Croatia, wow

A popular tourist destination in Croatia is Plitvice Lakes.  In fact, as we were planning our trip here, this was one of the few things on our list that we definitely wanted to do.

Well, once we arrived and started having so much fun at the pool and sea, we did not think a 2 hour one way drive to see Plitvice was what any of us cared to do.  However, we (we being the kids and Kristi) had done some research for school prior to coming to Croatia, and in that research we had learned about Krka, another National Park in Croatia that was only an hour away from our apartment in Starigrad, and similar to Plitvice.  We decided that we should go check it out, so after spending the morning at the apartment enjoying the sea and pool, we loaded up and headed on an adventure.

This is what we saw...

Beautiful swans from our boat ride--Mary caught a picture of two in a heart shape

and a momma and babies (vocab time:  what's the word for a baby swan)

A beautifully shaded walking path along the river with frogs and fish and dragonflies...

 and kids hanging from trees--very Sound of Music-ish

oh, yes, and maybe a waterfall

or two

or three

or a whole lot...

These waterfalls are a live, growing organism of sorts...limestone is deposited in the lichen and algae as the water flows over, and travertines are formed.  It grows at a rate of about 3 mm a year.  And yes, it is travertine as in the travertine tiles that we like in our homes.

We spent a little bit playing in some of the shallow waters.  Unfortunately for Ted, he wasn't dressed to get in the water, or he would have probably made his way to a spot under the falling water.

We are making silly faces--check out Lucy's sassy pose!

A great afternoon!