Glen Affric and Inverness

Friday morning we drove to Glen Affric for a hike to Dog Falls.

 A little rain didn't slow us down!

 Crossing a neat little bridge over the river

 Dog Falls

 Camden Kasparek: Conquering Explorer

 That afternoon we drove to Inverness, the "capital city" of the Highlands.  

 Fly fishermen along the Ness River

 I decided that purple azaleas are the national flower of Scotland-they were everywhere!

 Inverness Castle

Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

We flew into Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon, hopped into our rental car, and headed north.  

Here is our first view of Loch Ness

 We stayed at the Loch Ness Lodge Hotel in the village of Drumnadrochit. Right next to our hotel was Nessieland. We started our first day in Scotland learning about the Loch Ness Monster.

 Emma and Camden quickly fell in love with all things Nessie.

 Aboard the Nessie Hunter to tour Loch Ness

 Urquhart Castle

 There is something black in the distance of this picture.  The kids were convinced they had a Nessie sighting! :)

Heading back to shore

 After lunch we toured the famous Urquhart Castle

The Pool is O-P-E-N

After a month of waiting and a few setbacks, the pool is officially open!  Emma and Camden got flippers and a snorkel set for their birthdays and tested them out this afternoon. They both loved how easy it was to swim with flippers. Camden said his snorkel bothered his loose tooth (it's hanging there by a root), but Emma quickly became a pro!  

Happy Father's Day!

Today we celebrated our favorite Dad!  

We made him a special breakfast (monkey bread-yum!)

 and gave him some special gifts like a new basketball.

 After church, they all had fun shooting hoops!

Please take note of Camden's outfit. He proudly woke Chris up saying, "Look Dad! Since it's Father's Day I put on this matching outfit for you.  They are both plaid!"

 Super Camden is ready to swim!

 Staci, Cathy, Nate, Nicki, Terry, and Chris enjoying the sunshine

 In honor of our dear friend, Gerry Morris, Chris, Cathy, and Terry sported their fedoras

 The dads - Chris, Nate, and Terry

 Emma, Orion, and Ellie hanging out poolside

 Cool man Camden watching the action

Happy 40th Anniversary!

We are sending lots of love to these cute kids who are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary today!  

Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

On our last day in the Czech Republic, we hopped in our rental car and headed to the small town of Kutna Hora. Our first stop was the Church of Saint Barbara.

A huge fresco of Saint Christopher

Lunch break!

Our second stop was The Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady.

We found another Saint Christopher painting.

Up we go!

Our third stop was the famous Sedlec Ossuary or Bone Church

Driving through the Czech countryside on our way back to Prague.

Our flight home left at 5:40 A.M. Monday morning (ugh).

When we got home, Chris made a nice display of our souvenirs from the trip. The Czechs definitely know their beer!