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Princess Cruise Lines

. European Destinations, Family . , , ,

Crown Princess

Overall, our family had a wonderful time on our British
Isles/Iceland cruise. It was our first cruise with the Princess Cruise line,
and we highly recommend it. We believe Carnival is great, but it has such
limited itineraries for Europe. Royal Caribbean has better itineraries but
their customer service had hit rock bottom as far as we were concerned along
with about another 6 other couples we chatted with on our February 2011 cruise,
and we all vowed to no longer use it.

Princess =

Princess
did several things we appreciated. The first thing was that they corrected
every minor problem we had. They knew we were the paying customer, and they
showed us respect. Another thing was their food was so good. This was the first
cruise in over a year where we actually gained weight.  Next, their excursions were very organized,and the Crown Princess crew  was so
helpful with the babies and their strollers. Lastly, Crown Princess’ future
cruise associate, Gloria Mallard, was fabulous. She was so accommodating to our
future needs, she treated us with kindness and respect, and she loved Ammon and
Carter. One evening while we were chatting at Gloria’s desk, Carter and Ammon
each started “drawing” Gloria a picture. Two days later, Sean and I went back
without the babies, and Gloria had taped the drawings up above her desk for
everyone to see. We were honored, and she said she absolutely loved Ammon and
Carter and their drawings.

Haven, Ammon, Gloria Mallard, Carter, Sean, & Nana

So, once again, if you would like to take a cruise we HIGHLY
recommend Princess Cruise lines. We, ourselves, have three more cruises booked.
Let’s hope we remain satisfied! I think we will.

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Dublin, Ireland

. European Destinations, Family, Family Travel, Parenting . , , , ,

“The only thing to see in Dublin is the Guinness Brewing Factory” was the reply we got from a fellow traveler with whom we shared a touring train in Monte Carlo, Monaco last October.  The question to this family from Northern Ireland had been, “What do you recommend seeing in Dublin?”  The truth of the matter was that we were not anticipating much out of Dublin, but, oh, my goodness! It was such a nice surprise.

Carter, Haven, Ammon (enjoying the vaulted ceiling) & Nana:St. Patrick’s

We had a short excursion that morning, but we had a great afternoon of shopping. We’re looking forward to wearing our Ireland-made sweaters we bought this coming winter. ;o)

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Hawk

. Pets . , , , , , ,

For several months, we’ve had a “hawk buddy”. It’s a
Red-Tail Hawk, and we’ve seen several hawks raised up on the mountain behind
our house for several years now. One of my favorite events I’ve seen in the
raising of the hawks was about a year ago, when the parent hawks were teaching
their fledgling who had just learned to fly well to “dive bomb”! It was so
cute: the parents sitting on top of the tall oak trees watching while their “baby”
practiced bulleting down from the blue sky to the mountain tree-tops. Carter,
Ammon, and I started calling to the hawks last year, and, believe it or not, it
has answered us a time or two. One time we had not heard it all day, we started
calling it, and in two minutes, it called back to us from our neighbor’s yard. So,
thusly, we started calling it our friend.

Last Sunday evening, we were swimming in the pool, and out
of the corner of my eye I could see Hawk darting through the tree-tops between
our house and our closest neighbor’s house. I turned to Carter and Ammon who
were enjoying a great swim, and I said, “Hey, you two! Hawk is flying around.”
In a about a minute, I saw it again circling above with something in its
talons. In an excited tone, I continued, “I think Hawk has something to make a
nest!” I kept looking, and then it dawned on me, it wasn’t a long piece of
straw or stick, it was snake! I had seen animal-nature specials on televisions
where eagles and such catch animals like this, but I had never seen it live with my own eyes. It
reminded me of the Mexican national flag with its golden eagle destroying the
viper in its talons sitting on the nopal. It was a neat, nature moment. We just
hope it was a rattlesnake or a copperhead! ;o)

(This isn’t our photo, but it gives you a visual of what we saw)

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July 4th 2011 (Reflection)

. Holidays . , , ,

What a great evening!

Celebrating the independence of our country was a real treat
yesterday: Great fellowship, great food, and great fireworks. I doubt very
seriously that Carter and Ammon will remember the day, but it laid a foundation
of events that I hope they will always be able to experience and hold dear to
their hearts.

First, we celebrated our country, and I hope my children
will always be proud of this country. Second, we, as a group of Christians,
were not meeting to worship, but we were able to assemble without the fear of
being persecuted as a group of people with like-minds and purpose, and that is
such a blessing to celebrate here in the United States of America.

The food   
(always a  blessing) was delicious, and there
were people there who enjoyed taking care of Ammon and Carter while we
socialized with adults. It was such a treat for all of us.

The fireworks were beautiful. Carter LOVED them, and kept
saying , “More?”. Ammon enjoyed them, but she complained about the noise. Even
with the noise, all she talked about on the way home was, “We saw the pretty
fireworks. They shot up in the air. The fireworks popped!” LOL That’s all she
talked about until bedtime. I hope you and yours had a blessed July 4th.
For our family, our country’s 235th birthday was its best ever!

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Happy Independence Day!

. Family, Holidays . , , , , , ,

Every year during our holiday of Independence Day (July 4th),
I think of my Caylor ancestors. They had come to the colony of Pennsylvania in
the 1750s from Germany. They were Caylors (Kahler & Humbert were two of the families I know for sure) I am not an expert on the genealogy of that group, but
knowing linguistics like I do, I doubt those that came in the 1750s were very
good with the English language by the Revolutionary War; however, their teen-age children who were born in the colonies probably did quite well with English. The Caylors
must have been visionaries. They first came here to get away from over-population,
land shortages, and food shortages in Germany, and when they arrived, they
arrived to a group of disgruntled colonists who were tired of Great Britain’s
tyranny. In their vision of the future, they could see the importance of the
colonists (British, German, or French descendants) working together for freedom
and for making their own country, so they did it. They fought with all the
colonists, and they won the United States Revolutionary War. In a few years, the rest of the world looked upon
these rag-tag freedom lovers who ousted an empire and bestowed them the name “Americans”.

What an honor it must have been. They weren’t German -Americans, or
British-American, or French-Americans. They were AMERICANS equaling a group of
people of different nationalities, languages, and cultures that had come together to make the United States of America. My German ancestors knew they were doing something special, but they had no idea that they had laid the ground work for the
greatest country this world has ever seen or will ever see again. I am so proud
of my ancestors, my country, and my freedom. I am so looking forward to Carter
and Ammon knowing the love of freedom and of country and understanding their
proud heritage. God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America. Happy
Independence Day!

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Ammon Moment

. Family, Scotland . , , , ,

Ammon in Reykjavik

I’ve wanted to share this Ammon moment for several weeks now. It happened on Monday
June 6, 2011 at Loch Ness, Scotland.

The family and I were touring Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.
There was an hour bus ride to Urquhart Castle that morning, and our tour guide,
Mr. Munro, kept giving us the logistics of the day, and he would often speak of
Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Monster. Ammon and I were sitting side by side, and
one time after Mr. Munro mentioned the word monster, Ammon inquired, “Monster?”
My mind went into overdrive trying to go through Ammon’s schema to prepare her
for what we would be hearing around the Loch. All Ammon and Carter know about
monsters is what they have seen on cartoons such as Scooby Doo.  In a few
seconds, something came to my mind that Ammon could connect with from her
former knowledge. I said, “We are going to try to look for a dinosaur that
swims. It’s called the Loch Ness Monster.” In an excited voice, Ammon
exclaimed, “A dinosaur that swims?” I replied with, “Yes!, However, it’s very
shy, and it doesn’t like people so we might not see it.” Ammon continued with
pitiful interrogation, “It doesn’t like me?” I continued with, “Well, I’m sure
if it met you, if would like you, but it’s just too shy to meet people.” In a
satisfied tone, Ammon surrendered with , “Okay!”

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness: June 6, 2011

Ten minutes later we arrived at Urquhart Castle that looks
over Loch Ness. After a wonderful historical film of the castle, we headed down
toward the Loch and the castle. Ammon and Carter had on their leashes. Sean was
with Carter on his leash, and I was with Ammon on her leash. Ammon and Carter
had been cooped up on the bus for a long time, and they were ready to run, so
Ammon and I took off toward the castle. As we were running Ammon cups her hands
over her mouth like a megaphone and begins to yell, “Come out dinosaur! Don’t
be shy! We’re hunting you!” I was running and laughing at the same time. What a
girl!

Ammon (the dinosaur hunter), Carter, Nana, & Haven: Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness

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Carter Moment

. Uncategorized

Carter recently in Reykjavik, Iceland

Carter Moment :
Thursday June 30, 2011

The moment had started with Ammon saying, “There’s a gorilla
up there in the tree!” . She was pointing up into our largest Black Walnut
Tree. As you all may know the Black Walnut tree has awesome shade in the
summer, and we had been playing outside in the bright sunshine. I have been
trying very hard to calm these silly, scary moments (the gorilla…which they are
afraid of) with a soft voice and explanations.

Shady Black Walnut Trees

 

I said, “You two. There is no gorilla up in this tree. It
only has birds, squirrels, and right now some June bugs.” We got closer to the trunk
of the tree, and I pointed up. “See nothing but beautiful, green leaves. It’s a
good tree.” Ammon came closer and started patting the tree with her hand.
Carter came closer as well, and they both acted like they wanted to hug the
tree, so I continued with, “Let’s all hug it, and thank you, God, for such a
wonderful tree!” Ammon gave it a hug, and so did Carter; however, while
hugging, Carter placed his cheek up against the trunk and scratched himself.
Carter drew back, wiped his cheek, and said, to the tree, “Hey, don’t you do
that!” I immediately turned the other way, laughed then looked back at Carter.
I then stated in a fatherly tone, “I think the tree is telling you, ‘Carter be
careful with me’.” Carter looked at me with a puzzled look. “Okay!”, I
interjected, “ let’s go in for some nice, cold apple juice!” Ammon and I
started back toward the house, and as I looked back I could see Carter pointing
his finger up to the tree and heard him saying one more time, “Tree, don’t you
do that!” What a boy!

 

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Reykjavik, Iceland

. European Destinations . , , , , , , , , , , ,

Carter, Haven, & Ammon: Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland is a unique island especially in the geological
realm of plate tectonics. Iceland is where the North American Plate and the
Eurasian Plate meet. This is one of the places on earth where the plates are
separating.  Not too far from Reykjavik,there is a plain at the meeting of the plates. This plain has sunk 200 feet in 10,000 years, and the Eurasian Plate rises above the North American Plate some10 feet or so. It’s so impressive to see those two continents separated by just a few feet.

The geothermal activity under Iceland helps the country be non-dependant on foreign oil. Our tour guide was proud to say that they are totally “debt-free to the Arabs”. Part of the activity is seen Iceland’s hot springs and geysers. They are awesome! We spent about a half hour at the Strokkur Geyser, and we go some great pictures: it was hard to pull Carter away. Strokkur Geyser near Reykjavik

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Akureyri (that’s right, that’s what it says…LOL), Iceland

. European Destinations, Family Travel . , , , , , , ,

Akureyri, Iceland

Like Vanessa Williams once sang in the “ Save the Best for
Last”, “sometimes the snow comes down in June.” Well, it did in Akureyri,
Iceland on Thursday June 9, 2011 ;o)

We got to see waterfalls, mud fields (I stayed with Carter
and Ammon while they slept on the bus), and lots more. Our guide was Helga Rose
(cool name, huh?). She introduced us to some folktales I want to buy for this
coming Christmas. It’s about the 13 Christmas trolls that usher in Christmas.
If a child is good, they bring toys or candy, but if a child is bad they might
leave potatoes in their shoes! Helga Rose also sang for us in the Icelandic
language.

Ammon & Haven: Godafoss Falls

My favorite place that day was Godafoss Falls. It was cold and
windy so windy that when the wind hit Carter’s face, he was ready to go back to
the bus! I walked from the falls to the souvenir shop. It was chilly but what a
view!

Godafoss Falls