Holidays Over - Back to Work!!

Oh, my goodness....jet lag certainly does hit when you come home! Not sure if that is because you are 'anticipating' the upcoming day of work...or if you just need to adjust to a VERY long day!!! I think it's a little of both! We arrived home on Saturday, April 26 around 9 p.m. - it was really the middle of the night! We stayed awake for a bit and then went to sleep promptly to wake up about 3 a.m....went to sleep again, woke up at 6, 7 , etc,etc. I got my first headache in 3 weeks (hmmmm, maybe I'm supposed to live in the Middle East???) I got rid of it by noon and we were off to Jess and Kat's for a lovely lunch. Kat is leaving for Ontario/Guatemala on Tuesday so it was great to spend time with them. Went through all our pics (600 +) and they weren't even bored (great kids!!) Went to Mom and Dad's for supper and showed them 600 + pics as well (great parents...they weren't bored either!!) Went to work on Monday and by the afternoon was feeling a little fuzzy....saw Kat for the last time in the p.m....said our goodbyes. It is now Wednesday.....we look forward to seeing the new baby pics...CONGRATS Rachel & Jeff. Life is getting back to normal...we are getting rain!! and we are almost on the right time! I am going to try and attach a bunch of pics....so enjoy!! Talk to you all soon! Love, H & D (the top pic definitely has a story!!! Pic 2 is in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul)...More to come...gotta go to work!!

Alexandria,Cairo, Camel & Pyramids

Well, family ...you would have been impressed with the four of us all on camels! What a hoot! We were sitting quite high and the temperature was probably about 35 degrees celcius! We were going along the desert and I managed to take quite a few pics. I suppose it was a bit from Disney land but it was fun nonetheless and it lasted about 45 minutes which was long enough for me. Alexandria is quite the city....quite dirty and very poor. We have taken lots of pics (over 600 already) so you can all see the sights and sounds and smells that we have experienced. Some of the smells from the last couple of days we won't bother sharing!!! We had a lovely dinner in the Grand Pacific Dining Room tonight and will be sailing to Corfu and will arrive there on Monday morning. Our trip is quickly coming to an end and we have enjoyed every minute of it. Girls, you will be pleased to know that I haven't had one headache yet and haven't been seasick at all!!! It is making my trip! Well, Dan and I will be going on a special date to the French restaurant tomorrow night so we'll tell you all about it later. Love you all and hope you are all well. Richard, happy 50th....we didn't forget!! and yes, Rachel....have that babe soon!! Bye for now, Dan and Heather, Mom & Dad

From Santorini to Iraklion

Wow! That's about all we can say about Santorini! It was totally incredible. We loved it and had a fabulous time. We took some movie footage x 2 so you can get the magnitude of the place. We've never seen anything quite like it and it is definitely worth seeing. Going back an island we must share with you our time on Mykonos! Melissa & girls, you would have been proud of us! We rented quads for the day and had a blast! We drove all over the island and saw tons of stuff. When we hit the highways it was hilarious with all the trucks and buses passing us on the narrow roads. But we tried to stick to the 'side streets'. We have lots of pics and can't download anything while on the ship as the bandwidth isn't large enough. But we'll see what we can do sometime in port. Not sure what's up in Cairo. This is about all for this posting...we are off to explore the island of Crete...who knows ....maybe we'll end up on a scooter or something!! Love you all, Dan and Heather, (mom and dad)

Travelling aboard the Jade

Well, this is quite the experience! We have been to Istanbul and visited the Aya Sofia which is TOTALLY AWESOME! We have experienced Turkish cuisine which is unusual to say the least...not quite sure what I think about it! The Blue Mosque is not quite as nice as the Aya Sofia but still outstanding. We had the pleasure of being in Istanbul during the tulip festival and everything was in full bloom which was beautiful. We boarded the Jade the other day and are having lots of fun exploring the ship. Today we are in Izmir and it was to be 24 degrees but they were a bit off as it is currently 31. We walked for over 10 km. (at least it seemed that far) just experiencing the sights/sounds etc of this country. Currently back on the ship waiting for it to leave Izmir to go to Mykonos which will be our first stop in Greece. Looking forward to not being harrassed by carpet salesmen.....unbelievable to say the least (and no, we did not buy any carpet!!) We are still trying to figure out how to get pictures on here so keep posted and we'll get it figured out. There are no connection ports for doing this so we may need to do it at an internet cafe at our next port. Hope you are all doing well.. Bye for now, Dan and Heather (mom & dad)

We're joining the blog world....

Well, friends and family...we have succumbed to the blog world! I thought this might be a good idea since we are going on vacation and it would give me some time to get used to how this will all work. Don't really have a whole lot to say except that we are SO EXCITED about taking our vacation in just a few short sleeps! We are going to Istanbul, Turkey with Jake and Gerda and will be away for three weeks. A mediterranean cruise is in the cards and also a camel and jeep safari in Cairo....keep checking back to get some updates.
Allaha ismarladik, Dan & Heather (this is Turkish for 'goodbye')