The Elaphite Islands, Croatia-DAY 10

The last day of our trip we originally planned to drive to Montenegro.  Although we would have both loved to see another country we were just tired of all the driving.  Instead we decided that an island boat tour was in order and booked a short excursion to three small islands off the coast of Dubrovnik.

The first island we went to was Kolocep.  It's the closest to Dubrovnik and only really a 15 minute ride.  They only gave us an hour on the island so our main goal was just to hit the beach!  Most of the beaches in Croatia are rock so the sandy beach was a treat.  We walked the short distance to the sand and just sat in the water for the next hour.

Back on the boat we headed to Lopud.  By this time it was around lunch so the boat provided us with time to eat.  We had grilled chicken and fish.  Eating took up a good portion of our time here so we decided to stick close to the boat and just find a place for ice cream and a drink.  This is where Maddy had another good taste of ice cream!  Lucky girl!

The last island of the day was Sipan.  They gave us 3 hours here so we had originally planned on heading to the nice beach across the island.  Our tour guide book mentioned that usually locals are nearby to drive you via golf cart there but this was not our experience!  We started walking and didn't get very far before we decided it wasn't worth it.  So it was back to the dock and the beach there.  Despite missing out on the "picturesque" beach we had a blast.  Mara doesn't need a perfect beach just sand and water :)

Back on the boat the girls conked out for the day.  The sun had really worn them out and we got in a quick doze as well.  The last night we laid low and just grabbed a quick dinner at the restaurant across from our room.

Feeding the birds lunch scraps

The following day we were headed back to Tbilisi.  Our flight was in the evening so we had most of the morning to do something.  We decided to drive up to the gondola site.  It was actually kind of expensive to ride it (and short) so we decided just Mara and I would get on it while Josh drove back down the mountain with Maddy.  Mara is a huge fan of the gondola in Tbilisi so I knew she'd love this one!  The views over Dubrovnik were amazing and we really enjoyed a little Mommy and Mara bonding time!

Horses near the top

Going down with my girl

From there it was back home.  Even though we were only 2 hours behind Tbilisi the time difference was hard.  The flights were at night and the girls were just exhausted by the time we landed. They finally got to sleep around 6 am and we all enjoyed a sleep till 1 pm!

Our trip was an once in a lifetime event.  The girls traveled so well and we made a ton of memories on our first family vacation as a family of 4!