MSC Orchestra

We're seeing the Adriatic sea on the MSC Orchestra, and you can view our ship and webcam HERE.

Our itinerary:
Day 1: Depart Venice.
Day 2: Bari, Italy
Day 3: Olympia, Greece
Day 4: Santorini
Day 5: Piraeus (where we will visit Athens)
Day 6: Corfu
Day 7: Kotor, Montenegro
Day 8: Return to Venice.

Hello from Bergen, Norway

Happy 18th birthday to our oldest!

MSC Opera

Today we're boarding the beautiful MSC Opera to cruise to Berlin and then through Norway.  You can find the MSC Opera webcam HERE (just scroll down; it also includes a map of our location).

We've never cruised MSC before so we look forward to this experience, but most especially all the amazing places we're going to visit.

Our itinerary:
Day 1: Depart Copenhagen
Day 2: Warnemunde, Germany (where we've booked a shore excursion to Berlin)
Day 3: At sea
Day 4: Bergen, Norway (and Ansley's birthday!)
Day 5: Hellesylt
Day 6: Flaam
Day 7: At sea
Day 8: Return to Copenhagen (and then we fly to Venice for our next cruise!)

If I can, I will update with some ship pictures!

Europe 2016

We have been planning for months and are taking the girls to Europe for a month!  I am "reactivating" this blog to be able to chronicle our journey.  Some posts are prewritten and will hopefully be edited as we travel, and others will be written on the fly.  Feel free to join us!  The journey begins Monday, June 6!

If you follow me on Instagram (inkyscrapper) then when I am able I will be posting my #photoaday of my favorite shot of the journey that day.  I may not have internet access each day, but they will get taken and (eventually) posted.  Feel free to come along for the ride!

What I Packed

Not necessarily what I wore...

The jewelry I took 

A plastic-lined Vera Bradley bag that will be great for picnic items, wet swim suits, etc. 

My medicine pouch (Yes, I know people get sick in Europe but I wanted my own meds!)

All tucked in to my carry on, with a Vera Bradley wrist pouch, adapter kit, and rain jacket added (minus one long-sleeve t from the original photo)

New York Day 2

Here are the other pictures I was able to upload from our UCHS Band/Chorus trip to NYC.

Grand Central Station

After our Radio City Music Hall tour, we went to Lincoln Center.

Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe

Shopping in Times Square

New York Day 1

Highlights from our loooong first day in New York!  (One of our buses broke down in Asheville so we had an extra six+ hours added to the journey.)

Yes, this is actually DC as we drove through Thursday morning!

My awesome seat mate, roommate, and sister-in-law!  The four female adults (Grammie, Aunt Amy, Faith, and me) accompanied our three girls Ansley, Macey, and Lil Haley.

We were able to make our reservation at the 9/11 Memorial when we arrived in the Big Apple.  It was incredibly moving.

More Moving Photos

Not necessarily emotionally moving, but literally moving in the moving-out-of-our-house sense:
Macey and I came home from school today to find all the furniture in the living room and playroom/office area gone!

 All that is left is the TV/DVD combo and the wireless internet "stuff."

Here's the view from the hallway into the living room to the right...

...and the playroom to the left.

It didn't look this good when I got home!  I couldn't believe all the junk behind the bookshelf and the couch! LOL  Wish us luck!

Update 3/17

When we got home from school Friday, the dining room and play room were almost completely empty!  Logan has hired a former student of mine (who is now a senior) to help from time to time, and the two of them removed most of the furniture.  The girls and I finished cleaning off the book case, etc., this weekend.

You may recall that Macey was teribbly upset about how many trees that had to be cut down.  As luck (Serendipity? Coincidence? Prayer?) would have it, BJ received trees in the mail yesterday as a gift for her donation to the Arbor Day Foundation.  She gave them to us, and with Logan's assistance, we got all 12 planted today.  (Our plan is to transplate them in a year or two to more favorable locations around the house.  Hopefully they will live!)

There's nothing like "going green" for St. Patrick's day!

More "Landscaping"

When we got home from school Friday, we found even more trees gone.

Uh oh!  The dead pines from across the driveway fell onto the rhododendrun bush.  Dad said it was either the house, the bush, or the men.  I'm not sure Macey thinks that he made the best choice.

We're not sure any of the bush will make it, but at least the pine limbs and broken limbs have been removed.

 Here's where the vicious pine stood.

Then, yesterday we had a young fellow come and work for a few hours, and all the front bushes are gone.  He even moved some of my daffodils (which may or may not make it but at least we tried).  Hopefully I can get the few daylillies peeking up transplanted somewhere safe too, but I only see one or two little shoots.  Since I know where several are, I may just move whatever I can find down deep in the soil.

We also managed to fill a box trailer FULL of boxes, chairs, and a few small odd pieces of furniture.  We got everything unloaded Saturday afternoon and are working toward filling the trailer again.  Whew, I'm tired!