Day 6 at sea

Day 6 of the cruise was "at sea" and we were ready for a day of relaxing. We were so excited to explore the boat some more and swim, that is all the kids wanted to do the entire trip! So we spent our day eating, drinking and playing. It was a great day! Writing this blog is making me so sad, all I want to do is book our next cruise!!! 

 

 

Breakfast time, the kids loved the fancy fruit cups. 

I think the servers thought I was nuts but I wanted crab cakes, scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning. They would bring me my plate and just hand it to me but they didn't know what to "call it" so they just put it down and smiled! Dave and I cracked up about that. 

 

Because when you are on a cruise, you can have two breakfasts if you want! 

 

Trying to get a family photo with this crew is impossible! 

 

 

More "Swedish fish" as Dave called them. 

 

Since we were having a low key day we decided to eat out by the pool. Everyday for lunch they would have huge grills out by the pool and would have tons of food. We were not able to go any other day because we were usually not on the ship for lunch so we took advantage of it and enjoyed ourselves. 

 

The kids kept asking for a "double-double"(2 scoop cone) and since it was free on the ship, sure! They were SO excited to have 2 different flavors in their cones. 

 

 

After lunch we took the kids to the kiddie pool. They absolutely loved the slides and I loved that the water wasn't deep anywhere and they could swim without swimmies. Dave and I were able to relax and soak up the sun while they played. 

 

 

I love how happy Quinn is in this picture. We all just keep talking about how we want to go back on another cruise! 

Finley hated the water and screamed to get out. 

While Dave and the little kids took naps in the room, Quinn and I went out exploring and soaked up some sun on the deck before getting ready for dinner. 

 

"Washy-washy, happy-happy, smiley-smiley" girl. She was so nice and the kids loved her! 

And this is what happens when you don't take naps, you fall asleep at dinner! 

I love when Dave gets to grow a beard!! 

These trio of pictures of Leo are just too good not to share all of them. We of course ended the night with some ice cream! 

 

"Cheese!" 

Animal towel photo to end the evening. We were rested and ready to explore our last port of Split, Croatia! 

Rest is good, life is good!! 

Cruise Day 5

Day 5 of our cruise was in Athens, Greece. We only had 8 hours in Athens so we decided to do a private tour and it was pricey! I was second guessing our decision up until that day because it was way more money then we have ever spent on a "tour" of any kind but it was so worth it. We had another early morning so we took advantage of breakfast in our room and were able to catch the sunrise. I loved having breakfast delivered to us, it made the morning so much easier.

 

 

One of the perks of having a private driver was that we had our own van and the kids all had carseats. Our driver was informative but he wasn't the most child friendly guy. Our kids played in the dirt the entire day and he was constantly trying to clean his van at every stop, it was pretty comical. The other plus of having a private van was that we made it to all of the places we wanted to go and beat most of the tour groups. After talking to others who did tours they did not see nearly half of what we were able to see so after all, the money was worth it. 

 

The first stop on our Athens tour was Acropolis. We got super lucky and beat the crowds, we were able to walk right up to the top and it was stunning. It was really overwhelming to be there and to see it in person, I am so glad we were able to experience that as a family. 

Walking to the top. Leo was asleep in the carrier already, this cruise was no joke and we had a lot of long days! 

 

Athens was huge! The city was sprawling from the top. 

  

Checking out the ruins, we spent most of the day talking about Hercules in order to keep the kids interested in what we were seeing. Thank goodness for Disney movies. 

Heading to the top. 

 

 

I can't put into words how cool it was to be there and to see these buildings in person. I will be going back to Athens before we leave Europe that is for sure! It was absolutely amazing. 

 

 

 

 

 

We were lucky enough to find a family that was American and on our cruise boat to get a picture of all of us. 

 

 

Leo woke up and was able to enjoy the ruins. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just throwing rocks, like always. 

 

 

 

Next on our tour was a trip to Zeus' temple. It was huge! One of the pillars was knocked down in a recent thunderstorm, that must have been one crazy storm! 

 

 

Our kids literally played in dirt the entire day. 

 

 

Hadrian's Arch. 

 

 

We were running behind due to traffic at this point so Dave got out and grabbed some pictures of the stadium for us while our driver parked illegally and got honked at to move! 

 

We were able to see the changing of the guards which was very neat to see and I love the traditional uniforms they wore. 

 

My favorite part of the day was eating Greek food for lunch in GREECE and it did not disappoint. We ate so much food and loved every minute of it. I want to go back just to eat again! 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed to Ancient Agora. I wasn't even sure what that was really but it ended up being one of the best parts for me. 

The views of the Acropolis from around the city were beautiful. I wish we were able to see it lit up at night. 

 

 

More dirt playing. 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these little travelers of ours and the adventures we get to share with them. This day really was one I think I will always remember. 

 

 

The last stop on our day was the Acropolis Museum, it was stunning. I wish we were able to spend a lot more time there. Quinn and Leo were yelling "I see his weiner!" while we were there so that was fun! 

 

The kids loved the lego section of the museum and I wish we could have stayed longer for them to look at it more but we were on a time crunch so we didn't miss the ship! We were able to see the Caryatids (4 of the original 6 column of the Erechtheion temple) and I loved them. They were so beautiful. 

Athens was incredible. The city isn't a "pretty" city but the history that is there is unbelievable. I am so thankful for this experience and that we were able to go and see the sights of Athens!! 

When we got back to the boat I grabbed some sangria and everybody took naps. Another perk of suite life was that we were able to get our laundry done. The girls helped me sort it out, Quinn is the best mommy helper ever, Finley tends to just make more messes! 

Since everybody slept we ended up having a late dinner in the Aqua Dining room and it actually wasn't very good. Our servers were super nice though and brought the kids lots of hot dogs and ice cream. The kids loved the hand washing lady and became great friends with her. They were always saying "happy-happy, washy-washy, smiley-smiley!" Even Finley started saying it when we saw her. 

 

My sweet girls. 

  

  

We were able to catch the sunset while we waited for our dinner table. From sunrise to sunset, it was an amazing day!! 

 

The best part of their day was probably coming back to the room to find a new towel animal. 

Athens was incredible, life is so very good!