Bailey Makes Another Life Milestone...

Our Bailey reached another milestone in her life. Monday, June 4th, I went to LaGrange to attend Bailey's 5th Grade Recognition program. That's right, our youngest grandmonster was in her last week of Elementary School. Goodness, that went by fast. 

She actually wore make-up to this. Turns out her Mom purchased for her a bag of make-up and has taught her to apply it. She was allowed to wear a little to this program. She did a very nice job of not plastering her face with too much make-up. 

First picture is Bailey receiving her certificate from Ms. Martin, her teacher. The second picture is her family (Michael, Bailey, Andie and Hayden). The third picture is Bailey and me.

Refreshments were served in the cafeteria. They had a slideshow of this 5th grade group of kids during all their years at Buckner Elementary. They also displayed the 5th grade art project. Every year the 5th graders do an art project that is left at the school so they leave a little of themselves. This year's art project was painted rocks. Bailey painted a Corgi on her rock. She thinks these are the cutest dog. Bailey loves all animals. They have two huge cats. But, if Bailey could have a dog also, it would be a Corgi.

After all of this, we went back to the Marx home for a treat. I gave everyone their souvenirs from our trip. The Mini's were very happy with their Lego's kits and Hayden finished putting his together before I left. I was able to take this picture and text it to Claude.  

Quick Turn Around...And Off...Again...

We returned Wednesday afternoon, May 30th, from our vacation. We had Thursday to get things done before Claude left again. We managed to get the lawn mowed and all the washing and ironing done so he could pack again. 

Friday morning we were up early and this time I drove Claude to the Cincinnati airport. He made it to Utah safely, picked up his rental car and drove to Thatcher. There he picked up his mother and sister, Joann, and they headed to Idaho. 

The purpose of this trip was two-fold. First, Shannon, our niece, was getting married in the Meridian Idaho Temple. She needed two witnesses and she wanted Claude to be one. So Claude was there for that purpose. He also wanted to spend some time with his Mother. 

Friday night they had a great time with family before the Saturday wedding. All of Claude's siblings were there with the exception of one sister, Tami. How fun is that. His Mother and 5 of her six kids. That is hard to get everyone together when some of us live far away.

Saturday was the wedding and Claude texted me a few pictures. Shannon is now Ms. Tyler Bates. They do make a lovely couple. Then we have Shannon with her Uncle Claude. And finally we have Bonnie with five of her kids. Left to right: Joann, Claude, Bonnie, Cordell, Lynette & Kayla. It would appear the kids positioned themselves in birth order. Tami would fit between Claude and Cordell. I just love this picture.

There was a reception following the wedding Saturday. Then everyone would head for their various homes. Claude was so very happy to have this family time. He kept telling me how nice it was to just be with his siblings for a while. 

Claude would stay with Bonnie and return home Tuesday afternoon. Bonnie had a honey-do job for him. She needed to re-carpet her front steps. Unfortunately, she did not purchase a large enough piece of carpet so they chose the most important part to her and Claude did that. Thought he was going to die rolling around on concrete to do this. But he was really happy to be helpful for his mother. When Bonnie purchased her piece of carpet, she was told they didn't have any more like it. She was sure it was all she would need so was not worried. However, she did need more. When Claude got home he checked our Lowe's in Georgetown. They had exactly what Bonnie needed. As good fortune would have it, Rick and Lynette were stopping by on their drive across country for a one night visit. Claude purchased the carpet at our Lowe's and Rick and Lynette took it to her. Whew!

Bonnie's birthday was the day Claude left. They had the morning and lunch together before he left and he was able to give her a birthday present. Very nice.

One more trip and then the trip sagas will be done for a while.

The Journey Home...

Tuesday, May 29th, we were up and at 'em early. We wanted to be sure we got a little breakfast before the adventure of getting ourselves home happened. We had to be disembarked and down to meet the bus to the airport by 8:00am. We managed to get all that done just fine.

We made it to the airport and got checked in. Sure enough we were questioned about our suitcases. We clearly were standing there with two bags to check and the ticket was for no checked baggage. We were asked if we paid to get them to Denmark. I rehearsed to them the situation in Newark and that the bags were so light they were check as carry-on luggage. I also told them we were informed then there would be a charge for each bag to return from Denmark. Sure enough it was $95 for each suitcase. Ugh!! They took our money and checked us in to Newark. 

We found our gate and waited. You have to be at an International terminal hours before you leave just to be sure you get through the security and have no issues. So we had time to sit at the gate. Claude and I took turns watching our carry-on's so the other could walk a bit. In my walking I found the cans of Danish cookies. There is a standing joke in our family about those cans and every Mother and Gramma has one of these filled with thread and things. I bought four cans to take home as souvenirs for our kids and Bonnie. 
We boarded a full plane to go to Reykjavik. Flight went fine. When we arrived in Reykjavik, the plane stayed out on the tarmac. We walked down stairs and boarded a bus to take us to the terminal. As Claude I stood on the bus I felt a prompting to look in my purse. I had no cell phone. When the plane landed I took my cell phone out and turned it back on. Then I put my Kindle and Sudoku book into my back pack. What I didn't do was put my cell phone in my purse. It was in holder on the back of the seat in front of me. I started calling out, "Stop the bus! I left my phone on the plane." Others heard me and started to call out, "Stop the bus!" They were not going to stop that plane. So off to the terminal we went without my cell phone. Great!

In the terminal I cornered the first official person I saw. I showed them my ticket with my seat number and explained what happened and asked what I could do to get the phone back. I had one hour before our next plane left. The forwarded me to a service desk with a line of people. 

I finally got a man at the service desk to ask if he could help. I explained again and showed him my ticket. He called someone. Then he told me that had one vehicle that could drive the tarmac. It was on an errand but would go right after that errand was finished and get my phone. We were to walk to the gate and wait there. They would deliver the phone there if all went okay. 

We hurried to the gate and I told the girl at the gate the story and showed her the ticket. She told me that I needed to go to the service desk near the gate and tell them. They phone would probably be delivered there.

We went to the service desk where there was a line of people waiting. I got in line. There were at least 12 people at the desk but only two were talking to the line of people. What in the world! I turned to Claude and said, "My phone is on. Start calling me and repeat calling me. Hayden is my ring tone singing Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. Someone will hear that and know there is a phone on that plane. Claude started and kept it up. After standing in that line for what seemed an eternity, a girl came up and wanted to get ahead of us. She explained she had to catch another plane and she left something on her previous flight. I just looked her and in the kindest voice I could muster I told her, "I left my phone on the last plane and my next plane leaves in a few minutes too." Please go to the end of the line. I thought the lady in front of me was going to cheer. 

After a bit a lady came in with her arms laden with things. She went to one of the girls on a phone helping someone and handed her my phone. The girl raised up my phone and I left the line and retrieved my phone but not before I gave a huge thank you to the girl that brought my phone into the terminal. 

When we got back to the gate everyone was boarding. I checked my cell phone and there were 20 missed calls from Claude. I really think that poor girl was so ready to stop hearing Hayden singing in his 5 year old voice that she put the pedal to the metal to get that phone back to me so it would stop ringing.

And we were off to Newark.

We arrived in Newark, made it through customs. We got in the line for the Global Entry. They assured us we were not on their list. Claude pulled out our cards. It seems when we got to Customs we should have used the kiosk to get to the next step. However, there was an attendant who said the kiosks were all full and sent up to the next step. Once this lady understood, she let us go on through. Whew. 

We called the hotel and they told us know to pick up their shuttle. We would dine at the hotel and then get a good nights rest before the taking the shuttle back to the airport to fly to Cincinnati.

We boarded our plane to go to Cincinnati. I had a window seat. Guess what? No window, just a wall.

Fortunately, the plane was less that half full. We moved to the row behind us which was an exit row. Lots of leg room and...a window!

We made it home in great time, unpacked, Claude went out to mow and I went into Georgetown to check on Papa. What a great vacation. Absolutely superb.

Day at Sea - Monday, May 28, 2018...

Our fun vacation was coming to an end. We had one more full day at sea before we would find the airport to fly home. We slept in so we could be rested for the journey home. Then we packed so that was all done and we wouldn't have to think of it all day. 

There was a demonstration to be done by one of the chef's of turning food into animals. We went down to watch this. Here are his creations from fruits and vegetables.

We enjoyed balcony time, a nice final dinner in one of the main restaurants and then a stroll around a deck on the ship. We found an enormous lounge chair and sat to watch the sea go by. We tried once again to take a selfie of us enjoying this lounge chair. We are not great at the selfie thing but I do believe you can tell we are having a good time and had a great vacation. 

After our evening ice cream cone, we went back to our deck to enjoy the ship cruising along. Imagine our surprise when we went under the big bridge between Denmark and Sweden. This is always fun. Experienced this in New York City as we left to cruise to Nova Scotia.  

And our final animal was a turtle. How cool is that? My favorite word it turtle and I have turtles all over my home. So here is the turtle and then the entire zoo of animals collected during the cruise. 

An early alarm for the next morning so we could disembark the ship and meet our tour group for the ride to the airport in Copenhagen. Night!

Nynashamn (Stockholm), Sweden - Sunday, May 27, 2018...

The Breakaway was docked in Nynashamn, Sweden not Stockholm, Sweden. This added commute time to get to our shore excursions so the time in port was extended to accommodate. Actually, this was a good thing because you got to ride through more of the countryside this way. So the picture below is the Breakaway docked in Nynashamn, Sweden.

Then we were off on a bus ride to Sigtuna, Sweden. This would take us through some country, then around the outside of Stockholm, then through some more country to Sigtuna. 

This is actually a hotel!!

Sigtuna is considered the original settlement in Sweden. The people came and settled on an island and that didn't work. So they got in a boat and traveled till the boat landed and they made a settlement, Sigtuna. This was about 980 AD on the threshold of a new age as the Viking period became the medieval period. Sigtuna was the first Christian town in Sweden. It boasts three medieval church ruins. 

We arrived in Sigtuna to this beautiful set of lilac bushes. These were prolific in all the countries we visited. Just the time of year for them to bloom and they were doing just that everywhere. 

Our first stop on our walking tour was St. Olaf's medieval church ruins. There is a lovely cemetery around it.  

This is St. Mary's Church. It was built by Dominican Friars. It is in the same cemetery as St. Olaf's. 

I do not know what this building is.  It does have 1757 over the door. Not sure if that is a year or an address. I do know that during the 10th and 11th centuries Sweden's first coins were minted in Sigtuna.

More views of St. Olaf's medieval ruins. 

We strolled down the street to another park-like area. Here we found a rune stone. Claude got a close up that, hopefully, you can see more of the carvings. 

Also in this setting were the ruins for St. Lawrence medieval church. 

And our tour guide showed us an old coin from Sweden. 

We crossed the street and entered the town square from the back side of the Town Hall. This is the front of the Town Hall. The second picture is looking across the Town Square at the Town Hall. 

From the point where I took the picture of the Town Square, we were standing on Stora Gatan. This is believe to be the oldest main street in Sweden. It is lined with shops and eateries. It was Sunday so it was very quiet and lots of the businesses were closed.  

The first picture is looking east on Stora Gatan and the second picture is looking west on Stora Gatan. The third picture is looking south and is the road we took to get to the park by Lake Malaren.

One view of Lake Malaren. There are poles hanging from wires over this portion of the lake shore. We were told these are for people to train to paddle canoes between. 

Claude (the Dragon Man from our China trip) is standing by the Dragon Tree. 

Sandi is standing in a viking boat. 

As we drove out of Sigtuna, we drove past St. Peters medieval church ruins. This was the last of the three church ruins. Sigtuna was a quiet, well kept community. 

The bus pointed itself toward Stockholm. Here are some pictures from that drive.

The biggie, and the thing on everyone's bucket list, was the war ship Vasa. We got to the museum and all our tour got out of the bus and it left for where tour buses park while their riders are sightseeing. When it came time to go in, I turned on my ear buds and got absolutely no sound. Up to this point they had worked perfectly. These are wonderful gadgets. They set the tourists and the tour guide to the same frequency. Each person has a little thing you hand around your neck that allows you to change the channel, turn the volume up and down, and turn the gadget of and on. I tried everything but could not hear our tour guide. This is such a great device for me because I am one of those people that roams away to get a good picture while the tour guide talks. I could now only hear him if I stood by him while he talked into his microphone. This just doesn't work for me. I alerted Claude and we continued with the tour. Claude would get all the details. Between what Claude told me and the Internet I am able to share these facts.

The Vasa (Wasa) was commissioned by King Gustav Adolphus, the king of Sweden. She was built between 1626 and 1628. She was richly decorated but top heavy to a fault. On August 10, 1628 she started her maiden voyage full of dignitaries. She sailed 1,400 yards and foundered. The tour guide said they raised a few of her sails to get her away from the harbor. A sudden wind took those sails full and that is what cause the Vasa to founder. Her lower windows for the cannon were not closed. She took on water and sank. Ugh!! Many people died that day. The majority of the sailing crew were on an island where they were going to leave the dignitaries and take on the sailors. Another interesting thing is the Vasa was looked over and studied for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Fortunately, the spot where the wreckage sank was a place where two kinds of water meet, something like salt and fresh. The mixing of those waters kept the wood from decaying. The final lift to bring the Vasa out of the water was April 8, 1961. She would be housed and restored and is now open to the public to visit.

So, here is the Vasa. The pictures start on the bow of the ship on the starboard side and continue down the starboard side around the aft and the up the port side to the bow. There are three pictures that have color in them. Two of these are a scale model of the ship as it originally looked. The third is a picture projected on the wall of the aft of the Vasa. I tried to position the pictures by their counterpart on the restored Vasa.

This mannequin is wearing the clothes a typical sailor would have worn during the 1620's. He would have provided these clothes himself and not changed them a lot during the voyage. 

Outside the Vasa Museum is the huge building which is the Sweden History Museum. 

We boarded our bus and drove to the Royal Palace. 

The Royal Palace of Sweden. You can walk right up to it. 

As we got off the bus and gathered for our walking tour, the changing of the guards began. We couldn't stay but we did see this much of the action. 

Now we enjoyed a walking tour of Gamla Stan which is the name of the island we were on. We would walk from the Royal Palace through the area with older homes. In among these homes was the tiniest statue in Sweden, Jarpojke. The belief is that, if you offer a gift and rub his head, you will have good luck and fortune. Sound familiar. Our guide did this symbolically for all of us. In reality, a local church comes daily and takes the money to use for helping others. 

And we're walking, we're walking, we're walking...

This is a statue of St. George slaying the Dragon. To the side is another statue of a young woman waiting. If the dragon is not slayed, she will be its dinner. 

I just love this picture down this cobblestone road between the buildings.  

The tour guide told us that this symbol on a house alerted the fire department to help their first if there was a fire. If you didn't have this, you were low man on the list for the fire department to help. Although, if you lived next door to someone who had this above their front door, you would benefit for that nearness.  

We walked past the building where the Nobel prize is selected every year. 

And we're walking a bit more... 

Storkyrkan Cathedral.

The view by the castle and another pay toilet. 

Our bus took us to one final photo op for Stockholm. The hill offers a panoramic view of Stockholm. The pictures are in order beginning at the left end of the view and going to the right end.

Time to end this excursion and get back to the Breakaway. Stockholm is the birthplace of the music group ABBA. We toyed with using our shore excursion to go to the ABBA museum. In the end we determined, even though we are huge ABBA fans, our children are ABBA fans and our grandchildren enjoy ABBA, we would forego the ABBA Museum in favor of learning something about Sweden. Don't regret that decision one bit. We saw a lot and learned a lot. Good day.

As we drove back to Nynashamn to our home away from home, I snapped this picture. Living in Kentucky we are layers of limestone with a little dirt on top. While this rock is clearly not limestone, it still gave me a feel of home.

Back on the Breakaway, I took this picture from our balcony. Please note the red color. I learned it is called falu red or falun red. The pigment for the deep red color comes from copper mines in Sweden. Originally it was used on smaller mansions to imitate brick. In the early 19th century people used lighter color paint as the authorities began to oppose the use of paint. Falu red saw a resurgence in popularity in the Swedish countryside during the 19th century, when poorer farmers and crofters began to paint their houses. Today, falu red is widely used in the countryside.

Our ship started its departure from Nynashamn. We positioned ourselves on the balcony to watch. There is an archipelago to cruise past when leaving Stockholm. We were, however, in Nynashamn. But we still passed some lovely islands as we left Sweden.  

Can you see the moon over Sweden? 

This night we found a duck!