madeira was our first port of call after 6 straight days at sea! the ground was moving for all of us i think! for those of you who don't know (i had no clue) madeira is an island off of the main continent of europe that belongs to portugal.
i had to include both of the following pictures even though the only thing missing from the first one is me. here's my gripe: not only do the kids look funky in the second one (except kyle who looks like he is trying to impersonate a sexy surfer dude ha ha), but the person that we let take the picture didn't get the disney ship in the background even though we told him that was the point! lol that is why i don't trust people to take pictures for me, and i insist on being a control freak who stays behind the camera!
i really don't think this kid can get any cuter!
the small boat sailing next to the cruise ship is an exact replica of the santa maria - can you imagine sailing across the atlantic in that thing?! it took 6 1/2 days in the comfort of our luxurious ship! it's a wonder they ever came back! i would have hit land and said - that's it i don't care where we are, i am never getting back on a boat! lol
the following 3 pics are some of the damage a flood caused just a few weeks before we arrived. the first one shows where the flood destroyed some houses. the last of the three shows a bulldozer - a church used to sit where it is. the whole thing was wiped away.
the kids didn't actually ride in this, they just took a picture (which you can tell kyle was thrilled to do ha ha). they call them tobaggans, and the people push you down the hill - they are your steering and brakes! you can actually smell the wood burning on the asphalt. crazy!
shark meat out to dry...
these next few views are from the world's second highest sea cliff (we were told the highest one is in norway)
kevin hanging out with the local police (he did this in every city lol)
some of you may not know, but one of kevin's things is to pose with statues. the kids are catching on to this, and will often beg for a picture on there own. so here is "fun with statues"...
hey, NOW we got the ship in the back lol
wildlife...
i do have to give kevin credit for this pic... it's awesome! even though i am usually the camera nazi, just let it be known that i do give him credit for getting amazing shots when it happens! lol
more wildlife? ha ha (actually i think this is a really sweet picture)
we found a park area where the kids got to play for awhile...
this set of pics cracks me up. first look at zachary, then look at the next one where he "loses his head." i love how in the second one it looks like jordan and kyle are looking down saying "did we get him?!"
i won't be offended if you are bored by the last series of shots - i just love to take flower pictures! and there were so many different flowers here! this first one is called the "pride of madeira." we were told it's native only to this island!
that's all for madeira. it was beautiful!
