We sailed on the Celebrity Mercury, one Steve and I sailed on 2 years ago.  It's been refurbished and the beds were far more comfortable this time around!  Though it's an older ship, relatively speaking, it was clean and well kept.  Entertainment was OK but our goal was to simply chill and leave household chores, and homework, behind for a few days.

 

We all agreed a 3 day cruise is far too short!

 

 

Between soccer tournaments, yard work, and work work, we managed to travel a bit this summer. 

 

I've uploaded 3 new photo albums to help tell our travel stories.  Do be thankful I didn't upload all 300 photos we took in Europe!  I tried to keep it to the most interesting but then again, interesting is a matter of opinion.

 

Massachusetts, 4th of July Week

We headed to Massachusetts 4th of July week to spend the holiday with my sister, her family, and meet the 2 newest members of the bunch - TJ and Nathan.   We stopped in New York City first and then took the train up the coast to Providence.  Highlights of that week included trying to watch the Red Sox play Texas at Fenway Park despite the constant parade of food vendors hawking their goods throughout the evening.  Watching them ply their trade was both fascinating and cause for a good laugh.  Of course, I couldn't resist the 5 dollar Fenway Franks.   We also took one of the Boston Duck tours and laughed till our sides split. We did spend some time, on foot, searching for Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church.  Thankfully our efforts were rewarded. 

 

We had only 1 rainy day, the 4th itself.  We felt some sprinkles during our cookout, and the deluge waited until evening.  Of course, the fireworks were cancelled so this year we went without. 

 

Barcelona, Western Mediterranean Cruise, and Brussels, August

The five of us decided to forego our annual Schaper Schnack Xmas cruise this year and visit and cruise Europe instead.  It's a decision we don’t regret at all.  In an effort to not bore you with all of the trivial details, here's a quick overview of our travels:

 

–         were amused by our authentic Spanish hotel in Barcelona, the Hotel Continental Palacete.  Look it up, its web page captures it well.

--     were  thrilled to be on a new cruise ship that took us to many Mediterranean ports while making sure we didn’t go hungry, get bored due to lack of entertainment, nor feel lonely

–         thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and wine induced laughs at a 300 year old vineyard on the flanks of steaming Mt. Etna

–         were amazed by Naples drivers, their total disregard for safety, and that 3 gelatos cost €23.00 because we sat down instead of getting them to go

–         gawked in awe as we roamed Rome, dripped sweat running from site to site, though stayed happy because the pickpockets avoided us

–         had fun following witty & wise Flavia through Florence, sneaking a back door peak at David,  tasting Tuscany wines, sampling Sting’s organic olive oil, and eating some of the best pasta known to man

–         climbed hilly stairwells while trinket shopping in Viilafranche France,  keeping our eyes out for fine French pastries, learning my 5 years of French class finally paid off when it came time to pick our treat

–         were beyond glad when the 2^nd takeoff from Barcelona was a charm because the first wasn’t

–         discovered our luck continued in Brussels because it was beer fest weekend, fries were sold out of storefronts, and Belgian waffles really do come from Belgium.

–         learned that despite consuming too many gelatos to count, wine, cheeses and olive oil daily, Belgian waffles, chocolate, and beer, that all that walking in close to 100 degree heat for a week kept the pounds off.

A Map that includes Snohomish, in case you're wondering where it is.

It was a great warm up for the summer tournament season.  Next stop is the Rainier Challenge in Puyallup Memorial Day weekend, followed by the Skagit Firecracker in mid June, the Crossfire Challenge in July in Redmond (yeah!!), and then up to British Columbia, Canada in August.    The life of a committed soccer family...

 

We went to Hawaii for Ian's spring break and soaked up plenty of sun.  It had been awhile since we visited last and I forgot how much I love the Hawaiian culture and climate.  We played in the ocean most days but I always feel like I've not had enough (a reason to go back sooner rather than later). 

 

Ian, Evan (Ian's friend) and Steve tried to boogie board but the waves were large and breaking close to shore.  They didn't give up but were exhaused at the end of the day.  We did some snorkeling, my favorite warm water activity, and though conditions weren't ideal (big waves) we did see some pretty fish but next time we'll look for a calmer spot.

 

I have plenty of pictures to download so will update our photos on this Space when I get them sorted and pick out the best of the bunch.

I'm trying to be good and keep this up, but I'm too busy thinking about what the next version will be and not focusing on my Space.

 

Ian's Soccer team, EFC Red BU13 played their first Washington State Cup game this past weekend and though they lost 1-0, they fought it out until the bitter end.  And, the team they played is 2nd in state overall, we're 3rd and we can't seem to bring it up a notch or 2. 

 

Ian finished his first Junior High semester and loves school this year.  I suspect it's less about the academics, and more about friends and community .  Even when he feels under the weather, he finds a reason to go.

 

Brian and Rob celebrated their birthday last month and mine is too soon around the corner.  Steve's will be the most fun this year - celebrating the big 50, in Las Vegas, and have tickets to Beatles Love and Stevie Nicks.  He's looking forward to it and so am I!

 

I added a few new photos to the site, and hope to get some more up this weekend.  We have quite a few from the Christmas cruise but as soon as I got back to work, I got buried.  It will get done!