Med Cruise Part 3 - Florence, Rome, Naples

Med Cruise Part 4 - Athens, Istanbul, Mykonos, Venice

We made our stop in Athens a family day and took everyone ashore to explore the Acropolis. During our brief stop at the Plaka (outdoor market) Mike and I purchased a painting of Mykonos to remind us of our visit. At a traditional Greek restaurant on the water the waiter brought out whole, uncooked fish for us to select from for lunch. A short time later the fish we had selected reappeared at our table delectecably cooked. We ate the entire thing!

A view of Istanbul from our balcony. I spent five days in Istanbul with a girlfriend during college and was hopeful to recognize the major sites and remember favorite places we had visited. Strangely enough, it felt like I was visiting for the first time because nothing looked familiar. The Grand Bazaar was both grand and bizarre. A quiet lunch with live Turkish music redeemed the experience. This time I did not buy a rug :).

Hunter and Kayla at the Greek island of Mykonos, our last port.

Mike was invited by the Ship's Captain for a rare bridge tour. While up there alarms sounded, the crew scurried to the controls in response and he witnessed the beginning of problems that would put one engine out of service for the remainder of the cruise and prevent us from visiting our last scheduled port, Split, Croatia. After his bridge tour, while enjoying lunch in the dining room, without kids, Mike observed "see Jill, even big ships have engine trouble sometimes." The inconvenience was nicely compensated for with a shipboard credit we enjoyed spending at the spa, ahhh!

Mike has been a fan of Igor Medvedev and purchased this piece on board. The art gallery was probably his favorite stop while walking the ship. We took the boys to the "Fun Factory" on board almost every day. Fisher went crazy in the ball pit and Hunter practiced walking with a little push cart in the toddler room. They played on the outdoor slide and one day swam in the kiddie pool.

We disembarked in Venice, Itlay and stayed overnight in a hip Marriott hotel near the airport. Hunter took his first steps at this hotel walking between two suitcases set outside out hotel room door the morning we were leaving.

Althought we arrived at the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight our check-in took much longer than expected and we barely caught our flight to Vienna, where we were to connect to a flight Zurich them direct to LAX. Unfortunately due to our delay the flight arrived late and we missed our connection. We were re-routed through JFK. Although I was completely exhaused (that combination of morning sickness, exhaustion, etc) the kids were amazing! They stayed awake for most of the nine-hour flight from Vienna to JFK, where we had to claim our luggage, clear customs, transfer to a different terminal, pass security (that's never easy with sleep deprived little ones in arms and a double stroller to empty out and fold). Thank the Lord we made it to our gate just in time to board. The boys and I had the entire back row of the plane to ourselves. Hunter stretched out across two seats and I made a cozy bed for Fisher on the floor in front of us. They both slept the entire way and with earplugs and my comfy neck pillow I caught some sleep too.

Kayla's parents drove all the way from El Centro to meet us at LAX. Her dad persuaded security to let them through so they could meet her at the gate. This was the longest she had ever been away and was so relieved to see them. Amazingly, Mike was able to think straight to file a claim reporting our lost luggage, which was not a big surprise, in light of having missed our originally scheduled flight. We eventually made it out of the terminal with half our luggage, caught the shuttle to the parking garage and began our drive home in the early morning hours.

Hunters 1st Birthday

We celebrated at GG-Pa's house (Fisher's way of saying GG and Pa, Jill's parents) with a casual lunch with friends. His big gift was a tandem extension for his big brother's tricycle. He is tickled to have his own seat and to be a part of the action now. Good thing there's a seatbelt!!

Fall Fun

Papa Sam, Jill's paternal grandfater, stops by for frequent visits with the boys. At 79 years old he still gets down on the floor to play with them and tests his strength lifting Hunter. Hunter's middle name, Thomas, is after this great-grandfather, Samuel Thomas.

I have taken up knitting as a hobby. Here Hunter is modeling my first finished project.


Fisher used to race around the house leaving Hunter crawling behind him. Now they are finding more ways to play together and really enjoy it.

Introducing Habanero

We are embarking on yet another adventure.  Read all about our new sportfisher Habanero at www.teamhabanero.blogspot.com

New News

The end of October we went on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  We brought along the boys, and a babysitter!  A few days into the cruise we were surprised to find out Jill's expecting!  The due date is within a few days of Mike's birthday, July 3rd.  Now that I'm over a tough bout with morning sickness, jet lag, cold and flu I can sort through our photos and start posting.  Keep checking back for updates! 

Our First Camping Trip

We took a spontaneous camping trip with our good friend the Deleckis. We were blessed with a beautiful tent campsite under large shade trees that overlooked a fish pond.

For ten years Mike has insisted we hang onto his camping gear junior high because we might use it "someday". Well, someday finally came and the camping gear worked out great!

Fisher found a mask and snorkel in one of the tent bags. He walked around announcing I Diver.

Hunter was perfectly contect snuggling with daddy morning, noon and night.

Fisher and Caleb are graet friends and like true boys, they love to wrestle.

At Lake Cuyamaca Chelsie and I put our babies in backpacks on our back and went for a walk while the boys were fishing. We brought Bosun along for what I thought would be short, pleasant walk. When I noticed we were getting far away from our starting point I asked how much further she planned to go. Chelsie said "honey, at this point it would be the same to walk the rest of the way around the lake, or turn back". So, on we went, under a barbed wire where I tore my pants and nearly lost Hunter out of the backpack. Near the end Bosun was so exhausted I ended up carrying a wet and dirty little dog. We were quite proud of ourselves when we finally saw the guys again.

Extreme Makeover: Pastor Edition

I've been wanting to help my dear friend Elizabeth (our pastor's wife) update her kitchen. I offered to paint the walls and lay down new peel and stick tiles while they were away on summer vacation. When my dad got wind of the project he wanted to take it a little further and started asking if cabinets need to be replaced. Hmm... what did he have in mind?Before they left for vacation I checked with her: "if we wanted to do a little more than paint and stick on tiles would that be alright?" Her response of "Jill, you go ahead and do as much as you want" gave us the blank check to have a ball. And we did!!!

It didn't stop there... friends and people from the church blessed them with new appliances, light fixtures, a handmade quilt, and even a new farmhouse style dining table with a bench perfect for their 4 children. And there's more... the cabinets were filled with all new dishes, glasses, utensils, bakeware, gadgets, small appliances, even an 11-piece stainless steel cookset.

But wait... we couldn't stop in the kitchen, so we got busy in the living room, laundry room, family room, cleaning, re-arranging and decorating. Then more painting, and a new mailbox, we just couldn't stop. Good thing they were coming home. This had to end somewhere.

They have shown us God's love through their sacrificial service and we were blessed to shower them back with a small part of what God has given us.

Mommy, Teach Me How

This summer Fisher was eager to learn how to do all the fun things we enjoy during the summer. During Hunter's nap we would hop in the kayak and paddle across the main channel in our basin to La Playa beach on Point Loma. He would repeat "mommy, teach me how" and I'd show him how to paddle, or hold him up on his little surf board and help him "surf". He was very brave when the kayak rocked and when we had to paddle extra fast because there was a big boat coming. At the beach he ventured into chest deep water.

Hunter was big enough to take his first ride in the swing at the playground near our marin. He loved it!

Fisher's favorite summer activity was surfing. He was obsessed with his little surf board and took it everywhere. When we were in San Diego GG took him to the beach. He surfed with Uncle J.D. and at home he would surf in the bathtub. That board can make a pretty big splash when you try standing on it in the tub.

Can you spot Persistence in Descanso Bay at Catalina Island?

Mike's Profit Platoon of fellow air conditioning contractors joined us in Avalon for a weekend of fun and relaxation.

4th of July 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! HAPPY 2ND HALF-BIRTHDAY FISHER!

We were joined onboard for our birthday & 4th of July celebrations by GG & Pa, Teta & George, Mike's Uncle Samir, Aunt Sonia and Cousin Mark (looks like a grown-up version of Hunter), Allison and the infamous Uncle J.D.

Samir and family enjoying a dinghy ride. It was a warm day.
Happy Hunter trying to escape from the confines of the cabin.

Seattle

The first week of July we flew to Seattle to visit Mike's extended family.
Our first stop was dinner at the home of Jill's college friend Karmen. Fisher and Hunter loved playing with her three young daughters. When the ice cream truck came by their girls taught our boys all about it.



We stayed downtown our first night at the W Seattle. The next morning Mike took the boys to the Seattle Aquarium and let me sleep in. Thank you!! When he saw how steep the uphill walk returning to the hotel was he threw the boys in a taxi.
We stayed at Uncle Raed house on Wooton Lake near Seattle. Here are three generations of fisherman. Mike's Uncle Fahmy, next to him, taught Mike how to fish. Jill got a chance to waterski. I'll spare you the photos. Fisher spent much time on the dock practicing casting. Mike took him out in the pedal boat for fishing along the shoreline.
Mike's cousin Breanne with Hunter.Hunter's first frappacino from the original Starbucks near Pike's Place market. He LOVED it!Mike's uncles Raed and Fahmy.
After strolling Pike's Place market we took a ferry to Tillicum Village for an authentic salmon dinner.

Darren and Hunter shared lots of tickles and giggles.

Fish had fun with his cousins Breanne, Jared and Ryan. *POW!*

Aunt Jana took us to the beach near Southworth Ferry Landing to look for crabs and starfish. Andrea came along to help us hunt.

Hunter fearlessly picked up the baby crabs and even tried tasting them.