The Barker Five

Day 10--Venice and then Home

2011-09-29T17:27:00.000-07:00

We traveled all the night before from Dubrovnik back to Venice. We were scheduled to be picked up from the boat that morning and then headed to the Venice airport. Once we arrived at the airport, we still had several hours before our plane even boarded and so we had to just wait at the ticket gates and wait for them to open so we could get through security and to a comfortable place to sit! The luggage regulations were different for some people going back home and so several of the people that were in our group were stuffing their things from one suitcase to another to try and get them all to comply with the weight limit. Several people had to pay an absorbent amount of money to either check their bags on or to pay the overweight fees. I was really stressed because I knew Caleb would refuse to pay any fees and I thought for sure our luggage was going to be overweight. Luckily, we were just under and were able to make it through with no problems.

From Venice we had a few stops and a few layovers. We had a stop in Chicago which is where we went through customs. Lets just say, the people of Chicago were rude, unhelpful (if that is a word), and had no sense of customer service. We herded around like a bunch of cattle and they were not understanding at all of the fact that some of us had flights to catch and other security we were going to have to go through. In the end, we made all of our flights and were relieved when we finally made home!

It was a wonderful trip and it was so neat to see so many places in one trip. Below are just some pictures of and from the ship.

The upper deck of the ship. The pools were salt water and were really cold.

The water in the pools was ocean water and they would drain it every night at 7 pm.

This was our first night on the ship. Venice is in the background and we were at a cocktail party on the upper deck with the other Auto Owner guests.

This was a picture from our first gala night. We took turns taking pictures with another couple and they thought this was the perfect background.

This looks like our prom picture all over again!

This was taken from the deck of our room.

This was from another gala night. Again, taken from the deck of our room.

What a stud! He is going to hate me for posting this.

This was taken at one of the shows that they had done on the ship.

This was in one of the many lounges that they had on the ship. We were waiting to watch one of the lounge shows they had put on.

Day 9--Dubrovnik

2011-09-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

This was our last port before heading back to Venice. The day was open to do whatever you wanted and we were given quite a bit of time. Dubrovnik is also known for their beaches and so we were hoping to go to some, but knew we may not have the time. All of the places that were known for their beaches, we were never ported on the right side of the island.

Dubrovnik is a fortress. The city was built within the walls and the walls protected the city from any enemies that might come from the water. You had to hike up these stairs to get to the top of the wall and then you were able to walk clear around the wall and tour the entire city from the view of the wall. We rented a self-guided tour phone that gave you information as you walked along the wall. Someone had told us it was the best thing to do. It wasn’t really! We received a lot of information, but it wasn’t all that interesting after a while. It was a really long walk and we made it even longer by stopping and taking all the pictures along the way.

Again, the beaches weren’t very close and we didn’t really have time to walk the wall and go to the beaches. We decided to just do the wall and ended up having quite a bit of time when we were done. We walked around Dubrovnik and fed ourselves and looked at shops. We had some pizza and fries that looked delicious. The pizza was actually really good, but the fries weren’t as good as they had looked. We also had some Gelato and fresh squeezed lemon juice that was really good. Dubrovnik is not part of Greece, it is actually in Croatia. They used Kunas instead of Euros. It was like 75 Kunas to 1Euro. Try figuring that out every time you wanted to buy something and then try to convert it to our dollar!

After Dubrovnik we spent the afternoon sunbathing and visiting with several of the couples we had met on the trip. That night we had a cocktail hour with the Auto Owners group and then had dinner following that. It was nice to visit everyone and to have some more time with all the people we had met. We ended the night with going to their final show on the ship and then headed back to our rooms to get everything packed and ready to go for the next morning.

This was a hole that Caleb found. It started at the top of the wall and just went straight down. We sat there for a while trying to decide what it was for!

This food was delicous!

If you look in the background you'll see these lights and the glass around them was different for every shop. Each light and the businesses name and an image of some sort to represent that business. We had stopped here and had icecream and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Day 8--Korfu

2011-09-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

When we ported at Korfu it was kind of a race again. We had limited time and we knew we wanted to go to the beaches which were clear on the other side of the island. When we first got off the ship there was a line of taxis that would take you to the beaches, but for a cost J Because there was no taxi service near the beaches, the taxi drivers would take you to the beach and then wait around for you for a couple of hours and then take you back to the ship. We started off being adamant that we didn’t want to pay for a taxi, but still ended up in a bartering match with one of the drivers. For 80 euro he would take us to the beaches and then wait around for us. Not a bad deal, but we were hoping to rent a scooter for about 30 euro and so we kindly turned him down. Prior to getting off the ship we had been told where the best place was to rent a scooter and exactly where to go to get it. Once again, we were lead astray and were wandering around aimlessly trying to ask people who didn’t know English where we could rent a scooter from. The whole time we are arguing and blaming the other person for telling the taxi driver no. After a very stressful amount of time, we stumbled upon a rental place. We were short on time so we immediately paid and took off. The scooter we received was definitely not high-class, but it did get us to our destination!

The guy from the rental shop gave us some directions on how to get to the beaches. He told us that the good beaches were clear on the other side of the island and that we wouldn’t have enough time to make it to those, but there were some other beaches close by. Well, we decided we wanted to make our trip worth it and so we set off on an adventure to the other side of the island to find the good beaches. The drive was beautiful and it took us only about 20 min. to get to a beach.

When we reached the beach, it was amazing. The water was this turquoise color and the beaches were just a great accent to it. Due to the time restraints we were only able to layout and get in the water for a little while. When we were swimming we noticed how boyant we were. I guess because of the density of the salt it caused you to float more.

On our trek back to the city we pulled over a couple of times and took pictures of other beaches and sites on the way. There was also an olive wood shop on the way that we stopped at and purchased a cutting board and ring from.

As we were getting back into Korfu I was commenting to Caleb about how much better he had done driving the scooter and how impressed with him I was. We were sitting at a light and were noticing how many scooters were driving around and how unsafe they were with the way people drove. We had pulled up next to another couple that was on a scooter while we were waiting for the light. All of a sudden we heard a crashing sound and looked next to us. The scooter beside us had just been hit by the car behind them. It knocked the scooter over and a lot of their luggage had fallen off. The car behind must have thought the light was still green or something and had just pulled forward too far. Everyone appeared to be o.k., but we definitely realized how lucky we were that the 2 times we had driven our scooters nothing major had happened.

When we got back to Korfu we had some time to look through their shops and tour the city. The city was really pretty and everyone was just so laid back. We bought a few more souvenirs and actually found some jerseys for the boys that we had been looking for at every stop. The hard thing with the cruise was that you stopped at a different place each day and you weren’t ever able to go back to a specific place to pick up souvenirs. We were always questioning whether we would find a better deal on one of the other islands, but knew we wouldn’t ever be back to that spot again.

Once back on the ship we, again, got dressed up and went for dinner and the show.

This was the view just off of the ship at the center of Korfu

This was a view from along our scooter ride the the beach.

Another view from our drive.

This was the beach we stopped at and swam in the water.

Buildings in Korfu

The building behind us was a castle. We didn't go in this one.

This was a different beach that we had just stopped at on our way back to the city.

Day 7--Athens

2011-09-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

We ported at Athens mid-morning. From the port we were able to take a bus that took us through downtown and on a tour. The tour started through the city and we were given a lot of information about the conflict that was currently going on among the people of Athens. There was graffiti on every building and everything just seemed dirty. It was sad to see a place like this, with all its monuments, just surrounded by filth.

Our first stop was at the stadium. They were doing repairs and things so all you could see were parts of the bleachers. They were holding the Special Olympics there and some of the people on our tour were able to see them running by with the torch. I am not sure if I am remembering this correctly, but I believe they said that the torch for the Olympics always begins in Athens and it is at the stadium where it starts.

After touring the stadium we were taken to the Parthenon. We started at the base with our tour guide. It took us forever just to get through the gates because there were so many people visiting and they only had 2 people taking tickets. Once we finally made it through the gates our tour guide gave us some history as we walked up to the Parthenon. The Parthenon was up on top of the hill and you could overlook the city. It was amazing how many buildings they could pile on top of each other. Every inch of land was covered with housing, businesses, and etc. Again, they were doing some reconstructing of the Parthenon so they had a lot of equipment in front of the Parthenon. We couldn’t ever really get a clear picture of it. Once we reached the Parthenon, our tour guide told us we needed to be at the bottom of the hill in 15 min. and if we weren’t there, they would assume that we wanted to find our own way back to the ship and they wouldn’t be waiting for us. Well, that stressed us out a bit and so we rushed around and just tried to get as many pictures as we could. After about 5 min. of pictures we decided we would start down the hill. Little did we know that everyone in the entire area would be trying to get down at the same time. We were like a big herd of cattle that just kept getting pushed closer and closer together and never moved. Not only that, but it was 100 degrees plus humidity. I was dripping sweat everywhere and I don’t normally sweat! We didn’t move an inch for about 5 minutes and we were starting to get concerned that we may not make it back to catch up with our tour bus. It took us about 15 minutes to get through and down the hill. Come to find out, they were only allowing us to go down in a single file line and there were just so many people going down at once. When the area opened up we made it down the hill and our tour guide was still waiting for us.

After the Parthenon we had some time to tour the area and do some shopping. We looked at some sculptures they had around the area and then walked around looking for souvenirs. We also got ourselves some Gelato that was probably the best we had had thus far. There wasn’t much else to see so we boarded our bus around 2 and it took us back to the ship.

We ended our day sunbathing and then got ready for the usual 5-course dinner and the show afterwards.

This is where the Olympic torch begins

This was an ampitheater just below the Parthenon. You can see the city of Athens in the background. It just goes on forever and every square inch is covered.

The entrance upto the Parthenon. Imagine all of these people plus more trying to head down a one-way walkway.

Night of Day 6--Mykonos

2011-09-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Day 6—The Night Life—Mykonos

On the evening of Day 6 we ported at Mykonos at 6 pm. Mykonos is known for their night life and so they had us set up to be there from 6-midnight. Caleb and I figured we would plan to have dinner and then just head back to the ship. Once we got off the boat, our thoughts instantly changed! We docked just walking distance from the heart of the town. As we walked to find dinner we passed 2 beautiful little girls that were about 8 years old that were out begging for money from the tourists that were getting off the ship. It was so sad to see them doing this. It took us a while to decide on a restaurant to eat at. We wanted to eat at a place with a view, but we are also super cheap and we just couldn’t find a place. Because it took us so long, we decided to just sit along the beach and watch the sunset and then eat later. It was the best decision that we made. The sunset was beautiful and we were able to get some great pictures.

After the sunset, we were on a mission to find food and a shop that we were told sold olive wood for a great price. As we wandered we were able to really take in the views of Mykonos. The buildings were beautiful and were so unique. Again, you could just take a picture anywhere and it would be great. The people there were so friendly and it didn’t feel like a tourist trap. As we were walking along we found a place that had gyros, which sounded delicious. We each order a gyro and several other things. It was the best food we had had the entire trip. We just sat outside and people watched while we enjoyed our food. Several people were handing out cards for free drinks at several of the clubs/bars. Of course, we didn’t attend any of these, but it was amazing how many cards we were given.

Once we finished eating and people watching we decided to find the shop that was selling olive wood. We were able to wander throughout all of the shops and see the uniqueness of this place. The olive wood shop was neat. The lady that worked there was so passionate about the wood and she had so many stories to tell. We walked away with a lot of olive oil soap and some olive wood pieces for souvenirs.

By this time it was midnight and we needed to head back to the ship. In the end, we wished they would have given us a while day on Mykonos instead of splitting it between Santorini and Mykonos. This day was probably my favorite out of all the stops we had been to thus far.

We took this just a little ways from where our boat had ported.

There were little walkways like this all through Mykonos. Everything was white.

This was our view of the sunset. It was so picture perfect with the boat there.

This is where we had dinner. They shaved the meat right off and cut everything right there in front of you.

Day 6--Santorini

2011-09-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

I know I am ridiculous at this whole blog thing! I WILL eventually get our whole trip documented and possibly even update other events from the summer, but for now, I am making no promises. I'm back to being a working mom and am still trying to juggle everything :)

Today began early because we were porting at our first stop of the day in order to make it to our second port by 6 that evening. The ship was unable to port right along the island so we took boats from the ship to the port. While getting ready that morning my dress was having a hard time with its zipper and so while we were on the little boat that was taking us to the port, Caleb was trying to fix my zipper. The zipper started below my thigh on my side and went up to my armpit. While Caleb was trying to get my zipper to zip he had to yank on it to get it to go down and it completely ruined my zipper. We couldn’t get my dress to zip and I was fully exposed! Caleb and I sat for the entire boat ride trying to figure out what we could do with my dress because we obviously had no way of going back and getting a change of clothes. We luckily had some towels in our bag and Caleb made one of them into a sash that wrapped around my waist and luckily kept my dress closed enough to not reveal everything!

Once we arrived at the island we were at the very bottom of the island. Santorini was built all along the top of the hill and was the most beautiful sight. As soon as you got off there were all these donkeys and little men waiting for you. For 5 euro you could ride this donkeys up this gigantic hill to top and get to Santorini or you could walk. Once you see the pictures, you will see that it was a no brainer to take the donkeys. These men helped you on the donkeys and then just let them go on their own up the road. They would all follow each other and try to keep up with each other. My donkey kept racing to get ahead and Caleb’s would just randomly stop and he couldn’t get it to move. About half-way up our donkeys all just started running up the hill and we couldn’t figure out why. Then we looked behind us and this man was coming up behind us yelling something at them and then clicking at them. It was an adventurous ride to say the least!

As soon as we got to the top we were on a race to get started because we only had a few hours. We had known ahead of time that we wanted to rent a 4-wheeler or scooter so we could go to the other side of the island to a village called Oia. One of the travel guys had told us exactly where to go once we left the donkey trail, but for some reason the way he told us did not get us exactly to the place. So….we were both a little frustrated and irritated because we knew our time was ticking away. We found a travel agency in town and were trying to ask the gal where we could find a place to rent a scooter. She was busy with someone else and not too anxious to help us, so Caleb told me to stay there while he went looking around. I waited and waited and she finally (after at least 10 min) was ready to help me. She told me it was just a block or so down the road. In the meantime, Caleb had found a scooter rental and was trying to rent a scooter for us. The man asked for his driver’s license right away and questioned Caleb about why it didn’t say anything about a motorcycle license. Caleb was anxious to get this scooter rented so he told the guy we didn’t need those where he was from! Needless to say, Caleb has never drove a scooter in his life and the guy ( and me) would have to be crazy to trust him to drive one. Caleb finally gets the scooter finalized and is on his way to come get me a little ways down the road. He tries to act suave as he leaves so that the guy won’t question his decision to rent the scooter to him. He takes off with a few jerks and stumbles, but then steadies out and comes and picks me up. We are finally on our way to Oia.

It was about a ½ hour scooter ride to the village. Caleb was a little hesitant with the scooter at first, but he caught on quickly and we had some wonderful views along our way. When we drove into Oia it was beautiful. When we pulled into the town, we weren’t sure where exactly to go so we were kind of stumbling along roads trying to find the best place to go. We went down one road and it had this pothole in the center of it. Caleb tried to get us around the pothole and instead drove us right into the back of a van! It was so embarrassing! This man asked us if we were o.k. and luckily he did start yelling at us about having just ran into a van. Luckily, no harm was done to the scooter, only a little red paint was rubbed onto the back of the van. When we hit the van, I fell forward and my leg touched a hot part of the scooter and so I received a nice burn on my calve. The area was full of white buildings with blue tops and it was right along the coast. I found myself taking pictures everywhere. It seemed like every time you turned around there was something neat to take a picture of. We weren’t able to stay long due to the time constraints, so we kind of rushed through Oia and just tried to take as many pictures as we could. After getting all our pictures we started heading back to Santorini. Again, it was a beautiful drive and we enjoyed the wind blowing through our hair and the scenery.

Once back to Santorini we returned the scooter and then looked through some of the shops for souvenirs. We were able to purchase a few things and then it was time to head back to the boat. In order to get back to the port we had to trek down the huge donkey hill we came up. You could take a donkey back down, but we chose to walk it. The rocks were so smooth from all the traffic that was on them that you would just slip all the time. It was very steep and you had donkeys coming down behind you as well. It was a relief to get back to the bottom.

After getting onto the boat, we laid out and sunbathed on the ship. It was a really hot day and it was nice to enjoy the cool water. That evening the ship was going to be porting at Mykonos for the evening and so we began getting ready for that.

Heading up the donkey hill. Notice the towel I'm sporting.

Caleb's donkey would just randomly stop and take a break all the time.

A view from the top. We were surprised we survived!

A view of Santorini from the top

This was along the way to Oia. We thought we were getting close, but weren't even close.

Oia village

We took this on our way to Oia. Oia village is in the background.

This is a view from the top looking down on the donkeys. They were just all sitting there waiting for someone to ride them.

Day 5--Olympia

2011-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up and had the breakfast buffet on the ship. The breakfast was really starting to get old because there wasn’t much to eat and the food was just not good. We ate and then waited for them to tell us that the boat had ported and we were able to enter the city. We ported and then a tour bus took us in groups into the center of Olympia. We were headed to the Olympic ruins in Olympia. When we arrived we were dropped off at the top of the hill and then rocked down into the area of the ruins. There were a couple of groups of tours and we were all standing outside the entrance waiting in the heat while our tour guides tried to figure out the tickets. We continued to stand there and our tour guide was handing out tickets and was just handing them out to anyone standing there. In the end, we were missing tickets and the tour guide kept saying that some of us must have moved groups after they told us not to and that was why we were short a ticket. Once she got over that we were short a ticket and we weren’t getting in without them she got us the extra ticket and we were able to enter. Again, the tour guide had a very thick accent and it was very hard to understand her and she talked a lot! She took us around the ruins and explained what some of the pieces were prior to being ruins. It was really neat to see the ruins and hear the stories. After a little while, we took our own tour around the ruins because we couldn’t understand our tour guide anymore! On the outside of the ruins was the Olympic track. As you entered in, there were pedestals just outside the entrance. These were where the cheaters had to stand and people would see these cheaters as they entered into the track.

Once we were done with the tour they gave us some time to wander in the shops and then it was time to head back to the ship. After we did some shopping in Olympia we boarded our bus and headed back to our docking area. We decided that we wanted to do some looking around where we were docked. We looked through some of the shops and then Caleb decided that he wanted to get himself a gyro. He wandered off and I decided to sit on a bench and wait for him. We were to be boarded at 5:00 and this was around 4:30. I sat for about 20 min. and then worried that I had maybe missed seeing Caleb come back around and so I started going up and down the street looking for him. We were needing to be on the boat in less than 10 min. and I was starting to get really worried. I kept thinking about what we tell the kids when they get lost and wondered what Caleb would do if he was lost or looking for me. I tried to stay in the open and was thinking that maybe I should just start heading to the ship. As I was headed that way, Caleb spots me ( he is close to the entrance for the ship) and he is yelling my name to hurry. You could tell he was panicked as much as I was that we were going to miss our boat! All in all, we made it on time and learned our lesson about sticking together.

That evening we had our usual 5-course dinner and then went to the show on the ship that evening.

The Cheaters!

The Olympic Track

Day 4--Bari

2011-07-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Day 4--- Bari was the destination for the day and we arrived in port. We disembarked and decided to go it along for this day. Bari had two destinations we were to hit and it was the Saint Nicholas cathedral where Saint Nick was laid to rest and the other was the castle. Bari came in with low expectations but we really enjoyed just walking the streets and enjoyed the castle and cathedrals in Bari. They had two and they were both neat to walk into and see how beautiful they were. The cathedral set up was a main sanctuary adorned with gold trimmings and beautiful wood work all over. Behind the pulpit for lack of a better/right term was a stair case that went below ground and there was another area it looked like to pray and worship. However this area was very plain except for the pictures of Mary and Jesus and the candles that were lit in different areas. The walk was a bit long but we did see most of the island as the castle and the cathedral of Saint Nick was on opposite sides of the island. Overall we enjoyed Bari. Once back on the ship we got ready for dinner and like every night went to eat was AO people where we were served a 5 plus course meal every night. However that night the food for a second straight night was just OK. That night I had to convince Kim to go to the theatre again but we made it by ourselves and we were entertained with a juggler, dancers, singers, and a Fabio like dude that spun to ball around and clicked them on the stage. All of it was very entertaining and we enjoyed it. After that it was off to bed.

This was a gas station along our walk. Totally different than ours!

The castle of Bari

If you look really closely at the sign, it says there is no speed limit.

The church of St. Nick

A statue of Saint Nicholas just outside the church.

A view of the ceiling from inside the church

The Greek Isles--Day 1, 2, and 3

2011-07-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I am going to attempt to log our trip to the Greek Isles, but it may take me a while! My goal is to blog one day of the trip each day, but I am not making any promises!

Day 1--

We fly from Boise to Chicago and encounter a 5 hour layover. After contemplating whether we should go into downtown Chicago we decided to just sit down and eat at our place Chilis. We then waited 3 hours doing nothing and finally we departed to Munich. In Munich we had just a short layover and we departed and arrived in Venice. For once we had no issues on the flight and no issues with luggage. So we count that a big win. Once out of the airport AO had a gal take us to a water taxi that strolled about a main waterway to our hotel. The hotel was very nice. Apparently the Molino Stucky Hotel is a 5 star $500 a night hotel on the edge of the canal in Venice. First impressions of Venice was it was a little dirty and the people are all smoking. We went to our room to find we were given a suite! This had a living area with a hallway that had a bathroom and farther down was the bedroom. The room was very nice and the view was of the downtown area of Venice. Very Cool! That night we had our AO welcome dinner which was a buffett style with a little entertainment provided by 4 italian musicians. The food was ok consisting of pasta, fish, chicken, etc. After dinner we decided to go for a little walk. Our area was actually I believe a separate land mass from Venice because I think we were surrounded by water and cut off from Downtown Venice by the canal in front of our Hotel. So we strolled down the main road along the canal to see the shops and restaurants that lined the water. It was a very pleasant night and we took quite a few pictures. We did not sleep well that night due to the time change and the weird long flights and on and off sleeping we did on the plane. Even though we were very tired.

Our hotel--The Molino Stucky Hotel

Views from along our walk

This was where our room was

Day 2—On the morning of day 2 we had a breakfast buffet served by the hotel. They had a lot of different food, but really the same stuff we have. They served a lot of unique cheeses, had eggs that were really runny (Caleb said they tasted like a hard boiled egg that had been scrambled), sausage and bacon that just wasn’t similar to ours, and a lot of fruit. All the grapes had seeds in them and everything was all just a little bland. They didn’t ever have salt and pepper at the tables and you had to ask for it if you wanted any. After breakfast we headed on our tour of Venice. The city itself was just gorgeous and everywhere you turned you could take a picture of something unique and beautiful. When we started the tour we started in the center of the city. There were several black men selling these purses and they would bring the purse up to you and say “You want to know how much?” I told Caleb to find out how much the purses were so I would know where to start with my bartering. They told him 36 euro which was way more than I would ever pay, so we walked on and continued on with the tour. We started with this one tour guide and her accent was so strong you could not understand her English and it was painful to listen to her. They had given us earpieces that we could hear them through so we just switched stations and went to a new tour guide. We started and Saint Marcs Square and they took us through the Bascilica. This is where all of their government was held and all of their courts were taken care of in here. It had a lot of history and information that was just overwhelming. When we left, the guide took us through the prisons which was connected to the main building. We then crossed over the Bride of Sighs. They call this bridge that because they claim the prisoners would sigh as they passed over this bridge as they awaited their time to come in prison. From there we went into the church there. The church was all done in mosaic and it was absolutely amazing. They wouldn’t allow us to take pictures in the church so we just walked through and enjoyed looking at the detail they had put into the church. From the church they took us to the Marono Glass store. They did a presentation for us of how they do the blown glass. The gentleman made a vase and a horse in a matter of minutes. They would melt the glass and then he would rotate, pull, and shape the glass in literally one minute and he would then have the item complete. From there we were able to wander around a bit before they took us on the gondola ride. AO had set up a gondola ride for everyone and we were on the boat with 2 other couples. It was about a ½ hr. ride and they weaved you around along the different canals that just run endlessly through their city. After the gondola ride we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon. We wandered around with another couple from our group. We went into a few shops and had lunch. We had lunch at a little place inside the town and had some pretty good food. Caleb had a Panini and I had some pizza. They will charge you 15% if you sit down and eat, but if you take it and go, they don’t charge you anything extra. This was the first time we had run into this! We knew from then on to not sit J After lunch we ran into another one of the men that was selling all the purses when we entered into the city. He and I bartered a bit and by the end of it I ended up with one purse for 20 euro, which was pretty good in comparison to the 36 euro he had started at. As we wandered back into town another gentleman was standing there selling purses. He tried to sell another one to me and I tried to show him that I had already bought one. He then proceeded to ask me which one I would like and I pointed to a few. As he and I were discussing the purses another lady passed by and told me that it was a $1,000 fine to purchase. The guy, of course, said that wasn’t true and continued on bartering. As we were bartering another black man came by and told my purse seller that “they were coming”. All of a sudden you saw this mass of black men carrying purses rushing past us. My purse seller immediately told me I could have my purse for 10 euro (which he had already bagged up and put in my hand before I had even paid). I quickly paid him and shortly after that a policeman was rushing after all these men and told me that buying that purse was illegal. It was quite the experience. From there we headed back to our hotel and went swimming in the pool. The pool was on the roof of our hotel and you could overlook Venice while swimming. It was beautiful! When the pool closed we decided to head back to our room and get ready to have dinner. Once we got ready, we both decided we were still full from lunch and decided not to leave our room. We continued to get our bags packed for we were leaving the next morning to board the cruise ship.

The Bridge of Sighs is directly behind us

This was the horse that was made by the blowing of glass. The man made it in just minutes.

View from the pool

Day 3— The first day of the cruise. We woke up early and was again water taxied over to the port holding our cruise ship. It was called the MSC Musika. It was a beautiful large cruise ship sporting lots of staterooms and many lounges, bars, a whole floor dedicated to restaurants, another floor containing two pools 4 hot tubs, fitness center, mini golf, tennis/soccer/basketball area, kids zone, casino, and theatre for live shows. We settled into our stateroom which contained a bedroom with a small bathroom that had a tiny shower sink and toilet. The room was not as small as I thought it would be as it held two double beds that were pushed together. Outside the room we had a balcony that was very nice for fresh air and overlooking all of the ports we arrived at. That night was a welcome cocktail party sponsored by AO and let’s just say people took advantage of it. Following the party was dinner and it was one of the loudest dinners I have ever experienced, but everyone was having a good time including us. Following dinner every night the ship entertained us with a live show. We had just met a couple of new couples so they accompanied us to the show. Their names were Ryan and Laurie, and Bryan and Dana. The theatre was very nice but I think because of the alchohol or something everyone was a little bit antsy and after a couple of songs everyone decided to leave. We explored the ship a little and found the casino and watched people lose money and a few win. As with every night to follow we went to bed around midnight and that concluded the first day on the ship.

A view from the top of the ship as we leave Venice.

Another view of Venice.

Easter 2011 (1 month late!)

2011-05-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

This year we had Easter at our house. We did a brunch and all the food was amazing. After eating we set out all the eggs and began our Easter egg hunt. It was fun to watch all the kids have so much fun chasing down all the eggs and seeing what was inside. The weather was actually pretty nice and we had a great time with all the family.

April Kite Party

2011-05-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

Every year my sister in-law, Chelsea, does a kite party for the April birthdays. She always does such a great job and this year was no exception. We had lunch and then headed to the park to fly kites. The weather was actually quite nice this year. There was just enough wind and it wasn't too cold. We took our kite we had bought at the Oregon Coast and it was a lot of fun. I couldn't get any kites to fly. Every time I touched one, it crashed!

Spring Break 2011

2011-05-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of Spring Break, I worked on getting my house cleaned and errands ran. On Thursday of that week, we headed to Washington to visit Caleb's grandma. We spent a day with her and then took a day and went to Seaside. It was a short trip filled with driving, visiting family, and site seeing. On the way home we stopped at the falls and IKEA. It was all a great time!

It was beautiful when we pulled into Seaside. As soon as we got out of our car, the wind picked up and the rain began.

When it was nice, we decided to buy a kite and go fly it on the beach. As soon as we got the kite all put together, the weather changed.

We got so wet that we had to spend a couple hours in an arcade that was indoors to get ourselves dry!

The Boys' First Pinewood Derby

2011-03-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

The boys and dad worked on the cars for a couple of weeks. The night before the race we went to the church and tested out the boys' cars. They were not very fast! We talked with the boys about how it is o.k. to not always win and it is about the experience. The morning of the race the boys were excited and I was nervous about their reactions when they lost! After several races it came down to the boys racing against each other for 1st place in overall race. Trenton won 1st place in overall race and Gavin got 2nd. Gavin was so exhausted that he just started crying when he lost for 1st. Little did he know that he received 1st in overall show and Trenton received 2nd. The Barker boys took home some prizes.

The cars before the race. Trenton's car is in the front row. It is blue on top with red on the bottom. Gavin's car is in the 2nd row, third one over. It is red on top with yellow on bottom. Both boys designed everything on their car, Dad just helped implement the designs.

This was at the award ceremony. Neither of the boys knew that they had each placed 1st in one area and 2nd place in the other.

As always, I was one proud momma of all my boys!

Winter Carnival 2011

2011-03-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

We made it up to the McCall Winter Carnival this year and had a great time. We stayed at the cabin for the weekend and took a day for seeing all the ice sculptures and a day for sledding. It was a nice and relaxing weekend and we enjoyed having some time in the snow.

Grandpa and his boys

Addison the trooper. We did so much walking and she kept up with us all!

Addison's First Day of Preschool

2011-02-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

For a couple of months now, Addison has been receiving some help with her speech. She has had a speech pathologist that comes once a week and works with her on her speech. She has about 30 words now, but is just not quite where she needs to be. Because of this, she qualified to start preschool at one of the schools in Kuna. She started just after her 3rd birthday and has been loving it!

Addison's Birthday!

2011-02-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

Our little Addison turned 3 this January. It is really amazing how time flies! Addison has been such a blessing to our family. She keeps us all smiling and is such a mild-mannered little girl. Her are some pics from her birthday party.

For her birthday she received several new outfits, a backpack for preschool, a giggle doll with a wagon, play food to use in her play kitchen, and a stroller for her baby. She was so meticulous about opening her gifts and it took her forever to open them all. It was fun to watch her get excited about all her gifts.

Happy Birthday Addison!

Christmas Eve

2011-02-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

Obviously, I am a little behind! I am going to be playing catch-up!

For Christmas Eve, we always go out to my parents' house for our traditional steak dinner. We had dinner and then had a nativity presentation done by the whole family. My mom then put us all through a million pictures and then we opened our gifts. Mom made every family a quilt this year. They were all so beautiful and different. I can't imagine how long it took her to do all of these, especially with there being nine of us!

James, Chelsea, and Turner

Emily, Nikolai, and Aleksi

All the siblings and the parents

Grandpa with all the grandkids (and yes, Turner and Addison are kissing!)

Andy's new do!

All the girls

All the boys
The girls are a little outnumbered!
(Caleb is wearing a suit jacket. He was trying to embarass me.)

The boy cousins. Grandma made them all jammies.

Emily and Mom with her quilt

Chelsea and Mom with her quilt.

Jamie, Ben, Elidh, and McKay

This is what the boys looked like on the way home.

And this is what their sister looked like on the way home!

Overall, it was a great Christmas Eve!

Christmas with Auntie

2011-02-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

Every year we spend an evening with Aunty Karen exchanging gifts and enjoying each others company. Auntie spoiled us, as usual, and we all left with all kinds of things. Christina and I both received label makers which were a highlight of the evening. Caleb was given tons of Denver Bronco and Boise State Bronco things. I got this really cool cook book holder that I use every day. Addison ended up with a couple pairs of new jammies, some books, hair things, and a nice big pillow. The boys were given remote control cars that they played with the whole evening and for weeks on end! We love our Auntie Karen and all the wonderful things she does for us. She is a blessing to our lives.

Boys' Piano Recital

2011-02-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

The boys have been taking piano lessons for a couple of months now. They had their first recital the first of December. They both did so great! I think I was more nervous than they were! It brought some tears to my eyes watching them perform so well on something they had worked so hard on. I was one proud mommy!

December

2010-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

For the month of December, Caleb decided to "plan" out the month and do something Christmassy each night. Our calendar has consisted of Christmas movie nights, game nights, plays, symphony, decorating, shopping for gifts, gingerbread houses, and so much more. We are half way through the month and here are a few pics from our evenings.

At the first of the month, we decorated our home with all the Christmas decor.

This nativity was from my grandparents and it brings back great memories every year we put it up.

The kids with their favorite ornament

The 3 of them were just all sitting around the ornaments talking about each one and the memories they had. It was pretty cute.

Dad putting up the angel

Trenton was very particular about where each ornament was hung.

Gavin kept getting irritated because his ornaments would fall off.

While decorating, we enjoyed some egg nog. Addison enjoyed it a little too much. It ended up all over her face and she loved it!

At the first of December the grandkids did gingerbread houses with my mom. We had purchased a kit from Costco and so we did a family gingerbread house later that week.

Addison helped by eating, and eating, and eating.

Gavin showed her how!

Trenton and Dad were the engineers and did a great job assembling everything. They both were very precise!

We did suffer one casuality. The poor gingerbread men were attacked by the big bad Addison.

The finished product.

Snow Day!!!

2010-12-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

Oh what do you do on a snow day, when all the grass is white? Do you put on a coat, do you put on a scarf, or do you play in it all day? That is the song we made up when playing in the snow. This is what we did on our snow day!

We sat and watched a movie, took naps, built a snowman, made a slide, attempted to build a fort, and then finished our day with some hot chocolate. We didn't clean, do dishes, fold laundry, or anything else that should have been accomplished on a day off. It was the best day ever!

Halloween

2010-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

This year, we had a very busy Halloween weekend. Friday night we went to the annual Bolander doughnut and chili feed. The chili was great and the doughnuts were amazing! Saturday night, James and Chelsea had their annual Halloween party. Chelsea had some really cute decorations and some great food. On Sunday, we went and visited all the family and then went to a harvest party at the church. This year we had:

A girly pirate

A very handsome Luigi

Three Adorable Children

And Darth Vader himself!

Gavin's 7th Birthday

2010-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

On October 24th, Gavin turned 7. It is amazing what this guy has grown up to be. He is so caring, giving, loving, funny, athletic, and a great brother. For his birthday dinner, he wanted meatloaf, but it was too hard to make that much meatloaf for the whole family so we decided to do Shrimp Camp Gumbo, a recipe from Caleb's cousing.

The spread!

After dinner, we did the cake and icecream. Aunty Karen had made the cake for Gavin. It was a giant doughnut!

Gavin received so many great things. He got his first Bronco t-shirt, a "football set", light saber, High Five magazine, nerf gun, and some cash. Happy Birthday Gavin!

A New Look

2010-11-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

The other day, Caleb and I, were discussing painting the trim in our front room. When we first painted it we did an off-white color, and since then, it has dulled even more and is very scratched up. For some reason, along with this conversation came the discussion of changing the color of the front room. We decided we would like to do a focus wall and add some texturing or something to the main color. While shopping at Home Depot, we decided that it wasn't going to be enough to just paint one wall, so we decided to paint a half wall and then add some molding.

The one thing with Caleb and I is that a lot of things we haven't ever done before, but decide that it should be easy enough to do without directions or experience. This was one of those projects! It all turned out really good, but we were definitely learning as we were going. So here is what we did:

First, decide how high up you want to have the color go up. We decided on 3ft. high. We measured and then began painting. The line does not have to be perfect because the trim will cover up a portion of it.

Next, we purchased the trim we wanted and then laid it out and painted it. We have found in the past that it is easier to give the trim a coat of paint before putting it up and then do the second coat when it is secured in place.

Now it is time to find studs to secure the trim into. I had already found my stud, but Caleb needed a stud finder to find his. We borrowed a brad nailer from a friend and used it to secure the trim into the walls. Once everything is nailed up, we put wood fill in the nail holes, sanded, and then did the final coat.

This is my stud, Caleb is holding his stud finder!

And this is the finished product. We thought it transformed the room, but we had several family members over the next day and several did not even notice until they asked why we had brown paint sitting on the counter!

Soccer

2010-10-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

The boys started soccer a couple of weeks ago and it has been so neat watching them improve with each game. They are on the same team so we are able to watch both of them at the same time. Both of them get right in there and have each made a couple goals.

Getting a pep talk from dad.

Gavin the goalie.

I am so proud of my boys and I love watching them play. It is the highlight of my week. I get to yell and cheer for them and nothing could be better.

Women's Walk 2010

2010-10-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

All the girls, halfway through the walk.

Everyone waiting around for the walk to start.

The End is here!

Every year, my sisters, sister in-laws, and mom get together and do the Women's Walk. It is always so neat to see the number of people that show up and it is a great time with the girls! This year we did the walk and then went to my sister's house and ate and did a craft. My mom found these cute block pumpkins that we made and it was a lot of fun. I am already looking forward to next year.

First Day of School

2010-09-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

Gavin with his teacher

Trenton with his teacher

Caleb brought the boys by so I could see them and we were able to take a quick picture.

On the 30th of August, the boys had their first day of school. Unfortunately, that was my first day of school too, so luckily I have a wonderful husband who took them to school and took pictures for me. They are both loving school and love their teachers.

What handsome boys I have!

Family Pictures

2010-08-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

We recently had my sister, Emily, take some family pictures for us. She took pics of the whole family and I thought they turned out great. Addison didn't cooperate very well and so we might be having her take some more pics of our family, but these will have to do for now. There are a ton of pics so take your time!

Trenton Turns 8!

2010-08-22T19:31:00.001-07:00

On Monday, my little man turned 8! I can't believe how the time has flown and what an amazing boy Trenton has grown to be. He is so compasionate, loving, caring, giving, sensitive, handsome, and just plain wonderful!

On Monday, we stayed home and had dinner. Trenton had requested lasagna and he sat at the head of the table for dinner. Earlier that day, Trenton went shopping with Grandma and had a blast. He found a scooter, some scuba gear, clay, and some really cool books. I think he loved just having the time spent on him.

Trenton enjoying his lasagna

On Thursday, Trenton went to the bookstore with Aunt Cammie. He picked out several books and has already finished them all! Again, he had a great time and had some special one-on-one time with Aunt Cammie.

On Saturday, we celebrated his birthday with the Barker family. We ate food, spent time in the pool and on the water slide, and enjoyed the wind storm.

Jaydon coming down the slide

Addison playing a little b-ball! Daddy would be so proud!

Aunty and Addison hanging out in the pool

The big boys playing in the pool

All the spectators enjoying the entertainment

Happy Birthday Trenton! We love you!

Family Weekend

2010-08-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we were able to have my family up to the cabin to spend some time together. We were only missing two of my sister's and Joe. We missed all of them and the family just isn't the same without everyone there!

For those that were there, we had a great time. We all came in Friday evening and enjoyed some hot dogs and a campfire. My brothers decided it would be "fun" to play capture the flag in the forest in the pitch black. There were six of us dumb enough to play and needless to say, only a few people were hurt and the competitive boys won! We roasted marshmallows and enjoyed time together.

Saturday morning we all headed up the mountain for a hike. It was a mile long hike and we took everyone, babies and all! It was a steep, long hike, and there were a few of us that realized how out of shape we really are! The little kiddos lead the way and had a great time. We hiked into a lake and it was beautiful when we got there. That afternoon we went to the lake and did some tubing, skiing, and I did some sunbathing! Mom made it up for the evening and we had dinner and celebrated Andy and Trenton's birthday. Most the family headed home that evening, and those of us that stayed were quite exhausted.

It was so nice to have everyone together and it we made some great memories. Thank you to my wonderful husband who helped with all the entertaining and for dealing with my stress!

It's Off!

2010-08-05T18:45:00.001-07:00

It has been 4 weeks and Gavin was ready to get his cast off! For those of you who didn't know, Gavin broke/cracked his elbow by falling
of his bunk bed when he was messing around with his brother. After 4 weeks of being in a cast, they removed his cast and now he has to wear a splint for the next 2 weeks. His arm is still soar and he still has to be careful with it. I am hoping he has learned his lesson, but who knows!

Gavin waiting to get his cast off, and yes, that is duct tape on his cast!

The arm after the removal of his cast.

Below is a video of Gavin getting his cast off. Enjoy!

A Day at the Cabin

2010-08-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

We recently made a trip up to the cabin to spend some time with Steve for his 60th birthday! Trevor and his family were able to make it as well and it was great to have everyone together.

The evening we arrived we had dinner, played games, and hung out by the fire. Kaylani loved the marshmallows and was very willing to share them with Grandpa!

The next day we headed down to the lake. It was quite windy and a little chilly so it took us all a while to get up the gumption to go out on the water. Once we got out on the water, though, we headed to our usual cove and the water was glass and we were quick to jump in. We got in some great skiing and had a wonderful day.

Caleb and Addison hanging out on the hamock

Gavin enjoying the water

My amazing husband skiing

Trevor showing us his skills

Steve getting ready to go skiing

Caleb posing for the camera

Addison on the boat

Jaydon, Gavin, and Kaylani getting blown away!

Kaylani looking adorable

Caleb and his princess hanging out

My handsome little man

This is a close up of our fire. It was perfect for roasting marshmallows

Kaylani and her marshmallows

The family hanging out at the fire

We are Still Alive!

2010-07-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

It has officially been 3 months since my last post, and my last post was actually done by my twin sister who actually has an up-to-date blog, unlike mine! I thought by having her do a post for me it would encourage me to start posting again, but obviously that is not what happened. So now, 3 months later, I am making an attempt to begin blogging again!

Here goes nothing!

Two weeks ago we made a trip to Washington to visit Steve's family. It was a 5-day trip that started out quite rocky! Prior to leaving, our car decided to not start. This, of course, was the car we planned on taking with us. Caleb spent most the day trying to get it fixed and in the mean time we get a call from the doctor. We had taken Gavin in the day before because he had hurt his arm falling off the bunk bed. They told us to put it in a sling and it should heal in about 4 weeks. They decided to review the x-ray the next day and found that they had misread the x-ray and he was going to actually need a cast. Yeah! Not only do we not have a car running, but now we have to find someone that happens to have an opening to put a cast on Gavin so that we can leave that evening as planned. Well, the starts aligned and we were able to get a cast on Gavin and my amazing husband fixed the car!

So then we were off!

We drove to Spokane first to visit Grandpa Jack and Grandma Thelma. They came and hung out at the pool with us for the afternoon and then we had dinner with them that evening. The next day we headed to Chehallis.

Gavin with his bright green cast

Grandma and Addison

Trenton and Gavin swimming

Three Generations

Caleb, Steve, and Grandpa Jack

When we arrived at Chehallis the family there had dinner and water activities ready for us while the men went golfing. The next day we headed out to Seattle to go to a Mariner's game.

Gavin, Trenton, and Grandpa in Seattle

Gavin admiring the seagulls outside of Ivan's

Daddy enjoying some fish and chips

Trenton and Mommy at Ivan's

Trenton, Gavin, and Jaydon outside of Ivan's

After walking around Seattle for a bit, we headed to the game.

The next day we took some family pictures with everyone there and then headed to the lake for the afternoon.

This is Gavin talking to a police officer that was patrolling the park area. He was telling him all about his cast and asking him about his gun!

We headed home the next day and it was a long ride back! We stopped at some falls on the way home and had a very nice brunch buffet and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Insights

2010-04-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

This post may be a little self indulgent, but we're all entitled once in a while. The following are some things that you may not already know about me.

Cottage cheese is an absurd food.

I didn't like crab salad growing up, I was terrified that the crabs would come out and eat me.

I have a huge tolerance for pain.

I can manage to wake up late, not shower, put on wrinkly clothes, throw on a hat to go garage saling, and look way better than my companions who did the exact opposite of all of that.

I love a good bargain.

I've kissed way too many boys, many who did not appreciate my talent.

I'm the most considerate of all of my siblings, for better or for worse.

Some times I am downright hilarious.

I have a twin sister, who teased me mercilessly in our youth, but now I think she sets the sun.

I'm likable, I can't think of one person who doesn't like me, including all the boys whose hearts I broke.

I'm a good dancer, not a great dancer.

I have an uncanny ability to see what looks good together, whether in clothing or in a house.

I rolled a car, the only means of transportation for a lot of us, in high school. However, my sister ruined my parent's car and a neighbor's car, all in one week.

Deep down, I'm a sensitive soul.

In high school, I was voted most likely to sleep through college. I slept through most of Physics, which was insanely hard, but managed to get a boyfriend and pass the class, none of which my sister did.

Kimberly

Day Five

2009-12-22T20:11:00.001-08:00

We began our fifth day by heading to Manly beach. The beach was huge and there were a ton of people! We laid out for a while ( right next to some girls with their tops off!) and then took a little dip in the freezing water!

We walked around and looked at all the shops they had and got us some free Ben and Jerry's icecream. We spent most the day there, and then headed back on the ferry to our hotel.

We got ready for the evening and then headed to Darling Harbor. They were having their Christmas tree lighting on this night and so we were hoping to watch that. When we got there, we were both starving and just wanted to find somewhere to eat. Almost all the restuarants were full of people waiting to watch the tree lighting and so we weren't having much luck. We walked to the other side of the harbor and found this restuarant that had seating. It was right along the water and we had a view of the tree. We ordered this meal for two that had all kinds of seafood, our favorite! When it came out, it was on this huge layered platter with tons of seafood! As soon as our food came out the fireworks began right in front of us and they lit the tree. It was the perfect evening. We had amazing food, a beautiful view, and some alone time with each other!

After dinner we went to the Imax and watched a haunted house movie. It was 3-D and it was so neat to watch. The Imax has the worlds largest screen, which was 8 stories tall.

The Imax screen

Caleb and I in our very stylish glasses!

You can't really tell, but I am eating an octopus. The first one was all right, but the thought of what you were eating just started to gross us out!

A close up of the octopus.

Anytime they served prawns, they were served like this with eyeballs and all!

This was our tower of seafood!

Our camera did not like taking these pics, but they turned out really cool! These were the fireworks that we watched while we ate.

More crazy fireworks pictures!

A not-so-good pic of the harbor.

Caleb and I at Manly beach.

A pic of a beach at Manly, but not Manly beach.

Day Four, Better Late than Never!

2009-12-19T21:11:00.001-08:00

The morning of our fourth day, we went and walked around Darling Harbor. There were lots of shops, restuarants, and the Imax ( which has the world's largest screen!). We just walked around and looked for some souvenirs in the mall. We had to be back by that afternoon for a trip to the bush!

On the way out to the bush, we stopped at a zoo that had kangaroos, koalas, and many other native animals. We were able to pet the koalas and feed the kangaroos. It was so neat to get so close to the animals. Some of the kangaroos had little joeys in their pouches. It was not at all what I thought it would look like. You could barely tell the baby was in there. All you could see was their little feet or a tail sticking out of a hole. The koalas were so soft. They were so docile, they could care less if you were touching them! They said that they sleep 20 hrs. in a day and then eat the other four.

They took us on a bus to what they called the bush and what we would call a ranch. When we arrived, they showed us how they made black tea and bread. They were both pretty good, but it was so hot and we were sitting right next to the fire! After we ate a little, the ranchers showed us how their dogs herded sheep and then they showed us how to shear a sheep. We learned how to throw boomerangs and crack whips. It was an entertaining afternoon! The ranchers had such thick accents you could hardly understand them. We had dinner and drinks and then headed back to the hotel shortly after sundown.

Trying to get a pic of the sunset, but we missed it!

The beautiful sunset!

Shearing a sheep!

That is a joey sticking out of her belly!

They gave us honey nut Cheerios to feed the kangaroos.

I was amazed that they weren't very tall.

On a ferry leaving Darling Harbor.

Day Three in the Land Down Under

2009-12-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

We started our third day by heading to an area called Watson's Bay. There was supposed to be this really pretty walk around the edge of the ocean and you walked up to this lighthouse at the peak of a cliff. The walk was pretty, but not that impressive. The lighthouse wasn't really anything to talk about and the views weren't what we had expected. The highlights were seeing a nude beach (with no hot girls!), a nice beach area, and some well known fish and chips. We laid out on the beach for an hour or two and broke in our skin for the extreme sun!

We left Watson's Bay that afternoon, took a dip in the pool at our hotel, and then got cleaned up for our dinner cruise.

That evening we went on a dinner cruise around the harbor. We cruised around the harbor for a couple of hours and they fed us a fancy 5-course meal with unlimited beer and wine (which we loved, ha, ha!) Several of the other agents went and partied afterwards, but we thought a nice comfy bed sounded nice!

A blurry view of the lights along the harbor.

A night view of the Opera House

We finally found someone to take our picture!

Up on the top deck of the dinner cruise. It was a beatiful night and the weather was perfect!

This was the pool in our hotel. It was supposively heated, but not very warm.

This was a view from the cliff near the light house. The water was pretty calm that day.

Another view from above.

Sorry, we don't have any pics of the nudists! Maybe next time!

Day Two in the Land Down Under

2009-12-05T20:04:00.001-08:00

On our second day in Australia, we had a tour of the area we were staying in, which was called "The Rocks". There were several historical points to the tour, but our tour guide was so awful, we really didn't pay attention! The tour ended at the Opera House, which we could see from the window in our hotel room. What an amazing building that was! After a couple of hours, the tour ended and we went off on our own. We took a very scenic tour of the city of Sydney. We walked around forever and ever. We wen to Chinatown to a market that had tons of vendors and they were all fairly inexpensive. We kind of mapped out the prices and what souvenirs we were going to get and then headed back to our hotel. We headed back to get ready for dinner and thought we would head back to Chinatown to have some dinner. Again, we walked forever trying to find something that looked good that was a price we were willing to pay. All the restuarants were so expensive and nothing sounded good. We finally ended up in a mall in Chinatown that had ten different places to buy Chinese food. We found something that looked edible and we thought $9 a plate sounded great. By this time we were starving and the food wasn't even that great! That was the end to our second day.

A sideways view of downtown. (I can't get the pic to rotate and I can't delete. I hate this blog sometimes!)

You would see these weird looking birds about as often as you saw pigeons and seagulls.

A view of the harbor from the steps of the Opera House.

You'll see a lot of pictures like this. We didn't make very many friends so we had to take our own pictures of ourselves!

The Opera House

This bridge was huge. They had these tours that you would walk up the bridge to the very top and then walk back down the other side.

This was a view of our hotel from the road. Our hotel is the one in the background with the yellow lettering. It was called the Shangri-La Hotel. The Australian Hotel you can see in the foreground served pizzas and we had a crocodile pizza there. They called pubs hotels.

This is what our bed looked like every night. They came in and turned the bed down, put out a bookmark, layed out the remote and tv tray, and then put slippers out by the bedside. It was great!

Day One in the Land Down Under!

2009-12-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

On November 22nd, Caleb and I made our way to Australia! We left at 7:00 Sunday night and arrived on Tuesday morning. When we first arrived, they picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel for lunch. Are rooms weren't quite ready, so we took a nice walk around the downtown in search for Chinatown. We spent a couple of hours walking around and then headed back to the hotel to get freshened up for our welcome dinner. For dinner, they served a variety of traditional Australian food. Included in this was one of my favorite things, SEAFOOD and it was never ending. They just kept piling it up and you could eat as much as you wanted. They had lobster, crab, prawns, and bugs. It was wonderful! They also served kangaroo, which was not so good, but now we can say we've tried it!

Caleb and I posing with an Aborigian playing his dijaradoo.

2009-11-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

We had a busy/enjoyable Halloween. Our evening started about 4:30 when we went to Great Grandma's to have dinner. Trevor and Christina and their kids and J.J. came with us. It is always fun to go there and see all the smiling faces. They love to see the little ones and it seems to make some of their days to see them! We had dinner and then the madness began! We stopped at Aunty Karen's, Aunt Cammie's, and Uncle Kenny and and Jinnie's house. It was so fun to stop and visit everyone, but it made us a little late to James and Chelsea's party that started at 6:00! After all our visiting, we finally made it to their house and the boys still hadn't gone trick-or-treating and so we took them on a quick run around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, most the people had their lights out, but fortunately, it was a beatiful night so we didn't mind staying out. Aunt Cammie and the kiddos

Aunty Karen and the kiddos

Caleb and our tired little fairy

Grandma and Great Grandma with the kiddos

Gavin, the Denver Bronco

Bronco and Pirate

Bronco, Fairy, and Pirate

Annual Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

About a week before Halloween, we finally had our pumpkins and decided it was time to carve them. I always enjoy carving because Caleb does it with us! I still, every year, am so amazed that he will sit and carve pumpkins with us. I never had a dad do that growing up so I think it is so neat that my kids have such a wonderful dad who participates in these types of memories! We love you Caleb!

Obviously, Addison wasn't able to carve a pumpkin this year, but she sure kept herself entertained. She had this plastic cup that she had put a ball in and she just loved shaking that cup. It was so cute! The boys literally carved their own this year and really loved it. It was nice to not have to gut theirs and carve theirs, they did both all by themselves. We never had a chance to light the candles inside them, so I don't have a pic of the final results.

Addison and her cup. (Yes, Aunt Cammie, her eyes are red!)

Gavin hard at work!

He was so happy to be able to use a "knife". It was not really a knife and it cut really well so I think it was pretty safe!

Trenton is such a character now. He loved cleaning out the guts of the pumpkin.

My boys hard at work! Yes, we are carving pumpkins in the living room. It was Caleb's idea and I didn't argue. I think next year we'll go back to the kitchen!

Gavin's 1st Field Trip

2009-11-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

Gavin had his first field trip and they went to the pumpkin patch. Now that I am a working mom, I was unable to go, so a mom of one of my students who was there with her son, took my camera for me and took a ton of pictures. It was almost like I was there! Uncle James went and chaperoned and Gavin was thrilled! I think he had a great time and he picked out a "perfect" pumpkin!

Gavin and his pumpkin.

Uncle James helping Gavin out.

Gavin's 6th Birthday

2009-11-07T18:40:00.001-08:00

On October 24, my little man turned 6! He has been looking forward to his birthday ever since we had Trenton's and so he was prepared with all the details! He wanted his birthday at Aunt Cammie's house, hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, and grandma's cake for dessert. He specifically asked for a Denver Broncos hat and orange shirt. He did not want a Boise State hat! He definitely was spoiled for his birthday!

Gavin all decked out in his new Bronco gear and working in his new workbook.

Cheryl had this horse costume and Jaydon just went around and around the house in it.

Gavin looking cool in his Bronco jersey from Aunt Cammie and Bronco hat from Grandma.

The new Denver Bronco hat!

Gavin received a monthly subscription of High Five (Highlights) from Aunty.

Cheryl had this rocking horse that made a clicking sound when you squeezed its ear. Addison just kept smiling and loved sitting on the horse.

Gavin and Great Grandma

Never Too Late!

2009-11-07T18:12:00.000-08:00

All of us after the walk.

Yes that's right, we are standing with Jared, the Subway guy!

Emily, Christy, and Mom

All of us prior to the walk.

So at the end of September my sisters and sister in-laws participated in the annual Women's Walk. The weather was wonderful this year and we all had a great time! After the walk we went over to Emily's house, had lunch, and did a craft. We then did some shopping and went to the movie The Proposal. It was the perfect girls day and it was so nice to spend some time with all my sisters!

Trenton's 7th Birthday!

2009-08-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

My first born is officially seven! I can't believe that it has been seven years since he was born. Trenton is such an amazing boy. He is so loving and patient (I think he gets that from me!) He is always thinking of others and it always bothers him when someeone is hurt or upset. Trenton is a great example and a great big brother to his younger siblings. Addison is always recking his Legos and tearing his papers, and he never complains. He loves to play with Gavin and never treats him like an annoying little brother. Trenton loves to write sweet notes to us and is considerate of those around him. Trenton is very meticulous and likes his things just so. He is very organized and clean. Trenton loved designing his birthday and planned it down to the detail of his cake. Trenton wanted an animal themed party and so we had animals on the cake, animal crackers, and they made the balloons into animals. I think he had a great time and he loved all the wonderful gifts that he received!

Trenton's animal cake. He wanted cupcakes and a cake!

Trenton received three of the Magic Treehouse books. He has already read all three!

Trenton posing with all his gifts.

New Family Pictures

2009-08-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am, once again, behind on my blogging! I am going to try and slowly update because I want to show pics from Trenton's birthday, the cabin, and the first day of school for the boys! My sister, Emily, recently took some family pictures for us. She took so many great pictures, but I guess I will only post a few :) I hope you all enjoy them as much as I did!

The 4th of July a Month Late!

2009-07-23T20:53:00.001-07:00

I know the 4th was almost a month ago, so I apologize for the delay. The day itself was very busy. We came back into town the night before around midnight and so we were all exhausted. The morning started off early. We headed into Melba for the parade. The kids loved getting all the candy!

After the parade, we had lunch with my family and then we went to their house and went swimming. My mom filled up a ton of water balloons and the little boys tried to throw them at the big boys. Unfortunately, they couldn't throw them hard enough to get them to pop, but the big boys could!

From my parents, we headed over to Caleb's parents house. Trevor and Christina were there with their kids and so was Aunty. We had a great time visiting and eating. I tried to get some pics of all the kids with the flags and you can see how well all that turned out!

From there we headed back to Melba for the amazing fireworks show. It was a great end to a great day!

I can't figure out how to get the pictures in order, so I apologize for the random order.

This was the best pic I could get!

Addison loved following Jaydon around on the bike. Jaydon was so patient with her!

This was at my parents house. The big boys were playing chicken. Notice there is no one else in the pool!

Mom playing water balloons with the big boys

Everyone waiting patiently for the parade.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and enjoyed their family and friends as much as we did!

A Fire for Father's Day

2009-07-23T20:32:00.001-07:00

After having a wonderful morning at church, while we were waiting for our Father's Day dinner, Caleb decided to burn the burn pile. Caleb burns a couple of times a year, and every time, I question him about whether he should really do it and make sure that he is careful. This time I was slacking on my motherly duties, and I didn't verify with him that he was prepared.

I look outside and I see Caleb panicking to get the hose and I quickly see why. The fire has gotten out of control and Caleb is trying to contain it. Before I know it, Caleb is yelling at me to call the fire department. I knew we were in trouble, Caleb never asks for outside assistance!

It took the fire department a little while to get out to the house, and once they did, they had trouble getting to the fire. It had passed through our field and was taking over the neighbors field. They finally found access to the fire and quickly put it out.

It was a great Father's Day for all!

This is what it looked like after the fire.

There was so much smoke, I couldn't get a picture of any of the flames.

Caleb was trying to help out by using the hose

Bolander Family Reunion

2009-07-10T09:55:00.001-07:00

Every year, my dad's side of the family has a family reunion. Most everyone is here locally and so they usually have it at a park or church nearby. This year, it was carnival themed. They had a chili cook off, pie eating contest, bounce house, carnival games, cake walks, cotton candy, bubble blowing contest, and I am sure I am missing some. It was so much fun and the weather was perfect! The kids were entertained the whole time and we just had fun watching them. There were some adult involved games that we were sure to participate in!

The boys each won a goldfish and were so excited to bring them home. Unfortunately, they both died while we were on vacation :(

My dad, Caleb and Addison

Gavin relaxing after all the fun

Trenton trying to be adventurous!

They had the boys vs. the girls on this and each couple competed against each other to see who could get the farthest. Caleb, of course, completely demolished me! It was fun though!

They had a pie eating contest. Caleb didn't want to do it, so I decided to take his place. I was the only girl!

My first and only bite of the pie. It was so sweet and hard to eat very fast. By the time I had eaten a bite, the other guys were practically done with their pies.

Getting ready for the contest!

They had a cake walk and of course everyone won one. I think the boys had more sweets that day then they have in a normal week!

Meridian Dairy Days

2009-07-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am only about a month behind on my posting! The third week in June, we always go to the Meridian Dairy Days parade. I remember going when I was little and I always loved getting the icecream and chocolate milk. Since Caleb and I have been married, we have tried to continue this and we have gone to the parade almost every year. This year, it was rainy and cold. We went and ate before the parade and it was just pouring rain. We were happy to be in the restuarant and not out waiting! After we got done eating, we headed over to the spots we had saved. It was perfect and there was plenty of room for everybody. Christy came with us and then we met up with James and Chelsea, Trevor and Christina, and Steve and J.J. The rain stopped just in time and it we all had a lot of fun watching the parade and collecting all the milk, cheese, and t-shirts!

Kindergarten Graduation!

2009-06-20T17:33:00.001-07:00

On May 29, 2009 our little Trenton graduated from Kindergarten. I truly cannot believe he is growing up so fast. Trenton is so smart and loves to learn new things all the time. When we go to the library he checks out informative books and recites the facts to us. Caleb was messing around with the sprinkler system the other day and he told us that a black widow had bit him. Trenton turned to him with a very concerned face and said "Dad, black widows are 15 times more deadlier than a rattle snake." I think he is the one educating us! He is such a sweet and caring boy. Whenever Gavin gets in trouble and has to clean up his room by himself, Trenton will very quietly go in and help him clean it up. He usually is so well behaved and just wants to please everyone. He is growing up, though, and has tried to test the boundaries! We love him so much and are so very blessed to have him in our family!

Caleb and I with the newly graduated Trenton!

Grandma and Grandpa Barker were able to come to the graduation and Trenton was so happy to have them there.

Trenton and Ms. Barnett

She was a great teacher and really made Trenton's first year a great one!

Trenton and his proud daddy!

Family Projects

2009-05-28T16:13:00.001-07:00

For anyone who doesn't know us, we are CRAZY! We recently purchased another home that needed some "fixing up". I don't know if we are ever going to learn! We bought Caleb's grandma's house in hopes of making it into another rental. It just had a few things here and there that we needed to update, but as you start to update, you find more and more things to update and more and more problems. Anyways, we have spent the last month or two working on it and are finally coming to an end. We have painted inside and out, replaced carpet and other flooring, updated light fixtures, cleaned and cleaned, and tidied up the landscaping. The boys were great helps and have been very patient with the whole process. I, on the other hand, have not been very nice about it and will be apologizing to Caleb when we are retired and living comfortably!

There were a couple of really warm days and the boys made the most of the running sprinklers. Yes, they are running through the sprinklers in clothes. I am not always the most prepared mother~

The boys got quite involved in the painting. The wanted to help almost too much, but they had a great time doing it!

Gavin ended up with more paint on him than he did on any of the surfaces he painted!

My Little Picassa!

2009-05-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

In Trenton's kindergarten class they had been studying several different artists and then "creating" their own art work in the similar style as these artists. They then had an art gallery that all of the parents were invited to. Prior to the art gallery, Trenton kept me informed about each different artist they had studied. When I got to the gallery, Trenton made sure that I read each of the bios that were written about each artist. He loved doing all the different types of art and did a great job on each picture. I think this may be the one thing he got from me!

Starry Night was his favorite.

The Bug Scouts

2009-05-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

My very creative sister Tammy was in-town last week and while she was here she wanted to have a "bug party" with all of the cousins. She planned everything and put it all together. Unfortunately not all the cousins were able to make it and it ended up just being Tammy's boys, my boys, and Uncle Andy.

To start the party off. The boys were each given a bug catcher and bug scout hats. Grandpa Joe took them all out in search of bugs. Everyone was succesful and brought in their bugs!

After the bug hunt, we had our buggy lunch. I didn't get pics of it all, but I got some of it. They had bug juice, ladybug strawberries, ants on a log, and bug crackers. We also had hot dogs that looked like worms.

When they all finished their food they had to decorate their own bugs. Grandma Briner gave out the awards for each of the bugs.

The boys loved the party and have been collecting bugs ever since!

All the boys with their bugs and awards.

Chance, Gavin, Andy, Trenton and Hunter

The boys getting ready to go on their bug hunt!

All the cousins are ready to go!

Addison and the Wheelbarrrow

2009-05-28T15:55:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Andy was working on his eagle project and we went and helped. He was cleaning up the cemetery in Melba. Part of the job was picking up the scraps of grass that were being dug up. I was lucky enough to have this job, but couldn't leave Addison alone and so I stuck her in the wheelbarrow. She absolutely loved it!

Trenton and Addison together

Addison and her adorable piggies peeking over the side.

She would sit with her just like this the whole time. It was so cute!

Bowling and a Little Family Fun

2009-05-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Through the many coupon blogs I follow, there was a posting for free bowling for kids over the summer. Of course I was all over the "free" part of it! Along with the kids bowling for free for the summer, you could purchase a family pass for the summer. The pass was about the price we would pay just to go bowling once as a family and so we went ahead and bought the pass. On the pass you can have up to four adults and then the two kids. It was a great deal, except we have to go clear to 20th Century Lanes to bowl which is clear down on State. Well, last weekend, we needed something to do, so we went bowling. James and Chelsea joined the family and we had a great time!

The boys finished their games before us, so they had to sit there and watch :(

This isn't a very good picture, but I was trying to show that Gavin got three strikes! Also, both the boys beat my score!

This was Caleb's wonderful photography.

(Aunt Cammie, don't look at the red eyes!)

Again, Caleb's wonderful photography!

The boys and their cosmic bowling balls!

Addison kepty crawling over to where the bowling balls were and would sit and pat each ball. Chelsea tried to put her over the hand fan, but she didn't like that so well!

Blogging Overload

2009-05-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have not been very good about downloading my pictures and I just realized that I have about 100 pictures that needed downloaded and blogged. So be prepared for an overload!

What a "Fly" B-day Party!

2009-04-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

For April birthdays Chelsea hosted a "kite" party. I was a little hesitant because it has been a while since I have flown a kite and it really isn't much fun if you don't have wind! Well, there was plenty of wind and our kites flew forever! Chelsea fixed a nice lunch at her house and then we walked over to the park to fly kites. Both the boys had no problems getting theirs to stay in the air. Elidh just had to hold on to the string and walk around. Her kite just followed right behind. Us adults even flew kites and it brought back some great childhood memories. Our grandpa Closner used to take us to the park to fly kites and it was something special we shared with him :) We flew kites for a long time and it was great!

Priceless!

2009-04-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

I love how he has his legs crossed and his hand under his chin. We have had a busy week with a lot of late nights and early mornings and it looks like it is all catching up to Gavin!

Shoshone Falls

2009-04-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

We had several family members that had gone and seen the Shoshone Falls and all their talk about it really made we really want to see it. I knew it would be busy on the weekends so I talked to Caleb about going on a weekday. He wasn't too excited about it, but he said o.k. Caleb had gone golfing in Mountain Home on Wednesday and so we decided that would work out perfect because he was already an hour in the right direction. So, the kids and I met up with him in Mountain Home and then we went on from there to Twin Falls. We made it to the falls with no miss turns and everyone was in good moods! We drove down the windy road and were instantly impressed. The falls were so amazing! I had packed dinner and so we sat and ate on the grass with the view of the falls in front of us. I wouldn't mind eating with that view on a regular basis! After dinner, we took a closer look at the falls and got some great pics of the family. It was a great family night and here are just a few of the pics we took!

After watching the falls for a while the boys and I decided to take a little hike! I was worried about the boys falling on the way back down (since we were all wearing flip-flops) and instead, it was me!

Someone was watching us struggle to get a picture of different "parts" of the family and so he offered to take a pic of all of us. He did a great job!

Fun At The Park

2009-04-25T17:28:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday, a cousin invited us to the park to play. She was unable to make it, but we decided it was such a nice day, that we would keep the plans. Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa Barker, Trevor, Christina, Jaydon, Kaylani, and us were all there. The little kids had a blast playing on the play equipment that I didn't even get a picture of them. The big kids played frisbie, badmiton (sp?), and just some fun in the sun! It was the perfect weather and we all had a great time, except Addison. She cried the whole time and finally gave in and fell asleep on Grandma.

Finally!

2009-04-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally did it! Caleb finally learned how to ride a bike! Just kidding! We finally got the boys a bike and they learned how to ride it. Please do not judge us. I know that they should have learned years ago, but where we live, there are no sidewalks and we just never took the time to teach them. So for Christmas they each got a bike from Santa and as soon as the weather warmed up, we took them out.

There was an evening when the weather was really nice, so we packed up our dinner and headed to the park. Grandma and Grandpa Barker joined us and were able to join in on the experience. Caleb started Trenton out practicing in the parking area at the park because it was pretty open and had a long stretch. Like I said, it didn't take long. Once Trenton got the hang of it we took him down on the path by the creek. He was so proud of himself. We went home with one official bike rider and another who is close and no bruises or scratches!

Trenton truly can ride his bike. He has trouble getting on to his bike on his own, but once he is on, he just goes. It was amazing how quickly he got it. It took him just a few runs and he did it.

Gavin is still practicing. He struggles with watching in front of him and so he takes the steering wheel with him wherever he looks, causing him to wreck. He is able to pedal and stay balanced, but just needs a little more practice. Her are some pics of the great adventure of learning to ride a bike in the Barker family!

Fishing With Grandpa

2009-04-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Barker bought the boys fishing poles for Easter in thoughts that this summer they can go fishing at the cabin. Uncle Jerry and cousin Jerrod helped them string their poles and showed them how to release. Grandpa then took them out to practice. The boys loved the poles, and only had a few mishaps with catching each other and tangling their lines. I am looking forward to having them try to fish this summer!