St. Croix

For Dave's 40th birthday back in April, I gifted him with a trip to St. Croix. April is a busy time for him with work, we did it this month. He's always wanted to go to St. Croix for the scuba diving, so he was thrilled by the surprise. We did 7 dives, and they definitely lived up to the reputation that St. Croix has for diving. They were some of my favorite dives I've ever done. My favorites were "the wall" at Salt River (Columbus landed here in 1493), some wreck sites and the pier. I even did my first night dive. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm not sure I'll be signing up for one of those again anytime soon. Unfortunately we didn't bring a waterproof camera, so no pictures from the diving, but plenty from our other fun activities!

We took a day trip to Buck Island right off the St. Croix coast. Kennedy designated Buck Island a National Monument because it is so beautiful. We enjoyed its gorgeous beach and great snorkeling.

Chickens were everywhere, including a few mommas with baby chicks.

Point Udall (and Jack and Isaac's Beach)--the easternmost point of US soil

On the last day we toured the Cruzan Rum distillery. It's been distilled on that site since 1760. The tour was fun and informative, but the real fun began once the tour ended and we got to get plenty of samples.

Dave caught this beautiful sunrise on the morning we left.

4th of July

We had another fun 4th of July with great friends! We're so grateful to build so many memories with this group. My friend Brittany hosted again and had the kids do wheelbarrow, relay, and three-legged races. The kids had a ball!

Charlie's Birthday

We celebrated Charlie's 7th birthday last month at a go-kart/arcade. 

Instead of gifts, we asked Charlie's friends to bring a pack of gum for him and non-perishable food for the local food bank. Here is dropping it off at the warehouse. They even let him take some of the items into the store to put on the shelves.

Father's Day

For Father's Day we tok a tour of the Texas Rangers ballpark. We've become big Rangers fan, so this was a real treat for the boys and I (for Dave it was practically just another day at the "office"). The boys loved walking in the players' footsteps.

Summer Fun

Dave worked at the Regional baseball tournament at TCU, so the boys and I went to cheer for the Frogs on their way to the College World Series.

Dave and the boys started to build a model rocket.

The boys had their first sleep over. They all had a lot of fun, and other than them talking until late, it was a pretty quiet night.

Nate completed the Lil' Dragons level of taekwondo. He is now a senior white belt and has moved on to the "big kid" classes. We're really proud of his hard work.

Nate created a plot for world domination.

I attended a wedding of a good friend from church and enjoyed celebrating with so many friends from our small group.

Guys week

Dave and the boys had their 4th annual "Guys Week" while I was gone. This year they hit the road for part of it and went to baseball games in Kansas City and St. Louis. Dave's hope is that eventually they will visit every ballpark in the Majors.

You know, it's really too bad they don't have any fun while I'm gone.

Traveling home

I headed back to Texas after we completed the tour, but because Dad has a theory that jet lag isn't worth it for any trip less than two weeks, he also did a Rick Steve's tour to Estonia, Helsinki and St. Petersburg. My sister joined him for that tour, and all of our flights crossed paths at the Frankfurt airport, so I was able to "pass the baton" to Sue. I'm so glad she found me so we could see each other. But nothing was better than seeing my three guys meeting me at the airport in DFW. Thirteen days was a long time to be away from them.

Germany - Part 2

Castles

We did a day trip to visit a couple of King Ludwig's castles.

Linderhof, his weekend retreat

The grotto at Linderhof

the interior of the Grotto - I've never seen anything like it

Neuschwanstein Castle - King Ludwig built this and then lived in it 172 days before he was "dethroned"

It is said that this castle inspired Walt Disney for his castles at his theme parks

Ulm

Ulm is on the Danube and was a major departure point for travel down the Danube to the Black Sea. Some of our relatives may have boarded boats here to travel to their new homes in Russia.

Ulmer Münster - the world's tallest steeple

Apple strudel

Asparagus was in season and was everywhere in all the markets and restaurants.

"Ulmer Schachtel" - a model of the boats used to travel down the Danube. Can you imagine moving your whole family to a new country on one of these?

Stuttgart

Stuttgart was part of our original itinerary. It's home to a couple German Russian organizations

Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland - We received such a warm welcome from this group. But unfortunately they only spoke German, and our tour leader was the only one who could translate.

Heimatmuseum der Deutschen aus Bessarabian - this was a small museum full of artifacts from the Germans who settled in the Bessarabian district of Ukraine (my Sackman ancestors settled there). We enjoyed viewing the artifacts, and then they provided a wonderful schnitzel lunch for us.

overlooking Stuttgart

Dad and I enjoyed walking around the market hall

Dad buying Halva, a tahini-based confection he remembers having as a child

our bounty from the market

Seltz, Alsace, France

The Alsace region has changed hands between France and Germany many times over the years. Our tour guide told us his grandmother changed nationalities 4 or 5 times in her life. But they don't seem to really care because they consider themselves Alsatian more than any nationality. The recently-elected mayor Seltz even came out to meet us.

We were all fascinated by the stork's nest. Storks are symbolic of Alsace

This church was bombed during WWII, so they kept the part that survived and rebuilt the rest by modern standards.

Apple flamkuchen - this was a delicious dessert. Our lunch was a savory flamkuchen, which is essentially a flatbread with white sauce, onions and a little ham. It was another one of my favorite meals.