Our next stop on the cruise was St Petersburg, Russia, which just so happens to be George and Ellis' homeland (and Heather by default/marriage). This was our first trip to the motherland and Russia. After startling most of our fellow cruisers with a ceremonial kissing of the ground immediately after disembarking (Ellis was really confused at this point and just never did the hang of kissing pavement), we embarked on the first of two days in the city. Here are some of the stops while there...

This was the Peterhof Palace and its fountains 

outside the city limits of St. Petersburg:

We had only slept about 2 hours the night before because of Ellis 

and his difficulty in sleeping. I'm sorry Heather for posting this picture!

Heather and Ellis holding up the cruise itinerary for the day 

Day two brought our group splitting up and Heather spending the day with my mom and Marta, while Ellis and I took a half day tour of the Hermitage Museum. This was one of the highlights of the trip, walking though the museum and its hallways of priceless art at the same time as I was distributing rations of Cheerios and a bread roll to Ellis.  

Russian dolls at a souvenir shop

The Hermitage Museum

Church of the Spilled Blood

Here are some recent photos of our Ellis Anthony...He is rapidly approaching his first birthday on October 14th. Hard to believe that almost a year has passed since he came into our lives...It is definitely true that the first year is a blur and hard to get a true grasp on all of the changes that are taking place with your baby and to the family. We could not be happier though with this amazing addition to our family...enjoy the photos! gp + hp