Going for a swim

Today, Shortbeard and General S talked me into going to the beach.

Apparently, they've been practicing in the sink holding their breath and swimming around.  I didn't know this, so I was pretty surprised when we got in the water and General S said, "Watch this!" and dove straight to the bottom.  See for yourself.

I knew Shortbeard was a good swimmer from all those years ago, but once I saw how deep General S could dive, I said "Let's go" and we headed off to do some exploring.

Here is General S up close with a sea urchin shell.

 Can you see him from the surface?

Here he is making friends with a sea cucumber.

Not to be outdone, Pirate Shortbeard made friends with a sea sponge.

He was so brave, he even hung out with the sea urchins.  He was careful not to sit on them this time!

But soon enough, it was time to leave.  Here's Shortbeard swimming back to the surface.

Hope you enjoyed seeing their adventure!

Toys! Toys! Toys!

Aye Matey!  What a day!

I've been counting the days 'til we sail back to Michigan.  So when we got to 2 weeks, I said to Jon, "Aye!  We be down to 14 days.  Time to start thinking about toys to bring back for Timothy and Theodore!"

So Jon took us to JUMBO, and boy, were it ever a good time!  I ran to the things I thought Timothy would like best.

Thar be pirates!  I said.  And Princesses what need to be rescued!!!

"That's a sign Pirate Shortbeard!" Jon said.  "Plus, we don't want to get them the wrong toys. We best take some pictures of the things we think they'll like best and let them decide."

"Aye" said I.  What do you think he'll say about this?" I asked.

But then, I saw this!  "What do ye think?" I asked?

"Maybe..." said Jon.  I'll take a picture and ask.

But then General S was off to another part of the store for things for Theodore. 

"I think I found something," he said.

"Wait.  Now this is what I need!  Send a pic of this to Theodore!"

Top of the world

There's nothing better than climbing somewhere up high and looking around.  Pirate Shortbeard and I have been doing a lot of that lately.

Here we are in Nafplio at the top of the castle.

And here we are at the top of Acrocorinth.

You know what?  The view might be nice, but boy are the climbs hard.  Jon's legs must be 100 times longer than ours!  How are we supposed to keep up???

Luckily he agreed to carry us down both times!

Don't sit there!

Aye!  Me mate General S sure saved the day today.

Thar we were, at the beach, lookin' out over the sea and I started to feel a bit tired.  So I went to sit on rock, but I didn't look where I were....

NO SHORTBEARD!!!  WAIT!!!

Well, I turned round just in time to see that a spiky urchin were right there behind me.  Can you imagine the time I would have had, picking all those spikes out of me backside!

Uncovering the mosaic

Ahoy thar matey.  Today it were all hands on deck as we had to uncover the mosaic.

Now I know that Timothy and Theodore know the place I'm referrin' to.  But do they know what it looks like all winter?

Ya see?  It be all battened down and tucked away for the season.  That way the rain and the winds can't hurt it.  But now the weather be more sunny so it's time to take off the cover.

Now the first thing to do is take off all the rocks and sand on top of the cover.  They put this on to keep the cover from blowin' away.

I told me mate General S to give me mates a hand, but he though it were time to play in the sand.  "Aye matey.  That's not the way.  We need to be helping those kids.  Now grab some felt and pull."

And pull we did.

But, being small, we somehow managed to get thrown in the wheelbarrow with the rest of the sand.

And then dumped out into a pile of sand!

By the time we made it back to the bath, the kids were spraying it down and washing it off.

They needed some help keeping the drain clean, so I volunteered with General S.  We did our best.

"Ya did great General S.  Now comes the fun part--a ride on me favorite dolphin!"

Trip to Delphi

Today we took a trip to Delphi.

First we stopped in Thebes. Pirate Shortbeard tells me that Timothy and Theodore have never been here before, so I made him stop to take a picture.  Here we are in front of a tower built almost 700 years ago.  It was pretty cool.  We even got to go inside.

But then we traveled to Delphi.  Shortbeard says the twins have visited this place already.  So here are a couple of things to remind them.  Here we are drinking water from the spring in front of the site.

And here we are outside the museum.  I was tired from all the walking and took a quick rest beside a column capital.  But Shortbeard said we had to leave soon so we could visit a monastery.

Here we are outside the monastery.  We were a little nervous because the sign said that we had to dress a certain way.  Luckily, pirate and soldier clothes were allowed.

Here we are visiting Saint Luke himself.  They tell me he's been dead for close to a thousand years!

A "heady" day

--Aye thar General S, if that be yer name...

--Yep, that's me.  Glad Theodore finally told you.

--I'm feeling a wee bit down today.  Could use some cheering up.

--Well, Shortbeard, ol' buddy, I'm well "ahead" of you?

--Eh?

--You see, my old buddy Theodore is pretty good with puns, so I've learned I few over the years.

--What be ye after General S?

--Well let's "head" over here a second.

--Huh?

--What, you don't see where this is "headed"?

--A Ha!  I get it now.  I just need me a moment to get my "head in the game."

--There you go.  Now that we've found our "heading," let's begin.

--You get a "head" start, General S.  I'll "head" you off at the pass.

--Nice one, I'd ask our buddy here to play along, but he's a "dead head"

--Nah, he's just too big headed for us.

--That one hit the nail on the head.

--Stop!  I'm going to laugh me head off.

--I might be "in over my head" playing this game with you.

--Aye, I'm as level headed as they come.

--Don't get too "big headed"

--Awww Shortbeard, that one gave me a headache.