Polly and Ty

2009-12-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

First tooth--many more sleepless nights to go. He was a trooper, mom on the other hand got a little cranky.
After a visit to California and his Cousin McKayla's house, Cooper decided he needed a highchair too. He is such a big boy!!
He crawls, rolls, and does yoga--downward dog anyone?
Learning to crawl--he loves to make sure we are watching. He gets a big grin and laughs a lot.

2009-12-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Visions of Sugar Plums....
uh oh--Cooper got caught
obviously he didn't get in trouble:)

Grandma Margaret came to visit, and decorate for us. We had a great time and wish she could have stayed longer!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Utah Fan!!
We had lots and lots of snow for Halloween
Our little Monkey

Three Months old!!!

2009-08-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Our New Addition

2009-06-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Cooper Teddy is the cutest boy in the world!

more Cooper

2009-06-02T09:23:00.001-07:00

Redwoods

2008-08-03T15:04:00.001-07:00

We tried to get over our jet lag by hiking---what were we thinking???? The Oakland Redwoods at 6AM in the fog were amazing.

The Mediterranean

2008-08-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

We have been having a blast for the last two weeks in the Mediterranean. It was wonderful to relax in some of the most beautiful places with great friends, amazing food, and no cell phones!

Venice, Italy

2008-08-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

We started our trip in Venice, Italy. We arrived and were totally jet lagged, but our amazing "tour guides" Staci and Doug were ready to show us around. We walked through the city the first night all the way to St. Marks Square (this was a sureal experiece). If we wouldn't have taken pictures I doubt we would remember anything.

Venice, Italy

2008-08-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Water Taxis
I had to tie a scarf around my waist to enter Saint Marks Cathedral because my shorts didn't cover my knees.
The Doges Palace

After a day of walking in Venice, we were ready for water taxis. We enjoyed Doges Palace, and fireworks in St. Marks Square in celebration of the end to the Plague.

Croatia

2008-08-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

We spent a day in Dubrovnik, Croatia. "Old Town" is surrounded by a medieval double wall and other fortifications. We walked through the quaint neighborhoods, and around the wall to the Adriatic Sea.

Argostoli, Greece

2008-08-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Drogarti Cave

The Island of Cephalonia is one of the most beautiful destinations in Greece. It is the resting place of Odysseus from Homer's "Illiad and Odyssey", and it is the setting for the movie "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". We went to the mythological Melissanni Lake (La Grota della Nimfe) and Drogarati Cave. The caves have amazing acoustics, and the hold concerts in them during the year. After a few tries we found a place that would rent us a car with our American licenses and we drove around the island. While in Argostoli we had the most amazing Gyro!!! It was the best food during our entire trip. When we returned our mini car Staci asked the lady where we should go for a gyro--pronounced Yeeroe--not Euro--She sent us to a little hole in the wall that had the best food ever. They put french fries in gyros---I am still mad that I only ate one.

Melissani Lake

2008-08-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Water was so clear and blue

More Argostoli

2008-08-01T12:08:00.001-07:00

They do not have sand beaches--ouch

Myrtos Beach

2008-08-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

This beach is one of the top 5 in the world. You have to drive through the mountains to get to it, but when you come around the bend the veiw is stunning. We could not get in because the 10 foot waves were breaking on the beach from the storm they had the week before, but it was still amazing!!!! After we left the beach I navigated us inthe wrong direction and we ended up driving through little villages back to Argostoli---woops.

Santorini, Greece

2008-08-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

The only way to get to Fira is by donkey or ski lift---we chose the ski lift, and this is the view from the town.
You can tell this was before the beach because Ty's legs are so white:)
We are not breaking the law because we are in arabesque
Red Beach

Santorini is the most ruggedly beautiful place on earth!! What was once the island of Thira sank to the bottom of the caldera in the apocoliptic explosion in 1450 BC. The lagoon-like caldera is 32 square miles, and 1312 feet deep. Perched high atop Palea Kamini and Nea Kamini is picturesqu Santorini. The sugar cube houses and churches with brilliant blue domes are set againtst the deeper blue skies and Aegean Sea. This was our favorite port. We rented a dune buggy and went all over the island. We spent the morning in Ia and had amazing gyros. We then went to three amazing beaches--Kumari, Red Beach, and Perisa. My favorite was Perisa--it had amazing black lava sand beaches.

More Santorini

2008-08-01T12:06:00.003-07:00

This is a little town named Ia--it is about 15 minutes from Fira

Perisa Beach---so amazing

Catania, Italy

2008-08-01T12:06:00.001-07:00

Famous Elephant fountain

Yummy peach granite

The City of Catania sits at the foot of one of the most brilliant volcanoes and is on the coastline of the Ionian Sea. Mount Etna is notoriously ferocious and has destroyed Catania several times. We spent the day on our own here because Staci and Doug had ship duties. We had amazing food and granita and had a great time.

Naples, Italy

2008-08-01T12:05:00.002-07:00

Just off the boat in Capri

Going into Blue Grotto
Wow what a little hole---watch your head!!

Naples is the home of Pizza, so of course we ordered four and took them back to the ship for dinner---it was perfectly simple. We took jet boats to the Isle of Capri and spent the day touring the island and shopping. We went to the Blue Grotto--the entrance was so small you had to duck to get under it.

Capri and Naples

2008-08-01T12:04:00.001-07:00

We barely made it under

Here I am as the pizza delivery girl.

Mount Stromboli

2008-08-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

There aer two towns on the volcanoe--The lava is so slow the people can always get away, even if it totally destroys the villages

We circled the volcano and watched it erupt---it was pretty spectacular

Civitacchia, Italy (Rome)

2008-08-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Colosseum

Crouching tiger hidden Polly

The Spanish Steps

This was our longest day ever!!!!!!! We did all of Rome in one day and we nearly died. we took the train from Civitavecchia to Rome and went straight to the Colosseum. We then worked our way by foot to Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. We ended our day in Vatican City at Saint Peters Basilica. It was incredible to be in such an historic city.

More Rome

2008-08-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Trevi Fountain

More Rome

2008-08-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Vatican City
Saint Peters Basilica

Florence, Italy

2008-08-01T11:48:00.001-07:00

Il Duomo

We were on our own again this day because Staci and Doug had a show to rehearse for. We took an hour train ride into Florence and saw the Cathedral Il Duomo, and Michelangelo's David. It is a masterpiece!! we also found some summer villas that we would have no problem moving into if anyone has a spare million or so (or if we wanted to join the mafia).

More Florence

2008-08-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Our new Italian Villa

McDonalds transcends all Languages

Pisa, Italy

2008-08-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Despite our efforts to prop it up, the tower is still leaning. we were very rushed for time, so we hopped off the train, took a taxi to the towers, made our driver wait and spent five minutes taking pictures and then rushed back to the train station to catch the train back to Livorno. We caught the last shuttle to our ship and enjoyed Staci and Dougs show that night.

Barcelona, Spain

2008-08-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Guelle Park

We arrived in Barcelona (the locals pronounce it barthelona) at 6pm and had to concure the city before we left at 7am the next morning. We went straight to Guelle Park to enjoy the work of Gaudi. It is beautiful and tacky all at the same time.

More Barcelona

2008-08-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

We also saw the unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral and had a great dinner at a little Tapas resteraunt.

Views from our Balcony

2008-08-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great Cabin and enjoyed breakfast in bed, or on the balcony everyday. Sunsets were amazing.

From the Ship

2008-08-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Random pictures from the ship.

From The Ship

2008-08-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on the ms Zuiderdam. I played a trivia game and lost by a lot(it is hard to tell, but I am the one with 0 points)!! I also came in second in the slot tournament and won a shirt. The shows were great and we loved hanging out with Staci and Doug.

The Airplane

2008-08-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

This was a long day, it is good we slept most of the way.