Fountains at Peterhof Palace

Here are some of the fountains we got to see while at St.
Peterhof's. They are all powered by gravity from a lake 40 kilometers away. No pumps are used to power these beautiful fountains.

Lunch time

Part of the gang enjoying lunch on our 2nd day
in St Petersburg. We were again served vodka
and champagne. Poor Christopher had to eat
goldfish crackers and Fruit Loops while we
enjoyed chicken and rice.

Tallin, Estonia

Tom is helping out Karen, Mom and Christopher
while in Estonia sight-seeing.

Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Tallinn Estonia

Can you spot Sheila in the pictures? Hint, she's
wearing a blue shirt.

That's a big beer!

Ok, it's really just the menu. Christopher and
our friend Jim Hicks.

Tom & Sheila

Tom & Sheila are relaxing and enjoying dinner while
Christopher is at kid's club.

Malbork Castle, Poland

In the morning we took a tour to this castle, near Gdansk. It
is the biggest Gothic castle in Europe. You can take your own tour via this website that explains it more.

St. Mary's Church, Gdansk, Poland

We toured this church in the afternoon. It wasn't
very easy getting a good pictures of it as it's
surrounded by houses on all sides.

Captain's cocktail party

We were invited to the Captain's cocktail party since we had cruised
on Princess cruise lines in the past. It was also formal night so we
were all dressed up.

Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway

We were able to walk by the palace but you aren't able to tour it.

Shuffleboard - a cruise favorite pastime

While Tom overlooks Norway, Christopher and Grandpa play shuffle-
board. I don't think we ever finished a game, it always took way too long.

Akershus Fortress, Oslo, Norway

Our ship was docked near this fortress right in the middle of downtown Oslo.

Norwegian Waterfront Homes

Saw these gorgeous homes as we sailed out of Oslo, Norway.

Father/son cake decorating contest

Tom and Christ0pher participated in the father/son cake decorating contest for the April pack meeting. They didn't win, but they sure had a lot of fun making and decorating the cake (moms couldn't help!).

New babies in the house

That's right, as of April 22, 2 new kids came to live with us, Itchy and Scratchy, Russian dwarf hamsters. They are quite small, fit in the palm of your hand. Right now they are getting used to living with us and learning to be held.

Christopher and Scratchy

You can see how small they actually are, when you compare their size to Christopher's hands.

Sheila and Scratchy

Sheila gets a turn at holding Scratchy. She likes to be held more than Itchy and she loves the hamster ball (you put her in a ball and she runs all over the house in it).

Cub scouts

Christopher earned his religous knot this year. It is one of two badges that he can carry forward to his Boy Scout uniform.

Wolf badge

Christopher earned his Wolf badge this year. Here he is getting his badge pinned on by the Cubmaster.

Spring break - the Canary Islands

We spent spring break this year at the Canary Islands (us and the rest of England I think!). This was our hotel, Santa Barbara Golf and Beach Club. It was a very nice hotel (we had a 1 bedroom apt) that had 2 pools.

The view

This is what we could see when we stood on our balcony. It was very pretty with the ocean in the background.

Pool time

After doing some exploring in the morning, we hit the pool for the afternoon. They boys swam while Sheila took advantage of the warm sunshine and laid out.

Get away, the waves are coming!

Several evenings Tom & Christopher would go out walking after supper. This night they decided to see if they could beat the waves coming in.

Rock climbers

One of Christopher's favorite activities was rock climbing. There were plenty of rocks for him to climb on at the "beach" below our hotel.

Tom & Sheila with our hotel in the background

This was taken during our walk. Our hotel is behind us to the right and the ocean to the left.