This was our summer 2015....

We are out on the town.

 It is fun to get out in Shanghai.  Big city lots of opportunities.

This is how Kamryn gets down.  We took her to dinner and she stole the show.  What a cute little girl.  And, she loves Turkish food.

Jeremy Chaperoned a trip of High School kids to Tibet.

 19 kids survived 4500 meters and only being able to drink boiled water to get to the top of Mt. Abujee.  We hung pray flags and truly enjoyed the trek.

These are a couple of my basketball boys.  What a campsite?  It only took a couple of nights for them to figure out how to set up the tent.

The girls are always together.

Either at the playground or cooking breakfast with dad.  These sisters stay together!

First Day of School.

Abigayle started Kindergarten and Mackenzie is in second grade.  I love their uniforms.  Of course Sparty was ready to see them off.

Modern Toilet- restaurant.

This is what we did as we returned to Shanghai.  Andrea found a restaurant where you sit on a toilet and you eat out of toilet paraphernalia.  The girls loved it!

End of Summer

 Abigayle and Grandpa in Bay City.  She loves the tire swing as long as she is going fast.

Kamryn finds a shiny thing at the zoo.  Her hands are full with a blanket, water, and sunblock- but she is undeterred.

Best friends in the summer.  Who knew they would wear the same shirt!

Welcome back to China...

We started with a nice sunny afternoon in the park... ice cream of course.  Quickly we were identified.  The girls love it though.  I think they like attention because of their mom.

The girls are in good hands....

The Girls are loving on their "Ayi"  Hu Ying.  We are fortunate to have her

Kamryn is going to have a terrible plane ride home.

Mykonos... the Greek Islands....

 Our last stop was the Greek island of Mykonos.  All the buildings where white washed.  The sun was bright and the water was clear.

 When we showed up, it was like being up north over Memorial Day in Michigan.  Everyone was opening their cabin for the first time.  We arrived about 3 days before everyone else did.  It was fun because it forced us to slow down.  Nothing was open.  We read books and talked with each other!  A truly great time.

The water is as cray clean as it looks.  Absolutely beautiful.

Athens, Greece.

 This was our 2nd stop.  We thought Athens was just going to be a stop over, but we could have spent a week here.  There are literally ruins everywhere.  There is more history than I can even imagine.  It was awesome!

 Above is a amphitheater attached to the acropolis.  It is still used today.  To the right is a temple for Athena Nike.  It means "victory"

 The Parthenon!  Ridiculous!  Incredible!  Beyond what I could imagine.  It was pretty special to be there.

Evening in Athens.  You could tell directions around the city by using the Acropolis.  It was always in the middle and always lit up.  It was amazing.

City Wall, Istanbul.

What I love about visiting things that are not in America is that you get to walk all over them without a ticket or guardrails.  We walked the entire city wall, on top of almost the entire city wall.  I was only yelled at twice, but it was in Turkish so I just kept going.  It was awesome.  You can really see the city all around.

Istanbul, Turkey.

 Istanbul was easily one of our favorite cites to visit.  The food was amazing, the culture was welcoming, and there were lots of deals to shop for.  Andrea loved it.  We could not believe the history in the city.  Captured, rebuilt.  Captured, rebuilt.  This is the Hagia Sophia, a beautiful mosque.

We took a boat cruise on the Bosphorus.  It not only separates the city, but also Europe Asia.  This is a restaurant island.  

Pictured above is the Blue Mosque.  It is still active and you can still hear the call to prayer throughout the entire city.  It was pretty special to visit.

Kamryn is very very mobile.

Just try and keep up with this girl!  She is either chasing her two older sisters or running away from them.

Crossing the road in Vietnam

Luckily we are professionals with traffic in all Asian countries.  I did not even know Andrea was doing this.  It is pretty normal for me to be responsible for all 3 kids.

School is going great for the girls.

 The girls had to dress up like their favorite book.  Mackenzie is reading a lot of "Ivy and Bean".  I believe she is Ivy here (or Bean).  Abigayle is Doc McStuffins.

Both girls have done a wonderful job of making friends and participating in many different activities.

Mud Baths, in Vietnam

The girls took a spa day to help themselves relax.  Some of them enjoyed the mud and some of them did not.

Bam Bam always loves to pull hair.  Abigayle seems to be her favorite target.

One hike! We went to the waterfalls...

The best part about this trip is that we had to book a car to take us there.  Andrea handled the details and when we showed up in the morning we realized that she had booked a Limo.  The girls had snacks, movies, and drinks... I was the only one disappointed.

The hiking actually took some time and a lot of energy.  We went slow and helped all three kids over the rocks.  It was certainly not recommended for us... but I loved it.  We only got a small amount of parenting advice.  The girls were all in.

 We got to jump off the highest point.  The girls were not into swimming in the chilly water but they loved jumping around from rock to rock.  We were loaded down with snacks and life jackets.  It was great!

Here is our family snapshot.  Kamryn just will not sit still.

The beach in Nhga Trang, Vietnam

 Mackenzie loved the waves.  One morning when we were running, she looked at me and said, "stop Dad!  The waves are calling my name!"  This picture was taken after being in the water all day, we were eating dinner on the beach and she got it again.

 The girls were inseparable in the water, except when Abigayle was tumbled by a big one.  Her big sister never left her side and Abigayle was never scared.

We made them take time out to play with their sister and eat a healthy snack.  These sister had a great time in Vietnam.

Kamryn

 She does not like to put her hands down.  I truly believe that this is her most comfortable position.

She has grown out of the bouncy seat.  Kamryn will escape every time.

Cross Country team in Guam

Here we are in the ocean!  We traveled to Guam for a meet and stayed in a resort on the ocean with snorkeling, diving, paddle boarding, kayaking, and taco bell.  It is always nice to finish a race and jump in the water.  It is tough to be a coach here.