Ditto ditto ditto to Gina's post about homemade gifts! I think that it will be fun... and will make the holiday a little more meaningful and a little less commercial.
As far as our family dinner.. I am not working the Sunday after Christmas, so that would work best for me. Hope that works for all of you.
I am excited to make your gifts!!
It was lovely to see you all yesterday Williams Fam. The house looks fab. I will come paint soon!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Christmas - Gift exchange
We hope that you all won't mind, today Jen visited, she and Morgan and I decided that we should try the idea of a homemade gift Christmas exchange. We thought it would be fun for a change. If it is too much trouble, then give what you want, but keep in mind at least some of us will be giving you something we made. We concluded the gifts should reflect or match your resources and talents and everyone, children and adult can participate. Small or big is allowed including baked goods. Also we think that it can be partly homemade and part purchased (for example something framed).
I hope that works for everyone - if not speak soon or forever hold your peace.
I hope that works for everyone - if not speak soon or forever hold your peace.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Christmas
Unfortunately I have nothing as exciting to post as Jen. I am starting to plan for the holidays. Last year we mentioned the possibility of a different gift exchange and I wondered if we could make a decision so I could plan. The possibilities I have thought of 1) continue unchanged, 2) exchange homemade gifts, 3) instead of gifts for the adults plan a family outing perhaps to a Christmas program or nice dinner.
We are still hoping that you all will join us for the traditional celebration. It would work for us to do the Sunday before or the Sunday after Christmas. We are having Max's work party at our house on Friday, the 18th, but otherwise both weekends are clear. Which weekend would you all prefer 20th or 27th?
Love, Gina
We are still hoping that you all will join us for the traditional celebration. It would work for us to do the Sunday before or the Sunday after Christmas. We are having Max's work party at our house on Friday, the 18th, but otherwise both weekends are clear. Which weekend would you all prefer 20th or 27th?
Love, Gina
We left Crete yesterday... We were not bright eyed or bushy tailed.. but we were out the door at 5am.
Our neighborhood in Hania was all cobblestone streets... during our stay we could hear the coming and going of travelers by the sound of their wheeled suitcases. As we left, I was saddened to be the one making those noises.
We arrived at the port in Iraklion around 730am to find there was a ferry leaving earlier than we thought. It was a speedy trip... and two hours later we found ourselves coming into the port of Thira on Santorini. It was daunting. The port is in the bottom of the huge caldera and I had this momentary fear that I would have to trek up the big rock wall with my huge rolly suitcase (whose wheels were blown out in Athens... so really it would have meant dragging.) Luckily there were taxis and transport vans waiting for us. We took a van to our hotel.... and that leads us to the most dramatic part of our trip thus far.
We reserved it on Expedia.... which I have used on more than one occasion and has actually been great... but when we arrived we found many of the amenities listed on their page were absent (wi-fi, private beach, cafe, 24hr desk, pictures that did not remotely match what we actually happened upn, and showers that werent just a nozzle attached to the bathroom wall). We waited over three hours for someone to come and let us in. Then spent one night... and I braved the crappy, even by europian standards, shower. This morning at 830 we snuck out the back door with our heavy luggage and made tracks for the hotel we found yesterday afternoon. One that had wi-fi and a swimming pool. The only hitch in our escape was that they had Chelsea's passport. This morning we spent negotiating with them. (We actually started the process last night.) And after 5 hours, we had paid for only one night, they had returned Chelseas passport... and now here we sit in the lobby of our new beautiful hotel... Amber is swimming... I am surfing (the net) and we are all happy and can go about pursuing sunshine and our peaceful vacation.
So far Santorini has been an adventure.... actually since Wed afternoon, when we went on a road trip to small town Crete we have been livin la vida loca involving small town folk, militia, and crazy waiters. It has been fantastic and fun.. and nothing I could have anticipated.
Honestly, who would expect the cook at a restaraunt to invite himself to come home with me? If he hadnt been thirty years my senior I would have considered it. For the record I would have been okay with fifteen.
I love it here. I am sad that in a week from now I will be somewhere in the middle of my trip home... but I plan to thoroughly enjoy the time I have left.
Sfini Ejassis.... maybe? Cam.. Something along the lines of To your health?? or Cheers?
Our neighborhood in Hania was all cobblestone streets... during our stay we could hear the coming and going of travelers by the sound of their wheeled suitcases. As we left, I was saddened to be the one making those noises.
We arrived at the port in Iraklion around 730am to find there was a ferry leaving earlier than we thought. It was a speedy trip... and two hours later we found ourselves coming into the port of Thira on Santorini. It was daunting. The port is in the bottom of the huge caldera and I had this momentary fear that I would have to trek up the big rock wall with my huge rolly suitcase (whose wheels were blown out in Athens... so really it would have meant dragging.) Luckily there were taxis and transport vans waiting for us. We took a van to our hotel.... and that leads us to the most dramatic part of our trip thus far.
We reserved it on Expedia.... which I have used on more than one occasion and has actually been great... but when we arrived we found many of the amenities listed on their page were absent (wi-fi, private beach, cafe, 24hr desk, pictures that did not remotely match what we actually happened upn, and showers that werent just a nozzle attached to the bathroom wall). We waited over three hours for someone to come and let us in. Then spent one night... and I braved the crappy, even by europian standards, shower. This morning at 830 we snuck out the back door with our heavy luggage and made tracks for the hotel we found yesterday afternoon. One that had wi-fi and a swimming pool. The only hitch in our escape was that they had Chelsea's passport. This morning we spent negotiating with them. (We actually started the process last night.) And after 5 hours, we had paid for only one night, they had returned Chelseas passport... and now here we sit in the lobby of our new beautiful hotel... Amber is swimming... I am surfing (the net) and we are all happy and can go about pursuing sunshine and our peaceful vacation.
So far Santorini has been an adventure.... actually since Wed afternoon, when we went on a road trip to small town Crete we have been livin la vida loca involving small town folk, militia, and crazy waiters. It has been fantastic and fun.. and nothing I could have anticipated.
Honestly, who would expect the cook at a restaraunt to invite himself to come home with me? If he hadnt been thirty years my senior I would have considered it. For the record I would have been okay with fifteen.
I love it here. I am sad that in a week from now I will be somewhere in the middle of my trip home... but I plan to thoroughly enjoy the time I have left.
Sfini Ejassis.... maybe? Cam.. Something along the lines of To your health?? or Cheers?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
We took a boat tour today out into the Sea of Crete... A three hour tour. And yes we sang the song. And discussed our favorite episodes... I wish I could have gotten pictures of the Cretan versions of Skipper and Gilligan.... Stavros and Georgious... but the lighting on the deck was bad.
This place is amazing and beautiful... and feeling the warm warm sun on my shoulders in October is absolutely fantastic. You should see my tan. I haven't been this dark since I was 9 and spent the entire summer in my bathing suit.
As we were heading back into the harbor today I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this experience and I may have cried a little bit when I thought about having to return to rainy Oregon and home and reality.
I guess I have two more weeks to work on getting home sick.
This place is amazing and beautiful... and feeling the warm warm sun on my shoulders in October is absolutely fantastic. You should see my tan. I haven't been this dark since I was 9 and spent the entire summer in my bathing suit.
As we were heading back into the harbor today I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this experience and I may have cried a little bit when I thought about having to return to rainy Oregon and home and reality.
I guess I have two more weeks to work on getting home sick.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
For the last two days we rented a car and toured around the Island. Mostly in search of BEACH. The first day we went to Elafonisi. Driving was an adventure. Okay, I didnt even drive. Amber did. But riding shotgun was still an adventure. We drove up and over the biggest mountains. And through some very teensy tiny little towns... they were barely towns. More like two or three houses right on the mostly one lane road and maybe a church and probably a taverna. Elafonisi is beautiful... it is on the southwest corner of the Island... a super amazing pink and white sand beach. For 7 Euro you can rent 2 chairs and an umbrella. We took advantage of that deal. We were surrounded by tourists... Russians, Swedes, and some Greeks. "Creta" is the vacation destination of Europe.
Everyone we meet seems to be envious of our trip. The first Greek we met on the plane told us that we had planned a vacay "only Americans could plan." When we left Athens, the desk man at our hotel said, "Take me to Creta!"
Our second backroad adventure took place mostly because we had overcalculated gas and didnt want to waste it. We decided to rent the car a second day... We drove to Hora Sfakion. Its at the mouth of the Samarian Gorge and also the location of some of the events during the Battle of Crete in WWII. Also on the southern coast.. We stopped for lunch... I ate dolmadakia, and my friends ate greek pies and meatballs... and of course greek salad with tomato, onion, cucumber and lots lots lots of olive oil. The south coast is gorgeous and our second beach stop was Paridisos Beach. We parked at the top of a huge incline and had to slide down the steep sand to get to the water. It was amazing. So clear and warm. Playing in the waves was fantastic fun. We relaxed there for awhile before we drove back through the mountains. The small back roads are so phenomenal... and as we gained elevation we had some of the most amazing views of the Libyan ocean. (It was kind of crazy to think, while looking out over the water, that the body of land on the other side of that water was Libya or Egypt. It is also within my awareness how close we are to Iran and Iraq. We see American military almost every day. The is a naval base here in the port of Hania.) At one point as we drove through a gorge there was big huge towering rock within two feet of us on either side of the car, and within about five feet hanging over the top of us. We saw churches built into the rock wall. We saw elderly Cretan women all dressed in black walking to the churches. We saw sheep and goats. The mountains are huge and looming.
It was interesting to get off the tourist track and see the real Creta. I promise I have pictures!
Loves to all of you!
Everyone we meet seems to be envious of our trip. The first Greek we met on the plane told us that we had planned a vacay "only Americans could plan." When we left Athens, the desk man at our hotel said, "Take me to Creta!"
Our second backroad adventure took place mostly because we had overcalculated gas and didnt want to waste it. We decided to rent the car a second day... We drove to Hora Sfakion. Its at the mouth of the Samarian Gorge and also the location of some of the events during the Battle of Crete in WWII. Also on the southern coast.. We stopped for lunch... I ate dolmadakia, and my friends ate greek pies and meatballs... and of course greek salad with tomato, onion, cucumber and lots lots lots of olive oil. The south coast is gorgeous and our second beach stop was Paridisos Beach. We parked at the top of a huge incline and had to slide down the steep sand to get to the water. It was amazing. So clear and warm. Playing in the waves was fantastic fun. We relaxed there for awhile before we drove back through the mountains. The small back roads are so phenomenal... and as we gained elevation we had some of the most amazing views of the Libyan ocean. (It was kind of crazy to think, while looking out over the water, that the body of land on the other side of that water was Libya or Egypt. It is also within my awareness how close we are to Iran and Iraq. We see American military almost every day. The is a naval base here in the port of Hania.) At one point as we drove through a gorge there was big huge towering rock within two feet of us on either side of the car, and within about five feet hanging over the top of us. We saw churches built into the rock wall. We saw elderly Cretan women all dressed in black walking to the churches. We saw sheep and goats. The mountains are huge and looming.
It was interesting to get off the tourist track and see the real Creta. I promise I have pictures!
Loves to all of you!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Wait, what day is it?
Oh.. Sunday.
Internet here is super slow mo... so pictures will have to wait.
But this is the most amazing place.
We have been in Hania, Crete since early early early Thursday morn. Wed our other friends met us who were coming from Sweden and we toured Athens. Took a cheesy double decker tour bus... Slightly stereotypical, but an easy and stress free way to see the sites. We got off and toured the Acropolis and hiked up to the Parthenon. From there we could also see the amazing span of the city. SO HUGE!!
We took the metro to Pireus around 7 (after getting caught up in, but negotiating safely out of a communist parade)... and boarded the night ferry for Hania. It left the port at 930pm. We ended up sitting on the deck... accidentally because we didnt know there was an inside lounge... and couldnt figure out why EVERYONE was smoking. It was an 8 hour tour.... I couldnt sleep. Read and people watched.
We arrived in Hania at 5am and dawdled for a few hours before leaving the ship and finding a cafe to sit in... Cafe turned out to be a bit of a "truck stop" kinda place... all they had for breakfast was white wonder bread toast and butter and jam. We then took a taxi and arrived in beautiful old town around 9.
It is beautiful here. It has been sunny and in atleast the 80's everyday. Our studio is in the old Venetian port and there are lots of beautiful alleys and small walkways with no room for cars... lots of places to walk. Yesterday.. or the day before we took a 15min walk and found ourselves on the beach. We have eaten delicious food and balanced leisure and adventure. Naps are a daily occurence. As is walking everywhere. The only taxi we have taken was from the port to our neighborhood.
I cant wait to show you all the pretty pics. I will as soon as I find internet that isnt so slow I want to tear my hair out.
We still have 11 days here... and then it is on to Santorini.
I love and miss you... but I am having the most amazing time!
Oh.. Sunday.
Internet here is super slow mo... so pictures will have to wait.
But this is the most amazing place.
We have been in Hania, Crete since early early early Thursday morn. Wed our other friends met us who were coming from Sweden and we toured Athens. Took a cheesy double decker tour bus... Slightly stereotypical, but an easy and stress free way to see the sites. We got off and toured the Acropolis and hiked up to the Parthenon. From there we could also see the amazing span of the city. SO HUGE!!
We took the metro to Pireus around 7 (after getting caught up in, but negotiating safely out of a communist parade)... and boarded the night ferry for Hania. It left the port at 930pm. We ended up sitting on the deck... accidentally because we didnt know there was an inside lounge... and couldnt figure out why EVERYONE was smoking. It was an 8 hour tour.... I couldnt sleep. Read and people watched.
We arrived in Hania at 5am and dawdled for a few hours before leaving the ship and finding a cafe to sit in... Cafe turned out to be a bit of a "truck stop" kinda place... all they had for breakfast was white wonder bread toast and butter and jam. We then took a taxi and arrived in beautiful old town around 9.
It is beautiful here. It has been sunny and in atleast the 80's everyday. Our studio is in the old Venetian port and there are lots of beautiful alleys and small walkways with no room for cars... lots of places to walk. Yesterday.. or the day before we took a 15min walk and found ourselves on the beach. We have eaten delicious food and balanced leisure and adventure. Naps are a daily occurence. As is walking everywhere. The only taxi we have taken was from the port to our neighborhood.
I cant wait to show you all the pretty pics. I will as soon as I find internet that isnt so slow I want to tear my hair out.
We still have 11 days here... and then it is on to Santorini.
I love and miss you... but I am having the most amazing time!
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