I Was Just Thinking...

Marionettes, Mozart and More

2009-08-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, QT and KT here just reporting on another fun filled day here on our journey. Today we explored Salzburg - literally salt town. There was a beautiful fountain in front of the royal residence.
We didn't take a horse ride, but there were many carriages available, and it looked like a really fun way to see the sights. Hmmm, maybe on our next trip?
One of the first things we did was go up the old castle of Hohensalzburg. It is a medieval castle that overlooks the whole city. It was massive, but we didn't spend too much time here as we are going to a different castle, Hohenwerfen later. (Stay tuned for that post)
Here Auntie Monica is finding out why there is a statue of a bull in the courtyard of the castle. It seems that one time the castle was under siege and they were running out of food, but they didn't want the attackers to know that. So what the creative people in the castle did was parade the one remaining ox in front of the attackers. Then that night the painted it a different colour and paraded it around again the next day. They then washed the paint off, got a different colour and showed the attackers a 'third' ox. The attackers, thinking that the people in the castle had enough food to last for a long time, left. The people of Hohensalzburg were sometimes known as Ox-washers.
After the castle on the hill, we went to a really old but beautiful cemetery. It had a building that was attached directly to a cliff. This picture is a view out the window of that building.
Here we are in the old building, in a chapel. The painting on the wall (called a fresco because it was painted onto fresh plaster) is really old - probably over a thousand years old, because the monastery and church date from about 700 AD.
Then we had to go and find Mozart's birthplace. It is amazing to think that these building are still here, and that we can visit them. Inside was a museum that told us a bit about Mozart and his family.
One of the specialty treats in Austria is called a Mozartkugeln, a chocolate and marzipan treat. Apparently it was something Mozart liked to eat - or so I heard. Anyway, they had whole stores devoted to this candy, so we had to get a picture.
After the Mozart museum we went to a beautiful palace that had free public gardens. The palace is called Mirabelle, and we didn't go inside we just walked around. The view of the Cathedral in front of Hohensalzburg is one reason this garden is situated where it is. It really was an amazing sight.
Finally, we got to go and sit down for a while. We went to a marionette (puppet) show of Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The show was amazing. This first picture shows the stage, and how beautiful the theatre looked.
Here are two of the marionette's, Bottom and Puck. The marionette's are only about two feet tall, but they way they show them, you almost think they are life size. It was fantastic.
After the show we had dessert at the Sacher Hotel Cafe. The original Sacher Hotel is in Vienna, but since we weren't getting there this trip, we thought this would be ok. We had Sacher Tort -a very famous dessert. It was yummy and very chocolate-y.
Our last stop of the day was at Hellbrunn castle. There were amazing gardens, beautiful buildings and some cool statues. The unicorn is one of a pair that guarded this path.
We also thought this dog statue was cute, because it was not the usually Greek or Roman type of statue.
We took a tour of trick water fountains, where we did get wet, but on the tour there was also this amazing city scene. This was built in 1750, and of the 180 figures, 150 still move. And all of the movement is done with different water pressures. It was spectacular. Then we finally went home, tired but happy. Bye for now.

Of Mountains, Mines, and Caves

2009-08-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Austria is a country built in the mountains, so we did some very mountain type things. One day it was raining so walking around outside wasn't very fun. We drove up a mountain and at the top of the mountain was a restaurant. So we had lunch and we took a picture with this farmer and son.
Here is a view of the town we stayed in. This is taken as we were coming back down the twisty mountain road.
Another mountain adventure was going deep into the mountain into a salt mine. We didn't take a camera into the mine, so this is the only picture we have from inside. We got to slide down these really fun wooden slides. They are how the miners used to get from the higher levels down to the lower levels very quickly. Gluck Auf! is an expression the miners used to say to each other as they entered the mine, is means something like 'Good Luck!'.
At the salt mine, there was also a recreation of a Celtic village. The Celts were the first people to mine the salt in the mountain. They lived in the area from 500BC to about 100AD - a long time ago. Here we are hanging out with Auntie Kendra in what would have been a Celtic home- look how short the door is!
And we are just hanging out in the animal barn. Although there weren't any animals in here today.
This was the entrance to a Celtic mine shaft, although we couldn't get past the barrier. The Celts had to dig their way into the mountain with very few tools, and chip away at the salt and rocks. What a lot of work.
Our third mountain adventure took us up a very tall mountain. When we got to the parking lot we had to take a bus up a very narrow, winding road. Then we had to hike for about 20 minutes up to the lift. As you can see, it is very rocky.
Then we got to go up the steepest part of the mountain in a cable car. It went really fast, and it gave us a great view.
Finally we had to hike another 20 minutes up to that big hole in the side of the mountain. We stopped often to take pictures - or at least that's the reason Auntie Kendra gave for our frequent stops.
We couldn't take our cameras into the mountain so we had to buy some postcards, and here is one. There were huge sheets of ice on the floor, or hanging on the walls, or free standing like this ice sculpture. It was very cold, but very amazing to see.
Well that's all for now about our mountain adventures but we did see more in Austria, so stay tuned. Love KT and QT

Arrivederci Italy, Willkommen Austria

2009-08-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in Pordenone - the town where Auntie Monica lived in as a little girl. This fountain is in a Piazza close to one of her favorite gelato shop. This is our last day in Italy, so we had to come and visit. QT and I really liked the fountain on this hot day, because the wind would blow the water at us and cool us off.
And here is one of the special ice cream treats available at Casa del Gelato, the best gelateria in Pordenone. It is spaghetti ice cream -how cool is that! It was yummy, too.
To get from Italy to Austria we had to cross the Alps, so we drove through many tunnels in the mountains. Some were fairly short, a few hundred metres, but a few were up to five or six kilometres long.
In Radstadt, the town we are staying in here in Austria, there is an old city wall that goes around part of the city. It has very big, round towers at the corners of the walls. Today it is very pretty with water and fountains around it.

We have to park underground, well, sort of. There are grass and flowers growing on top of the parking garage. But at least we have covered parking.
Bye for now, I'll wrote more about our adventures in Austria later - Love KT

And now for a Venice post without small animals.

2009-08-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Venice is really so beautiful that I couldn't stop taking pictures, even when I wasn't sure exactly what it was I was taking a picture of. Well obviously they are cathedrals but as there are so many I don't know which ones these are. The architecture and detailing are just fantastic.
These pictures are from our ferry ride from the mainland to Lido, the beach resort town we stayed in while we visited Venice. There are no cars in Venice, so we stayed where we could park our car. It meant taking a car ferry, but it was a great way to see parts of the city.

Another beautiful church.
Venice at night as seen from our hotel balcony -amazing.

I know it is very touristy, but I just had to take a gondola ride this time in Venice, and it was so worth it. The front of the gondolas all have similar marking, and they represent the six sections of Venice.
Sometimes the canals would be clear, just our gondola, then we would turn a corner and there would be a lot of traffic, from other gondolas, to delivery boats, to water taxis, to personal transportation.
We saw many beautiful building and bridges, and then there was this building. It was not as architecturally beautiful as some, but it was the home of Marco Polo! So cool.
Our gondolier, who actually did sing, but only a few bars. Mostly what he did was call out and talk to every other gondolier or boat driver around.
After our gondola ride we went to tour the clock tower. It had been undergoing repairs and conversion to an automated time keeping system last time we were in Venice. The clock was built in 1499. This is a view of Piazza San Marco from the top of the clock tower.
The famous bronze horses. We toured through St. Mark's Cathedral last time, so this time around we did different things.
Our guide is showing us how tall the 'Moors' are on top of the clock tower. (Over 2m tall) They are called Moors, not because they represent Moorish figures, but just because they are tarnished so they appear black.
There are 132 (I think, Monica, is that right?) steps, and very curved.
A view of the tower from the piazza.
People in Venice use boats like cars, including people who talk on cell phones as they drive! It may be hard to see in the picture, but he was definitely talking on his cell. Over here we have also seen people talking on their cell phones while riding bicycles.
A last look at Venice on our ferry ride back to the mainland.

Water Good Time in Venezia

2009-08-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

Venice is a city that is built on the water, so I guess it is only fair that we got to spend a lot of time on boats. What fun! We started our journey into Venice on a big car ferry, well not as big as the ferry that goes to Victoria, but still pretty big. When we were on the ferry we saw lots of other boats on the water, including this very cool pirate ship - KT and I were very glad that the pirates didn't attack us!
When we got into the city itself, we saw some pretty cool buildings and things, including this weird iron bird. We thought the ball of umbrellas was pretty fun and colourful.
The next boat we got to ride on was a gondola. All gondolas are black, even today, because a long time ago there was a law that said all gondolas had to be black so that their owner's couldn't try and show off their wealth by making their gondola really colourful or ornate. The gondola ride was very fun, even when our gondolier started singing!
After our gondola ride we went up a really old clock tower. It was built in 1499. From that time until 1998 there was always a clock keeper who lived in the clock tower, with his family, to keep it running. Can you imagine having that clock as an alarm...it goes off every hour!
We had a very busy day so far, so we decided to go and have some tea at a restaurant that has been operating for 289 year! Yes, it opened in 1720. Oh, you might have noticed the cool souvenirs KT and I picked up in Venice. They are Carnevale (carnival) masks. There are some very beautiful masks to buy.

After our long day in Venice, we took a traghetto (a water bus basically) back to our hotel. Here we are hanging out (literally) on the balcony. We were just enjoying the sunshine.
Another place we enjoyed the sunshine was at the beach. We couldn't stay too long, so we just built a small sand castle with our friends before we had to catch the ferry back to the mainland.
And here we are, enjoying the ferry ride back from our beautiful hotel in Lido. Lido is the beach resort area we stayed at while we visited Venice. Our next destination...Pordenone. That's all for now, QT.

Really Ancient Ruins

2009-08-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well we decided to stop in Verona before we went to Venice, We got to see a really, really, really, old Roman amphitheatre or arena. It was very cool. It isn't as big as the Roman Coliseum, but it is almost completely intact. The outside is full of stone arches.
Inside the walls are row after row of stone seats and steps. The top part of this picture is just a backdrop that has been put up to show what the top of the theatre used to look like. It would have been very impressive to see the real thing.

We got to sit on some of the old stone seats. I wonder what the ancient Roman people who sat here thought about their life? I doubt they thought that 2000 years later someone would be sitting in the same place thinking about them!

Inside the walls of the amphitheatre were lots of stone tunnels and arches. There was this really cool small shelf that we fit onto, so Auntie Kendra just had to take another picture of us.
Outside the arena there were all kinds of props for the opera that was going to be performed in the arena. I thought the dragon was pretty cool.
I also liked the Egyptian sphinxes with the arena in the background. Ancient Romans ruins with fake ancient Egyptian statues!
After the arena we walked to see Juliette's house and balcony, which if you happen to like Shakespeare is interesting - I guess. Then we drove to Venice. More about Venice - or Venezia- in the next post.

Conquering the Tower

2009-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen the blog about the castles, you really need to go to Monica's blog to check it out. This is all about Pisa.
When I was growing up, Pisa was quintessentially Italy. I don't know how or why those two items became linked in my mind, but they did. When we were in Italy in 2001, one of my most anticipated events was going to Pisa. I knew the Tower had been under renovations to correct the 'lean', but it was suppose to open that year,(and I had thought I had seen that it would be open in summer). When we arrived in Pisa, to my great disappointment, the tower was still closed to the public. We could, and did, walk around it and take tons of pictures, but I couldn't climb the tower. This time around, I wanted to be sure to go back to Pisa, as the tower was now open. Monica was amenable to that idea, so off we went. We decided to take the scenic route, well it was both scenic and an amazingly complicated route. The state roads, as opposed to the Autostrada, are not toll roads, this makes them smaller and they go through the more rural areas. Our route from Reggio Emilia to Pisa took about four hours- about twice as long as it took going back on the Autostrada- and it was mountain driving for at least three of those hours. I am not talking about Coquihalla type mountain passes, I am talkng about a slightly larger than one lane track (although it was paved) that switchbacked up and down mountains for three hours. Intense, and yet Monica claimed it was fun - I'm just glad I was in the passenger's seat. We did see some beautiful mountain views, pictures just don't do it full justice.
Well we finally arrived in Pisa, and the Campo dei Miracoli- the Duomo, Bell Tower, Baptistry, and the Camposanto (a fancy cemetary really)- is just beautiful. We stood in line at about 4:00 pm to buy tickets for the museums and entry into the various parts of the Campo dei Miracolui, and of course for me to climb the tower. My entry time for the tower was not until 7:20 pm. A lot of tourists in that little town want to climb that famous tower.
We toured through all the other buildings, and in one museum they have many Sinopie - the premilinary drawings done on the walls before the artists would paint the frescos on the fresh plaster. These were found during restoration of the Camposanto, and they are incredible, some artists had been so intricate in their sketches, and others were much more just outlines. What a sight it must have been to see all the frescos on the walls at the time ( they were done in the 1300's) Finally my time had arrived. I lined up and handed in my ticket to a bored looking Italian guy. I wonder if they get tired of all the enthusiastic tourists -ah well. The steps are narrow, steep and very worn. How many hundreds of thousands of feet have trod those stairs, Galileo Galilei was one of those multitude, as this was the tower from which he performed his experiments about gravity. There are around 290 steps so I definitely had my workout for the day. At the very top there is a spectacular 360 degree view of Pisa, of which there really is so much more than just the few blocks we explored. After our allotted time, the guards kept telling us we needed to go down, as the next group was on their way up. It was worth the climb! For supper Monica and I just found a neighbourhood cafe and had a very good meal of pasta, steak, salad, dessert, and wine. (Gotta love the Tourist Menu!) We walked back to our car as the buses were no longer running and then we drove home - on the Autrostrada - mountain driving is definitely a daytime venture. What a fabulous day.

Just for Kaitlyn

2009-07-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn, you didn't tell me that KT
had cousins in Italy who were models!
We found this magazine at the Bed and
Breakfast where we were staying. The ad
says: Valmora (brand name of this water)
makes you love it.

All about pizza ...oops... Pisa

2009-07-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

We have been able to go to so many cool places on this trip. One day we went to Pisa, it is famous for the leaning bell tower. I bet Kaitlyn and Rachael's daddy wouldn't be so silly as to build a house on ground that is so soft the whole house would fall over, but that is what these builders did. Except instead of a house they built a very tall bell tower.

Even before it was finished being built it started to lean over, but they just kept on building it. I guess the amazing thing is that it didn't fall over entirely. We decided we needed to take a picture (like all the other tourists) where we are holding up the tower.

Then we sat on the steps of the Duomo (the church building) as we waited for Auntie Kendra to climb all the many steps of the tower - we were too tired to climb all the steps with her! There was some old Latin writing on some of the marble steps but we couldn't read it.

Then after supper we had a very long drive home, and we didn't get in until after midnight.

Climbing Castles

2009-07-29T01:38:00.000-07:00

We had fun storming the castle... Well all we had to do was drive there and then CLIMB.

We went to two different old castles in the area. The first castle we visited is called Rosseno because it is built on volcanic rock that is reddish in colour. This castle was built about a thousand years ago, well at least the first part of it was. Then it was expanded over the next few centuries, and lived in for even longer! This castle had been built so well that only surface repairs were needed to fix it up for visiting today.

Even the dungeon (which really was just a room high up, with no skeletons in it) was kept really well.

They found a secret stair way in the walls of the original tower! The stairs ar so narrow only one skinny person at a time could climb them, and there was a second staircase for the trip down.

This castle had a garden of trees and grass around it, and one of the trees was buzzing because it is a huge nest for bees. We made sure to stay away from that tree.

Then we visited another castle in a town called Canossa, but this castle had been attacked hundreds of years ago, and so it just a ruin today.

Meandering in Milano

2009-07-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

We stepped around the corner of the street and just stopped. Monica and I stared in awe at the majestic Duomo in Milan.

Now I know we have been here before, but it really is so breath-takingly beautiful. We took an audioguide tour of the cathedral and were inundated with historical facts and information. What amazes me is how old parts of the structure are, but that newer acquistions have been added much more recently, it really is a work forever in progress.

We had to catch the tram into Milan, just a short block or so away from our hotel. The tram was of an older style and had wooden seats around the outer walls, and wood paneling, very retro - or is that just old?

The tram took us directly into the city, so it was very convenient. We went shopping first, but not for boring old shoes or handbags or such, no we went shopping for books and videos. Of course as 98% of the material was in Italian I had a harder time spending my money in those stores, but I did find a few things to buy. Monica, however, managed to spend a few more Euros than me.

We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. We ordered pizza, the crust is much thinner and the sauce is much more just tomato, but it is so good.

We tried to go to La Scala, but there were no performances that day, we also went to Sforza castle, but got there just as all the museums were closing for the day. So we went for dinner at another restaurant that had a beautiful view of the Duomo, gleaming in the setting sun. Monica and I shared a salad, pasta dish, and dessert, and decided that was a good way to be able to have more than just one dish for supper.

As we took the tram home it poured rain and there was thunder and lightning (same storm you had maybe? just kidding) but it had mostly stopped even by the time we had to walk back to the hotel.

The next day we toured Sforza Castle, a beautifully restored castle from the 1400's. We took an audiotour of this building as well, but I can never listen to all of the information... my brain goes into overload. What is amazing is that people back then really didn't have as much stuff as we do, even the wealthy people in the castle. They did however, have lots of colour on the walls, in gorgeous tapestries, and in frescos painted on the walls and ceilings. They also seemed to like statues.

Monica and I finished our tour, then went back to the hotel and headed out. We left Milano, and only took one wrong turn on the road to our next destination - Bosco del Fracasso (A Forest of Chaotic Sound is the translation!) More about that and the amazing sights later.

Missing you in Milano

2009-07-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

We had such a good sleep after our very long day with the plane ride. In the morning we had a nice breakfast of fruit and cookies, and then it was time to head into Milano.

We went shopping in many bookstores and found some fun souvenirs. Then we had some yummy pizza for lunch.

After lunch we toured the Duomo in Milan. The building is entirely covered in marble and has many statues and carvings on it. This cathedral was built centuries ago, but it took hundreds of years to complete, and they even add new parts these days. We met some new friends and they decided to join us on the rest of our trip.

We took the Metro (Subway) to another part of Milan where we saw a really old castle. We couldn't stay long on this day because the castle closed down at five o'clock, all we got to do was pretend to be a statue in the Ducal Courtyard.

We then had supper and went back to the hotel. It rained really hard while we were on the tram, but most of the rain had stopped before we had to get off, so we didn't get too wet.

The next day we went back into Milano to tour the Sforza castle. This castle was first built in the 1300's. but in 1450 Francesco Sforza began reconstruction of the castle for his family. They were a very important family in the area. After our castle tour, we went back to the hotel and drove to our new location. We are staying on a farm in Emilia-Romagna. There are many castles in the area, we will probably go touring them tomorrow.

La Piccola Grande Avventura - Il Primo Giorno

2009-07-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

(for those non-Italians among you that means a Small Grand Adventure - Day One) A special Edition Blog for the nieces.

One day some very special animals got to go an a great adventure with their aunties. Cutie -aka QT and Katilyn's Kitty or K squared - aka KT (for KTwo) and Elyssa's Kitty -aka EK and Amy's Kitty-aka AK, got all packed up and headed to the airport. They were very excited to be heading to Italy for the first part of their trip. Thank you Auntie Claire for the fun flags. When we got to the airport we unloaded the bags and headed in to the terminal. We had not got very far when we noticed that QT had gone missing. Auntie Kendra raced back to the parking lot to see where QT had wandered off to, and sure enough she was there just looking around. Uncle Frank (Grampapa') then said we would have to watch her very carefully, because we all know that lambs can sometimes get lost, just ask Little Bo Peep. Once we were checked through security we had to wait for hours. It was a very long time, thank goodness for electronic toys to keep us entertained. We listened to music on Auntie Kendra's new iPod nano, and watched EK play Flight Contol on the iPhone. We hoped that the real air traffic controllers do a better job of landing planes than she did. We finally got onto our plane and buckled in for the 9 hour flight to London. We got to watch some fun movies (Monsters v. Aliens, Ice Age the Meltdown and 17 Again). Then we had to wait in London for our flight to Milano. We finally arrived in Milano and drove to the hotel. We were so tired we went straight to bed.

The Great European Adventure

2009-07-24T02:14:00.001-07:00

...and so it begins. (Babylon 5 anyone? and yes Coli, it is a good show!)
We had a very smooth trip from Abbotsford to Seattle (thank you so much Uncle Frank and Auntie Eileen). After a delicious lunch at California Pizza Chicke..Kitchen, we got to the airport with hours to spare, which for Monica and I is not a bad thing. There were no lines in the airport, it was just smooth sailing from check in to boarding. After a long night -which included movies, pasta and wine for dinner, and TRYING to sleep- we arrived at Heathrow at 12:15 pm local time (yes that really is 4:15 am BC time!) So now we are sitting in the airport in London, waiting for our flight, and even more important what gate we will be leaving from. Our flight is at 2:55 pm, and the gate opens at 2:05 pm, so until then we don't even know where we need to go.
To be continued...
The Next Day: We arrived in Milan at about 6pm local time. We had such good flights and connections the whole way here. Our lugggage was unloaded in a few minutes, and we didn't even really have to go through customs as we had nothing to declare. (Well except how glad we were to be in Italy!) We got our car which is a Mercedes A180 - see picture for further details - or ask Monica. She says it drives well, and we sit up a bit higher in it so we get a great view of the beautiful countryside. Our hotel is very quaint and fun. We had supper last night at the restaurant here at the hotel because we were too tired to go out to eat. At this point we had been awake for about 30 hours because neither of us got any sleep on the plane. For supper I had Risotto "Vecchia Milano" - or flavoured with saffron and of course parmigiano - and Monica tried Risotto con pere dolci e toma - sweet pear and fresh cheese, it was surprisingly tasty. We both fell asleep almost the minute our heads hit the pillows. We woke up this morning to the birds singing and a wonderful cool breeze, Monica swears it smells like Italy (which is a good thing as we are in Italy) but I can't smell the difference. This morning we sat down to a breakfast of brioche and cappuccino - so good. Monica skipped the coffee and had tea instead. We also had fresh squeezed orange juice. Mmmm. I know this seems like a list of food, but really all we have done so far is travel, eat and sleep. We are heading into the city later this morning so we'll have a whole other adventure to blog about.
Monica and I will alternate posts on our blogs, so if there is nothing new on my blog, you might try Monica's at http://twocatsandamonky.blogspot.com - or I think there is a link on the side of my blog. Ciao

Presents for a special niece.

2009-07-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Amanda is off at camp all summer, which means I get to send her fun packages, so she doesn't forget us...cause that's likely to happen! Actually it is mostly because I like buying her things. So the first thing she will get is a nondescript shoe box, but inside...
is a homemade card. This care package is "brought to you by the letter "S". So all things starting with S. See if you can find all the s-words yourself on this card.

Then when she gets a little farther into the box, she'll find a bunch of prizes, all wrapped and numbered of course. And no, you don't get to see the unwrapped presents, that's just for Amanda. Hopefully she doesn't actually have an internet connection like she has said, or this might not be much of a surprise for her. Oh well. I mostly posted this so I can practise taking pictures, putting them on my computer, and then blogging. Well that's it for tonight.

How many computers does it take to make me a techie?

2009-07-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Why have only one computer when you can have three? Although I do have a very good reason for having so many pieces of tech. My Macbook Pro is essential for school, my iPhone is for fun and for keeping busy when I am waiting for someone, and my newest acquisition is for keeping you all up to date on Monica's and my soon to happen trip. In fact, I am blogging from this little computer right now, so that in three weeks it will be second nature.

It is pretty funny though, I have more options to "Google" something, than I have hands to type it. I guess this is good for when I have company over, we all get our own access to the web.

Hello Mii

2008-09-19T23:28:00.001-07:00

So for my birthday I decided to go out and buy myself a present - a Wii. I keep telling myself if I have a Wii and a Wii Fit then I'll use it and actually exercise; and who knows maybe this will work. It can't cost any more than my many failed gym memberships - and its way more fun! So far Claire, Coli, and I have tried it out. One of the cool things about this video game system is that you get to make your own avatar, or Mii. I happened to have straight hair on my birthday, so I thought I would go with the new look. So what do you think, could you pick me out of a crowd?

A 'Surreal' Moment

2008-09-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Shannon and Amanda were working for Level Ground at the Eat Fraser Valley event, so I thought I would go check out the show. One of the celebrity chefs happened to be Bob Blumer. I have watched him for years on Food Network, first on The Surreal Gourmet - the infamous Toaster-mobile- and more recently on Glutton for Punishment. I really enjoyed his presentation, so I decided to buy his cookbook and get it autographed. While I was waiting in line, a lady came up and started asking questions. Turns out she was a reporter for the Abbotsford Neighbourhood Bugel newspaper and she was writing a short article on the show. So I got my picture taken with Bob, and who knows, I might even end up in the paper. Surreal indeed.

Hello from Africa...Disney Style

2008-08-27T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well if you have read Monica's blog lately (if not - go there immediately before you come here again) you know that on Saturday we were at the Magic Kingdom. So on Sunday, after a lazy morning at 'home' we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although we had been slightly disappointed with the rides at the M.K., we were blown away with the rides at the A.K. As we arrived later in the day, we didn't have time to go on a Safari - that is for Thursday- we did manage to go on Expedition Everest - amazing, and Dinosaur! - very cool but it made me jump. We also ate Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream treats because it was stinking hot outside and they were cool and refreshing. Unfortunately, as this is the down season, the A.K. closed down at 5 pm so we went back to EPCOT to try and finish the World Showcase. We had to see Italy and some of the other exhibits, after Spaceship Earth of course - we have done this so many times. Of course, because we were in EPCOT it started to rain again. Just out luck. We did not stick around for long.

On Monday - a bright and sunny day we decided to use the Water Park option on our ticket and we went to Typhoon Lagoon. We were both a little apprehensive about it, but it as it turned out we had a blast - literally and figuratively. There is a huge wave pool that can have both bobbing waves, or these really big surf waves. The big waves were sooo fun, provided you were ready for them. Monica almost lost her glasses, but we saved them.- Phew. We also did the Lazy River tube ride around the whole park, and several of the other tube rides. We decided that we only wanted to do tube rides, they were thrilling enough for us. We also got a bit too much sun. No pictures either - the camera did not want to go to a water park. In the evening we went to Medieval Times Dinner and show. It was a lot of fun, and the horses and riders really were amazing. Dinner was eaten entirely without silverware, an interesting experience to say the least. Well, that was our week so far, stay tuned.

Just can't stay outta the rain

2008-08-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

It never failed, that just when we thought it was clearing up so we would venture out, it not only rained it poured (thanks, Fay!). We did Downtown Disney on Tues. and went to Disney's Hollywood Studio on Wednesday. (See Monica's BLOG if you haven't got the update yet). Our next park was EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). We were there for parts of Thursday and Friday, so I am going to smush them together. We explored The Seas, saw some amazing fish, went on a Finding Nemo ride, and Talked Turtle with Crush - a funny, interactive, computerized show. Totally awesome, dude. We also toured The Land, and saw some beautiful flowers. We decided not to wait for 80 minutes to go Soaring (besides we've been there, done that in CA). Our favorite ride, however, turned out to be Spaceship Earth, inside 'The Ball'. It is very well done, and you get a little cartoon short of what life might be like in the future. Monica and I went on it four times, although the first time we did it we had to listen to it in Spanish because we missed the - choose English now- screen. We walked through part of the World Showcase, from Canada to Norway. We also walked through the Innoventions buildings, but they were more Science World type things and did not catch our attention as much. So enough of the typing, if you even got this far, here are the pictures.

Nemo! Or at least a clown fish. The pavilion was a giant aquarium with a variety of fish, including these cuties, dolphins, sea rays, sea turtles, and more.

And... we found Nemo! Or is this Marlin?

In Living with the Land, we saw some cool experiments with growing plants in different media, including air!

And you thought I would never blog!

2008-08-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

So, day one of our amazing trip to Florida, storms notwithstanding, and we are safely in our hotel in Seattle.

We took about 90 minutes to cross the border - next time we are taking Zero Ave. and butting into the line- so we didn't have time to go to Pike's Place, as it closed at five and we arrived in Seattle at about 4pm.

Instead we ended up at Barnes & Noble and ended up cruising the aisles for our favourite authors. We both thought it was a great compromise. Then we went for supper at California Pizza Chicken...(I mean Kitchen). The food was amazing.

After checking into our hotel, we went for a delicious Oreo Cookie Milkshake at Jack in the Box. We have to get up crazy early for our flight tomorrow, so I am going now. Bye. Stay tuned. M and K

I won on Lotto 649...

2008-08-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

...well at least $1000.00 worth of the lotto money. I typically buy a lottery ticket or two every couple of weeks, and I always make sure I 'play the extra' and this week it paid off. So I bought some chocolate milk and took it to Shannon's to celebrate with the girls. I guess our Bard trip this summer is on me. Yeah!

A Visit with my Cousins

2008-08-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

Mark, Cheryl, and Andrew came up to Victoria for a visit this summer, so Amanda and I thought it would be fun to go over and visit them. While we were there we went to Sydney and visited most of the second hand book stores and some of the antique stores - my idea of a great day. We also decided that we would do what most visitors to Victoria do at some point in their visit and go for High Tea. Tracey had heard about this cute little tea room in the Oak Bay area called the White Heather Tea Room. Lovely tea, delicious food and terrific company made even a slightly grey and rainy day wonderful. As you can tell from the food on the table, there was no shortage of yummy treats, we even had enough to take home.

Another fun event was the Unbirthday Birthday party for the cousins. As it is hard for the cousins to visit on actual birthdays, Auntie Tracey decided to throw a little party while every one was together. We had some scrumptious cupcakes from a new bakery that specializes in cupcakes called Ooh La La Cupcakes, and lots of presents. - Well at least the kids did. (Even Amanda got in on presents with some great new earrings!)

Sammy, at almost two, made the cutest faces as he was allowed to eat his cupcake however he wanted.

On the last night together I made a French Silk pie for Mark, as it is one of his favorite desserts. I must say it turned out rather well, as you can tell from the smile on his face.

Something New

2008-06-04T21:37:00.001-07:00

So, I thought it was time for a change. This is what three hours (well almost) in the salon chair looks like - at least on me. I'll see if anyone notices at school tomorrow. Only 9 more days until classes are done, how crazy!

Can you spot the differences?

2008-02-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

In newspapers you often find little cartoon pictures that look the same at first glance, but a closer examination always reveals the minor differences. I thought it might be fun to do the same thing, but in real life. So, although the pictures may appear to be the same, there are some SLIGHT differences. If you are really clever, you should be able to spot all the differences. How many do you think there are? (Gord, camera angle and lighting are not the differences that I mean!)

Here is picture number one. Study it carefully.

Ok, here is picture number two.

Can you spot the differences?

Curious about this? No, just Curious George.

2006-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

It was my niece Kaitlyn's third birthday this past week. As I had made a cake for her sister's birthday, it was only fair that I decorate one for her as well. At first she wanted an alligator, but her mom strongly suggested to her that maybe Curious George would be a better choice. Then when Auntie Shannon found some Curious George napkins, plates, and BALLOONS, well then C.G. became the best option. So, that is how this came about. It was a fun day, B-day parties for little ones are always so exciting. Now of course, the niece with the birthday that comes next asked if I'd make her a cake. And of course since "I like cake", I am going to make her a cake in the shape of...(tune in in January to see what it is/was).

Below are pictures of the progression of the "Curious George" cake making.
The first step:

Almost there...just needs some detailing. The final product!

Augh, June is almost over!!!

2006-06-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well, if I am to maintain my record of one post per month, I need to post in the next 42 minutes. So here it is; not that I have a lot to say because my brain is kind of mush at the moment. However, I am officially done school for the summer, well at least until August sometime. Shannon and the girls came and helped me clean out our storage room at school. We managed to get rid of tons of junk and the storeroom is now accessible, clean, and even has extra space. Yeah!
I am currently at Shannon and Gord's because we had a verankia feast and we get to spend Canada Day together. Should be fun! Well, I do have pictures, but they are still on Claire's camera. Maybe a July post? Bye for now.

Here it is, now quit telling me I need to post about "you know where".

2006-05-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

So, ok, actually our trip was tremendous fun - even without cheese in the crust! Little inside joke there.

I didn't want to post without pictures, and as I am so 'early nineties' when it comes to technology - i.e. no digital camera, I had to wait until Claire "Flickr'd" her pic's so I could grab some.

I had such a fabulous time visiting Disneyland with a bunch of first-timers. It was great to see it again for the first time through their eyes.

I really enjoyed running around from ride to ride, waiting in line to do the meet and greet with the Disney characters, and even just strolling around taking in the general busyness of a place like this. Each area had so much to see, do, buy, and of course, eat. Can you say 'funnel cake'!

I thought this was a great photo of Amanda and me. I think I am winning the stare down contest though!

To read more about our wonderful trip you just need to go to Amanda's blog, or Claire's blog, or Monica's blog, or... you get the idea, and why I felt the pressure to write something. Signing off for now. (Although I think May 29 still gets me in under the one a month postings - score!)

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL!

2006-04-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

I know that Easter is not all about bunnies, eggs, and chocolate. Easter is a joyful celebration of life. The life that we can have because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Easter just makes me think of all the things I have in my life to be thankful for, and I am extremely thankful for my family. We have such a great time when we get together.

This year marked the sixth (?) or so Annual Easter Egg hunt. So of course we needed lots of eggs to hunt for and cake to eat. Amanda and I had a great time putting together our bunny cake. (Even if there were a few mishaps on the journey!)

Mood lighting! We had a clean house and decorations, but the rain made us choose plan B - Auntie Shannon's house.

It is amazing to look back on pictures from years past, and to see how much everyone has grown. They are all so much more independent now. Kaitlyn was so cute, long after the hunt was done she came to me and said that she wanted to find more eggs. She was perfectly happy finding empty eggs. It really was the journey and not the final result that Kaitlyn enjoyed.

Nicole, search high, search low, and of course if you don't find them all you can continue the hunt all year long.

Of course it is great fun to hunt with a friend, either the cousin type, or the silent, fuzzy type!

Another successful egg hunt! Stash those great baskets in the closet for next year.

The Evolution of a Dinosaur!

2006-03-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

The other day, I asked Sharon if she would like me to make a birthday cake for Rachael, as she would soon be turning five years old. I really enjoy baking, and decorating cakes, even if I haven't done it very much. Sharon said that would be great, and when we asked Rachael what kind of cake she would like, she said a dinosaur, a pink dinosaur. And so began the saga of the dinosaur cake.
I really had no idea how to draw a dinosaur, thank goodness for Google searches. After finding a picture of a dinosaur, I realized that I would never be able to enlarge it by hand, so off to Staples it was. It really was a very painless procedure, and the picture enlarged easily. I now had a template, but I needed the cake.
I don't have one pan big enough for the whole cake, so I made a lot of batter, baked it in four different sizes of pans, and figured I'd be able to do something with it. Cakes cut and ice easier if they are frozen, so I put the cakes in the freezer overnight. Then came assemby time. I made a whack of icing, got out my new Pampered Chef small offset spatula - very cool tool!!, a knife, and got to work.
The first picture here, shows how I had to piece together different bits of cake to get the right shape. Then I had to figure out how to cut out the shape, but icing sugar and the paper template worked well as a stencil. If you've ever iced a cake, you know that the first layer of icing gets pretty crumby, so a 'crumb coat' is a really good idea. While that layer of icing was setting up, I had to colour the rest of the icing. I had to find a great pink food colouring, and I ended up getting a complete set of gel food colours. They are amazing, the colours really are vibrant. ( I need another excuse to make a multicoloured cake just so I can play with them!)
I also got inspired to make some Veggietale balloons for the dinosaur to hold because Sharon has always has Veggietale balloons at her girls' birthday parties. (And it was another excuse to use the fun food colours I had.) So, with a little creativity, a bit of work, and a lot of fun, I had made a very pink dinosaur cake. I hoped Rachael would like it, and from the size of the hug I got, I would say it was definitely a hit. I love you Rachael.

You see here the first and last pictures of the Evolution of a Dinosaur. (The whole slide show is available to view.) Many thanks go to Claire, photographer extraordinaire who photo-documented the whole event.

What do you mean I'm the Elementary Athletic Director?

2006-02-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

I've been told that I need to post more often; I don't know what they mean, it hasn't even been a month! So, here it is.
This is the first year that I have had to teach a full year of PE to my class. (Thank goodness for athletic high school students!) As a child, teenager, adult... I have not really had any interest in sports. The whole competition, get in your face, sweating, pressure thing was just not for me. In high school, PE was always, volleyball, basketball, softball, and track - well except for grade 10, where we did trampoline, skiing, windsurfing, and various other nontraditional PE activities. Thank you, Mr. Fenn - and I really was terrible at all of them, but especially basketball. My mind knew the theory, but my body just didn't get it. Anyways, it's been interesting being on the other end of the PE lesson. I have learned so much about basketball in the past few months. Not only have I had to teach PE, but I have also had the opportunity to be the Elementary Athletic Director - not too much work - and the teacher sponsor for the Bantam Girls bball team. This means I have actually gone to several games. You wouldn't believe how much my sports lingo has improved. Now as I watch the game, I can sound like I know what I am talking about.
"Get on your check!"
"Push to the key!' etc.
I know the difference between a half-court and a full-court press, a lay-up and a foul shot. I know what double dribble means, and I can spot travelling - even if the refs sometimes can't. All this to say, I can't say bball is something I would actively pursue for myself, but it isn't the deep, dark mystery it once was. I enjoy watching the students play - and who ever thought I would say that. The funniest thing happened in PE class a few weeks back. I normally have high school students come and help me with PE. This day, they were all busy, so I went solo. I was reviewing with the students the benefit of using the backboard, and the square marked out onto it, to improve their chances of sinking a shot. I told them that I had never been athletic in high school, and really wasn't a good shot, but we would go over the theory. So, I took aim, and released the ball. To my utter surprise, it went in. The students applauded, and I told them it had to be a fluke. I tried again, and it went in again. I couldn't miss! (Now why couldn't this have happened in high school?) It was pretty funny. Well, that's my ramble about sports. (Amanda - do you like my Marvin picture? If you look at this before Claire has a chance to work her magic on it, come back in a few days and look at it again.)

Take Two

2006-01-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

I was blog-surfing yesterday and came across the H0mestar Runner/Strongbad website. Claire has talked about "Strongbad email" before, but I didn't really understand. Now I get it! Check it out if you're up for a laugh.

Hey, I was being a baby code monkey tonight!

2006-01-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well it has only taken me two months to do my first post, but as it took years to get back online I figure that a few months isn't actually so bad. I always say that if something is worth doing it is worth taking a long time to do it - quite "Entish" of me really. Take for example my bistro table and chair set that I started refinishing five (or is it six) years ago. One year was for taking off the seats and repainting the bases. Year two was getting the wood cut for the seats, year three was painting the wood and finding cushions - really a busy year-, year four was dedicated to getting the tile for the table, and in year five I actually tiled part of the table. I guess year six will be for finishing the tiling, and if I'm feeling really ambitious I can even grout. All that to say that I am a great procrastinator, but hopefully I will be a bit quicker with this from now on. Thanks for the mini code lesson Claire, oh computer guru that I know (think) you are.