First Tasks...

We designed the tasks so they weren’t all about speed, but counted on resourcefulness and wits. The first task showed a photo of a giant toe. The kids had to find this statue just outside the city walls. It might look like a wizard, but is actually Gregory of Nin, a medieval bishop who introduced using Croatian instead of Latin in church services in opposition to the Pope.

The kids had to rub the statue’s toe, which is rumored to bring good luck.

The next task was to find a mosaic floor, then toss a ball without dropping it before searching the area for the next clue.

Jimmy came up with this clever task. The kids had to first find the Roman guards who stand in the main square (the entire area is Diocletian’s Palace, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating from the 4th century).

Then they had to say something in Latin in order to get the guard to hand over the next clue. Ironically, both Veronica and Andrew quoted a line from the same World War I poem that they’d learned in Year 9 (8th grade), which was over two years ago for Veronica. Bummer was that both Max and Julius knew some Latin, but the Roman guards had taken a break so there was only Nina around to impress.

Asking for Directions...

Jimmy brought a few parents into town ahead of time to work on some logistics. I merely played photographer. Finally it was time to brief the kids and get the game started. Each team was given a list of guidelines and then their first clue.

It was interesting watching how the kids asked folks around town for directions. A few of the parents were concerned that we’d opted not to provide the teams with a map. We started the race right outside of the tourism office and assumed most of the kids would think to go inside for a map, but only Max and Julius actually did. Veronica got this map from her videographer Tony who broke down and gave it to the team after they completed their fourth task.

They asked waiters and shopkeepers where to find landmarks for various tasks.

This tour guide was asked by multiple teams for help throughout the game.

Our Own Amazing Race...

Last summer when we visited Croatia, we tried to think of something special to do for the kids while celebrating Andrew’s 14th birthday. We came up with the idea of doing an adventure race in the historic city of Split fashioned after the TV show Amazing Race. We had a blast spending half a day roaming around Split designing the tasks that we’d assign the kids. Jimmy explained the concept to the kids and their parents before we departed the Nikola.

We split them into three groups, trying to balance age and speed with the rule that the team is only as fast as its slowest player. Each team was also assigned one adult as their videographer. The birthday boy was with Ashlynn and Ariana in Team Dalmatia.

Team Diocletian was David, Veronica and Carla with Olivia along as Carla’s German translator.

And ironically, the all boy team of Hagan, Max and Julius was Team Venus.

Great Friends...

We were all so impressed with how well the kids got along. Julius met Ariana, Max, David and Andrew at the Chateau in 2007 and hadn’t seen our girls since 2010, but was instantly part of the teen gang. Hagen and Carla often kept to themselves on the Nikola because of the language gap, but they joined in all the activities onshore.

Ashlynn really treasured having time to hang out with Andrew, who’s one of her closest friends.

Since Veronica played photographer much of the evening, she’s hardly in any of the photos, but she also loved dancing until after 2 a.m.

Time to Boogie...

We were thrilled that the kids joined in and danced. Here they are doing the Macarena.

Shout is always a very lively song that everyone can get into.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

Jimmy and I did a lot of dancing at the beginning of our relationship, but don’t get much of a chance these days. Even though I’m not very good at swinging, we always make an attempt. Here we are dancing to I Had the Time of My Life, which was our final song at our wedding reception.

Sally, on the other hand, competed in ballroom dancing at Oxford and definitely knew what she was doing. She and John don’t get many chances to dance either and clearly enjoyed themselves.

A Rooftop Terrace to Ourselves...

The location also met with the kids’ approval.

I surprised Jimmy by having Veronica sing one of his favorite songs, Come What May from Moulin Rouge. It was too dark to videotape her, but someone managed to record her singing, which she then used for a photo montage to surprise us which you can see here.

We danced and partied for hours.