'Vaganza'

Malta, with it's other-worldly blue waters, stunning views, and friendly local peeps made our non-traditional Thanksgiving just slightly more than bearable ;) While I'll admit that traversing three islands with a non-working GPS and some of the most random street signage in the world proved challenging, we saw a truly beautiful part of the world that none of the five of us could have even located on a map two months ago. And on days when the aches and pains involved when a mostly stay-at-home-mom joins the work force full-time (in a foreign country. . .far from family and my glass-of-wine girlfriends) gets to be too much, I know these pictures will serve as a welcome reminder of all that awaits us on this crazy adventure.

We stayed on the island of Malta
View from our hotel



Mellieha Bay




Blue Grotto and Sea Caves









We took a ferry boat to the nearby tiny island of Comino, where we swam in the most beautiful blue waters imaginable

Ferry ride





Blue Lagoon and coast of Comino











Twister that lost steam as we sailed away from the island!




We spent a full day on another nearby island, Gozo, which had absolutely breathtaking views
Gozo Ferry



Dwejra Bay










Blue Hole at Dwejra Bay






Sneak peek of the Azure Window, which provided a pretty amazing backdrop for the Huffman family 2011 Christmas card photo!


Sunset near Ta'Cenc




And what would a Huffman Crew post be without a few random shots?

Awesome view of the Swiss Alps on the flight over



Best photography assistant ever!


Crazy Sicilian bikers who, along with about 200 biker friends, descended upon Dwejra Bay and briefly shattered the calm serenity of the area before riding off to their next destination



Unsuspecting mom about to get skewered by a speed boat at the Blue Lagoon


And last, but not least... a few selected bloopers from the Huffman family photo shoot
(note Marley's very productive nostril above)




Stay tuned for our next post, which will include Uncle Jim and soon-to-be Aunt Kristen's wedding, Christmas and two weeks of Huffman madness in sunny California!