When we found out we were moving to Germany Jordan told his parents that he would only come back to the states for a major event that way we could maximize our leave time to explore Europe while here. Greg and Florence came up with the wonderful idea of having a family vacation in Europe to bring the whole family together for the first time in over two years. They had been to Croatia 4 years ago and loved it so much that they wanted to share it with all of us.
We had the dates for this trip on our calendar for over a year, and one of the first things we did when we found out we were expecting was to calculate what week of the pregnancy that would be in and if it would still work. As luck would have it the trip fell on week 34 which is the last week Croatian airlines would allow me to fly! A few weeks later my excitement grew even more when I found out my sister-in-law Jenni was pregnant, and I would have some company bumping around.
The Konkle's flew over early to spend some time with us in Germany and took their kids to Neuschwanstien Castle.
Florence volunteered to help them with the long distance travel since being on the move with 3 little ones and a 4th on the way can be overwhelming. She was a great help, everyone loves grandma cuddles!
It was so fun showing family where we live. Smith was born 2 months after we moved and while I was able to see him this was Jordan's first chance to become his favorite uncle. I am so happy that Benson and Ivy were able to see that where we live is a "really fun place" as they say "Gooooo-ma-neee". Let's hope that they want to come and visit us more, because we sure love them!
One of the first places we took them to was the Ermitage. We were working on getting a photo of all the Konkle's and went through over half a pack of gummies here trying to entice the kids for one smiling picture. I say it worked out pretty good:
We enjoyed walking around the grounds and enjoying how green everything was:
Everything is so well manicured here in Germany
The kids got to see a palace made out of rocks. they loved it and their imaginations ran wild!
Seriously cute kids!
Smith and "Jo-Jo" laughing and oh so photogenic
Of course we had to share with them one of our favorite gelato spots, but on our way into Bayrueth we found a self-pick flower stand, and Ivy loves flowers so we made an event of it:
For dinner we went to our favorite authentic German restaurant on the lake close to our house in Eschenbach. The kids enjoyed playing in the sandbox while we chatted and the German granny pounded out some of the best schnitzel out there. Our favorites from Hexelhaus are the Schlemmer Schnitzel (with mushrooms and zucchini) and the one with bacon and egg. Delish!
Saturdays are our farmers market mornings where Jordan and I usually buy all our fresh produce for the upcoming few days and we had to go. We picked some great fresh produce for our Saturday evening dinner, played in fountains, and shed a few tears over balloons that couldn't make it back to the car.
Ivy was a great help with holding the basket
While everyone was here the 59th German American Volksfest was happening on post. The training area is opened to locals for a large festival hosted by the army. Thousands of people from all over Bavaria come to enjoy American style food and check out the military vehicles. We thought Benson would love this so we made sure to take them.
Cute pals making their way into the fest
The Konkle kids were thrilled that they got to explore the tanks, black hawks and hang out with the army men in uniforms.
Benson told us he wanted to be a helicopter army man one day-this is a kid with an imagination!
Nothing but smiles here:
We met up with Greg in the Munich Airport and flew to Split where Ian and Alyssa had arrived the day before. The boat Greg and Florence originally reserved was no longer available so we got upgraded to a bigger and newer one! No complaints here. It was a hot sunny day which was a little overwhelming coming from Germany but thank goodness for air conditioning!
Loading up the boat in Trogir
Leaving the harbor
Our itinerary had us traveling down the Dalmatian coast with the following schedule.
Day 1: Split
Day 2: Omis
Day 3: Mljet
Day 4: Dubrovnik
Day 5: Korcula
Day 6: Hvar
Day 7: Trogir
First item up for business was lunch. Mrs. Cook did a wonderful job of introducing us to Croatian Cuisine. Fun fact, Croatians love to start their lunch with a hot soup no matter how blazing hot it is outside.
This cutie was always well entertained by his uncles Jojo and Buddy
This was our trusty guide Tito who stayed with us on the boat and led us on excursions. He had guided Florence and Greg on their trip 4 years earlier and we were happy to have him along.
We made it to Split as the sun was setting and set off to explore. Split has been around for over 2,000 years, first as a Greek colony and later under the Roman Empire. When Diocletian was Emperor of Rome he decided he didn't want to rule for the rest of his life and that he wanted to retire close to his home town in Croatia. So he decided to build himself a nice little retirement house that ended up being a fortress/palace 200x200 yards and housed 9,000 people.
Greg, Florence, Jordan, Ian and Alyssa woke up at sunrise to go explore the city with less crowds.
Boats in the morning:
The entrance into the palace:
When people aren't crowded in the streets, they are so beautiful!
One of Jordan's favorite times of day was the early morning cruising-after we left the port and before breakfast. It was so peaceful with the cool morning breeze and the calm ocean. The little sleepy heads slowly come out of their rooms to come hang with us.
If this isn't fabulous bedhead I don't know what is!
Who doesn't love a little back rub when they wake up?
Florence has hands of gold!
But that wouldn't stop him from having a good time.
It looks like they're going down some labor inducing rapids!
After they were done river rafting they drove here to meet us for dinner.
This little guy loved playing with the hose
Look at Benson Boy, he is so strong paddling dad around!
Jump!
Ian and Alyssa keeping Smith from jumping in. This kid loved the water and you always had to keep an eye on him.
Love the messy bun
The lovely ladies of the trip
Slirp
Sun's out guns out!
Little Smithy was red faced and sweaty but was good to go after a little cool down!
We saw a lot of fancy yachts and even spent a night berthed by Ralph Lauren's yacht.
AaAarrRRrrgGgGhhh!
Morning chats
Every morning we had quite the spread for breakfast and everybody loved the freshly baked bread. Funny story, one morning our boat and all the others by us were delayed leaving because the local bakery was running behind on their delivery.
After breakfast it was time to get ready for our morning swim stop. The kids had to wear life jackets whenever they weren't in the dining room, or their bedroom. Poor Smith wasn't a fan of his at first.
Can't forget your morning exercises.
Check out these cute stud muffins
A little windy
One of our many swim spots, gorgeous as expected!
Everyone is happy to swim, and luckily we had plenty of floaties!
-Day 2-
The plan on our second day was to go river rafting on the Cetina River by the town of Omis. No pregnant women allowed, so I stayed back on the boat with Jenni and Smith for some relaxation and sun. The Hatch Batch went with the company "Vir Rafting" and after a short drive they met their guide Bruno. This was Bruno's second summer on the river and at 18 he looked more like 16 but they were in good hands.
Midway through the rafting there was an option to swim through an underground cave, the water was 45 degrees so Grandpa thoughtfully offered to stay with the kids while the others explored. Another rest stop had the opportunity to do some cliff jumping. Dare devils.
While they were on the river we stayed on the boat and cruised down to Makarska.
Tino took us to Restaurant Riva where they had excellent pork chops stuffed with cheese and steaks but I think Tino made the best choice with those grilled Calamari!
Smith loves his ice cream!
-Day 3-
Our early morning departure from Makarska.
Sign me up to run a light house!
Time for our morning swim
Ivy is a girl with no fear...1-2-3...
Greg bought a drone for the trip which took some great photos and videos...It also takes off finger tips, but we will get to that story later.
Love me some Ivy
We sailed past Korcula on our way to Mljet but we will be stopping back here later on our trip
During our afternoon cruises while the kids and moms to napped we played cards. The two popular games were Hearts and Mormon Bridge, there was a lot of friendly banter with no crying, so it was a success!!
We arrived to our next destination Mljet in the early afternoon. Mljet is an island with a large national park. It was a hot and humid day so we killed some time swimming in the bay until late afternoon so we wouldn't overheat exploring the park.
We started our hike into the national park
The island is known for its interconnected salt water lakes.
This was connecting the upper and lower lake and created a current that the kids had fun floating down while we waited for our boat.
Our destination is a Monastery built on an island in a lake on an island, so an island within an island!
What is a monastery without some donkeys?
Sunset boat ride back across the lake
Dinner was fresh seafood at Konoba Ribar right on the waters edge.
-Day 4-
We headed out south on our way to Dubrovnik. Along the way Greg and Ian decided to get in a little drone flying while we were cruising.
It turns out that the settings on the drone weren't fully understood and there was a little mishap. The drone was programmed not to go farther than 2 km from where it lifted off. As we were cruising along with the drone flying above we soon exceeded the drones limit and it wouldn't fly any further. Everyone was perplexed since it would fly up and down but not forward, soon we were out of range. Then we got signal that it was running low on batteries. Oh no! The Captain turned the boat around to retrieve it before it ran out of batteries and crashed into the sea. When we got back to the drone it was confused and wouldn't land so brave Uncle Ian snatched it out of the sky and almost lost a finger in the process.
These two planning some mischief at our morning swim stop
More swimming!
Grandpa putting those strong lungs to good use!
Lunch was a special treat today from cook, mussels!! Many in our group had never had them before and this was a great introductory batch. The sauce was delicious, good with plenty of fresh warm bread to dip in it as well.
That afternoon we made it to Dubrovni, it was hot and sunny but everybody was excited to go explore this famous city. It was nap time for the little ones so while they stayed behind and we decided to go on a little adventure and would meet up with them in the city later. We took a ferry across the harbor to the island of Lokrum.
At one point Maximillian the Archduke of Austria and short lived Emperor of Mexico had his favorite holiday home on this island. We explored the botanical gardens where we ran into some peacocks and found a beautiful swim spot. Click on the link to see where and what it looks like this there were plenty of rocks of varying heights to dive from and the cold water felt very refreshing.
Waiting to take the bus from the dock to the old town.
We met up with the Konkles in the city center and went on a tour around the city walls. Dubrovnik has become world famous in recent years as one of the primary film locations in Game of Thrones. It is hard to believe that less than 30 years ago it was under attack for 7 months by the Yugoslavian national army and 58% of the buildings were damaged by artillery.
Monkeying around
Dinner was right outside the city wall's at Dubravka 1836, the prices were reasonable, food was good and the view is pretty hard to beat.
During dinner Uncle Ian realized he didn't have his sunglasses on him anymore and couldn't remember when or where he had taken them off. When Morgan heard this she remembered seeing a pair of Ray Bans lying by the fountain she was sitting at right by a street performer. Ian quickly ran back and there they still were 2 hours later.
Every night on the trip we would always finish off dinner with gelato, at one point when Ivy was asked what her favorite part of the trip was she proudly proclaimed "ice cream"! Smith's first three word combination was "I want that" pointing at some gelato. Most of the adults would go with a double scoop while the kids would get singles. Every place we went to would give Smith the biggest single scoop and he was in heaven.
That looks like a double scoop to me!
-Day 5-
A group of us woke up early at sunrise to catch Dubrovnik in the cool of the morning without the hustle and bustle of tourists everywhere.
Time to set sail for Korcula.
Swim time!
We first caught of glimpse of Korcula cruising south and now we get to stop and experience it for ourself. It's claim to fame is being the birth place of Marco Polo and they have a cheesy museum to experience his adventures. The museum wasn't too great but the town is amazing and was one of everybody's favorite stops.
When there aren't enough places to dock the boats tie up next to each other and you have to climb across each boat to get to shore. With our swim stops we were usually the last to arrive which led to lots of jumping between ships but more privacy for us.
This pregnant momma is ready to explore
The house where Marco Polo lived
This squid ink pizza from Pape Pizzaria is one of my all time favorites and they have a great view looking out over the water. Can't forget to end the night with gelato!
Another wonderful day in the books
-Day 6-
The first thing on our books was a swim spot
This kids loved meeting the Captain and learning how the anchors work
The original plan was to head to Hvar for the night, however there was the possibility of a storm coming in so the Captain made an executive decision to head to safer waters.
Mason got some new shades on the trip, after he lost some jumping off the boat
We weren't denied a beautiful view as we steamed by Hvar.
The four siblings
Our sunset cruise back into the harbor of Split
-Day 7-
With the change in itinerary we decided to head inland to Krka National Park.
A kind Russian woman took this photo of us on her phone and emailed it to us.
What is better waterfall food than chocolate filled crepes?
We wandered through the old town of Trogir
Had to hurry back to the boat for our Pirate Party
Konkle Klan
Yaaaa Hatchbatch!
Smith put on a show for the last night
It was an amazing trip, we were so sad to see everyone go their separate ways but are already looking forward to creating future memories!
