An Island in the Alps

This island is in the middle of Lake Bled which is just across the Austrian/Slovenian border. The island has a cute little church on it that you can swim to , rent a boat or hire and orseman to take you there.

Game of chess anyone?

Tom and Christopher played a game of chess after we went swimming in Lake Bled. 

Swan family

As walked around Lake Bled there was this cute family of swans.

Bled, Slovenia

Onto Bled for our last day (we were here 1 1/2 years ago on Spring Break). Bled Castle is on the peak behind us.

Lipizzaner stallions

We went to Lipica Stud Farm, which is the home of the Lipizzaner stallions. We watched a 1/2 hour show and got a tour of the stables. 

Predjama Castle

This castle is built into the side of a mountain, probably due to the air conditioning coming out of the cave adjacent to it.

Concrete beach

Here is a picture of the concrete beach. A little hard to lay on, but no sand between your toes and all over your beach towel either.

Sunset

After supper we walked along the concrete beach - yes, that's right, no sand just concrete. This was taken close to our hotel. 

I need a washcloth!

It was so hot out that the ice cream was melting faster than Christopher could eat it, or get it somewhere onto his face for later consumption!

Piran, Slovenia

After 2 nights in Croatia we headed to Slovenia next. Piran, Slovenia was a cute little coastal town, next to the border of Slovenia and Croatia. We stayed here two nights. Our first afternoon there we went swimming in the Adriatic Sea.

Gradinsko Lake in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

This is the most scenic area of the park. As it was hot this day, by this time, we would have loved to jumped in and cool off. Unfortunately, no swimming allowed.

Wooden walkways

After renting the rowboat we took off to hike around the upper lakes. Here is one of the wooden walkways that we followed all over the park.

Row, row, row your boat

After lunch we rented a rowboat and took a ride along the lake. We were able to get very close up to some of the waterfalls.

A view from above

After the big waterfall, we had to hike up to get to the shuttle bus. This was one of the views we had of the lakes and waterfalls. 

The big waterfall

This was quite the waterfall. And everything here was so green. A nice change after being in England where it's been so dry. 

More waterfalls

We took a boat ride along the lower lakes and then hiked to the big waterfall. These were some smaller waterfalls. 

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

This was our first stop on our last trip. We flew into Graz, Austria and then drove down to Plitvice. There are 16 terraced lakes connected by waterfalls. Beautiful! We spent the day hiking, rented a rowboat, and relaxing. 

Christopher ahead of Tom

It was better having Christopher in front of Tom, otherwise he was trying to keep up with him. Since Christopher was young, they only had these 2 out on the track - kept the other competitive guys off the track. 

No more wimpy tracks for us

Once we got back to England, the guys decided they were going for the big time. We stopped at a go-kart track on the way to the other bases. Christopher was just big enough to be able to drive. These go-karts went a lot faster then the ones at the lake. Christopher had a couple of good skids (gave his mother a slight heart attack). Did some cookies thru the dirt one time. They had a blast and can't wait to go again. 

Come on Christopher! We can catch your dad!

More raacing at the lake. This time the big boys got involved. Here Tom is ahead of Christopher and Jim Hicks, our friend from VA who came to SD to visit us while we were back. 

Tiger Cubs

Here are 4 of the boys in Christopher's Tiger Cub den. This was taken back in May on base. 

Racing at the lake

A bit blurry, but here is Christopher and Kennady racing the go-karts at the lake. We did this after mini-golf. 

Mini-golf by the lake

Christopher got to play mini-golf with his cousins while we were in Yankton, SD. Pictured is Josh, Uncle Shawn in orange, Grandpa, Christopher, Uncle Todd in black, Kennady, Jordan, and Aunt Traci. 

Czech Days Tabor SD

We went to the parade Friday afternoon. Christopher had so much candy, that torwards the end of the parade, candy would be thrown at his feet and he couldn't even be bothered to pick it up. 

Baseball time

This year Christopher played on a coach pitch team for kids 7 - 9 years old. We actually had a nice season, only froze a couple of times this year. The last game of the year Sheila even got a sunburn.