform, he decided to wear it by itself.  It was worth getting a picture of.

 Mandi from our team in the girls home run derby.  She also got married on the field this weekend.

Carla from our team during the home run derby.

 We ate awesome Italian food in Pisa, which was just 15 minutes down the road.

We visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

 We wrestled between games.

We took naps between games.

We also won!  We received  bat bags, cinch sacs, camel back bottles, and a trophy.

 All tourney team players were chosen.  Sahtera Wehe plays Left Center.

 All tourney.  Carla Dillehay pitches.

 All tourney.  Mandi Randall plays right field.

They also gave out an MVP award.  I played third base.

Headed Home

       It's our last summer in Germany and our kids wanted to spend it in Kentucky with their grandparents.  Who can blame them right?  After a couple of days of trying we didn't think we were going to make it out of Ramstein and thought about giving up.  There were a LOT of people trying to get home for the summer.  We even took our kids out of school a couple of days early so we would have a better chance of getting out.  We finally got a hop on a C-17.  We first flew in to Maine, where we had to get off the plane for about two hours while they refueled.  We got back on the C-17 and flew from Maine to New Jersey.  Again we had to get off so the cargo could be unloaded.  About two hours later we got back on and flew from New Jersey to Wright Patt in Ohio.  From Germany to Maine 8.5 hours.  From Maine to Jersey 1.5 hours.  From Jersey to Ohio 1.5 hours.  That's a LOT of time on a plane.
       When we landed we took the shuttle to the hotel where we waited for mom and Kenton to pick us up.  By this time it was midnight in Ohio and 6 am in Germany.  We were worn out.  After getting picked we drove 3 more hours home.  That got us in around 3:30 in the morning.  My kids got up at 9!!  I enjoyed the day shopping for my upcoming vacations with the hubby while the boys got lots of lovin' from their grandparents.  We got to bed at a decent our and back up again at 9 am.  By this point I'm so ready for sleep.  I had to head out at 2 to catch a 4:00 flight back to Baltimore to catch a 9:00 flight back to Germany.  It was a quick turnaround.  I will miss my kids like crazy, but I know they are going to have the best summer.

The C-17 is cold, but they don't have restrictions on staying in your seat!  We took blankets and pillows along with DVD players and DS's.  I think we got two hours into the flight when they decided they would pass time faster if they just slept.

 Lucas all bundled up.

Tucker out cold.  The white boxes above Tuck are our box lunches and sitting on our seats.  Looks comfy doesn't it?

You can see the boys in the aisle and the other people riding with us as well as the cargo next to the kids.

 Better picture of the cargo.

After we dropped the cargo, and half of the passengers off in Jersey this is what the plane looked like.  The crew was amazing, they let the kids get up and walk around the plane.

 Wide awake and ready for take off.

I know this one is dark, but the flight crew took Luke and Tuck up to the cockpit to meet the pilots and see what it was like to fly a plane.  It was awesome.  It would have been even better if it were light out and we could have seen anything.  They tried to explain how the navigation system works and all the dials.  I think both of my kids may want to fly planes when they get bigger.

Cinco De Mayo

       This year I decided to play a little softball.  Understatement.  After tryouts the schedule was handed out.  Thirteen tournaments over the summer.  HOLY COW!  During tryouts I talked to some of the vets about how often they played.  Maybe once or twice a month, usually just one tournament a month is what I was told.  Wrong.  Three a month is more like it.  I'm not complaining, I LOVE it.  I won't go into great details about the tournaments, just a picture here or caption there.  Here goes!  First tournament of the year was the Cinco De Mayo.  Spang is only one and a half hours away.  We drove up and rented rooms and played Friday thru Sunday.  We walked out of this tourney undefeated.  Wahoo!  We got a team trophy and t-shirts that look like the invitation below. 

 Cinco Invitation.

Photo of our girls after the chipper.

Lulu

       We acquired a dog!  My kids miss Ty and have asked for a dog numerous time.  The answer has always been a no.  Not because we don't love dogs, but we live in a three bedroom apartment in Germany.  We travel...a LOT and a dog would just make things too difficult.  Maybe when we get back to the states we would tell our kids.  Micah and I both love big dogs.  We always thought IF we get a dog it would probably be a boxer or other large four legged beast.  Wow how things change.  Micah has a friend at work who has asked us to dog sit a couple of times.  The dogs name is Jagar and my kids have fallen in love with him.  They are crazy about Jagar.  Well the last time we watched him when it was time to give him back (Sunday night) my kids were heart broken.  They wanted him to stay longer.  That night Micah says to me that he always wanted a large dog, but wouldn't mind having a small dog like Jagar.  He enjoyed that Jagar didn't shed and that he was so well behaved and didn't take up much room.  I replied by telling him I agreed, but if we got a dog it was going to be a girl.  We really need to even things out in our family.
       Be careful what you wish for.  The very next day my friend Jennifer posted that she found a small female Yorkie and had been looking for it's owner.  Here in Germany it can be quite difficult to get all the documents to travel with a pet and when people PCS they tend to leave pets behind.  It's heart breaking, but happens ALL the time.  She was found in Ramstein Village on the walking track.  She was covered in poop and mud, freezing and wet, scared to death, half starved and without any identification.  Jennifer took her home and fed her and cleaned her up and began looking for her family.  Nobody claimed her.  It is assumed she was left behind by her family. 
       When I saw her photo it was love at first sight!  I knew she would be perfect for my family.  I know, I know I said we weren't getting a pet before we got back to the states, but we PCS in October.  We leave in five months!  Surely we can manage for five months.  I contacted Jennifer who said she still hadn't found her family and that if I wanted her she was mine.  I grabbed my friend Tiffany, packed up my kids and drove to her house to pick up this little sweetie.
       Jennifer had been calling her Lucy and said she actually answered to it.  We decided to call her Lulu.  (It's close to Lucy.)  She was potty trained, played fetch and was just a little love bug.  I brought her home, without asking Micah, put her in the house and ran to the BX to get her food, a bowl, bed, collar and treats.  I knew Micah wouldn't say no. 
       When he walked in the door the kids were so excited to see him, he immediately knew something was up.  He pulled his bike into the living room to put it on the porch and that's when he saw her. 
"What.  Is.  That?"  I told him, that's our dog Lulu.  He gave me a look of what have you done?  He sat on the couch and she immediately jumped up on his lap.  She sat up on her hind legs and put her paws on his chest and looked him right in the eyes and I swear she smiled.  He melted.  She's been his ever since.  Traitor.  She was a shaggy mess when we got her, so we made an appointment to get her a hair cut and shots.  This is how sweet she looked after her hair cut.

 She's just a doll.

 Lounging on the couch.

 A photo of her cute bows.

 Her bed and her squeaky.

                                    
At her doctor visit they found a lump on her head and discovered she hadn't been fixed.  So, after her precious hair cut they had to shave half her head to remove the lump and shave her belly to fix her.  We absolutely love her to death!  She is a perfect fir for our family.