Rhodes, Greece (Cruise)

What a surprise! We had never really even heard of Rhodes as being a top tourist destination, but it's quite a cute and quaint little area! Our ship docked and we gave the kids a choice as to playing in the Kids' Club on board or touring with us. They chose the former, giving us a little romantic day to ourselves before the big tours in Israel and Egypt for the next 4 days straight.

We have no idea what any of these places are called, or what their history is, we just enjoyed our time exploring without any kids!

This was just a random strange tree shaped like a reindeer that someone painted an eyeball on to finish the look.

Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey (Cruise)

Something I have recently learned about myself is that I love ancient ruins, so this stop was probably my favorite throughout the whole trip. Here we are in front of the library in Ephesus. This was about halfway through the tour. We started among the streets of the city.

You could just imagine people walking up and down the streets with vendors on both sides in this area viewed as a major trading and religious city at the time.

And they possibly had stray cats back then as well??

In front of the three story Library of Celsus. Here we are with our friend, Lauren, the daughter of our touring buddies. We had so much fun with them that we've booked a few other vacations with them too! Stay tuned to see where we end up going!

Looking up into the ceiling of the library.

Far away shot of the library

Can you guess what these were used for? I'll give you a hint: About halfway through the tour 2 of the little girls needed this pretty badly! They're well preserved aren't they?

Close to the amphitheater, The Great Theater, actors presented an interactive live Ephesus show depicting a typical day in the life of an Ephesian in the 3rd century A.D. The show captivated our children's attention.

After visiting the city of Ephesus, we hopped on the tour bus to the House of the Virgin Mary
where it is thought that Mary spent her last years before she died.
This is the entrance to her residence.

Our final stop for the day was to the Basilica of St. John where supposedly John is buried.

Halloween Night on the Cruise

The kids loved the Kids' Club on this Royal Caribbean cruise line. They dressed up for Halloween and received candy just like when we're home!

He posed as a pirate complete with his mustache. (I think he's been a pirate now for about 3 years straight.)

She needed her hair in a bun to match her Spanish dancer look. Can you tell I love having a girl? Of course her stick straight hair she inherited from me wouldn't all stay in the bun, but we did our best.

Eastern Mediterranean Cruise - Fall Break Starting in Istanbul, Turkey

So we're headed back to November when we took the kids out of school (one thing I never thought I'd ever be doing in my life since I used to teach) for a few days to cruise the Eastern Mediterranean seas.

The embarking port was Istanbul, Turkey, so a few days before the cruise left that port, we headed there to explore the area. When we arrived off the plane late Thursday night, I remember seeing speed limit signs posted at 50 km/hr and our driver was hitting 100 on wet pavement. Sitting in the back seat with the kids I tried to keep my mind off the fast speed by counting how many Turkish flags waved in the air. They were everywhere! My kids have now memorized that flag and can even draw it on command. I'm serious...we saw about 50 of them!

You've heard the song that we just had to sing to our children for the duration of our stay here, "Istanbul was Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople, so if you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul."

While staying at the Ada Hotel in Istanbul, we had a beautiful view from the breakfast room where we hit it off with the owners. They were a warm family who hugged us immediately after I told them how nice the rooms were. After our 2 day stay they were giving the kids Istanbul postcards and Turkish evil eye gifts as we waited for our taxi to the ship. They believe this evil eye, which you can find in jewelry and other trinkets, is responsible for keeping evil away from them. In the bracelet they gave me, it's the blue beads that are painted like an eyeball.

View from breakfast room in hotel

The kids goofing off in front of the Blue Mosque
Our luck was out as it rained the whole two days we spent in Istanbul, but that didn't stop us from seeing the Blue Mosque where we had to take drenched shoes off to enter.
Outside of the Blue Mosque

Stray cats roamed the area. We played I Spy with them to help the kindergartner in the family enjoy the trip.
This is the outside of the Hagia Sophia.

Outside the Hagia Sophia is a sign explaining the mosaic above the exit doorway.

The Basilica Cistern was a unique visit with it being an underground chamber about 105,000 square feet in area which was built during the Roman era to hold water. It was once featured in a James Bond movie.
This was the lighting the camera picked up - we didn't edit these at all.
We found an upside down Medusa head at the bottom of one of the pillars.

This is the entrance to the spice market in Istanbul. This was such a fun adventure as people are everywhere just wanting to get your attention so you might buy some spices from them.



Brightly colored lamps and rugs were on display to sell also.

Mourning a Loss

While we were up at the crack of dawn our game plan worked, but I guess the Colts' didn't. The Saints had some tricky moves and without getting into football strategies (because I'm really not very good at analyzing that stuff) they just plain beat us.

I have to say that I bet Joe Tiller who was the head coach that steered Drew Brees to the Rose Bowl a few years ago must be awfully proud of his star quarterback. I can't think of a better payoff for someone who poured their heart and soul into grooming a successful young person. That's what Mastercard would call priceless!

So, we have to take our hats off to the Saints and say, "Congratulations!" They definitely played hard and smart enough to earn the Super Bowl 44 Championship Title for 2010!

Super Bowl Bound!

Oh to be in Indy right now...how homesick I am!!! I remember the one other time we came this far and the excitement in the whole state of IN!

My husband just landed yesterday for a week long stay and I can only imagine the high 5 greetings in the office on a Monday morning after such a game. (As if they did all the work, breaking their necks on the playing field, making those incredible catches. Why do guys act that way??)

And, yes, my 7 year old is going to be nodding off today at school because his mom thought, "He's a great kid and this is a once in a while thing...let him stay up and witness football history!" So, we bit our nails through the first half. (We suffered through those Arby's commercials and their new dollar deals...how hungry for home we were. I just had to say, "Yeah, Buddy, it's been too long. We need to go for a visit really soon!") We used toothpicks to keep our eyes peeled and stuck it out until a little after midnight to see the Colts through to their victory.

I'm ashamed to say Coke Zero accompanied his breakfast this morning. I figured he can't miss any school because of a play off game...wait until the big one and then I'll wake him up, watch the Super Bowl, sleep in, and make it to school a few hours late. (We're 6 hours ahead of Indy time - so he'll have to watch it literally in the middle of the night.) Did I mention I used to be a teacher and how inappropriate that would have seemed to me about 9 years ago? I know. I can't even believe myself sometimes. That was before kids. Before understanding how important it is to share a bonding moment with my 7 year old.

Go Blue!!! We're proud of you!