Yaya and Peepaw...Round 2

The rest of our time we spent sightseeing around Gdansk, Sopot, and the general area. James and Dad played golf one day while Shirley and I held down the fort and entertained kids. The guys had a lot of fun...Dad didn't stop talking about for hours after they got home.

It was not a pretty day in Gdańsk, unfortunately...it was cool and rainy. Blah! But we made the most of it. We walked along the main street, shopped for Polish pottery, and had a coffee from Costa Coffee. We even saw an organ grinder entertaining crowds!! 

I am so blessed and thankful that God gave me my dad!!!

Our day in Sopot was MUCH better weather than our day in Gdanks.

Standing on the beach in Sopot. 

We had a wonderful time with Yaya and Peepaw. They are the last family we have visiting during this term. It was hard to say goodbye...BUT we have just about 11 months until we get to see all of our family in America. Woohoo!!! Thanks for coming to visit us again! We love you so much!!

Dad and Shirley...Part 1

My dad and stepmom, Shirley, were able to come and visit again. We have been so blessed to have visits from our family during our time in Poland. They were able to see where we lived in Krakow and now in Gdynia. We had a lot of fun with Peepaw and Yaya!

The first full day they were here looked like it would be the warmest day in the week, so we headed to the beach in Rewa for fish, playing in the sea and flying kites. It was a lot of fun.

We visited Malbork, the largest castle in the world that was built by the Teutonic Knights during the 13 century. 

For our Christmas gift, Dad and Shirley treated us to a 36 hour cruise from Gdynia to Karlskrona, Sweden. The ship was a lot of fun! We got on around 8:30pm and set sail between 9:00-9:30pm. There was a mini disco and of course my little girls could not miss that...which meant late bedtimes. But it was fun. We had breakfast the next morning in one of the restaurants around 7:00am...remember the late night bedtimes...this made for a LONG day.

We spent the day in Karlskrona, which is a small, cute port city. We went to the maritime museum that was great for kids. It was very interactive. We did an audio tour, and the girls loved learning about the ships and how they were built. 

Of course we ate Swedish meatballs...in Sweden!

I was able to get some really great pics of the girls and the grandparents!

Finally it was time to head back to the ship. We got on again around 8:30...and had to go to the disco until late...again. We got back to Gdynia around 7:30 am the next morning. It was a nice little get away. Thanks Yaya and Peepaw! 

I will post more about our time with them on the next post. 

Sweet Friends

Two years ago we got new teammates in Krakow. We knew they would only be here for just less than 2 years, so we didn't waste time getting to know them. They have turned out to be some of our best friends and favorite people IN THE WORLD!!! The day for them to return to America was getting close, so they planned one last trip north to visit us. What a sweet blessing!! We had a lot of fun just hanging out.

As soon as they arrived, we headed out to Hel for a day on the beach...we we didn't make it all the way to the end of the peninsula to the actual city of Hel, but we were fairly close. It wasn't a super warm day, but that certainly didn't stop my crazy kids from swimming!

Traci and I had a spa night. We soaked our feet in Listerine and vinegar, made a homemade face mask and put cucumbers on our eyes. And of course we watched a girly movie...Sleepless in Seattle. One night the boys went to the theater and saw World War Z, so they got to have guys night, too. Unfortunately they didn't take pics! 

We colored rocks. I have been wanting to try this ever since I saw it on Pinterest. We heated rocks in the oven until they were super hot...and let me tell you, they hold their heat well...then we began to color...and the crayons melted onto the rocks. SO FUN!!! We learned that Crayola crayons work best.

We also took them to our favorite fish place in Rewa that our neighbors have taken us to a few times. It was nice day. We ate fish, then ice cream and finally walked on the beach. 

All too soon it was time to say goodbye. This was horrible difficult. I LOVE Traci so much. She is an amazing woman, wife and friend. I am so thankful that God put in my life for the past 2 years. I look forward to our friendship in the future. Hopefully they will end up in Texas and we will get to see them a few time next year when we get back. 

This is the closest I will get to holding sweet, little Isabella. She will be about a year old by the time we meet. 

Ella and Macie love their "Uncle" Stephen and "Aunt" Traci!

James was able to look past the shirt and love the person! Ha!!

Thanks for being great friends, Stephen and Traci. We love you guys! 

End of Summer

This weekend we have tried to soak up the last of summer. We still have one week of vacation but it is slipping away quickly. On one hand...I look forward to the routine and the girls being in school during the day. BUT...it also means waking up early and the dreaded homework battle. Blah! So anyway, we took the opportunity this weekend to do some fun things.

Friday, James and my dad played golf, so Shirley and the girls and I did some activities around the house. We started with an experiment using milk, food coloring and dish soap. We dropped a few drops of food color in the milk and the girls mixed it around. Then they used a toothpick with soap on it and touched it to the colors. Magically the food coloring was repelled by the dish soap.

Then we made rain after we poured boiling water in a jar and set a plate on top that had ice.

Then we used water and soap and made tornadoes in a jar. It didn't work well at first but after a while they made some great twister! 

Finally we had a scavenger hunt and looked for various items around the neighborhood. We invited our friends down the street to participate with us...so it was a good language day for me. But I don't think google translate did a good job translating fuzzy or chewed on...I got funny looks when I said these words...and those haven't made my list of vocabulary yet. 

And we made musical instruments with rocks and water bottles

Finally on Sunday we took a walk with Yaya and Peepaw through the forest around our house. Again Olga and Majka came with us. 

I was being viciously attacked by the natives.  

So now you know what our weekend consisted of. I am looking forward to doing some more fun things this week before we must to submit the master...or uh, school.