Florence and Pisa

 Second day of shore trips.  Ashton gets to lead and is not at all pleased to have to share the opportunity with her sister.

 She is clearly happier when she is on her own.

 Again we took a ferry from the ship to the land.

 and another day of heat -- this time we found some poweraid to keep the fluids coming.

 I cannot tell a lie...

 The walking tour through Florence held the promise of great pasta for lunch.

 Just wanting to go on record that we *did* see the David.  Even if a few of the members of the family might not be sure.

 the talking parts of the tour are a great way to get a break and sit down on the street.

 of course we had to also snap Percy Jackson of the book fame...

 Mom just loves the fact that even the banal is made beautiful in this city.

 Touching the nose for good luck.  Apparently the street kids didn't bother with the touching of the nose and focused instead on picking up the coins from below.

 Next we went to Pisa which we somehow managed to straighten in this photo...

 but the best part of the day was the gelato of course.

can't remember what this guy was, I think a puppy.  Great but very long day.

Monte Carlo and Nice

 On Monday our first shore excursion had arrived.  We got into port early in the morning and we were happy to have our patio to go take a photo of our arrival.

 We had to get assembled early.  Some characters were waiting to help us get ready.

 and both the girls were nice enough to let mom take their photos with them.

 Once our group was called Jacqueline happily took the lead with our "lollypop" number.

 We had to take a ferry from the boat to the shore.  The day was looking nice but it was already a little bit hot.

 Mom and Jacqueline posed for a photo on the ferry and after the ferry we got on the bus. 

 Jacqueline smartly decided that bus trips were for napping and thankfully got a good hour rest as we traveled to Nice.

 Here we are strutting our stuff on the main street.

 Next we traveled to Monte Carlo.

 here it was now super hot and we couldn't get into the casinos which was a bit of a drag but we could get a milkshake and a water.

 Back on the ship we rewarded ourselves with another treat after dinner.

 We saw Belle en route to the evening show and rushed to get a photo.  When we got back to our room we had a dinosaur waiting for us (and chocolate of course!).

Sail Away

 And finally we are ready to get on the ship.  Girls are pretty excited.

 First up, hit the pools that were fun but crowded.  It was quite hot so it was a nice option for sure.

 Then we had a little dancing at the sail away party.

The next day was an "at sea" day where we ran into Minnie and got a photo (after a quick change out of the swimsuit)

 First night dinner was a formal occasion so the red dress got another wear.

 The girls had seen the option for braids and wanted them so we left dinner a bit early to get the last two appointments for braids.

 while it was painful, mom was happy to have these done as we had a busy schedule and not having to do hair each day would be a bonus.

 When we got to our cabin we found a nice towel bunny holding our chocolates.  The girls were quite impressed.

Barcelona

 We started our trip spending a few days in Barcelona to throw off our jet lag and tour the city.  We were fortunate enough to have had a swim the day we arrived and a long 13 hour sleep.  Our first day started a little later and we had to venture out to find breakfast (as we missed the window at the hotel).  Jacqueline got a little sick to start out the day, I think it was the extremely empty stomach that set her back.

 Later in the afternoon we did a walking tour with a private tour guide. This was awesome as she took us by a place to get Spanish doughnuts which were a huge hit.

 We also saw a lot of sights and were able to keep to the shady spots on the hot august day.

 We had dinner by the beach and saw a double rainbow as there was a very slight shower.

 The next morning dad snuck the girls into the indoor pool at the spa. Girls were very excited to be able to enjoy the indoor water and I'm told they were quiet but I think that might require external verification to be sure.

 One of the first purchases we got was a pretty fan.  Jacqueline wanted to get red and black as she had her eye on a Spanish dress in the same colors.

 Our second day of tours were in a car and we got to get higher into the city which was fun.

 We visited a lot of different sites with majority of them about Gaudi.

and of course, at the end of the visit we broke down and purchased the red dress.  Vacation is about indulgence after all.

We are International Travelers

 Hair is trimmed, bags are packed and we are all ready for our big summer adventure to Europe.

 First we do a few races on the moving sidewalks to burn off some energy.

 Then we settle in with our new headphones and pillows in the nice seats Daddy splurged to get us (Premier Exec).

and lastly a transfer in Paris where we are really tired and yet not done with our travel.  Girls did a fantastic job on the trip.  Ashton got a little motion sick in the second flight but they both exceeded expectations on the LONG trip from SFO to Barcelona.