The Grand Finale.

5 countries 

7 flights

3 train trips 

1 bus

1 ferry 

4 trips to Louvre

3 trips to Orsay

3 trips to Catacombs. 

2 times up Eiffel tower

288+ miles run

170 baguettes

6 jars of nutella. 

2 things of sunblock 

3 lost teeth. 

2 lost shoes 

And a whole lot of fun later....

  

Croatia

All good things come to an end and this crazy amazing journey we have been on for the last 4 months is coming to an end.  Todd said its been like groundhog day here. We get up, eat, play, someone goes to town, we eat lunch, then go to the beach. Repeat.
If you're stuck in a day this is the one to pick. The wind showed up providing much needed relief from the heat and brought waves. There have been no waves at the beaches. We did not know what we were missing. We enjoyed rolling in the surf. I left the beach with about a pound of sand in my swimsuit. We also jumped off some rocks near our house. I jumped from about 10-15' I'd say. It was creepy but the kids and Todd were calling me a chicken.

London

We got a ride to the airport which was about 30 minutes away. The airport was surprisingly nice and easy. We killed a coupe hours by spending our sat Kuna(Croatian currency) on airport food. The flight was easy and we made it to London in one piece. We took the train into London and we had decided to stay at the same hotel we first stayed at the day we got here in April. We even had the exact same room. So it was very odd to be literally back exactly where we started. We were only there a day. Todd went for a run and the kids and I hung out at a park just across from us. London is getting ready fit the Olympics so it seems a place a buzz with anticipation....at least at the airport.  We took the Tube, as they call their metro. Todd had gotten directions but somehow we ended up on the wrong train. Thankfully it was an easy correction. The airport was fine and currently it's hour 7 of 12 of this flight. We flew Virgin Atlantic. I like them all their trans-Atlantic flights have personal TVs so that's a huge bonus and I've caught up on all my films. But mostly it completely distracts the kids. Point of reference is this iPad has 93% of it's charge.

Park in London across from hotel

We have had a ridiculous amount of fun.  We have learned a lot and been given the opportunity to have experiences together that will stay with us all forever.  If I learned anything it's that it pays off to be brave.  To do the things that seem crazy, to take a chance, to do the thing that gets the most "are you crazy?" looks.  We are packing up to move to Virginia, the next stage of our adventure.  I hope we keep our sense of adventure, that our kids can see the world in a little different light, and that one day soon I will learn how to spell.  :)  Thank you to all the people who made it possible, our families and friends for all their love and support.  Without who this would not have been possible.  

Hours before our flight from London home...trying to get the kids to work off some energy

Hannah had done all the Cardio she could handle.

  

London getting ready for the Olympics

English breakfast

 

Todd had been deprived of diet Mt. Dew for 4 months

  

Jet Lag

Yep...

Chuck Norris was here

Todd likes to joke with me that if I had not met him I would be living in Happy Camp (no offence to Happy Campers but this is not meant to be a compliment.)  As we sat on our patio overlooking multimillion dollar yachts on the Mediterranean he simply said "Happy Camp."  With an all too proud smile.  He's a little right though, this is an idea that came from him, paid for with his hard work and I am grateful because it's been a really wonderful experience for all of us.  And as Todd is about as good at taking compliments as I am at giving them we will leave it at that.

Phoenix 2...again it's following us

The stairs to the beach

Todd and Austin jumping

Tea Party

 For my Dad and brothers: Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.

Back to the patio.  We are looking out at our old friend the Phoenix 2 which is now parked in the sea out front.  It did not have the helicopter this morning but it showed up later and did an impressive landing on the bow of the ship.  We also have seen some of her other toys, including a blow up slide that comes off one of the upper decks, 4 jet ski's, 3 smaller boats, and apparently a pool.  I was curious so I looked it up and you can charter the yacht for 850,000Euros a week...that is a completely obscene amount of money.  Anyhow in case anyone wants to charter it there you go.

Yesterday I asked all the kids if anyone wanted to go with me to town.  I got a resounding no from everyone.  Yay I could go alone.  Then Austin said he wanted to go, then Hannah, then Sierra.  This was not exactly what I pictured.  It went from being a quite stroll through all these cute streets while peeking into some shops to "I can't carry you," "stop touching that," "NO you cannot have more ice cream."  So I told Austin it was his turn and the girls cried but eventually conceded and stayed with Todd.  Austin and I walked to town.  It had to have been at least 100 degrees but there was a slight breeze that made it almost pleasant.  We got some ice cream and found some shade to eat it in.  We walked around the narrow streets of Old Town a bit and then decided we would hike around the walls that encircle the city.  It's I think about a mile or more around so it's no small task in the heat but Austin wanted to do it.  We got some water and headed up.  You have to pay, it was 100kuna, which sounds expensive but it's really $20.  I went to the grocery store the other day and spent 900 kuna...it was a little shocking for some reason it makes everything seem really expensive, but it's really not.  Anyhow up the wall we go.  It's pretty high but gives you a great vantage point to see all the city below.  We had fun, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed being one of the few people braving the heat to be up there.


Today it was a bit cooler as there was some slight cloud cover, which was nice.  I laughed at Todd who had been complaining daily in Paris about the constant cloud cover when he remarked at how nice it was to have it be cloudy today.  The kids and I hung out here.  I have a slight cold so I don't have a lot of energy, I just have a sinus infection or something so no one will kiss me but I don't always feel horrible (just when it's convenient like time to do the dishes, etc.) Just kidding.  We talked about renting a car, taking a day cruise, all those things you can do here but really we are just vacationed out in a way.  If it were Todd and I alone I think we would be out on Jet Ski's all day and out dinning every night.  But it is really pretty hard traveling with kids.  Ours are fantastic, they are not perfect but really for what we have asked them to do over the last few months they have really impressed me.  But still I realize we will actually have the most fun sitting here, going to the beach, and occasionally going out for ice cream.  It's also been great to just be together.  At the beach today Todd and  Austin went and jumped off a dock thing.  The kids swam everywhere.  The beaches here are all tops optional which thankfully the kids have not seemed to notice. Actually some are anything optional but mercifully they are established and marked so they can be avoided.  Plus something tells me these are not people you would want to see without their clothes anyways.  It makes beach going exciting and normally helps me dictate where we sit.