More Snow!

Yall, it has snowed over a foot today and it is still snowing!  My word, there is sooo much snow everywhere!

The hills were we live are so steep that kids just slide down them with a plastic bag.  Once the snow is packed down a bit they can just slide on their feet like they are snowboarding!

Everyone is out- all ages- playing in the snow!

YAY!!!!

Dear Mr. Gingrich,

I'm curious...

Who gets to name the moon when it becomes the 51st state?

What type of manufacturing will be done on the moon and will martian labor be cheaper than Chinese labor?

How can I book a cruise to the moon once it is opened up for tourism under your administration?



Are you kidding me?!?!

If these idiots are the best we can do, I probably won't waste the money on a stamp to send in my absentee ballot!

Well... unless, of course, someone can promise me a nice plot of land on the moon with a lovely earth view!

More Snow!

It snowed a little bit last night.  And when we got up this morning it was snowing again.  But, I had promised the kids that today I would take them ice skating.  Our plans were snowed out on Friday so they were REALLY anxious to go.

Although it started snowing a bit harder we still ventured out to the shopping mall to skate.  Of course, I was not crazy enough to fool with driving so I called a taxi.

Ice skating always sounds like a good idea until you fool with getting those horrible boots on your feet and then step out onto the ice.  We did all have fun.  But I think mostly everyone else had fun watching my kids' bodacious falls.  They were falling all over the place and often times it was like they were in slow motion!  So funny!

Noah, being a 10 year old boy, was not patient enough to take his time and slowly learn to skate.  So he was zooming around wiping out everywhere!  At one point one of the workers brought out a helmet because they were afraid he was going to injure himself!  HA!

Don't worry, there were all sorts of other people wiping out.  So we weren't complete attention hogs!  But the whole event could have easily been a great episode of America's Funniest Home Videos!

Here are some pictures I took with my phone.  I had to delete most of them because they were so blurry- between my graceful (HA!) gliding across the ice and the kids spastic movements, my little camera just couldn't keep up!

We ate lunch at Arby's in the food court.  (Yes they have a few Arby's here.)  And, I must admit, curly fries and cheese sauce are the nectar of the gods!  YUM!!  By the time we finished skating and lunch the snow was really coming down!  

When we got home we couldn't resist playing in the snow.

Our first snowman!

Such a fun day!

But, why on earth does it always only snow during our winter break?!?!

I still have my fingers crossed that the weather will clear up and we can get to the other side to go up in the tallest building in Europe!

Sunday Sneak Peek

We can put a man on the moon.

Scientists have invented all sorts of miraculous medicines.

We can isolate minuscule DNA fragments.

So, tell me why on earth we can't invent baby doll hair that doesn't knap up into ugly clumps?

Snow Day

We had all sorts of big plans for today. This morning we were going to pick up some friends and go ice skating and eat lunch at a local shopping mall. For the evening I had organized a big group to go bowling together.

But instead, we woke up to... SNOW!!

So we stayed in our jammies most of the day. We read books and watched movies. Nothing too exciting, but it was sort of nice after we had been exploring all over the city for several days.

In the evening some of our closest friends came over for tea. We had such a good time together. We ended up playing one of our favorite games until 1 in the morning! The girls won, so the guys owe us a trip to the movies!

Ironically, before they came I was wishing for a quiet evening snuggled up together in front of a movie. But I realized that it was so nice to have them visit and break me out of my "snowbound" funk!

We've got one more week of winter break left and LOTS of fun left to be had!

Puh!

This is the sign that Callie made to warn Daddy that the electrical socket (priz) blew up!

My favorite part is the smoke and the PUH!  That is precisely the sound it made!  HA!

POW!

When I got home from our outing I tried to plug in my camera battery charger.  The socket exploded!

It popped, a little flame shot out, and all the lights in the flat went out.  I had to go get my neighbor to help me figure out how to flip the main circuits on the entrance floor of the building.

I flipped our main circuit myself but that didn't work.  I don't know what he did, but he got it working again.  He told me not to use that outlet again until I can get an electrician to come look at it.

YIKES!

Stay-Cation Day 3!

Today was the best day yet.  We got up and out early (for us) and headed way over to the other side to the new aquarium.  I wanted to be there right when it opened because I was worried that it would get crowded later in the day.

Justin got me a fancy phone for Christmas (pictures from yesterday).  I love the dang thing, but I can hardly work it!  HA!  I got everything all mapped out last night and thought I was ready to roll for this morning.  When we got in the car I went to look at the map on my phone and it won't work.  We have pay as you go cell service and mine had run out!

But, I thought that I remembered the direction to go, so we started out.  (In hindsight, I was a little too paranoid about getting there right at opening time!  I should have stopped at a cell phone store in our neighborhood and bought a minute-card.)  Stupid me, I had Noah send like a bi-jillion texts to Justin asking him to put money on my phone.  Guess how many went through... none!  DUH!  It wasn't working!

I figured that I knew the area where the aquarium was, and I could follow signs on the highway to that location.   Surely after that there would be all sorts of signs for the aquarium.

Wrong!

So we get way, way out, and I began to panic because I had not seen ONE sign for the area of the city that I wanted to go to.  I finally got off the highway and drove all through some crazy tiny city streets to find a cell phone store.  I finally found one, parked in the road (anything goes here!), and ran in to get the stupid scratch-off cards to put money on the phone.  I jumped back in the car to drive to a safe place and then got my phone set up.

After a quick call to Justin we were back on our way.  I was just one exit away from where I wanted to be!!  We found the aquarium quite easily after that.

So, get REALLY comfortable.  I brought my big camera with me this time, and there are lots of pictures!

My cuties at the beginning of the Aquarium.
They had a scale model of the big water way in our city and the waterfront buildings.

Examining the fish

These kids are so weird!

Lucy knows how to pick 'em 

I can't remember why on earth this statue was even there.
But, of course, Noah found it hilarious!

One of many sharks in the huge tank.
I could have sat there all day and watched all the fish!

Lion fish in front.
Way in the back you can faintly see two goober fish.

Rainforest exhibit

Of course we had to eat lunch at the little cafe.  It was right on the water.
The aquarium is located just between the sea and the airport.  So, while we ate,
we got to watch planes coming in to land.

The weather was cloudy and drizzly so we didn't go to the top of the tall building like I had planned.  Instead, we went to visit this historic church (now a mosque) that I had been wanting to see.  It is a small replica of the huge church that the emperor Justinian built.  He had this one built to be more like his personal family chapel.

Outside the "Little" Ayasofya

The courtyard- with a small cemetery and a place for the men to do their ceremonial washing
before their prayers.

I bet the water coming out of those spigots is freezing!!

Inside- the domed ceiling.
The paintings were beautiful! 

The podium (so to speak) for the Imam to give his Friday lessons.

This area used to be the narthex when this was a church.

Three monkeys standing up on top of the women's prayer area.

From the balcony looking forward.

Beautiful stonework and etchings.
I wonder what it says...

On the balcony looking towards the back entrance.
The stripes in the carpet are sort of diagonal to the entrance.
They help orient the pray-ers towards the east.

Other side of the balcony looking towards the front entrance.

The front door.

A beautifully restored Ottoman-style home.

After leaving the Ayasofya I punched "go home" into the GPS and it took us to the car ferry.  When I saw that that's how it wanted me to go I got nervous because I have never fooled with the ferry.  I always use one of the big bridges.  We've only been on the car ferry once and it was a much bigger one that goes much farther.  Regardless, Justin felt with it.

But, I was feeling adventurous and so we went for it.  It was so fun!  I love the ferry!

Everyone lining up on the boat.

Noah was listening to "Adventures in Odyssey" so he stayed in the car.

My favorite tower.

People on the ferries toss bits of bread and the seagulls catch it like a golden retriever!

Callie couldn't resist.  So I gave her a lira to buy some bread.

Having fun on the ferry. 

Nearing our port.

Today was my favorite day in a long time with the kids!  It was relaxed and fun.  We weren't in a hurry for anything and we were all up for adventure.  So fun!

Tomorrow will be much more low-key.  Noah and Callie have guitar lessons and then we are going to my friend's house to visit.  I and hoping to stick in a movie for the kids to watch while she and I visit!

Arcopology... Acheology... Acropology

Although none of us can really even say it, the kids and I went to the big archeology museum today.  I've heard so many good things about it, but we've never found to time to see it.

So, yesterday when we were making our big plans for the winter break, Noah suggested the archeology museum.  We jumped on the idea, and headed out first thing this morning.

Get comfortable; although I didn't take my big camera, I managed to take a lot of pictures on my phone...

Just outside the museum entrance.

Callie walked like an Egyptian throughout the ancient Egyptian reliefs.

Strike a Pose

Our favorite: the MUMMIES!

With the box open.

The jars in the middle are where the internal organs were stored.

A close-up of the face on the box.

Butt Head!
You have to be a 10 year old boy to truly appreciate this picture!

Roman sarcophagus

Alexander the Great's Sarcophagus 

Another beautiful sarcophagus
This gives a little perspective so you can see how big these things are.

Zeus lost his nose!

My three treasures on the museum steps.

The girls peeking into the tile museum.

Callie and Lucy posing in front of some beautiful tile work. 

Down the steps of that section.

The front of the tile museum section.

After we fully explored all of the museums, we headed out to eat a late lunch.  We were starving!

The parade observatory located within the old city walls. 

On the footbridge over the main road by the ferry docks.

Callie, Noah, and Lucy on the ferry heading back to our side of the city.

The beautiful seaside.

Getting closer to our dock.

We had such a fun day exploring.  I was surprised by how much the kids enjoyed the museum.  They really seem to like history.  (Well, not Lucy!  She just likes to be with the big kids!)  The kids got in free and my ticket was quite inexpensive so it was a really cheap outing.  I did spring for lunch at Burger King... YUM!

I have to tell you one story from our day...

On the museum grounds there is an outside area that has rows and rows of random artifacts.  After looking through one of the museums and this garden, the kids asked why the statues were almost always headless.  So we Googled it on my phone (technology is amazing!!) and learned that when a place was raided or in times of war, the conquerers would often chop the heads, arms, and... um... privates off the statues.

Apparently this information really made an impact on Lucy!

For the rest of our museum experience, Lucy checked every statue and reported wether or not its privates were in tact.  Too bad she has no tact!

Yet another time when I was so, SO thankful that no one around us could speak english!!!



Tomorrow we are going to check out the new aquarium on the other side.  If the weather is nice, we are also going to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Europe.  Normally, the tickets are a bit expensive, but they have a special that kids can bring in their good report cards and ride the elevator to the top for free!  There is a big terrace with a 360 degree view of the city!