Journey of Five

Wales Castle Visit

2013-02-19T02:55:00.002-08:00

One thing we learned about Wales was there is a lot of castles. Most of them are in ruins because they were created to defend against the invading forces (England). As England took over an area they destroyed the castles. Its a bit of a shame, but my kids love climbing over castle ruins rather than touring fancy castle museums.

The castle we found was Coity Castle. As you see all signs are written in both English and Welsh. Ironically hardly anyone speaks Welsh, but the government is trying to bring back the almost dead language...thus the signs.

The castle was located in the middle of a neighborhood. There was local boys were playing soccer in the courtyard, and there was a nearby playground.

Wales: Cave and Farm

2013-02-19T02:38:00.001-08:00

The owners of the cottage we hired suggested that we take the kids to The National Showcaves which was a couple of caves and a couple of cheesy family attractions like a dinosaur park and farm.

Since there wasn't anything to spear Misty on, we decided to feed her to a dinosaur.

This is us as we begin our journey into one of the caves.

The caves were beautiful, but unfortunately they don't photograph well.

I enlarged this one a bit so you can hopefully see that there are two waterfalls inside this cave. The path curved around so you actually walked behind the waterfalls and then in between them. This cave was popular for wedding ceremonies, so they named it the Cathedral Cave.

In dinosaur land, Misty found a touch screen game that allowed her to paint the dinosaur. This was one of her many creations.

They had a sleuth station to pan for gold. Suprizingly they actually had real gold to pan for instead of pyrite but it was just small worthless flakes. Neil and Lexi thought it was fun though. Here Neil shows Misty the finer points of sloshing.

Onto the farm side, Neil found some random rocks that had some historical significance.

While Lexi made it a mission to pet every animal. Misty was a bit exhausted at this point so she didn't enjoy this part of the day as much.

Wales: Waterfall Hikes

2013-02-19T02:28:00.001-08:00

Normally I break up our holidays by days in a chronological timeline; however, I think it would work better for this trip to categorize it by experiences.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Wales was because they are known for beautiful waterfalls. I love waterfalls.

We really had no idea what to expect from Wales. Ray works with a Welsh lady, and before arriving we had the impression that Wales was like Texas....everyone there THINKS they are special, but in reality everyone knows they are special. We found this to be untrue. Everyone in Wales was very nice, and it is just a slower pace of life than in the cities of England. Wales is mostly just countryside full of country people.

The countryside of Wales is beautiful. It was also VERY muddy. We rented a wonderful cottage, and before arriving the owners told us to bring wellies (rubber boots). We are very thankful for this warning since it was very muddy. The kids enjoyed it though, esp Misty who told us her wellies needed to be wet and muddy.

The hike to the waterfalls were long and in rough terrain. The first one we picked was by the cottage, but we later found out was the hardest waterfall trail. At points we were hiking up a rocky cliff, splashing through puddles, and walking through thigh deep mud.

Sgwd-yr-Eira meaning the waterfall of snow

The waterfalls were worth it though.

The kids were able to get behind one of the waterfalls.

On a different trail we got to follow the river on a much more mild hiking trail.

Sgwd Gwladus

We saw several other waterfalls as we were driving. I can see why they call this part of Wales Waterfall Country.

Edinburgh

2013-02-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

While my mom was visiting, Ray and I snuck away for a romantic getaway to Edinburgh. We took the train up there, which was a very relaxing way to travel.

Old City

New City

The city is divided into two sections: the old city and the new city. In the old city there are two castles that are divided by what they call the Royal Mile which is a medieval street of shops and restaurants.We stayed in the old part of town a block away from the Royal Mile. The new city was full of modern shops and chain restaurants.

Our first stop was the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is at one end of the Royal Mile. This is the official residence of the Queen when she stays in Edinburgh. It was very interesting to see the place all decorated for Christmas.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Abbey in the Palace of Holyroodhouse

One of the things we loved about Edinburgh is that around the next corner you never know what you might find. It was very historic with a bit of a Roman influence.

Random pic

Next we ventured to the waterfront to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. Ray and I really enjoyed the tour of the boat. We enjoyed a royal feast of a lunch and tea while we were on the yacht which was very fancy.

After lunch we returned to the Royal Mile for the castle at the other end: Edinburgh Castle. It was SO windy there. The castle is at the top of a huge hill and the winds were stronger than usual. We got blown over a few times.

Edinburgh Castle

Angie at castle gate

After the castle tour we did a tour of the Scotch Whiskey Experience. It explained the different types of Scotch based on the various regions. We each got to sample a Scotch, but I must say I had the idea of butterscotch in my head and it was nothing like that. Ray's tasted like you licked a campfire log. We decided maybe we selected poorly, so we tried a different type and it was terrible in a completely different way.

Whiskey Museum at Scotch Whiskey Experience

The last part of our trip we decided to go on a haunted underground tour of the city. It started at this church where the guide talked about the corruption in early Edinburgh. We went underground and heard some ghost stories. At one point I got a chill that ran down the right side of my body.

I splurged and upgraded to a first class train ride back home. It was a nice upgrade that came with yummy snack boxes.

The Goodwin's Christmas

2013-02-19T01:21:00.001-08:00

I was about to update our blog about a recent trip to Wales, but then I realized I hadn't posted my pics of Christmas. My mom came to visit for Christmas, and we decided to take a little trip to Bath and Stonehenge. We also walked around downtown London and saw all the window displays and sat on Santa's lap at Harrods.

I had heard the town of Bath was really nice. It gets its name from being a former Roman Bath. I must say the town was very beautiful, but I was disappointed that the shops were all just big name international chains.

Bath, UK

On the way home we stopped by Stonehenge. There was a ceremony going on inside the center of rocks. We didn't go through the official path to see what they were saying or doing, but I think it had something to do with the winter solstice.

Stonehenge

Downtown London has a lot of fun things to do for Christmas. One of the attractions is called Winter Wonderland where they turn Hyde Park into a big Christmas carnival. Unfortunately everything was super expensive, so we didn't do much other than walk through. We did sample some yummy food though.

Christmas market at London's Winter Wonderland

We decided to splurge a bit and take Misty to Harrods to see Santa. Ok it wasn't as much of a splurge since it wasn't that much, but I did have to make reservations in August to get a spot. Of course Misty was terrified of Santa, so I don't really have any pictures of it that anyone would want to see. It was a fun experience though.

A small note: I want to thank my mom for the pictures since I stole them off her facebook page ;)

10 Random Things from London

2012-11-27T06:51:00.001-08:00

We have been here in London for two years now. When we first moved here there was a lot of things we had to adjust to that we didn't expect. Of course everyone knows that the driving and food are vastly different from the states, but here are our top 10 random things we found difficult to understand.

1. Language Barrier
Most people know the Brits call things different, like chips for fries or a biscuit is a cracker or cookie. They also spell words differently like tyres, pyjamas, colour, ect. Most of these are humorous and nothing we didn't expect.

The problem comes when they call something COMPLETELY different and we have no idea how to find what we are looking for. While the Americans in our community try and help each other when we are looking for something, there is always a random item you want that has a weird name you have no idea what to look or ask for. Iodine is a good example, or should I say Betadine. We have been looking for this since we moved here 2 years ago, but just recently stumbled upon its British name.

Another language barrier issue is accents, as in we have one. They don't understand us if we speak too fast, and we can't understand them. Of course we have adapted to their language which make it easier to communicate, but we still always have to keep in mind that we are the ones with the accent.

2. No Food Preservatives
I thought I'd spare you a picture of moldy bread, but the fact is they do not put any preservatives in their food. It is very frustrating that a loaf of bread or milk only lasts 3 to 4 days. The UK is on a national health care system, so the government limits any chemicals that go into food. Most of the locals turn their nose at the idea of yellow lemonade because they don't use unnatural food coloring (or should I say colouring lol).

I should warn anyone visiting London that while you can buy some of the American foods you are used to, they will taste different. The meat also tastes different too.

3. Doors
The problem with the doors is there is no door handle. Well that isn't entirely true, there are some doors that have a handle but don't lock like an American door.

This is our front door. You open it by turning the key to unlock it. The big knob in the center is just to help you shut the door. It has no function in opening the door. Our back door looks like a normal American door with a push down handle, but it really isn't that simple. In order to lock it you have to lift the handle up to engage the bolts before turning the key to lock it into place. It took us months to figure out how to lock that door. The property manager had to finally give us a walk through on how to use it.

The main problem with not having door handles is that it each house has a different way to open from the inside. Imagine going to a friends house, having to leave, but having no clue how to open their door. I've stared at a door for a good minute before finally asking for help out. I think we finally figured out how most of the doors work, so we don't have that problem much anymore.

4. Technology
The Brits are not as open to new technology as us Americans. Sure they all love the iPhones and gadgets, but most other technology they are very reserved about adopting. Our first shock was the lack of Pay At the Pump. There is only one place around here we found where you can do this, although half the people still go in to pay. The internet here can be as slow as dial-up, and you also have to pay for the amount of bandwidth you use.

Here is a picture of our bathroom sink. Notice there is separate faucets for the hot and cold water. They are not big on adapting to a single spigot sink. They also are hesitant to put water softeners in their house even though they have terribly hard water that destroys their appliances.

5. Shopping
Going through the grocery store, I would never have expected to find the eggs in the baking isle rather than the refrigerated section. Or the cocoa powder with the hot chocolate mix. The problem goes much further than just what isle to look for things you want. Finding the right store to do your business is the tricky part. For example, the cobbler is the person to go to in order to get a copy of a key made. Or finding sewing supplies (haberdashery) at department stores.

6. Education
I will be honest, after 2 years of living here I still don't fully understand their education system. The elementary school seems about the same, but they start much earlier. Misty is 3 and is in Nursery which is like preschool. In Nursery she learns her letters and the sounds of letters. In Reception, which is like Pre-K, the 4 year olds learn how to write and read. Year 1 is like our Kindergarten, but the kids are reading books by themselves and doing math. So they start off a year ahead than us in the states.

After elementary school things get very confusing. From my understanding the kids take important tests at various points. These tests divide the kids into those going to trade schools and those who go to university. The way the kids do on the tests, specifically the subjects they do well in, will determine their career or trade. It is perfectly acceptable for a 16 year old to have completed school and be entered into the work force as general labor. At 16 a child is considered an adult and can buy lottery tickets. They can drive a car at 17 and the drinking age is 18.

7. Recycling
Where we live, about 80% of our trash (rubbish) needs to be recycled.

To give you an idea, the brown been on the left is about the size of a normal American size trash bin. This is where our compostable trash (mostly food and paper) goes and it is picked up once a week. The green bin which is less than half the size of our brown bin is for normal trash. We also have 4 recycling bins: Glass, Shiny Paper, and Plastic/Metals (which I was able to request two of since we are a big family). The recycling bins and the green trash bin are picked up every other week.

Now you might wonder, what happens if you can get it to fit in your bins. You have two options which are hold on to it or take it to the recycling center. The recycling center is more than happy to accept anything that is recyclable but if you have trash that is general rubbish then they will make you empty it out on a table to prove that nothing in there could have been recycled.

This has been one of the most difficult things to adjust to, but I know it is a more responsible way of life. It really does make us consider what to buy. I stopped using paper towels because it generated too much trash. Sponges are another thing I used to go through a lot more frequently. Now I learned to wash my sponges. I went up to base for a few days and they have less strict recycling rules up there. I felt so wasteful not recycling every bit of trash. At first this seemed like such a time consuming chore, and admittedly we have piled up trash needing to go to the recycling center. However, now it seems like second nature to put your wrappers in the proper recycling bin.

8. Fashion
Black tights or leggings, boots, and a long shirt are all you need to fit into British fashion.

While this is a good example of what the look should look like, it often ends up less attractive. I'm going to leave it at that.

9. Banking and Bills
Getting a bank account here was one of the first major hurdles we had to overcome. It took almost a year before I got a debit card with my name on it. It was very frustrating being dependent on Ray pulling out money for anything I might have needed. London's economic is based on finance and banking.

Credit cards are on a "Chip and Pin" system. This means there is a small computer chip in your credit card, and every time you buy something you must enter your ATM like pin number. They feel this is a safer system than the US swipe cards, and Europe seems to be switching to the chip and pin system. They do not require a signature on your receipt and don't check ID, so I'm not sure it is any safer.

Most of the bills you pay is through the bank drafts or direct debits. The bank drafts are just wire transfers. Bills will have a bank account which you put your money into with a note or memo stating it was to pay your account. Also, billing cycles are different. We pay our water every 6 months and our electric is paid once a quarter (4 times a year). There are different ways to set up payment plans, but this seems to be the preferred method of paying. It is important that you set your utility bill money aside every month or you'll have a huge bill you can't pay.

10. Electric
Coming over here I knew the electric was different. I didn't really know what that meant. When we got here we got some converters and transformers so that our American appliances would work. These work great for our entertainment systems and computers. As for my kitchen appliances, some do well, but most are slowly dying. My kitchen aid mixer makes a horrible noise as it goes around now and my blender has already died. Along with my YoNana machine and my mini food processor. Other appliances that merely heat up things do fine.

Here is a picture of our electric outlets. They all look like this. There is a 3 prong input for the plugs. Then they have an on/off switch so you don't drain power when you are not using the outlet. It can be frustrating to remember to turn on the electric outlet before using something, but sadly we just leave most of them in the on position.

Labor Day Weekend: Leeds Castle and Paralympics

2012-09-03T10:01:00.004-07:00

We headed back to London on Sunday, but stopped by Leeds Castle on the way home. The castle is much smaller than Dover Castle, but the castle grounds were amazing.

We had to take a land train to the castle.

The flower garden was full of beautiful flowers.

They had a bird watching station for the kids.

The thing the kids loved the most was the hedge maze.

I must say were were throughly impressed with this maze.

It took us much longer than we expected to get through it.

Lexi found her way first.

Neil was lost in the hedges.

Neil and I were the last to find our way out.

Once you completed the maze, you had to go through this underground grotto that was filled with statues. It had an under the sea theme and was quite impressive. Most of the pictures didn't turn out because of the weird lighting.

On Monday the kids had to go back to school, but Ray and I continued our fun extended weekend by going to the Paralympics.

Boccia

Mascot

Misty playing in empty rows.

Labor Day Weekend: Dover Castle and Sandwich

2012-09-03T09:28:00.002-07:00

We had quite the exciting weekend. Ray had a four day weekend for Labor Day, so as soon as the kids got home from school we left town to go to Kent. We found our way to our holiday park and settled in for the night. The plan of the weekend was to see some castles in Kent as well as make our way to the Goodwin Sands. Unfortunately we found out that the Goodwin Sands is a sandbar in the middle of the bay, so we were not able to collect "Our Sand" as Lexi put it. Have no fear, we had a ton of fun all weekend.

We started with Dover Castle. We made our way to the top of the castle and got a wonderful view from the top. Neil even managed for find a spot to Skewer the Moo.

Neil skewered Misty on the top of a trebuchet.

Our Royal Family.

In one of the tunnels the kids found a patch of light, so they both wanted

to be in the "spotlight". I see no acting future for either of them lol.

After Dover Castle we drove around a bit trying to find the Goodwin Sands, which as I mentioned we couldn't get to since it is a sandbar. We decided to explore some more of Kent, and went to the town of Sandwich. Yes, Sandwich! It is right next to some other unusually named towns: Deal, Worth, and Ham. I'm sure you can image the bad jokes that came along. So, what's the Deal? Is it Worth going to Sandwich. Should we get a Ham Sandwich in Sandwich...would that be Worth it? Is it a good Deal? ect... We were all cracking up over these bad jokes, ok Ray wasn't he was just shaking his head in disbelief as the jokes got worse. All joking aside, Sandwich is one of the most preserved medieval towns in England, so I wanted to stop there and check it out.

Sandwich Signs!

We didn't stay for the Sandwich Festival, but we got some ice cream in Sandwich and played on the playground. Neil took his ice cream cone paper and took a perspective photo as if it was a hat for Misty.

Later on that evening we returned to the holiday park. They had some cheesy evening entertainment. Lexi ended up winning a game, and they gave her a t-shirt.

London 2012 Olympics

2012-08-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Olympics here in London. What a great time to be here!

Our excitement started by watching the torch relay. It ended up being a parade that started with large buses/trucks from corporate sponsors.

Kids waiting for the torch

Then there was a group of torch bearers that came with one guy holding the torch. I read somewhere they each hold the torch for about a mile or two then pass it on to someone else. Several of the torch bearers were nominated by their community because of their volunteering and contributions for the community.

We got tickets to three events, but BBC offered 24 channels broadcasting live of all the events. The first event we went to was shooting. Ray and Neil went to the Royal Artillery Barracks to see the 50m pistol finals and skeet.

Neil outside the shooting venue.

One of the things Neil commented on was how touching it was to see all the emotion that the Korean man showed when he won the gold.

After everyone had packed up, the officials started taking questions from the audience. Neil was selected to ask a question. He asked about the flags that were at the end of the shooting range and what the colors on the flags meant. They only told him it helped the shooters determine wind direction, which he said he already had figured it out beforehand but so he didn't get his actual question about the colors answered.

At the venue they had the torch for visitors to see. So Neil and Ray got their picture taken with it.

Next was synchronized swimming. This was really cool because we got to see the Olympic Park. Ray and Lexi joined me for this event.

Welcome to Olympic Park

Olympic Stadium

Aquatic center this way (crowd control with foam fingers lol)

This is how close our far our seats where, but it was alright because we could see good enough.

This is me and Ray, as you can see I was so excited to be there :)

Awards ceremony for synchronized swimming. Russia won gold, China won Silver, and Spain won bronze. I will say that the people for Spain cheered the loudest. The Spanish are VERY loud people who are sports enthusiasts (see our Barcelona trip) lol. We decided that Ray was too quite to live in Spain lol.

The last event Ray took Lexi to Taekwondo because they have been taking classes together for the past year. This event was held at the Excel expo centre, which is in the Docklands area of London.

The Docklands

Excel Centre

Lexi enjoying herself at the Taekwondo event

Well that was our Olympic experience. We had so much fun and are very thankful to have had this opportunity to experience it.

Farnborough Air Show

2012-07-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Friday Ray and I were discussing what to do this weekend. During the conversation, one of Ray's to see if we wanted tickets to the Farnborough Air Show. A bit freaky, but it was much appreciated.

The kids love air shows. It goes back to living in Seattle where we'd go to the air shows that had hydrofoil races in between flying demonstrations. While there were no hydrofoil races, the kids (including Ray) had a blast.

The first thing Ray wanted to see was the Virgin Galactic display. They actually had Space Ship Two there. We were surprised to find out just how soon they will be making tourist flights into space. Before next June Branson and his family will take the first flight into space, and thereafter the will start flying the 500+ passengers they have already reserved their space flight. Price to go up into space: about $225,000.

The kids loved all the rides they had. Misty especially loved all the toddler rides.

Almost everything here was free, so the kids had a lot of fun in the family zone.

Misty loves train rides.

While zorbing sounded cool, the soggy field they played in got the kids all muddy :(

Neil spent an hour putting together a model airplane.

He forgot to grab the paint kit to finish it at home though.

There was a toddler tent where they can crawl around in pop-up tunnels and make some crafts.

This is Misty after she made her crown. At first glance this is just another cute picture of Misty,

but look closer at her face and you can't help but laugh.

Misty got to see Peppa Pig and George....oink!

Ok this was CRAZY! The Mercedes had a kids driving course the kids got to go on.

These are real cars that they are ACTUALLY driving.

Both of the kids surprised us at how well they handled the whole driving experience.

They both were able to move all around the obstacle course, including parking in reserve, without knocking over any cones. They also both claimed the instructor didn't even have to step on the brake (they were drivers ed cars).

Lexi after driving.

Neil after driving.

So one thing we splurged on was paying for Lexi to go on a helicopter ride. Nobody else was brave enough to go with her, but we made friends with some ladies in line who went up with her.

It was only a 5 minute ride, but Lexi got lucky and was able to sit up front.

She LOVED it! What a wonderful experience. Everyone was so

exhausted by the end of the day from all the fun they had.

Med Cruise Day 10: Back in Barcelona

2012-07-06T13:22:00.003-07:00

Ray's Journal

The ship pulled into Barcelona before 5AM. We woke up to the announcement that everyone needs to disembark. Such a sad day for us.

We took cabs to the apartment hotel. The hotel was actually ready for us [surprise]! Its always nice when things work out well. After check in we all kind of just chilled in the apartment for a few hours. Then we walked a few blocks to the shopping mall for entertainment. We found a dunkin donuts!! We also found a chinese buffet for spaniards. Angie and I were the only ones brave enough to partake (everyone else had Burger King) and the word Angie came up with afterwards was “interesting”. It was a culturally thought provoking exchange. They had hardly any of the same “Chinese Buffet” items we Americans are used to. For instance they had what appeared to be onion rings - they we round fried cod. They had what looked like fried chocolate - it was fried sushi. All of their shrimp foods had the shrimp cooked whole (shell and all with eyeballs etc). Their “postre” or desert bar was fresh fruit , nuts rolled in sugar, and flan.

The rest of the day was spent in the hotel trying to wait out the rain (so we could swim in the outdoor pool) and listening to the tuberculosis ward that lived in “Grandma’s room” of the cruise ship (everyone who had stayed in that room came home coughing). We all had to leave to go home tomorrow so it was a subdued day.

Angie's Journal

The cruise was over. We got dropped back off in Barcelona. I booked us an apartment which we all crashed at for awhile. I took a nap (gasp!) for a few hours. We went to the mall/grocery store and stocked up on the things we would need for the day and evening until our flights left in the morning. It was cheaper for us to stay the night in Barcelona for the night rather than fly out on Sunday. Anyways, the apartment we got was quite comical, esp. the bathroom. The place looked very new and fresh, but cheap as if everything was build from IKEA grade building materials. The bathroom was the worst as I think everything broke in there at one point during our overnight stay.

The day was rather uneventful, but the evening was very LOUD. The Spaniards are a loud group of people, which we learned from our earlier stay in Barcelona at the beginning of the trip. Unfortunately for us we happened to be trying to sleep during the big Spain vs. Italy in Euro 2012. Every goal the whole town either shouted loudly (and these are some loud people), honked their horns, or shot off fireworks. Then when the game ended it was complete chaos. It is a surprise we got any sleep that night, but we had a complete understanding and appreciation for their siestas.

Med Cruise Day 9: Marseille

2012-07-06T13:10:00.001-07:00

Ray's Journal

The port call today was short due to sailing times. We only had 8 and half hours in port. That was shortened by even more us being lazy and getting a slow breakfast, then having to catch a bus to get into town.

Both Neil and Lexi chose not to go with us today - Lexi was still feeling very tired from her sunburn and Neil was just tired (something about staying up till 1 AM every morning but it was difficult to understand him since he was mumbling into his pillow).

The shuttle bus the cruise provided took us into town and dropped us off at the local marina (A nice place for people like me, but not what we were after today). We walked 2 blocks before we decided to learn from yesterday - we hailed a cab. The cab took us to the rent a car place efficiently and he spoke english pretty well. The rent a car was actually a passenger van with a manual transmission. The thing took a lot of gas to get going into first gear and had a really sticky clutch. It was a pain to drive - but it had great fuel economy!

Last night on our balcony

Angie did the best she could to plan today. There was very little information available online for this region of France. We intended to go to a normal french town and shop their market, but the one that got the best reviews online had no market. We were a little short of time so we couldn’t look into other towns. But we did some light shopping (of the baked variety) in Loirmarine. Then we left and drove to Cocuron where the Lavender drive begins. We drove several miles of it, but saw very little Lavender. I think Angie probably thinks the day is a wash, but it was nice to get out and see the beautiful French countryside with the love of my life.

We got back to the rent a car place and our cabbie was waiting for us. The turn in process was easier than any other I have ever had. The cab ride back to the boat, though was solemn. I’m not sure if it was just everyone was tired or hungry or if everyone was regretting that this was our last night on the boat; but the cab ride was quiet.

Angie's Journal

The kids looked warn out when they woke up, and Lexi was still not feeling well from her sunburn. So I actually let the kids stay on the ship while my mom, Ray, Misty, and I went out to Marseille. Over this whole trip the older kids have shown just how grown up and mature they have become. When we got back, we even discovered that Neil stayed in the room to take care of Lexi.

We made it to our rental car much easier today since we decided to hail a cab from where the boat shuttle bus dropped us off. I felt bad for the families who decided to skip the shuttle bus (it charged a few dollar a person to ride) and walk from the ship to town. It was easily a 5 mile hike to anywhere. I realized then how grateful I am for not being THAT cheap lol.

Ray struggled a bit with the rental car, which ended up being a 9 passenger van for some reason. There was nothing small that would accommodate our original group size of 6. Anyways, we drove through the beautiful French countryside with all the vineyards and some mountains. I was hoping to see some Lavender fields, but the area was so beautiful I didn't care. Sadly we didn't stop for pictures much because we were on a time crunch. Well also Ray was the only photographer with us that day and he was busy trying to drive the monster van we were given.

This was the last day of our cruise. We had to pack up all our bags and set them out. No more port calls, no more all you can eat food, and no more stupid towel animals lol.

Med Cruise Day 8: Cannes

2012-07-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Angie's Journal

The morning went all wrong. The car rental company we had reservations with was not near the pier, as a matter of fact it took us an hour of walking to find them. When we finally found the place we realized Ray forgot his driver's license on the cruise ship smh. We realized our plans of going up to Grasse and having the girls make perfume while the boys explore a pre-historic cave were out. So to make the best of the day, we decided to head to the beach. Thankfully we had all our swim gear with us because we intended to go to a lake later on in the day, but with the beach right there we saw no need.

In Cannes, and much of the French Rivera, is like looking into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Many of our conversations were about the large yachts pulling in and out and wether they were the ones we saw on the Ridiculously Large and Expensive Yacht show (ok it might just be called Super Yachts or something). In order to do the beach in Cannes, we had to find a private beach and pay for our lounge chairs. Since we were saving a load of money from not getting the rental car, we enjoyed being spoiled for the day with a cabana boy, fruit cocktails, and good food at the restaurant. Of course the warm weather and cool water helped us enjoy the day as well. Ray took the older kids tubing at some point in the day too so they can could have some more fun. The private beach was nice because it had toys for the kids to play with such as pool noodles and sand toys. Just because the day didn't go as planned didn't mean we didn't really enjoy ourselves. I think we all needed a relaxing day after walking around Rome and Florence.

Ray's Journal

So the cruise Itinerary originally had us going to Nice, France instead of Cannes. Apparently, if one little [cheaply run] cruise company has a ship run aground somewhere, all the other cruise companies run scared and avoid it. Needless to say, Cannes may be great if your into Hollywood; but it is not set up for 3 mega cruise ships to port there.

We awoke to find Kathy was sick. She visited the ship’s doctor while everyone else ate breakfast to find that she was having a lung infection due to cigarette smoke (since everyone in Europe smokes and she is esp. sensitive to it). The doctor would not give her anything for it, he said just stay away from smoke filled areas and lay in bed all day. She instead asked to stay on the boat for the day and spend the majority of her free time that day in the spa and herbal steam room. She did and she says she feels better because of it.

We did not pull all the way into the port of Cannes, we took the lifeboats (dubbed tenders for this period) into the port docks. When we got to the docks we found buses for the paid excursions, but no other method of transportation was available - not even a Taxi cab! So we had to hoof it through downtown with no knowledge of where anything was. It took us 120 minutes to find the Hertz we rented from. This caused us to miss our appointments for both the perfume making and the caving. I was incredibly angry, but was finally smart and kept my anger in check so I didn’t ruin Angie’s day. Lexi, to her credit, was sorely disappointed but kept it to herself as well. I love my kids, especially when I can learn something good from them.

Once we found the rent-a-wreck company I found to my dismay, that I had forgotten to pack my drivers license in my bag of stuff for the day. I still feel like a horse’s rear-end for ruining Angie’s day (everyone else recovered from my mistake, but I’m convinced Angie did not enjoy the whole day the way she would have if we would have gone to the perfume making and lake district as planned).

With no ride and having missed 2 of the 3 planned events, we opted for a private beach (Angie is telling me to include, “With a Cabana Boy”). It was pretty nice, it came with its own lifeguard and sun seats with umbrellas. The kids played in the sea all day while Misty played in the wet sand all day. Angie mostly watched Misty as she was trying to give me some relax time. I took turns napping on the recliner and playing in the very chilly water with the kids. The piece of private beach we found also served lunch. After lunch I took the kids in a pull behind a ski boat. We all loved it! It was like a 3 man sofa being pulled by a wake boat. We can definitely get that once we are back in the States!

Angie and I made sure everyone had copious amounts of gooey SPF 70 on, but we all got a mild burn on some part of our bodies. Lexi, however, got a burn on her face and back which seemed to make her a little sick. From the walk back to the launch until dinner time she seemed sad and tired. After we ate she came to our room begging to see the doctor. I investigated and found that she was suffering a mild form of heat stroke. I took appropriate actions with the addition of both pedialyte and advil. She went to sleep less than 10 minutes later. I certainly hope she is okay tomorrow.

Med Cruise Day 7: Florence

2012-07-06T12:35:00.001-07:00

Ray's Journal

The trip to Florence almost took longer than the amount of time we had to enjoy the city. We started with a bus ride from port to the train station (about 45 minutes); then took a train through Pisa to Florence [Firenze] (about 70 minutes). The total for that roundtrip was over 3 hours if you add in the waiting to get tickets etcetera. We had 3.5 hours in the city itself. We had enough planned to have lasted 6-8 hours. So we head-shedded and decided to cut everything except the Uffizi Museum.

The train dropped us off at 11:30 so we all opted to eat before we ventured into the city. We walked across the street and ducked into panini shops until we found something everyone could eat. For the first time in our trip we had found a place where no one in the place spoke English. Oddly enough, this made no difference in ordering or paying. I guess certain forms of communications are universal.

We stopped by a hotel for one of Kathy’s clients (who is coming soon), and picked up a tourist map. The map said we were only a short hop, skip, and jump away from the Uffizi so we jumped, hopped, and skipped to it. Along we the way we ran into the Duomo. This was one BIG chapel and adjoining building from so far back in time.

The Uffizi was a well decorated and lavish old building. The earliest addition to their collection (that I found) was from the early 15th century. This place has been collecting artwork for centuries (literally)!

The security personnel were very child friendly. As soon as we cleared the metal detectors they rushed us to the entrance and then to the elevators [bypassing all the other people waiting in line]. The collection started with a huge assortment of roman statues and Renaissance models [oil paintings], then moved into the realm of renaissance nudes. The kids were good with the roman statues - they knew who a lot them were (there were no labels), but it was only with a studied eye that I could discern they were uncomfortable with the nude bodies. I remember being uncomfortable talking to my parents about stuff like that as 13 year old, so I tried the best I could to calm their nerves by discussing the “more risque” of them. I started with Braissque’s (sp?) “The Nude” and its associated conspiracy. They were both intrigued and it helped to ease them into the fact that we were all looking at art (and not have them thinking about nudity). At some point on the second floor [the beginning of the gallery] we saw the bridge in Florence which had burned and been rebuilt.

After seeing everything upstairs we moved downstairs to see what all 3 of us kids wanted to see - The Medusa by Carvaggio. We had to walk through a lot of Biblical artwork to get there. Because of that I learned that Lexi really likes to know the story of each of the Saints (even though she isn’t a Catholic).

We finally got to the Carvaggio section. The shield front was exactly like we thought it would be. The back was so different from what we expected, though. All the leather was missing and there was a section of paint (which blended very nicely with the Rick Riordan Book - “The 39 Clues”).

The train ride home didn’t have the AC so it was a long and hot ride back to the cruise ship. Once we were there, Lexi and I took the time to do some rock climbing. Then Alexis and myself went to the rock wall. Neither of us was able to complete the wall’s 90 turns. Then Angie, Misty, and Myself went to eat and come back to bed.

Lexi starting her climb on the challenging side.

She didn't make it very far up because it was
an adult course and her arms weren't long enough.

Ray starting his climb

He didn't get much further than Lexi

Angie's Journal

We had two places we wanted to visit in Florence: Medici Chapels and Uffizi Museum. Unfortunately the boat required us to be back earlier than planned because of some security issue at the industry port we pulled into. We decided to skip the Medici Chapel and go for the Uffizi which is what the kids really wanted to see. It was a bit of a journey to the museum, but it was an interesting walk. Florence is known for their art, and it was displayed throughout the city in various means.

The kids really enjoyed the museum. Lexi and Neil were both in awe by seeing some of the master's works of art. They knew a lot about the artists as well because of what they have learned in school. I always love how I get more information out of our kids about things we see than the information plaques. There were a few pieces they really wanted to see in the museum, so as time drew short we found these special pieces. Since there was no cameras allowed in the Uffizi, we managed to take a picture from the roof top cafe that shows the Duomo.

After we got back to the ship, Lexi and Ray tried the rock wall. Both of them decided to do the challenging course, but it proved to be too challenging. Lexi was doing great until she realized her arms and legs were too short to reach over the up-side-down step. Ray has never been great at rock walls, so he didn't get very far either. While Misty and I were laughing at them, we watched the boat pull out of port.

Med Cruise Day 6: Rome

2012-07-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Angie's Journal

It was quite a journey, but we got to see Rome! How exciting. I must say that despite Rome's awesomeness, it was a hot and miserable day. To get to Rome the cruise dropped us off in the city of Civitavecchia. The first thing we see is the sailor statue that Ray and I love, so we got our picture taken.

When we got off the metro into Rome we saw the Colosseum. That was quite a sight. We all just gasped a little seeing the iconic image of Rome.

There was so much to see and do in Rome, we quickly realized it would take longer than the 6 hours we had to see everything. We cut out some things from our itinerary, but we still got to see a lot of Rome. What really amazed me was how the Roman architecture was still very prominent throughout the building. I guess I thought that most of the buildings would be replaced throughout time creating a variety of architectural design, but I am glad to see I was wrong.

We found the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, but we couldn't find any gelato near the Spanish Steps which completely goes against our "have ice cream every day of vacation rule" (the free ice cream on the cruise ship didn't count lol).

Back on the boat we took Misty to a Dora the Explorer Dance Party, she was so cute :)

Ray's Journal

Woke up to my alarm clock today. That’s not really important to this blog, but I use it to make fun of Angie because it means that her nerves lost the battle with her exhaustion so I got to sleep in. As expected, Neil stayed out too late last night at the teen center. He suffered through the day on only about 4 hours of sleep, but did so like trooper! He never once complained, and even admitted it was his fault so why should others have to listen to him gripe. I am so proud of his adult attitude and sense of personal accountability (even if I am a bit disappointed in his decision making skills - but hey, they gotta learn somehow).

Had a wonderfully cool breakfast. Okay, the breakfast itself was just regular food, but Misty took hold of a glass with both hands and drank from it while only spilling a few drops! It was so cool to watch her do it (Angie and I have been trying to have her drink out of open faced cups all week instead of solely relying on her sippy cup).

Took a bus to get to the train (slow train not a fast mover...) to get to the subway in Rome. Long trip from a city less than 40 miles away. Longer still when there are 8 cruise ships moored in the same dock space and all of their riders want to go to Rome.

Got to Rome and the metro (the subway) dumps us out right at the corner of the Colosseum. We just had to cross the street and we were in the lines for tickets. Luckily for all of us, Angie had done a significant amount of homework on this one - she had pre-purchased tickets for us all and knew that we didn’t have to wait in line to get to the reservations desk. Ain’t she the coolest?!

The Colosseum was awe inspiring. I got impart some knowledge to the kids, and they returned the favor. I love my kids! Unfortunately, it was such a

hot and humid day, that we all needed some water

- and there is no food or drink allowed. So we soldiered through over half of the colosseum before deciding to leave.

Instead of finding some water stand, we decided to call it lunch. So we went to local Pizzeria (Le Gladiatore Ristorante). Their pizza was true Italian - a tortilla shell like crust with some very fresh toppings cooked to perfection. Their lasagna was incredible! What a good choice we made! With everyone’s fuel and water tanks topped off - we went back to Palatine Hill and the Forum. We quickly decided it was just ruins and we wouldn’t have time to see everything else if we dawdled, so we went to trevi fountain. The walk there was enlightening... They still use the old cobblestone streets first erected by the Romans - for driving! That stuff still works as a flat smooth road surface which handles weight!

The kids tossed coins into the very crowded Trevi Fountain so they could return to Rome someday. Then we went to the Pantheon, but somehow missed it and found the Spanish steps (which should have been the last part of our tour). This worked out in the end though, as we were well behind time to catch the second to last train back in time for the ship sailing. We almost missed it!

Got back to the ship and showered quickly so that we could make it to “Dance with Dora” for Misty. Did I mention Neil didn’t make it past the gangway with us? He was gone before any of us knew he had left. But the rest of us went to the velvet go-go lounge (I know right?!) to watch Misty shake it and sing with Dora the Explorer. I had dance around the question asked by Lexi of why would a bar have a bed with a TV screen above it? -yeah it was that kind of place! Who puts that on a FAMILY cruise ship?!!! Misty had lots of fun and I got some good shots of her and Lexi dancing and signing. Then we went to dinner and bed for the night (well, Angie and I did - the girls stayed up playing go fish and makeup and what not).

Med Cruise Day 5: Capri

2012-07-06T06:58:00.002-07:00

Angie's Journal

A guided boat tour around Capri was on the itinerary for the day. I spent a lot of time researching this before we left. Ray had thought it would be a better idea to save the money and just hire a boat for the day, but I thought it would be more relaxing to have a captain take us around the island. I am so glad I did because the company we ended up with was WONDERFUL!! They took such good care of us (which Ray describes in great detail later on).

The tour started off by touring the rocky edges of the island. There was a few caves (or grottos as they call them) that we went into, and a few we got to swim in. The kids were loving the ability to swim with their snorkels and see straight down to the bottom because the water was so clear. Neil even found some sea glass he dived down to get.

After a few swim calls we go to the most wonderful restaurant. The food and wine were delicious, but after drinking a glass of wine we realized that it was a much high alcohol by volume than we expected. There is nothing like a good lunch in an outdoor cafe overlooking the sea. Neil enjoyed watching the people on the beach climb up on rocks that they jumped off.

After lunch and another swim call, Misty had called it a day and took a nap. She loves boating just like the rest of us :) We made another swim called, and Misty woke up right before going into the Blue Grotto. That place was amazing and magical all at once. I could not believe we were lucky enough to get to swim in the grotto, thanks to our smooth talking captain.

At the end of the day we make one last swim call and turn the corner to see this lighthouse. Our captain explained that this was a popular place for lovers to come and watch the sun set. He showed us some pictures on his phone of how beautiful the sunset is from that location. Sadly we had to meet the cruise ship back in Naples, so we could not enjoy the sunset by the lighthouse.

Ray's Journal

OMG! Where to start?! This day rocked! Okay, so we started off poorly, with Kathy and Angie both waking up before 4AM. They suck! But that gave Angie and me time to relax and pack and be casual and in a good mood. It gave Kathy just enough time to get ready and pack before she had to wake up the kids. At 10 minutes before we were due to leave, I walked next door to give the girls medicine (lexi’s sinuses and Misty her Z-pack daily). I was greeted by the sight of Lexi still in bed and Misty still asleep! I thought for sure we would miss the only ferry to Capri. Then as we were all walking off the cruise ship, Kathy realized that she had forgotten her room key (how we get back onboard without customs/security searches).

Getting from the cruise ship to the ferry was incredibly easy. It was a very simple 5 minute walk. Fighting the crowds of 3 cruise ships and the slow people behind the counter who do not speak English was a bit of a nightmare, though! The ferry we wanted was not the only ferry, just the only one before noon. We made it with almost 5 minutes to spare before they cast off.

We got to the absolutely beautiful island of Capri and were able to walk straight to the cafe where we would meet our guide. Very little work involved! It wasn’t our guide we met, but the boss lady who owns the business and the only one who speaks English. She wanted to ensure that our tour of her island was wonderful. I’ve gotta tell you, the customer service we have received so far this trip is exceptional! The owner turned us over to her secretary who very speedily walked us over to the boat and introduced us me and Neil to our guide. I thought that Kathy must have stopped to window shop and Angie was going to make sure she made it to the boat, so I had no problem just standing there with Neil and Misty. Little did I know, that Kathy had stopped to exchange business cards and agendas with the owner, then in a fit to try and catch up had taken a misstep and fallen hard on the cobblestone. Oddly enough, at the end of the day I stumbled in the same spot - so I can easily se how she fell.

When I got tired of waiting for them, I sent Neil back to make sure they could find the boat. Just after Neil disappeared from my sight Alexis came running to me yelling that Grandma had fallen and was hurt. So I bade the tour guide wait a minute, and took off to see how badly she was hurt.

What I saw was a testament to the island of Capri - 3 cops, 2 store owners, and 2 boat drivers hovering over her with first aid supplies and helping to lift her into a chair at a nearby restaurant. None of them left her side until they were sure she was okay and didn’t need an ambulance.

When she was healed enough to hobble over to the boat, we all went to get onboard. The tour guide was compassionate and questioned several times if she needed anything to help her bleeding (little bitty cut on her knee) or pain.

Turns out the boat was a gorgeous old wooden center console inboard engine diesel jobber. Gorgeous! and very well maintained too. She purred when she idled and didn’t make much more noise under load. She had running benchwork down both sides and aft in front of the lounge deck, but she had an incredibly sized bow section with cushions and towels. All 6 of us were able to lay down in the bow with space to spare. And it was comfy even during some of the few bounces we had (such a calm ride).

Our tour guide was named “Nando” and was from Capri. He not only grew up there, but had little working knowledge of AnaCapri (the neighboring town on the other side of the mountain). He said AnaCapri was for the rich folks, not the type who would hire him or his company for an excursion. There three little beachside hotels around the AnaCapri side of the island which he showed us, and the mega-yachts anchored there gave credence to his story.

So we got to see a few grottos and swim in all of them (even the one whose website strictly forbids swimming in it!). Each of these had a completely different feel to it from the others. We stopped first at the Green Grotto. This was a cave which had opened up into a natural arch bridge of very small proportions. We swam through it and met the boat on the other side. Just around the bend from that we stopped and had a swim. Misty got in the water with me - boy is she hard to swim with in deep water! She is a large and fidgity rock! Some big wakes came up and made it unsafe to keep her in the water so we all got out and continued. The next grotto was called Sailor’s Grotto as it was a traditional place for fishermen to hove to or anchor in to escape a storm or take a break from fishing (hand fishing from a 10 foot dinghy is hard work). The kids loved it as it had a ceiling which looked like rocks fell down and created the cave (and could fall again at any minute) and there was a beach on the backside of it. It was a small, white pebble beach, but a beach which they could swim to. Neil spent almost 10 minutes following a school of small perch.

After Sailor’s Grotto, we came to Mary’s grotto. So named because it has a single stalagmite in it, but that stalagmite is shaped much like the typical Catholic representation of the Virgin Mary. In this grotto we learned from Nando that the island of Capri is one of the very few places in the world where orange coral grows at the tidal mark. He showed us this small but very brightly colored orange coral. It was interesting to see and know about.

Without swimming, we proceeded to Saints Grotto. This one was named because it has several stalactites which if you stretch your imagination can be perceived as a bunch of people in prayer. So that’s two rock formations which I was perfectly capable of seeing. I saw the described figures in both. Yet I still can’t see the woman praying in the rock wall at Yellowstone (see one of my original blogs - a YellowStone trip from our family move in 2005). Also, there was a large black scorch looking mark, which many of the local Catholics believed was put there by God as it resembles a cross. Again, we did not swim.

The next stop was not a grotto nor a swim call, but lunch. Lunch was at a large rock which grew out of the sea near a small town named Gioglio. This was a resort town only. On the rock, though, was a small bistro named La Sirene. They had some absolutely wonderful food! It was a bit pricey, though. The had an absolutely brilliant bottle of local white wine which we all just loved! It got the three of us just a little drunk!

We got back on the boat and went to the next stop, the world famous Blue Grotto. It’s website definitely stated that there was absolutely no swimming allowed in the grotto, but our guide asked the boatmen who took us and they said sure. So we were one of the last few people in the grotto today, and our boatmen allowed us to jump in and swim for just a few minutes. The water was a brilliant shade of blue with no bottom visible. It was cold and quiet except for us. All of us got into the water except Kathy [who took pictures]. On the way out, the boatmen started signing italian to us. It felt like we were being serenaded.

After the grotto we had nothing real left, but had some time to kill before we needed to meet the ferry. So our tour guide took us to an isolated stretch of shoreline (it had some kind of an avalanche or rock slide in the past few hundred years) and we swam around that for the remaining time.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, so with heavy hearts and a decent case of sunburn, we disembarked the wonderful boat and Nando’s guide for the ferry. We didn’t go straight to the ferry though... We got sidetracked at a Gelato bar. It was a wonderful way to end a fabulous day of boating and swimming!

We got back to cruise ship with no hassles and we each went our separate ways - Neil left us before we even got back to the room (he actually said goodbye as he ran away). The rest of us showered and Misty and I left to eat chicken nuggets. Angie went for her final acupuncture therapy. She came back to the room looking happy and refreshed. I’m glad that the treatment worked for her!

Med Cruise Day 4: Day at Sea

2012-07-03T10:25:00.003-07:00

Ray's Journal

The cruise line had a lot of activities planned for all ages for this day at sea. I guess they need to keep guests entertained. With over 4,000 people onboard though everything seemed overly crowded.

Everybody pretty much went their own way today. Neil spent the entire day in the teen center. I’m not joking - we saw him running through the ship with his friends 4 times (on a scavenger hunt). The rest of the day he spent in the teen center. Lexi tried the tween zone, but said it was totally lame. So she divided her time between swimming and eating ice cream. I counted 7 soft serve cones, but oddly I didn’t see her with a single hard pack serving. Let’s look at her entry in the blog to see if she discloses how many ice cream cones she really had. (She confessed to 35 on the day at sea!)

Misty got sick today. She has spent the last 3 or 4 days with what appears to be allergies, but today she contracted a fever and extreme lethargy. That worried Angie and me enough to prompt paying for the onboard doctor. He examined her and said she has what he believes to be a viral cough. So he prescribed her a toddlers Z-pack (Azethramyacin) and pedialyte as she appeared mildly dehydrated. She perked up an hour later and didn’t want Grandma to go to sleep - play with me grandma!

With Misty sick we were going to stay in the cabin all night, but Grandma said she would rather watch a sick Misty than a show. So Lexi, Angie, and Myself went to see the Blue Man group. The whole family had wanted to see this performance for a few years, sadly Neil didn’t pay enough attention to the time and missed out. This was our first time watching this troupe of performers, but it was way more than any of us expected. I even got volunteered to be in the show! They pulled me up on stage and dressed me in a set of coveralls and a motorcycle helmet then took me backstage and tied a rope around my ankles. They sprayed with me paint and hoisted me up by the rope. Then they swung me into a canvas hanging against the wall a few times. Then they held me to the canvas and splashed paint over me again (to give an outline of my body on the canvas). After that they shoved me in a box with Jello over my head, rolled me out on stage and ate the jello off of me until I could crawl out. It was an absolutely amazing performance! I am so very sorry we couldn’t record any of it!

Angie and I went to the local steak house and got what could possibly be the best steak I have eaten in 10 years! It was cooked exactly the way I think of steak when I say medium well. I haven’t had a steak whose cook knew what medium well actually meant since I was on a business trip in Houston. This steak was juicy and the individual fibers melted apart from each other on my tongue. It had the perfect amount of peppercorn rubbed into it, and the mushroom sauce was just syrupy enough to make it stick but still sink into the meat. Angie got a veal cutlet which was also melt in your mouth perfect. I tasted this steak even after I brushed my teeth for the night. I thought I might even be gifted enough to have dreamed about this steak, but sadly, I didn’t.

After that we came back to check on Misty and go to bed. What a day.

Angie's Journal

A day at sea is usually fun as you explore all the cool things the ship has to offer. Unfortunately this HUGE ship had very little to offer except lots of staterooms and crowded common areas. Lexi checked out the Tween club, but sadly it was lame. Throughout the whole cruise they treated her like a little kid. It was a bit frustrating for her, but she managed to entertain herself quite well. Ray and I planned Bingo to kill some time, but we were able to take Misty to the Dora event we wanted to because she got pretty sick. She just looked terrible, so we took her to the ship's doctor. He said it was a respiratory infection and seemed concerned about her. After getting some medicines my mom took Misty off our hands so Ray and I could have some time together.

After lunch, Ray pointed out we were passing between two islands: Corsica and Sardinia. It was neat to see the two islands so close together. We could make out little details of the villages on both islands. The ship had to go really slow, which Ray said was because the water wasn't very deep and there is only a few paths deep hulled ships can go through between the two islands.

I had another acupuncture appointment while Ray took a nap. He was going to workout, but the bed seemed more tempting lol. After we checked up on Misty, we (Lexi, Ray, and I) went to see the Blue Man Group. Ray got selected to participate in the show, which was so awesome! Too bad Neil didn't get to see it because he was so absorbed by the teen club. Afterwards we ate dinner at a fancy steakhouse dinner on the boat. Misty went to bed early and slept well all night.

Med Cruise Day 3: Welcome Aboard

2012-07-03T06:43:00.001-07:00

Angie's Journal

Today we checked onto the boat. It was a pretty easy process with only a mild bit of confusion. They had Sponge Bob hanging around the boarding area to occupy the kids while we waited. Misty loved that :) We hung out at the pool until we could check into our rooms. My mom somehow got us a free upgrade to the balcony suites.

A Room with a View

We ate on the pool deck for lunch. Lexi quickly discovered the soft serve ice cream machine. For the next two days I didn't see her without an ice cream in her hands lol. Ray magically wore out Misty in the kiddie pool area. My mom watched our little sleeping beauty while Ray and I checked out the spa. We wanted to book a couples treatment, but we ended up booking acupuncture treatments because we were both so curious about it. We booked our consultation for after dinner, and then got poked later that evening. Personally I loved the acupuncture treatment and booked additional appointments, but Ray did not enjoy it at all. Shortly after our acupuncture appointment we went to bed.

Ray's Journal

The day dawned later for us than we thought it would - at almost 7AM. We all got up and showered and dressed. Then we walked to a nearby bakery and ate donuts, Lemansa’s, and something that looked like a flattened pecan twirl with cream cheese (turned out to be vanilla pudding, but it smelled wonderful and Angie is happy to report it was so very tasty that she didn’t think about sharing it).

The food and rest helped a lot so we were all in good spirits and ready for the day. We grabbed our luggage and walked a block and a quarter to the nearby Taxi queue, which we grabbed and took to the ship. As we were loading our luggage I spoke to both the cabbies (it would take two cabs to haul a family of six and all their luggage). They both spoke good english and knew where the port was. When we got to the port, Kathy’s cab driver seemed to have forgotten his english skills and math skills in some sort of an attempt to have her pay 10 euro more. Angie’s and my cabbie spoke very well with us the whole ride and seemed delighted that our kids enjoyed artwork so much.

We unloaded the taxi’s and gave our luggage to the porter. I tried to do the whole discreet skipping of his tip to him in a handshake, but the guy reached out in such a way as to indicate that he didn’t want to shake hands, he wanted money. Farewell gentle notions of Spanish culture.

Checking in through customs and security and room/boarding checks was a hassle, but was as straightforward and the Norwegian Cruise line company could probably have made it. It did a cause a little argument between Angie, her mom, and Myself. The guy behind the counter said the kids room cards would do this and that, but not the other. The ladies interpreted it to mean something which I thought was exactly what the the counter guy had said it wouldn’t do. By the time that argument ended (only seconds later) we were seated and just about to start waiting patiently, when who should show up but the same person that lives in a pineapple under the sea, absorbent and porous and spongey is he? That’s right! Spongebob the character showed up, and so did Misty’s awesome smile!!! She was so amazed that she ran up to him and hugged him, saying she loved him! It was so cute! I even had a half chance to catch it on film - yeah me! Then it was boarding time.

Once onboard we knew we would have to wait for our rooms to be readied. So we went to the pool deck and ate cheeseburgers and fries. Then those of us who packed our swimsuits (not Neil - he didn’t bother to read the list his mother had so carefully put together in an effort to ensure that he had everything he would to maximize his fun onboard - ha ha foolish mortal!) put them on and went swimming. They had only just started filling the pools when we sat down to eat, but the pools and water slides were ready by the time we were. Misty and I had a great time playing in the kids pool and the deep end (I was holding her the whole time!).

Our rooms were ready way before any of us had thought they would be. Angie and Lexi and Neil all independently toured the ship, while I was swimming with Misty. When Angie returned she asked to take me to the spa so we could book our couples therapy. This coincided with Misty running out of energy extremely well - she had just fallen asleep in my arms while swimming. So we got out of the pool, dried off and went back tot he room to change and shower - while Misty took a nap.

Kathy took over babysitting duties of the sleeping super cutie so Angie and I could go to the spa. We got a tour of a pretty well funded and confusingly layed out place. They had a normal nail care area (which had some pretty stupid kids rules - so Lexi could not have a grandma and me or even a mommy and me mani/pedi), and a connecting gym full of cardio gear and some weight equipment, and a lot of therapy rooms for all sorts of relaxation therapies. But they had an awesome heat therapy area! It started with 4 different types of steam rooms - some with no dry heat and some with minerals/herbs/etc. They had four chairs which looked liked waves made of small tile. These were heated and perfectly shaped for lifting the feet above the heart. In less than 1 minute of laying on them, neither of us wanted to get up. They also had a large [what looked like] pool. It had a 4 way water jet fountain in the middle and some weird metal poles on one side. I found out that it is a hot tub with jacuzzi features and a place to sit or lay down. It was absolutely designed for people who work their backs too hard (like me!). What a place!

View from Our Cabin's Balcony

We didn’t like any of their couples only therapy sessions, so we opted to try an individual treatment experience we were both curious about - acupuncture! We even setup a consultation so we knew what we were getting into. The acupuncturist gave Angie an amazing read. She took Angie’s pulse and looked at her tongue, than without asking any questions she pronounced Angie as being stressed (we all knew that), constipated (okay, how could she tell that?), and highly anxious - being prone to anxiety attacks. She nailed it!! That was amazing!!!! My read was not so interesting - she looked at my tongue and took my pulse then said I was stressed but healthy.

After our consult we took the whole family to Tepanyaki’s. This is one of those cooking is the show dinner places. Being on a ship though meant that there were no fires or flaming entrees. Pretty tame event, but the food was very nice.

After dinner, Angie and I went in for our acupuncture therapy. I asked the therapist if she could help my right ankle as it has been hurting for a few weeks and she said it would be no problem. She also stuck me for a relaxation job. I came out of it with my ankle very stiff and incredibly sore and was NOT relaxed. Needless to say, I was unimpressed with this 2000 year old remedy which only moments ago I had been so curious about.

Angie came out after me and looked AMAZING! Her skin had a great parlor and a very bright glow to it! She looked so incredibly happy and relaxed! I was amazed at how well it appeared to have worked for her! She said she had already had a bowel movement and felt tingly all over. Her skin was crawling with new vigor. It was amazing! I was so happy for her that I fell for the therapists sell of more sessions and booked Angie for 2 more therapies during the week.

At that point we went to find out kids and set some ground rules for curfew, etc. That took a while! We found out that someone had been in the arcade to the tune of $178.50!!!!! [whistles loudly].

Med Cruise Day 2: Barcelona

2012-07-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

Angie's Journal
This was our first full day of vacation. It was a lot of fun, but we had some kinks in the day. I like to think of it as our dry run for our port calls on the cruise. Misty had some trouble adjusting to vacation with the different foods and schedules. We stopped at a quaint cafe for breakfast. Ray and Lexi tried the hot chocolate which is so thick your spoon can sit on top of...yum. The idea is to have a bunch of things to dip into the chocolate, so they got one of everything to dip into their chocolate for breakfast.

After breakfast we did the Hop On Hop Off Bus (HOHO bus as I like to call it) route through Barcelona's upper city. The route was a lot longer than we thought, and the heat started to get to us. Lexi was really looking forward to seeing the works from Gaudi around Barcelona. Unfortunately so was everybody else, so the lines were too long to get in. So we just rode the HOHO bus which got hot and uncomfortable.

Once we got back to our apartment we rested a bit and went out for dinner. That night was a big festival for the Spanish culture so we heard fireworks and shouting all night. As much as I love Barcelona, they are LOUD people. Ray seems quite comparatively.

Ray's Journal

Slept in until almost 9 AM. What a relief as we all seemed to need the extra rest. Misty even slept in - this of course after nearly kicking Lexi and Grandma out of the bed at night with all her kick/stretches.

Walked around the block to a place Kathy had seen yesterday as having served breakfast. It was not so good, but it filled our bellies (except for poor Misty who refused to eat anything that wasn’t a Pop-Tart - I think it may have also been in part because of her allergies).

The whole family decided to try the Hop-On Hop-Off bus as it has worked so well for us in the past. There were 3 routes to take in this really cool city - The red which was all the museums, the Green which was the beach and city attractions, and the Blue which was the sports and Gaudi works of art. We took the blue line so we could see his park and Familia Sagrado. These were double decker open topped buses like in London. Unfortunately the line for these was so long and the buses so packed that we did not all get to sit together.

The tour had so much area to cover and so many different sites to see that we were all a little tired of sitting by the time we got to the Sagrado Familia. It was massive enough, however, that we soon forgot ourselves and just stood in awe. the line to get tickets to gain entry was over two hours long (and was advertised as such verbally). The line to get in was less lengthy, but not by much. Lexi, the one who had begged to go to this, asked to not wait in line. With those kind of lines, none of us questioned her decision. We did, however, decide to try to book tickets online once we got to the boat later that week - something we were told was not allowed, but which definitely had the option of at the ticket booth. We are hoping it will save us a significant amount of time waiting in line.

So we all hopped back on the bus. We didn’t realize that this tour was as long as it was, so none of had eaten anything in over 4 hours by the time we got to Gaudi’s park. This meant that we were all tired of riding a cramped bus, hungry, and very warm as once again the weather god was being so very nice to us (Beeeeautiful skies with 80 degree temps and just a little humidity). The humidity and sunshine seemed to be taking a toll on our bodies, so with nothing to eat we were all getting cranky. The decision was made to not get off the bus at Gaudi’s park, but to ride it back to the Ramblas (street name of where we “lived” with lots of food vendors and restaurants).

We ate at a restaurant near the stop based it’s prices and deals. The food was lousy! It was quite possibly the blandest tasting paella I have ever eaten. We all decided to skip desert and go to a Gelato place nearby. That was some good tasting stuff. And it was very needed. We were all still tired, so we opted to go back the apartment and take a siesta. None of us took an actual nap, but we all crashed hard. No one wanted to move the rest of the day. So we didn’t. We packed our bags in anticipation of departing early for the cruise ship and we relaxed.

Med Cruise Day 1: Travel to Barcelona

2012-07-03T04:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Misty! We traveled to Barcelona on Misty's birthday. We didn't plan our trip around Misty's birthday; it just happened that the best time to leave was on her special day.

Ray's Journal

Friday started off the wrong way - we got to the airport 3 hours ahead of our flight instead of two (bad email communications on my side). Then our flight was delayed by over a half hour. Once we boarded we sat on the Tarmac for an additional half hour.

Misty, the cutest little birthday girl, got pretty cranky waiting all that time for the promised rocket ship ride to the moon. Okay, so we fibbed a little because she said she didn’t know what an airplane was; but she saw the airplanes at the airport and instantly knew what they were (by then it was too late to correct the charade). Sitting on the Tarmac, she got even more cranky and started saying she didn’t want to be on an airplane or that she wanted to go home. Once we actually got to take off, she figured it out and started beaming and giggling and repeating that she was going to the moon. All the adults around us looked and “awwwwwhhhhh’d” at her happiness. From then on, things started going right.

We got to Barcelona and we all instantly felt better as the weather was exactly what we all needed. The geographic area looked exactly like southern Italy and most other Mediterranean areas. Angie really likes it.

We met up with Grandma who was chillin’ at a cafe outside our apartment, and went to dinner. The adults had some Paella Senorito and loved it! The birthday girl had some small fried chicken balls which were wonderful. Then we all had some great ice cream based deserts. At that point we all sang the Happy Birthday song to Misty - who absolutely lit up and beamed as we sang. After dinner we walked around for a while, eventually stumbling into the famous Mercado Rialta (city center square). The kids went home with Grandma and Angie and myself went on our date.

Angie and I walked around aimlessly for over an hour, mostly just following our “shiny” instincts. We came across the Gothic Cathedral and the museum for Gaudi (both closed but cool looking). The we found a Flamenco bar. The main dancer for one song grabbed a young man from the audience and brought him onstage to teach him a very short lesson in Flamenco dance. The next song the main singer sang a song all the younger ladies seem to know. He then went around putting the microphone in front of several of them to have them sing into. That went well enough that he brought the mike to yours truly (who most definitely did not know the song) and had me try to repeat the words as he most rapidly said them. To say the least I failed. Angie was laughing so it might be cool.

Lastly, we walked around the cool night life of Barcelona and saw the city. I rather enjoyed it, and Angie seems to have also liked it.

Angie's Journal

Today was a travel day, but it was nice that it was a short flight. Unfortunately the flight was delayed and there was a long wait on the tarmac, which made Misty a bit cranky. However, once we were in the air she was fine. We made Misty a special Birthday Girl t-shirt to try and make her birthday a bit special. She was very excited to see Grandma, which made my mom happy that she remembered her.

The apartment my mom picked out was really nice. It lacked some amenities that a hotel might have had, but being in the historic area in an apartment that slept 6 with A/C and a lift was enough for us. Since we got in mid-afternoon, we were able to walk around a bit.

After dinner my mom took the kids and Ray and I got to roam on our own. It was so fun walking down all the alleys and streets discovering what was around the next turn. Eventually we stumbled upon a Flamenco show which was fun. It wasn't a commercial show, just a small gig at a local restaurant. I kind of liked that more because it had a more lively atmosphere.

Holland Trip Day 6: Melchelen, Belgium

2012-04-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

Ray's Journal:

To our disappointment the sign
really read something about
ancestors of Beethoven lived here.

I woke up the family early today. I am so mean when it comes to CHOCOLATE!... Yes, today is the day we went to Belgium for CHOCOLATE!!!!!! We drove about an hour to a little bitty town outside of Brussels called Mechellen (pronounced like Magellan the navigator but with a “CH” not a “G”). This town is one of those that was so small we felt like we were the only non-residents in the city. This town had a lot of shopping to be done. None were high end stores like Rodeo Drive or Paris, but they were very European in their approach to everything. There were two palaces and 3 giant churches. The palaces had to be converted in order to maintain building cost, but it was a very quaint little village with a lot of history (see the pics of some the architecture). Something involving Beethoven and one of his concertos happened here according a brown and white history marker which I couldn’t read since it was Dutch. But most importantly to us, it had 5 different chocolate shops!!

Chocolate Shoe

All were chocolatiers, not just vendors, so it is all so very yummy! The chocolatier in one store tried to explain that it was Easter and that the chocolate eggs were the actual eggs which would be hidden. Some of the eggs were hollow with a ribbon on one end. The ribbon is for hanging in a tree, and the hollow space is filled with a candy. Gotta love those Belgian chocolatiers! All of the chocolatiers were very friendly (even the ones on the snooty looking high end (appearance wise) chocolate shops. I know this because every chocolatier spoke to the kids, explained to them and us what each piece of chocolate artistry was, made sure the kids were getting what they wanted, and asking us the whole time if this was okay. But to top it off, every single chocolatier said good by, but not to us adults - to the kids. “Good bye children”, Good bye kinder” (the Dutch pronunciation for kids) was used as the kids started to leave each time. The chocolatiers obviously wanted the children to enjoy their creations.

The ride back to camp was supposed to be a fun time as everyone was pumped up on chocolate and looking forward to a good swim in the camp pool fun zone. Instead the car overheated and we realized that Angie was even more sick than before. Luckily, I had enough water to refill the radiator and we made it back to camp, but it was so late (and Angie was feeling so poorly) that we canceled our barbecue and went to an American buffet restaurant 30 miles away. This was a tense time for me and Angie as the car was running very hot and not regulating engine or cabin temperature at all.

The American buffet was an interesting place. It had a children’s play area with the crawl through tubes most American kids now love, a baby play area with stuffed animals, and an arcade area with 6-8 old eighties style arcade games (PACMAN, Neo-Geo, Virtual tennis). It also had 6 different food areas: Italian, grilled, seafood, chinese, sports bar, and deserts. In the Netherlands all buffet restaurants are not an eat all you can event, they have you pay for an amount of time. In that time you can eat and drink whatever you want, but when your time is up you must leave. Definitely an interesting experience.

Angie's Journal:

This is was wonderful day! We found this wonderful gem of a town thanks to my mom. She was trying to help a client find something that wasn't very touristy, and she found Mechelen. Ironically, Lexi said one of her friends from school is from Mechelen. The town had an old world medieval charm, but the cobblestone streets that seemed so charming made my feet hurt by the end of the day. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our day of shopping and chocolate hunting.

Staring in the window of a chocolate shop.

This was my favorite chocolate

Since we visited right before Easter the chocolate shops where packed. There were bags with people's names on them and moms coming to pick up their bags. The kids and I were thinking how cool it would be to have a huge bags worth of Belgium chocolate for our Easter basket every year as a kid. The chocolatier and and costumers talked like they were good friends, so it wasn't that they were busy just because it was Easter.

Admiring the architecture by Neil

After we found all the chocolate shops, we headed to the old palace of Queen Margaret of Austria. It was a bit of a disappointment because we thought it would be something we could tour, but it was converted to the town hall building. We let Misty run around the garden for a little bit before heading to the tourist board building to use the only public bathroom before heading home.

Now it is time for a game we like to call:

Who is concentrating harder?

Neil trying to get into his chocolate?

Misty trying to put two Legos together?

That night we went to an awesome restaurant. We were a bit nervous because it was 30 minutes away, but it was an American Buffett. See we love to see other countries take on American food. It was a very large place and they got some things right, but mostly it was Dutch food with an American twist. The place was broken up into 5 or 6 themed areas. Each area had a buffet station and an attached dining area decorated to that theme. We sat in the Chinese food dining room. There was also BBQ which was pretty American, but I'm not sure how you could change throwing meat on a grill. They had a pancake shop, but they made crepes instead of American pancakes. It was still fun to add all the toppings you wanted on it though. The sweets buffet had all sorts of desserts I've never seen, but they were good. The beverage station was like walking into a 7/11. They had 6 slushie machines, each with a different flavor, smoothie machine, milk shake machine, bottled drinks, fountain drinks, and pretty much anything else you could think to drink. The kids and I got something different to drink each time we got up. It was a great meal to end our vacation.

Holland Trip Day 5: Safari

2012-04-19T01:12:00.002-07:00

Angie's Journal:
The bad luck continued today, but the day wasn't a complete wash. Our original vacation plan was to go home on this day, but after saving some extra money we decided to extend our vacation. However, the place we were staying at was booked, so we had to change locations. Luckily I found another place to camp not far from where we were staying, and it was closer to Belgium - which reads land of chocolate to us. Since we had an early check out time and a late check in time, we had to fill the gap with something. I had found this wonderful touristy place that I thought would be a good place to get a taste of Holland with its cheese, windmills, wooden clog making demos, ect. Sadly it was closed :( So we continued onto the new campsite in hopes of getting an early check-in. Of course that didn't happen either, but we did manage to get into the attached the Beekse Bergen Safari park.

Misty was a bit irritable at this point, so the bus safari through the first half of the park wasn't that much fun. However, when we got to the other side of the park she cheered up as we sat and ate lunch and played at their huge playground. Lunch was simple but enjoyable with the entertainment of nearby monkeys that Misty found hilarious.

After lunch we had some time to kill before we took the safari boat back to the entrance, so Misty played on the playground for almost an hour. By the time the boat came we had a very happy Misty. It is amazing how the mood of a toddler can really make or break our family fun. It was pretty challenging on this trip because we struggled to find dairy-free foods since all the food packaging was in dutch. By this point in the week, we had managed to figure out what she could eat.

We found out that the boat ride we took was the last of the day, which gave us a special treat. The lady explained to us that they hand feed the animals to make sure they are all healthy. Then she went on to say that the last boat ride gets to watch the lemurs be fed. We all got a kick out of watching the animals wait for their favorite foods.

The timing of our safari adventure worked out wonderfully. We were able to check into our safari tent and enjoy a nice meal.

Outside our Safari Tent

Inside Safari tent

Ray's Journal:

We all woke up early to pack and break camp by the 10 AM check out time. Well..... everyone but Neil woke up early and began packing. Neil woke up and decided to go back to sleep for an hour.

After camp was packed we decide to go to the amusement park to waste time until we can check in at the next camp. Then it starts raining. So we decide to go to an historic recreation type of village. After a hour and half drive we find out that it is not yet open for the season. So we drive for another 2 hours to the next camp and hope we can check in early. But the staff is out “cleaning and preparing for our arrival” (according to their sign).

So we go to the Safari zoo down the street and take a tour bus ride through half the zoo. Misty was crying the entire time because she was tired. Alexis was volunteered by the driver to help perform show and tell of the deer and antelope antlers and camel fur on display as part of the tour. We get off the tour bus and decide that Misty and all of us could do with some food. Neil gets animated during the course of his eating and spills a litre of chocolate milk on himself.

Once that is all cleaned up we make for the safari boat. It takes us back to the other end of the zoo. The tour guide on it speaks in rapid fire Dutch to her other customers, then realizes that we are not listening to her so comes over to get us involved only to realize we don’t speak Dutch. So she ends up giving her normal tour in Dutch over the PA system and then turning off her microphone and talking to us in English about everything she can say about the zoo and its animals. It was kinda cool to have our own personal safari guide!

When we get back to camp we decide to have a nice meal. And WOW! what a nice meal! We were all full and VERY content when we find out that their credit card machine is broken and we have no cash. So the Maitre’d kindly allows us to go to the nearest cash point and return with the money. We all go back to the tent full but not happy. This vacation is not working out well....

Holland Trip Day 4: Amsterdam

2012-04-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Angie's Journal:
I'll be honest, this was not my day. The previous two weeks the girls had this nasty cold that I thought I was immune from until it hit me the day we were heading to Amsterdam. I don't remember too much of this day, just that I was grumpy and nothing worked out right--adding to the grumpiness. Thankfully Ray has a very detailed report of the days events. We plan to see Amsterdam again, so hopefully we will have a much better experience.

Ray's Journal:

We had a little trouble committing to any one plan this morning, so we got a bit of a late start. We finally decided on going to the world renowned city of Amsterdam. The train ride to the city is an ordeal - we ended up in the quiet only section of the train. All the other seats in the “its okay to talk” sections were taken. So Angie and I try to take turns with a crying Misty out in the open section while the kids seem to get a seat to themselves. We all pull stakes and meet at the exit to the train car at every stop as we have no idea what the train has just said (it’s all in Dutch).

Train Station -by Neil

Once we arrive at the train station we try to follow the picture signs to the “bootens” (we now think it means ferry boats). The signs take us to the ferry boats and commercial tourist vessels of a large size. It takes nearly an hour to figure out that the tourist canal boats are on the other side of the train station. A small ordeal, but made larger and more frustrating by me twisting my knee while carrying Misty and my camera bag.

Finally on boat -by Neil

(Side note from Angie: It is nice that Neil is taking up photography because now we get pictures of Ray who used to hide behind the camera! Thank you Neil :)

Once on the canal boats it seems that everything will finally work out for us. We take half the tour; passing the Anne Frank house which we already have tickets purchased for, we pass all the very cool buildings and houses, and we hear a large amount of the history and joking intrigue of the city. Misty is even being cute like normal, she is refusing to believe that she is on a boat. The water and ducks are funny.

Neil was very fascinated with the architecture in the city, especially the gables and the hooks on the houses. We learned on the canal cruise these are used to hoist furniture into the houses.

House Hooks - by Neil

Around mid to late afternoon we stop at the hop off for the national museum, but decide to take a side trip for some snacks. Now Misty sees the boat and accepts that she was on a boat, but now she wants to get back on and not leave the boat because,” I love boats, daddy”. We end up walking about a 1 3/4 Km. We order our food (the waitress spoke very good English, thankfully) only to find out that they don’t accept our UK Chip and Pin card. Nor do they accept American Credit or Debit cards. We were very lucky to have the right amount of cash on hand.

Sadly we didn't get to eat here, but we got a picture of it at least.

When we return to the canal boat we find out that the only two boats left running will be returning via the same route we already took, so it will be boring to us. It also means that we miss out on the Hard Rock Cafe.

Amsterdam Lamp Post: Ray is obsessed with street lamps for some reason.

Months ago Angie went and purchased tickets to the Anne Frank House online, as we had heard that there was always a multiple hour long line to wait in for purchasing at the door. We made this expensive purchase with the understanding that we would not have to wait in line, we have a definitive tour time, and it was an all around easier way to go about getting access. The 20 minute line we had to wait in only to find out that our pre-arranged tour time was not even a legitimate thing was frustrating. But once we gained entry, it was a fast 25 minute walk through a very rough few years of a little girls life. Alexis spent months on the waiting list to read “A Diary of Anne Frank”. This short tour brought all those pages to life for her. There are, sadly, no photos allowed inside the house. So all Lexi could take with her were memories of how the real place correlated to the book. Again, frustrating.

Once out of the Anne Frank House we found out that the Hop On Hop Off Canal boats do not operate at night. Nor do any of the taxi’s or water taxi’s. So we had to take a tram. Not a bad way to travel, they are every bit as good as city bus. The problem is that we were short of cash and they do not accept plastic cards of any sort. We almost did not have enough to pay for the 5 Km ride to the train station. And that left no money for food.

The train station had only one Cash Point machine and none of the food vendors accept plastic cards. The only food we thought Misty could eat, she didn’t like. The trip back on the train was a quiet ride of frustration with Misty crying that she was hungry, thirsty, wants to ride a boat, or wanted sugar snacks, but really just needing to go to sleep.We get back to the campground and Angie is feeling miserable. She is running a temperature. It is freezing cold outside and not much warmer in the tent. Everyone has to bundle up to get comfy for bed.

Neil - The American

This is when the only funny moment in the day occurs.... I am in the bath house getting ready for bed when Neil comes in. He walks by the same gaggle of very loud and hyper children I walked by to get in, when one of them asks him a question in Dutch. He answers apologetically that he can not understand and the crowd goes crazy that he is an American. They can’t seem to get enough of him. Neil has attained instant rock star status for all of 10 minutes. The girls of the group follow the boys into the boys bathroom, but are so interested in Neil’s answers (which are keeping him from brushing his teeth) that they fail to notice until I walk by. Then two of the oldest girls look at me and then the blue door with the man symbol on it and get red faced and start screaming at the other girls that they have to get out now. It appears that Neil’s fame will be ruined by the very same thing caused his fame - a walk into a bathroom. Lexi, Angie, and I gave him a hard time the next morning when we had to pack the car - attention everyone, the American is leaving!

Holland Trip Day 3: The Keukenhof

2012-04-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

Neil's pic

The beauty of the Keukenhof was amazing. Lots of beautiful flowers

and fountains all throughout the gardens.

Neil's pic from the car

On our drive to the Keukenhof we saw various fields of tulips and other bulb all along the way.

The funny part about the day is that Neil had the most fun this day because he enjoyed taking pictures.

Neil's pic

Neil's pic of the family

Some of the gorgeous tulips we found.

This is just by our table we ate at for lunch.

There was many sculptures and art work in the gardens.

Neil had the idea of using this piece of art for a funny picture.

There was the famous wooden dutch shoes all over the place

that we convinced the kids to get in for photo ops.

This was a bridge a mini obstacle course going over one of the canals.

The as you can see Neil got a little wet, but then again so did I.

When you climb up the windmill, you get a view of the tulip fields.

Neil's pic

The kids and I were quite amused by watching this guy dance

around knocking his wooden clogs together to the beat of the giant calliope.

Ray's Journal:

Day 2 dawns and we go the Keukenhof, a world renowned Tulip farm and castle. The tulips are not all in bloom, it appears that we came a week early. We found out that the boat ride through the tulips must be made in advance or you can wait for several hours. But the rest of the park is pretty swank! There are tons of tulips and other flowers as expected, but there are playgrounds and hedge mazes (by now you know how much the Goodwin family loves those!) and statuary and a windmill. The castle is not part of the Keukenhof tour, but is still part of the picturesque scenery of the most photographed tulip field in the world. It was an awesome trip.

Holland Trip: Day 2 Duinrell and Scheveningen Beach

2012-04-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Ray's Journal:

The next day all the children want to do is go the water park and amusement park which are attached to the camp. Neil, Misty, and Angie go explore the amusement park while Alexis and myself go to the indoor water park. The water slides they have are awesome! They encompass everything from beginner to outstanding coolness in a water tube. Lexi and I are there for 2 hours (our limit based on what we paid, but also on our stamina). we really enjoyed the fun here.

Angie's Journal:

Our day started off with us taking care of a few things before we went to have some fun at the attached theme park. First order of business get our "passport photos" for the IDs required to get into the park.

Family Photos for ID cards

Next we had to go to the grocery store to check out the local goodies.

Pancake shaped sponge cake

We then went to the theme park and had some fun. We ended up splitting up because Lexi REALLY wanted to do the water park and Neil wanted to do the theme park. It was a lot of fun, but since I had Misty and Ray was in the water we have no pictures of the amusement park.

For dinner we decided to try a pancake house which The Netherlands seems to have in abundance. Before our trip, a couple friend of ours told us to go to Scheveningen Beach if we could. Fortunately, we were staying nearby and there was a pancake house on the beach strip.

The red canopy is 't Pannekoekenhuisje that we had dinner.

By the time we hit the beach we were starving, so it was very fortunate the Pancake House was one of the first restaurants we came across. Behind the restaurants is the fancy building in the background is the Kurhaus hotel.

Scheveningen Beach Walk

As we continued down the beach, we came across a lot of restaurants that were actually on the beach. The kids wanted to go back later in the week to one of these restaurants, but we never made it back.

Somewhere along the beach, Lexi found a bungee trampoline place. We had decided the kids can do one "experience" of their choice every day on this holiday. Ironically, this was the only day they did anything; Neil blew his money at the arcade.