Egypt ~ part 2

On Sunday morning we had to wake up very early so we could be loaded onto our shuttle bus (home for the day) by 5am. Now in the world of Cathy there is only one 5 o'clock and it doesn't have an 'am' in it... but we had a long drive in front of us & lots of exciting things to see. We were off to Karnak Temple, the Valley of the Kings, and a ferry ride on the Nile River.

Our first stop was Karnak Temple. The sight is a huge open-air museum that has not been completely excavated. It is one of the largest ancient religious sites in the world and a must see when visiting Egypt.

The first picture below is of the entrance area to the sight, notice all the lion-sphinx statues...

notice Pink Baby even got to visit the Karnak Temple...

Ok, you need to know the story here... first it was really hot & we were all getting a little tired of walking around so Kevin bribed us with ice-cream. Next, according to tradition, if you march around the object immediately behind me 20 times counter-clockwise you are to be granted a pregnancy within the year (it is a fertility statue/god). So I was determined to prove it wrong & proudly marched around it counting with a very loud voice (hence the picture with my mouth half open). Ten months later there is no baby in the Duffy future - HA, I proved it wrong!

After a very long morning we were glad to enjoy a nice lunch buffet overlooking the Nile River.

We then took a short ferry ride on the Nile River.

Next we visited the Valley of the Kings. Now most of these pictures are actually from the internet because no pictures are allowed. And don't you dare think that you can sneak a picture because security is on you like stink on poop ~ no chance! (Now we didn't try to sneak any pictures, but it was interesting to see people try & some even loose their cameras for trying)
In the lobby area there was a display that showed how the tombs have been found...

and the underneath of the display showed how the tombs went deep into the caverns

entrance to a tomb

example of inside of tomb ... a lot more roomy than expected and very colorful decorations

We did not go into King Tutankhamen's tomb, because it is an extra charge. Also, we have previously visited the traveling museum artifacts for the tomb so we weren't sure that we would learn anything more by going into this tomb ... plus it was on the other side of where we were & it was really, really hot - too hot for the extra walking

Our last stop in the Valley of the Kings was to a separate location to see the Queen Hatsheput Monument. This was built by a Queen who was able to obtain Pharaoh status based on her statues having beards. Below is a picture of our shuttle ride from the buses to the actual monument; you know they say that Caterpillar equipment is durable & useful ~ leave it to someone to decide that a fork lift can be converted to a tram/shuttle engine.

The lovely Shaffer family pictured above

The girls & I were hot & tired so we sat in the shade while everyone else toured the humongous sight :-)

After this last stop we all piled back onto the bus for the return journey ~ most of us feel asleep on the way. Then we stumbled back to our hotel rooms in hopes of getting a good nights sleep because Monday was a day for swimming, eating, and more swimming ~ well, Cathy & Kevin also worked in a massage each.

Egypt ~ April 2010

In April of 2010 we had the privilege of traveling to Egypt with one of our favorite families here in the ISE UK world - the Shaffers. They are a family of 5 (Jeanne & Scott are the fabulous Christian parents, Bryce is the awesome teenage son, and Madison & Christina are their two girls close in age to Brittney & Sophie). It was a great time had by all! Considering all the current unrest & violence in Egypt it is almost unreal for me to believe that we were there less than a year ago... It wasn't the cleanest of places but never once did we feel unsafe.

We flew into Hurghada and immediately noticed the difference in temperature. The excitement was growing as the hotel shuttle bus got closer & closer to the Aqua Jungle Park. We knew that there were 21 pools and 35 giant water slides waiting for us! Now that is fun...

Picture of front area

This is just 1 pool; there were 20 others to swim in also!

View from the top of one set of slides

Kiddie pool area (which I really enjoyed because you could lay in the water easier)

We arrived at the hotel Friday evening - too late to swim but it gave us plenty of time to get familiar with the grounds, check out the 5 different all inclusive restaurants, and then off to bed for some rest. We would need that rest because we had lots of swimming to do as well as a few other activities for the week... Saturday would include swimming & eating while the dads scheduled the outings for the week; Sunday was a long day that included Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple and a ferry ride on the Nile River; Monday was for swimming, eating, & massages; Tuesday was a boat ride to the reefs with snorkeling and swimming in the sea; Wednesday the girls stayed with the Shaffer's and swam some more while Kevin & Cathy went to Cairo to see the pyramids; Thursday was a very full day ~ 4 wheeling, go-karting, horse/donkey/camel riding, Bedouin camp, 45 minute jeep ride, and ended with a variety show...

Now, you can't go to Egypt without attempting to 'Walk Like an Egyptian'

along with a few goofy ones as well...

One of the 21 pools was in the 'cul-de-sac' area of our hotel rooms. Our rooms were on opposite sides of the pool so our neighbors never stood a chance for peace-and-quiet ... not that you would come to the Aqua Jungle Park ever expecting peace-and-quiet. In our pool there were these fabulous stepping stones that went from one side of the pool to the other. Of course the girls loved walking those stones (even when they weren't dressed for swimming). However, if you are going to pose while on the stones, expect the unexpected :-)

(doesn't Brittney look so innocent in the picture above)

The girls kept a really good attitude towards each other. I don't remember them ever getting cross with each other, even when they played tricks on each other. They were just enjoying the sunshine, the warmth, the pools, and the great company.

notice my beautifully pedicured toes in the bottom of this picture

There were a lot of things about this holiday that made it feel kinda like a cruise - the food & drink was almost non stop, it was really good food, and all of the activities. But an unexpected fun thing was the towel decorations that were waiting for us each day.

flower with actual flowers & leaves to enhance the beauty

alligator reminding us we shouldn't be watching tv when there was so much to do outside...

Well, now you have an idea of how we spent our time at the water park. I will blog separately about the pyramids, Valley of the Kings, and our adventure day. Until then, I hope you can tell from the above pictures just how much fun we had - (in the words of Sophie) it was awesome!

Sophie and Bomber

I have heard people talk about horses picking their riders, but I had never seen it in action. Bomber is a young horse at the stables where we ride that has only had a rider on his back for a little over a year. In the spring when Sophie's first horse Misty starting having problems with laminitis, the suggestion was made for her to try out Bomber. I wasn't too keen on the idea at first because I had seen Bomber be true to his name (bombing off), but I decided to let her give it a try. WOW, the two of them are a match made in heaven.

First off, Sophie is a very confident rider with plenty of skill to go with it, but to watch her ride Bomber is an absolute joy. Even other people have commented on how much the two of them get along. There are even times it looks like Bomber is smiling when she is riding him. For the most part, Sophie can get Bomber to do just about anything she asks of him. He has learned to be a pretty good jumper with her and going fast is never a problem for the two of them.

Sophie has no fear riding Bomber, and it is funny to watch her competitive side come out when she goes against other riders while on Bomber. The two of them are almost unstoppable...

Sophie does ride other horses at the stables for lessons and sometimes I even let her ride my horse Lulu, but when all is said & done she would prefer to be on Bomber.

Brittney & Polocrosse

When we started horse riding here in the UK I was taken back by the difference between English riding and what I had done in the past. It took me quite awhile to get used to the idea of possibly falling off (had never done that before), trotting, cantering, correct leads, etc, and then to 'advance' to dressage, jumping, and cross country ... man, I thought I was something else. Then came Polocrosse, and I fell in love.

Polocrosse is a combination of the sports Lacrosse and Polo. You don't have to be a 'good' rider to participate, but it does help! However, I found my riding actually improved as I started playing Polocrosse, because I am concentrating on the game so much my riding just starts to happen. After about a year of me playing I finally got Brittney interested in it. Below are some pictures of Brittney on Issi during one of the weekly team practices. Brittney is wearing the light pink jumper.

Warm up includes sharpening communication between you & your horse. Because you are holding a racket in one hand, the reins in the other hand, and the game is very fast paced, you & your horse have to be 'intune' with each other.

In the pictures above they were riding around without stirrups in canter, 20 meter circles, etc, making sure the rider had a good seat and the horse was listening.

Brittney is leaning over Issi to pick up the ball with her racket so she can then throw it to a team mate. It can be a long way down there to pick up that ball when you & the horse are in a canter...

Brittney getting ready to throw the ball to her team mate.

This spring and summer before we move back, I hope to enroll me and Brittney in some training courses for Polocrosse. These are usually weekend retreats with camping, no showers, port-a-potties, lots of junk food, and all weekend riding - as long as the weather holds out they are usually quite fun. Currently there is no riding school in the Peoria area that plays Polocrosse, but I am hoping that we can change that when we move back. Hence even more of a need for us to improve our riding & playing skills.

Mediterranean Cruise - part 1

While living in the UK we have been taking advantage of the easy travel options. In the beginning we tried to go somewhere at least once a month; thankfully we have cut back our travel time (I can't keep up with the laundry & we girls enjoy our riding too much). However, one tradition that we haven't given up on is a cruise during the October mid-term break week. It allows us all a chance to see the sunshine, enjoy the smell of the ocean, and see a bit of the world.
This year Kevin had researched and thought he had found the deal of the century... The MSC Magnifica was a new boat commissioned in the beginning of 2010. It is a huge boat with a good number of swimming pools. The big deal with MSC cruises is that kids go free so we thought that was a good deal for the pocket book. The family room we stayed in was huge with plenty of storage for all of our clothes, so it definitely looked like we were off to a good start.

Our boat is bigger than yours!

Our cruise started and ended in Venice, and our ports of call were Bari, Katakolon Olympia, Izmir, Istanbul, Dubrovnik. We had been to a few of these places before so the girls & I were planning to stay on the boat, let dad do the excursions, and we would enjoy the pools, the sunshine, and the relaxation. For the most part things went according to our plan except the food on the cruise was not very good and the weather was awful. We saw more rain than sunshine, but it did not deter the girls from swimming. Most of the time I would sit by the pool, under the canopy, wrapped up in towels ~ but at least I was getting fresh air and catching up on my reading.
Also, most of the people on the cruise were not English speaking so when announcements were made it would take forever to go through the 5 different languages (with English being the last one) ~ Russian, German, Italian, French, English, and something else.... And as you probably guessed, with all these different languages came quite a few different cultures and people skills. Let's just say we found ourselves biting our tongues a lot and holding the girls close to us at times.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Sophie. I love her smile while she's running!

This cruise had two nights of dress up. Unfortunately since we travelled with Ryan Air we didn't have the luggage or space to bring variety per say... but the girls looked excellent none the less.

Brittney all dressed up!

Sophie dressed up with one of the many towel creations...

another fabulous towel creation - rabbit

We had a really good time on the cruise; the main objective was met ~ good family time coupled with relaxation. We played lots of cards in the game room. Kevin had an excellent time in the casino. Both, Kevin & I enjoyed the spa, and I got my usual pedicure treatment. The girls and I were regulars in the ship library checking out books and reading one a day. I think it is safe to say, the Duffy family nows how to relaxe in style!

(I'll add some posts for the ports of call that we went to...)