Argh! Finally, Our July: Read on and you'll understand the procrastination of this post.

Warning:This post has a zillion pictures!

Well, now that school has begun (more on that in a later post), I have more time to blog. And it's a good thing, because our July was busy and I took lots of pictures. So lets get right to it. There are too many pictures in this post for a lot of chit chat. However, if you have extra time, like so many of us do, be sure to check out the links if you want to learn a little more about where we went.

We went to Ireland. We saw the Cliffs of Moher.

We drove through The Burren.

We saw the Poulnabrone Dolmen.

Yes, that's a patch. I promise I will do an entire post on the state of Jake's eyesight. I know you are all salivating at the thought of that one.

We visited the Rock of Cashel.

We visited Blarney Castle.

Brandon kissed the Blarney Stone. No, I did not kiss the Blarney Stone. And no, I did not let my children kiss the Blarney Stone. Did you know you have to hang upside down over a gaping hole at least a hundred feet above the ground? Not desirable for someone who has nightmares about falling. Irrational, I know, but I'm over it.

I know I wouldn't fall through that hole, but I like to think I could.

There's that same hole, from way down on the ground.

The witch stone at Blarney Castle's Rock Close. Do you see it?

We took a jaunty car ride through Killarney National Park.

St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney

The boys are excellent drivers.

Ross Castle, Killarney National Park

But only on Saturdays.

Torc Waterfall, Killarney National Park.

Killorglin, our first stop on the Ring of Kerry.

The beach in Waterville, Ring of Kerry

These flowers were everywhere. I had first noticed them on our trip to Wales. Love them! But, they are poisonous.

Beautiful!

Sneem, Ring of Kerry

Muckross House, Killarney National Park

Bunratty Folk Park

Bunratty Castle

Later in the month, Brandon and I said goodbye to the boys and a zillion thanks to our babysitter and went on a twelve day cruise of the Baltic Sea. We had a fantastic time. We missed the boys like crazy, but were very glad we didn't bring them. They would not have had a good time. Insert visions of Brandon and me dragging the boys by the arms through each and every port. And for you English grammar sticklers out there, yes it is Brandon and me in this particular instance. You would never say "visions of I dragging the boys. . . " But I digress. Just a little pet peeve of mine.

Brandon aboard the Jewel of the Seas

Our first day at sea was a good opportunity to take on the climbing wall.

And, because I know you all want to know, the first animal in our terry cloth menagerie was. . .

Our first port was Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen

Hans Christian Andersen

The original Christus statue, Our Lady's Church

The display I was powerless to resist. You see that they are lined up in color order, right? You would be powerless too, right? Yes, we came home with a set of ten, one of each color of course!

Me getting artsy, a view of Nyhavn.

Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen

A shot of the ship at night, after a day at sea.

The second in our menagerie

Next stop, Stockholm.

St. George and the Dragon statue, Stockholm

Stockholm's Gamla stan

The Nordic Museum, Stockholm

A giant dala horse

Cruising the Swedish Archipelago

We then traveled on to Helsinki, Finland.

Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki

National Museum of Finland

Helsinki Cathedral

Russian Emperor Alexander I, Helsinki Cathedral

Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki

Tsarina's Stone, Helsinki

Havis Amanda fountain, Helsinki

Then we were off to Russia for a two day stop in St. Petersburg.

Smolny Cathedral, St. Petersburg

St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg

Peterhof, St. Petersburg

Catherine Palace, Pushkin, near St. Petersburg

The Amber Room

I got a tongue lashing for taking this picture, and so did our guide, so take a good look, 'cause you won't find a lot of pictures of this room. I guess the clicking of the button and the motion of the shutter degrade the stone (because I didn't use even use a flash.) More on that in a later post about the way tourist traps suck money out of our pockets.

The Bronze Horseman monument to Peter the Great

St. Isaac's again.

Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg

Church of the Resurrection of the Savior on Spilt Blood, if you want to know the entire name of it, St. Petersburg

The entire interior is covered with these tiny mosaic tiles. Amazing!

The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Back to the ship to meet Numero Tres, who somehow ended up as Senor Penguino.

Next, Tallin, Estonia

The Three Sisters, Tallin

St. Catherine's Passage, Tallin

Old Herman Tower, Tallin

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallin

Tallin Panorama

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallin

Me being artsy again, Brandon enjoying a Russian lunch in Tallin

The Disney boat was trailing us most of the trip.

Once again I was charmed by Disney's attention to detail. See all the characters in the scroll work?

That's Goofy, fixing up the back of the ship.

After the penguin took on a Spanish identity, Senor Tortuga followed suit.

Our final port was Gothenburg, Sweden. I think this was mostly an excuse to shop. It was okay, but I had never heard of it before. We still enjoyed wandering around town, though.

A wonderful time was had by all. I would recommend this cruise to anyone. It's a great way to see a lot of European capitals. And now that you all have spent twelve days reading this post, it's almost like you all went with us. If you stuck with me this long, I really hope you enjoyed it. I'll let you have a few days to recover before moving on to Our August. Until then my beloved readers.