Plitvice Lakes, Croatia DAY 4

Day four started early as we had hopes of beating the tour buses to Plitvice Lakes.  It's a VERY popular national park with a ton of waterfalls each cascading down into the next lake below.  We had about a three hour drive from Rovinj ahead of us so we woke up early to get going.

Our morning was exciting as Josh had a scorpion in his pants (thankfully he shook them out before putting them on) and we didn't have hot water.  We made do and got everyone loaded and in the car.  The drive there was uneventful and we managed to beat some tour buses ;)

Josh and Mara in front of the large fall

The lakes are absolutely beautiful.  The water is crystal clear and this amazing shade of turquoise blue.  You can see the fish swimming along the edge and pretty far into the depths as you walk alongside the lakes.

The paths take you on top and on the edge of the lakes.  The lower section started with a downhill hike and took us around the edge to the largest of the falls.  It was a little nerve wracking as Mara was walking on her own and the "safety" rails weren't safe enough for this Mama!

Crystal clear

The rest of the morning was spent hiking the lower section.  We just soaked up the beauty stopping to take pictures along the way.  Mara was a trooper choosing to walk most of the way and ride in the ergo the rest.

We stopped for lunch at the boat dock.  It was crowded but we managed to find a table in the shade and enjoyed a delicious meal.  Thankfully the wait for the boat went fast and we were on it in no time!  By the looks of the line during lunch I thought we would be waiting for awhile.

One of the caves

The boat took us across the lake to the upper section of the lakes where after a little mishap with our navigating skills , we continued circling the lakes.  The upper section had less water falls and more hiking trails.  While the girls napped we made our way around eventually taking a bus back to where we begin.

It was a long day of hiking (maybe 8 hours total and 4 miles) but the girls were troopers.  We left the park around 4 and headed the rest of the way to Zadar, our stop for the night.  Dinner was at a local place on the water called Knobat.

The view right as you enter the park

Zadar is known for it's nights on the promenade.  They have a light instillation that little ones love and a sea organ that draws crowds.  These were must sees for us.  Mara was in awe of both especially loving the sea organ.  The sea organ is constructed with different size pipes set at the tide level on the dock.  The waves rush in and create different sounds which come through holes on the side walk.  Mara had her ear to the ground listening for a good 15 minutes!

The upper lakes

Rovinj, Croatia DAY 3

Day 3 started early for Josh as he woke before the sun to head into the heart of the city.  He wanted to of course see the sun rise but to also capture the town before it got to crowded.  The girls and I slept in a bit and were welcomed to a breakfast of pastries when he returned!

Sunset cruise

I was in love with the shutters

We all headed back down to the harbor/old town for a morning of exploration.  We first strolled along the docks before turning up the hill toward the church.  All the older cities we visited seemed to be built this way with fortified walls surrounding narrow streets topped off with a church on top!

The harbor in Rovinj

Pretty girl

After a quick visit to the church (mass was about to start!) we strolled the grounds and made our way slowly down through the cobblestones peeking our heads into little shops.  Rovinj had already stolen our hearts and we vowed to come back in the evening.

Putting on a show!

A moment at the pizzeria

We drove to nearby Pula to explore an amphitheater.  The amphitheater is very much still in tact a testimony to the peninsula's Roman roots.  There wasn't a ton to see but we walked the perimeter and checked out the small museum display in the bowels of the structure (why the displays were on olive oil and not on the structure I have no idea)

My beautiful girl

The arena

It was time for lunch and pizza just sounded good so we walked to a local joint called Pizzeria Jupiter.  It didn't disappoint and we almost put down 3 pies between all of us!  Pula is more a modern industrial city than Rovinj and just didn't have that charm we were looking for.  We wanted to see the amphitheater so after lunch we headed back up to Rovinj.

Caught this moment between these two

Morning naps on Mom

There we gave Mara a quick playground break and let her burn off some energy.  We spent the rest of the evening poking around the city and ducking in small shops with dinner down by the water.  The shinning gem of the night was a sunset boat trip we decided to do on a whim.  Mara had seen all the boats in the harbor and was begging to ride one.  The cost was minimal so we decided to go for it.

She loves to stop and pick wildflowers

The harbor at sunrise

The boat took us out of the harbor and around lasting about two hours.  In the end we caught a small pod of dolphins jumping in the waves so that just topped it off almost helping us forget the screaming baby who wanted to sleep in our arms.  Poor Maddy was done and just ready for her bed!

First taste of sorbet

Istria, Croatia: DAY 2

We started day two by driving from Zagreb to the Istria peninsula.  The drive was long but we split it up with a stop for lunch at a great rest stop.  The girls were troopers sleeping most of the way.

View from a top the city walls

Dinner view

Upon recommendation from Claudia and Drago we stopped in Motovun on our way.  Motovun is in the heart of truffle country and just a quaint village that rests on top of a steep hill!  We paid the few Kuna to ride the shuttle to the top and then hiked the rest of the way.  Motovun was the first place our flimsy stroller was tested.  The cobblestone streets of old town had us dragging it most of the way instead of pushing it.

All dressed up for dinner

Family pic

We strolled around old town and toured the local church.  The church square is converted to an outdoor theater in the fall when the town hosts a large film festival.   We also walked the city walls and admired the view into the valley surrounding the town.  It was quite hot so before hiking back down we stopped for refreshments and a little ice cream :)  A truffle shop was last on the list because you just can't visit truffle country without getting something!  We walked out with some truffle spread and olive oil.

They even lit it on fire!

After touring Motovun we made the rest of the drive to Rovinj for the night.  We checked into our air B & B location for the night and immeaditily headed out to dinner.  Again Claudia and Drago recommended a place right on the water with amazing sea food.  We indulged in salt encrusted sea bass and a nice bottle of wine.  Mara spotted a wedding party and was convinced that the bride was Cinderella.  We could not go through dinner without taking her to meet "Cinna".  Josh took our shy little girl over and the bride was so sweet, playing along.

The old streets of Motovun

Zagreb, Croatia DAY 1

The second part of our trip was supposed to be the real vacation!  For this leg we planned a 10 day driving trip along the cost of Croatia.

Our travel started out a little stressful as we got lost at the airport in France.  It's basically a big roundabout.  With no signs in English we were just going around in circles.  Despite this we are grateful that at every line airport officials ushered us ahead and to the front of lines.  Thank goodness because by the time we got to our gate they were boarding!

The airport in Zagreb was thankfully a lot easier to navigate and we were in and out in just under an hour.  We headed directly out of town to spend the night at a friend's home.  Josh's sister had attended elementary school with Claudia and she and her husband just happened to live right outside of the city.  It was a wonderful coincidence and we loved getting to know them in our short time there.

They lived in a charming little village on a hill just outside of the capital.  It was hard to imagine that Zagreb was just 15 minutes away as we felt like we were in the countryside.  Mara was in heaven as two mama cats had just given birth to a separate litter just a few weeks prior. On top of the kitties there were a ton of cats just hanging around.

We had a quiet dinner in their home of chicken and delicious salads, sampled some local homemade liqueurs, and spent the night discussing Croatia and it's history with Claudia's husband Drago.

It was such a welcoming way to start our vacation and we are thankful for their hospitality!

Us with Claudia

Reims, France

The first part of our trip was spent in Reims, France.  Josh had a conference there for work and the girls and I decided to tag along!  I had never been to France and was excited to experience another part of Europe.

The flight was mainly uneventful minus our eldest loosing her goldfish RIGHT as we were about to board the first plane in Tbilisi.  Thankfully it seemed to be a fluke and after a quick outfit change (praise the Lord for remembering a shirt in the diaper bag) we were good to go again. The flight was even more enjoyable thanks to Maddy having her own seat and the lovely individual movie screens.  Why every plane doesn't have this I don't know!

Lunch with Daddy before the conference started

Once in France we made our way to Reims.  Poor Josh got stuck with car driving duty our entire trip as we had manual rentals in both places.  We checked into out hotel and decided to get out and explore the town a bit.  We had heard from a fellow hotel guest about a champagne tasting and decided to go there first.

Reims is right in the heart of champagne country so it was a must on our list there.  We got to the festival with only 2 hours left.  This ended up working out great as we got discounted glasses and all you could drink samples for only 10 euro a person!!  Did I mention that this day also happened to be my birthday?!  It was a fun little treat!  As soon as the vendors started to pack up we headed into old town for dinner.

Making our own fun in the hotel

Old town Reims

The next day we had to ourselves as Josh's conference didn't start till Tuesday.  We spent the day checking out St. Remi cathedral which is said to have inspired the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  The church was beautiful and Josh got some amazing pictures of the inside structure.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city and enjoying each other.  We headed to a local city park for Mara to play then out to a local eatery in old town for lunch.  We let Mara ride the large double decker carousel and just spent time walking around the shopping district.

Champagne cellars at GH Mumm

Lunch in France

The rest of the week was pretty standard for me and the girls.  Josh had his conference everyday for the entire day.  While he was gone we made a point of it to walk to the old part of the city (only about 10 minutes away).  We'd stroll around and pop in a few shops here and there (bookstores, toy stores, and a few clothing places).  Then we'd grab lunch and make our way back to the hotel for naps.  We did decide to ride the tram around one day.  Mara was so intrigued by the tram running through town and Josh had free passes for it.  Made for cheap fun!!

St. Remi Cathedral

St. Remi

 We did get to connect with Josh in the evenings and made a part to do dinner together.  The conference held social events for the attendees every night and we were thankful to be able to tag along.

Playing at the park

The first night was a tour of the cathedral of Notre Dame not to be confused with the one that inspired the movie OR the big one in Paris ;) The bishop of the church gave us the low down and then we were free to explore.

Carousel riding

The second night was really neat with a tour of a local champagne cellar, GH Mumm.  It was really neat to learn more about the process of brewing champagne and to see where it is stored!  There were over 25 kilometers of tunnels under the city at this cellar alone!  Josh ended up staying for dinner but it was late so the girls and I went back to the hotel.

Beautiful interior of St. Remi Cathedral

Overall we had an amazing time in France.  It was so nice to be able to tag along on Josh's official trip and get to sneak a few family things in there as well.  I don't know when we'll have the opportunity again so it was an added blessing!

Mara-2.75 years

This has been both a trying and exciting time for Mara.  Trying in the sense of man are we in the midst of the terrible twos and exciting in that I just love watching her change and personality become more apparent.

She is absolutely obsessed with Minnie Mouse and Princesses.  Anything and everything that involves them she is all over.  Her favorite seems to be Cinderella.  Everything is Cinderella.  She even came up to a bride on our vacation and wanted to meet "Cinderella".  It's so sweet!

Her vocabulary has just exploded the past few weeks.  She seems to have gotten over her fear of saying certain things and will repeat anything.  This is so like her as she has always not wanted to try a new thing until she's sure she's mastered it.

Her new thing is getting me to agree before I even say anything.  She'll ask me a questions then immeaditily say, "uh huh. Ok. Ok Mama. Thanks." It's like she's doesn't want to wait for me to give a real answer.

She's doing awesome with her hand eye skills.  Recently she rocked a few sticker books and I was just blown away.

She's all girl not wanting to wear anything but skirts and dresses.  She affectionately calls anything flowly as a tutu.

We weaned her from the paci and she was doing amazing.  When we got back from our vacation she wanted it a few times but I think for the most part it's gone.  We have also completely stopped napping.  This SUCKS for mama but it is such a fight to get her to go down.  It is not worth it to me to go through that every day.  She has quiet solo play time during that time and it works for us.  She will still sleep in the car if we've been out and about.

She took her first flight without a car seat.  We didn't want to lug it so we just had her sit in the seat.  She did really well.  She fought the seat belt the first few flights and now seems to understand that she needs to wear it.  On that note she added a few more countries to her passport: Germany, France, Croatia and Bosnia.

I can't believe she's almost 3!  Only three more months till my baby is 3 years old.  Where did the time go.  At the same time I am shocked and amazed at the little girl she's become.  I can't wait to see her continue to grow and develop.

Madeline-6 Months

Weight: At your 6 month appointment you were 15 pounds and 25 inches.  I didn't get your head measurement but you are in the 75% percentile and then the 50% for weight and height.

Health: Your dry patches on your cheeks come and go.  Just about the time we get them under control with creams they seem to flair up again.  You have also really started to break free of your swaddle at night and will then scratch at them.

While on vacation you got a bit of a summer cold.  It was hardly anything to really mention but you did have a goopy eye.

 Social: You are the happiest baby.  Even when upset if we flash you a grin you give one right back.  It's so easy to take pictures of you because all we have to do is say your name with a funny face and you crack that large grin!

First time swinging!

Diet: Mainly breast milk.  We have started to incorporate baby food into your diet.  You've tried peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, apples and pears.  You will eat anything but especially like peas and bananas.

On vacation you did a face plant into my ice cream cone and thus managed to get a few tastes here and there of ice cream.  We also took to letting you gnaw on bread at dinner if we needed to bye a few minutes of happiness out of you before bedtime.

Don't worry no beer was actually consumed by Maddy

Clothes: Nothing has really changed in this department.  You are wearing mainly 6 month clothes with a few 6-9 month things in there.  Everything fits well and I expect this to be the size you stay in the longest thus far.

At night you are still in size 3 disposables and the middle snap on your cloth diapers. 

Mama's Favorites: I love reliving the milestones we did with your sister.  Everything is new again and it's a joy.  You are the happiest and super content.  We loved traveling with you because it was so easy!!

Rocking Mom's bonnet from 1987

Crying: You still only really fuss when you are tired or hungry.  We try to stay on top of it so we don't have to deal with a major melt down because you will melt down if we wait too long to put you to bed.

Sleep: You still sleep consistently through the night.  I have been skipping the dream feed now and again and when I do you wake around 5 from hunger.  I think we'll keep it a little longer because I love it when you sleep through the night.

Naps on vacation were short but you adapted and slept in the sling.  We never really got you in the crib for naps while gone but you did great at night in the pack n play.

This Month:  This month was a ton of traveling for you.  You went to France and Croatia on vacation!!


Baby Likes: You love when people talk to you, jumping, your sister, walks in the stroller and stealing bits of everyone's food.

Milestones: You grab at things especially food on our plates.  You can successfully grasp objects and keep them in your mouth for an extended period of time.  You follow your sister around the room and look for us when you hear our voices.  You recognize your grandparents on skype and interact with them through the computer. You took your first boat ride and swam in the ocean for the first time!

Best of Times: Vacation with you was a breeze and I loved taking you around the city!

Worst of Times: We had a major melt down one night when we kept you out too late one night.
Sister Diaries: She continues to love on you becoming more and more interested in your day to day activities.  She has shown some jealousy when other pay more attention to you than her.  She will try to get their attention but never takes it out on you.