Finally - Arrival in Detroit 8:57pm - See you there

Another Delay

Looks like the flight has left the gate but no lift off yet! New arrival time is 8:51.

Hurray - Taxing to runway..estimated arrival 8:58pm

Signing Your Child Out

Thanks to the Dastoli's for keeping us up-to-date on the flight delay. Jodi would like for us all to meet in the baggage claim area to greet our children. You must sign your student out with Jodi before they can leave the group. It's standard P2P procedure....so, we'll get to see each other 1/2 hour later than we thought!

Flight to Detroit Delayed 50 minutes... New estimated arrival 8:31pm

They have landed in Newark @1:49pm more to follow on status of flight to Detroit

Back over US Soil!

Moving Right Along!

They're Off

Their flight left about 10 minutes late and are scheduled to arive in Newark 6 minutes early...

Last Day Abroad

The group went to the top of the Eiffel Tower today. Kinsley conquered her fear of heights! They visited the famous Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile as well as a church on top of a hill where they saw a man performing cool gymnastic stuff with a soccer ball. Afterward, there was more shopping going on.
They learned how to draw (professionally) the lady liberty's profile. The day ended with them all back at the hotel signing shirts, exchanging addresses, emails, phone numbers, etc. They also gave their delegate manager and coach driver thank you gifts. Can't wait to see you all tomorrow!
Jodi asked me to post that she will activate the phone tree once she knows the flight into Detroit is on schedule or not :)
On a side note, I asked Isabelle what they wanted to eat when they got in and she said pizza. All of their meals have been meat and potatoes, or pasta. Pizza and a good fresh salad were her requirements!!!

More Paris...

At the Louvre, the group saw the Venus di Milo, the Mona Lisa and many other famous works of art. They took a tour of Paris and saw Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Napolean's burial ground. The most important thing: they got to go swimming in the hotel pool! Isabelle mentioned the bus ride to Paris was pretty cute - nearly everyone fell asleep...I asked about the Belgian chocolate factory tour and she said that the kids bought a lifetime's worth of chocolate! Hopefully, we'll all be getting some :)

From Vegas to Ohio

Just wanted to let everyone know we'll be traveling home today and most likely will not post again until tomorrow! Thanks, Dastoli Family for tracking the flights for us! See you all at the airport on Sunday!

Bon Jour Paris!

The group spent the morning at the Louvre and toured Paris all afternoon and finished up at Notre Dame. Jodi says, "What a romantic and breathtaking city!" Hard to believe this is Isabelle's second time in this gorgeous city! The kids are all looking fashionably tired :)

Trip Home

We'll it's hard to believe it's almost time for them to come home. Once again I will keep tabs on the flight status and the post updates here on the blog... I can't wait to hear all the great stories Danielle will have to tell...

Brussels - More Photos

Made a pit stop in Brussels...the architecture was charming, the food was tasty, shopping was wonderful,and the delegates eyes when they tasted Belgian chocolate was priceless. Sure wish some of the chocolate would make it's way home to the USA :)

The Mannaken Pis Statue

Standing by the famous Mannaken Pis statue in Brussels...

Clogging Relay Race and Anne Frank House

Some of the kids posing with the Anne Frank statue.

More clogging photos....looks like they had to carry a saucer/cup combo during the relay race!

Clogging Anyone?

Some more photos from Jodi.... Today the group went to the Anne Frank House, toured Amsterdam, and also went to the cheese and clog factory. It was a great day...we ended with a clog relay race which was hilarious. Now we are on our way to dinner and then back to the hotel.

Note: Sorry for the Cleveland, Cincinnati mix up!!! Tried to go back to the latest posts and alter those! Only 4 more days!!!!

From Northern KY/Cincinnati Area Parents of Jordan

Good day! Just heard from Jordan and he mentioned their visit with Parliament – sounded as if they spent a little more time there and had more of an opportunity to speak with this person than last year – he was very happy and again said he was just having a wonderful time. He was counting days till home but yet he would like to stay and be home too!!! He has just commended the leadership this year so much that we can only imagine this time being so well planned and interesting.

More London Info

Isabelle couldn't get a text or call to me yesterday - no signal on the ferry apparently? Anyway, not only did they speak with a former Parliament member in London, they rode on a boat under the famed London Bridge and saw bomb shelters at the Imperial War Museum.
Today they visited the Peace Palace and saw a "miniature" Holland (which was for younger aged children. They went into Sesame Street Land which was hilarious according to her. They also got to ride on the Amsterdam Canal.
She said everyone is still doing well and enjoying themselves but missing home and American food :)

Parliament

Patrick Nichols, former Parliament member spoke to our students this morning. Hope the kids enjoyed it....

Goodbye London, Hello Ferry to Amsterdam

Last shopping trip in London...look at our trendy delegates. We are now on the bus to Harwotch to catch our ferry to Amsterdam and will arrive in the morning. Hope no one gets sea sick :) --Jodi

How many delegates can we stuff in a phone booth? Too funny!

Sights of London

Today the kids saw St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the changing of the guards. They toured the Tower of London and viewed the crown jewels. They rode a boat (the Thames?) and rode the London Eye as you can see from the photos Jodi sent. In the tower, they toured torture chambers and artillery holds. Another cool thing, they got to check out places where some very famous movies have been filmed such as Mary Poppins and Harry Potter.

Steve and I are in Vegas and will continue to update the blog daily or more often if time permits. We are three hours behind so some posts may be a bit late.

Have a wonderful evening! We're off to tour Vegas, baby!

Touring London

Today we spent the entire day touring the sites of London. Pictures are from the London Tower and London Eye. It was a long fun filled day. Just wanted to remind everyone if you have not heard from your children due to phone card issues or lack of pay phones you can always go onboard and get the phone number to our hotel and ask for your childs room number at the front desk. Please wait until after 10-11pm to call because I cannot assure they will be available to receive calls until after that.

Danielle's Call

We just heard from Danielle, the first call in several days. She is doing very well and said she is having a great time. Today they saw Big Ben and rode the ferris wheel. We asked if she was ready to come home... she said NO!. She misses home, but really loves Europe. She also said that she was looking forward Chocolate....

This post is from parents with kids from the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area delegation: Just wanted you to know that Jordan had called early this A.M. (our time) and was very upbeat and said all was having a great time. Again, the pictures on the blog show that – just hope there are some serious pics of the group along the way. He said he had taken around 700 so far. He didn’t know if he would be calling again before returning home – but we forwarded a couple of messages and he too had asked us to contact a couple of parents to let them know why their kids hadn’t called. Again, nothing to interrupt them from having a great time.
Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! See you all in a week at the airport! We'll be making a welcome banner - if anyone would like to make posters or has any ideas for their arrival, please share....thanks, Paula

Off to the Theatre

Here's a photo of our kids after the play...."Partying after the show..man they are pumped up and in awe of the excitement of the big city." --per Jodi

Looks like our son, Logan, is particularly good at posing!!! They look like they're no longer exhausted, but full of energy! I'm sure we'll get lots of great feedback about London! Looking forward to it! Again, blogging tomorrow will be later than usual! Happy Independence Day!

Don't forget that this blog is for everyone - you should be able to post and comment anytime. It's a communication tool....we're all missing our kids! Let us know any news you may have!

Oxford

Good morning everyone! Got this photo this morning. The group spent the morning touring and shopping in Oxford. "What a beautiful historic city! We are now on the bus on our way to London. Going to see Carrie's War at the Appolo Theater tonight. So we'll be dressed in our best for a night in the big city." -- direct quote from Jodi.

Wanted to remind everyone that Steve and I will be traveling to Vegas tomorrow....no chance to blog until late in the day, but I will get something posted once I get my PC unpacked at the hotel - promise!

Isabelle did say last evening that everyone seems to be in good spirits, but tired (in a good way!). Happy Fourth of July to all!!!!

Tours and School

Hi everyone!
Today the kids went to a Welsh grade school and drove to Chester, England. They toured Chester and went on to Warwick Castle. As you can see in the earlier photos, it was a pretty educational experience since they learned what life was like at a castle in Merry Olde England. They explored the castle rooms that belonged to the royals and learned how to fight like a British solider which was "really cool".

Get this - Isabelle said they got to see part of a concert and one of the bands was an ABBA tribute band and it was also "really cool".

Catapults and Knights

Looks like we have a knight in shining armor!! The catapult is smaller than I expected, but I'm sure it looks huge when standing next to it.

A big THANK YOU to Jodi for supplying all these wonderful photos for us. It's one thing to know our kids are having fun and experiencing other cultures, but it's a comfort to be able to see them enjoy themselves. You can never have enough friends - I'm glad our kids are all together! Thank you, Jodi!