Days 10 and 11: The Red Sea, Aqaba and Snorkeling

Ahhh, Aqaba. After our adventures in Petra, we were were ready for a few days of r&r. We stayed at a beautiful resort on the Red Sea in the city of Aqaba. It was beautiful! Although it wasn't as warm as we all would have liked, it was still nice enough to sit out on the beach and enjoy the view.  Our first day we did just that. We just hung out, relaxed, swam and ate. It was perfect!

CJ taking it all in.

View from our deck off of our hotel room.

The kids enjoying playing on the beach just as if they were back home. Except this is the Red Sea and across the water there is Egypt!

The girls enjoyed sitting at the beach bar drinking smoothies.

They hung out here quite a bit.

Mike, CJ and I sat at a table and just enjoyed the sunset. 

So happy!

The kids loved playing with the giant chessboard by the pool.  They could have stayed and played all day, but it got cold and dark fast.

 The next day, we headed to a different beach away from our hotel to go snorkeling. Once we got there, we found a guy who was willing to take us out on his glass bottom boat.  We figured this was a good option because it was cold and we weren't sure how good the snorkeling would be. This way Sebi and Brooklyn could enjoy the day too and we were guaranteed to go to a good spot to see fish.

Sebi heading out to the boat.

Checking out the fish using the glass bottom. The kids LOVED this! 

Mike and Stella heading out to snorkel.

Stella and our captain looking at pictures on his phone.

The snorkelers trying to stay warm on the boat after they went for their undersea adventure.

I love these guys. They honestly are so much fun and happen to be the best vacation couple.  We love traveling with them and their family and can't wait until the next adventure!

After snorkeling and on our way back to Jerusalem we had to stop by CJ's favorite Shwarma place for lunch. It was delicious.

Day 9: Petra

When we arrived in Petra late at night, we had no idea what beauty was around us. It was dark and raining so hard, we were thrilled to just have made it to the right place and to have a warm, cozy bed to sleep in. When we woke up and looked out our window, we saw an incredible view. The hotel we were in (Marriott) was placed right in the heart of red rocks and a big canyon was just below.  It was amazing! After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and headed out for a long hike with the kids into Petra.

At the entrance, ready for a day of adventure!

Stella and Brooklyn hand in hand walking through the canyons.

Action shot of the crew on our way to the Treasury.

Always on her mind, Stella had to "surf" while exploring the canyon.

We made it to the Treasury! It was so incredible.. The Treasury is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient city of Petra. It was carved out of a sandstone rock face over 2,000 years ago.

The kids had done well on the hike so far and so we decided to go for it and continue hiking on past the Treasury on to the Monastery. Here's a view of the "city" within Petra on our way up.

This is as far as the camels will go. We promised ourselves and the kids that if they made it all the way to the Monastery and back without whining that we'd ride camels.

Silly girls inside Monastery.

Kari, me and all of the girls at the Monastery. This really shows how large it was. 

Another view of the Monastery, before we hiked further up to get the "best view"

Pro hikers.

I'm so grateful we hiked all the way up, the view up there was unbelievable. You felt on top of the world.

We made it to the top! (Monastery behind us)

Our only group shot of the whole trip - one of the best trips of our lives (the other being Croatia/Slovenia with the Baltz's as well)

Stella getting on her camel - a much deserved reward!

The Day Family on our camel ride. This will go down in the books as an incredible memory that I will never, ever forget!

The whole crew on camels. Unfortunately, Hannah and Brooklyn were on donkeys and already got off before we got our group shot. The kids were all awesome - We hiked 6.5 miles with a 2 year old in the backpack and a 4,5,6 and 8 year old on foot. Not one whine or complaint = A much deserved camel ride!

After our amazing, long day we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed the fresh Bedouin tea.