Hi from Ric and Denise

Well, we are off tomorrow to Istanbul and our last few days in Turkey. This has been an incredible, if not too brief, tour of a really fantastic and friendly country. In retrospect I realize I had no idea of the history, diversity and size of this country. It has been a great eye opener. From the ancient cities of Ephesus, Priene, Didyama and Therimesos to the beautiful sea of Kokova, to the wonderland of inland Turkey and Capadoccia we have had many experiences we'll never forget. Cameron has made friends everywhere we've gone, they all want him to come back and everyone loves his hair and eyes! I discovered true lovliness last night as I was finally correctly dressed in a headscarf. I'm including a picture of me with my scarfdresser Esalee! She invited us into her house for her homemade raisons and raison syrup!! So, we look forward to the adventures of Istanbul and then we will be off to Italy (we've had enough of Nescafe for a while!). Love to all, Denise, Ric and Cameron

Me climbing the cave houses in Cappidoccia

My dad with a great harbor behind him

My dad at one of the harbor's in Kokova. My dad says it was one of his favorite harbors he had ever seen.

me holding a turtle

Here I am holding a turtle in-front of a ancient Licyaian tomb that is at least 2,500 years old. In Kokova which is in the south of Turkey.

My day off!

Me relaxing in Turkey! With the ghost village behind me.

In an onyx workshop

I got invited to see how someone made an onyx paper-wait and after he gave it to me for a present!!

Me at the library in Ephesus

On our 2nd day in Turkey we went to Ephesus I am standing in-front of the Library of Celsus. And it was only built about 2,100 years ago, and it housed about 12,000 scrolls. The actual city of Ephesus was built 3,100 years ago.

Saying goodbye to Greece

Here I am with one of the local bar tenders in THE WAVE cafe on Samos eating one of the last chocolate crepes I would have for a while. After I had my chocolate crepe we waved goodbye to Greece and were on our way to Turkey.

We simply cannot stop trading!

Here we are buying carpets after we had just gotten of the ferry to Turkey (Ric buying old Turkish carpets in Selchuk!)

The spectacular theater of Priene

Cameron captaining his first boat in the Med

Samos Island in Greece

We ran across this little newly hatched Chameleon while we were hiking! It climbed up Cameron's arm! We had some of the most beautiful hikes through terraced hillsides and great mountainous areas here....amazing!

Our overnight Ferry from Sifnos to Samos Greece!!

Our overnight Ferry from Sifnos to Samos Greece!!

This is what we spent the night on and I can tell you it was very rocky. It was a very cool experience though it took us about 12 hours to get from one island to another with like 5-6 stops we slept in bunk beds (I got the top one! and i fell out 2 times ha just kidding!!!) we even got our own little cabin!

The Greek Islands!

Hello all from the beautiful Greek Island of Sifnos! We aren't doing much here which is great considering we've been on the whirlwind history tour up until now! The quiet, calm of the Greek islands has snatched us up and we're meandering without a goal except for Cameron who wants chocolate crepes! That appears to be our only mission right now! The sun is beautiful, the seas are turquoise blue and the food here is like no other place in Greece! We've been here a couple of days and it feels like we never were anywhere else and won't be headed off to anyplace else!!! Didn't that happen to Odyssius? Anyway, enjoy the blog and we'll enjoy the weather here for you all! Love, D, R and C

pictures of windmills in Sifnos

Cameron says hi! He's having a great time and wishes you were all here with us! He'll be a fantastic tour guide some day. He seems to really take to traveling. He's into a good book right now though, so he's not in the writing mode! We'll have a little ouzo for you all! D, R and C

The Meteora!

Hi from Ric and Denise

Wow, finally a half day off! Ric has kept us out there seeing it all just as he promised but today we had to do laundry, had to just stop and take a breath. The trip has been fantastic and hopefully you've been watching Cameron's postings. We've covered so much history that I cannot take it all in and so I've just started concentrating on all of the beautiful wildflowers we are seeing! I must say the highlight of the trip might have been watching Cameron sprint the length of the Olympic stadium on his 11th birthday but seeing all the sights of Paris and all of the history of Greece has given me a lot to ponder. It's amazing to have this opportunity to see this part of the world and even more amazing to share it with Cameron. If I'd had this historical background when I was young I think I might have been able to make more sense of everything....although I think historically we've had enough war for one planet (thus perhaps my fascination with the wildflowers!). We hope you are all well and think of you all often! Look for future postings! Love you Denise (and Ric....he's working on our next phase of the trip, the Greek islands!!)

Monemvessia without the wild man

Views from Monemvassia

Monemvessia

Monemvessia is an island out in the middle of no where but it has some really cool castle ruins it has two levels the lower one was for the peasants and people who aren't important. Then the upper level is for people who really are important like kings and nobles. And all around the island are these huge walls. They have one little wall for the lower town that just runs part way around and then they have one for the upper town which goes all the way around and it is really big.
The Lower town is still inhabited but the upper town is just a ghost town but you can go up there and see all the ancient runes and also have a great view!!

The ancient helmets of Olympia

Cameron on the starting blocks at Olympia

I ran in the Olympic games

Today we went to Olympia, Greece and also today was my birthday!!!!! I got to run in the Olympic stadium where about 2,500 years ago they held the first Olympic games. I won the gold prize and my mom won the silver. I ran almost the whole thing in about 24 seconds it was about a three hundred meter dash. We also got to see the temple of Zeus which is one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. And the column parts were so big from side to side i could have used them as a bed. Thats all for now Cameron

Happy Birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday sweet cuzzle! I hope you're having a fabulous day. It's so fun reading about your adventures and seeing your pictures. Justin wishes you a great day too! We love you so much.-----------------------------Kira

Cameron at Mycenae

The Athenian Acropolis

Visiting Napflion

Next we rented a car and went to Napflion and saw a lot of ancient ruins. Fist we went to Mykinos were the Mycenae king Agamemnon had his palace it's very cool. It's about 1,500 B.C. i'll try and get a pic. up later.
We went to tons of different castles in Napflion and also the theater in Epidovros the theater was so big that if I ran the upper ring of seats 4 times I would have ran about 1 mile.
Now we are down in the south of the Peloponnese in a really cute town called Mystras and tomorrow we are going to go to another amazingly cool castle.
Today after we rented our room at our hotel we went to see the Spartan theater, and Acropolis it was cool but not as cool as the Athenian Acropolis.


That's all for now thanks Cam.

Versailles!

It's no wonder they had a revolution, Look at Versailles!

Our last stop in france was Versailles and what a great way to leave. After that we moved on to Athens (Greece). From the first day we were really busy we walked all around the Acropolis and also went to Placa (the ancient market).
The next day we went on top of the Acropolis and saw the Parthanon it was totally awesome! It was really really big and elaborate and old

Hi from the ID mtns!

Hi Cameron! I love your photos, especially the one of you and your Mom high-fiving under the Eiffel tower! What do you like most about France? Have you heard any good French Music? What are the colors of a French Spring? We all missed you this weekend at Twin Eagles... it was a warm Spring day... the aspen trees are flooded... and the yellow buttercups are everywhere! It looks like you're making the most of your trip... say Hi to your Mom and Dad for me, and we'll see you when you get back!- Karen (from Twin Eagles) :)

Cameronn at St. Chapelle

Amazing stained glass!

Cameron does the Eiffel Tower!

Cameron after a day at the Louvre!

beneath the glass pyramid

The Mona

Me and the Venus de Milo

Going to the Louvre

Hi people this is Cameron speaking from Paris France. Today we went to the Louvre. It was really cool. We got to see the famous Mona Lisa,(!!!) and the Venus De Milo. It was really cool. We got to see countless other famous paintings and scultpures and got to take some really great pictures.
There were tons of people around the Mona but luckily since I am really small I got to worm my way to the front and got some really great pic's and a great view. It was a little less crowded at the Venus De Milo but there still was a lot of people.
It was amazing to see how sculpture has changed over the millenia from just the basic body parts to things that looked like they were living people.

Thats all for now thanks Cameron

Check out my great pic's

eating well in paris yum!

Notre Dame!

Cameron at the Eiffel Tower

Paris rocks socks off!

Hi guys this is Cameron speaking from Paris France. The first day we saw the Louvre with the glass pyramids but we didn't go inside, then we went and walked along the Seine (river) and saw Notre Dame. Some time we are going to go back so i can draw it. We rented this little apartment it is really fun. is kind of chilly here cause there is a cold wind but you can still walk around.

The second day we started by walking down on this really cool pedestrian street market. Then we took the metro from there to this place called Trocadero then we walked to this awesome place called the eiffel tower!!! That was really cool but we haven't gone in it yet. Then we got some great french lunch (a chocolate crepe) and walked through town past Les Invalides (the huge military hospital built by Louis the 14th!) and then up the Champs Elysee to l'Arc de Triumphe! We were tired so took the metro back to Les Halles and walked to this great Pizza place (our second night eating there) for great pizza.

This morning mom and I went out to the market and got fresh baguettes (great bred) and strawberries. Yum! Then my dad cooked us this great meal with baguettes and cheese it was so good.

Hello from City School

Greetings!!!
Hi gang...how is your new adventure???
Cameron...how goes the math mission???
I am looking forward to hearing how your math skills are being put to use in your new surroundings...
Have a great time and I will stay in touch.
m

Miss you guys already!

Hey you three! It was so great to see you in Spokane and to get to have a little time with ya before you took off for your big adventure. We were so glad to hear that you made it safely and that you're settling in well. I can't wait to read about your travels and see pictures!! Love you all so much, ----------------------Kira

Hello from Twin Eagles!

Hi Cameron, Denise and Ric,

This is Jeannine here writing to you from a snowy Sandpoint, Idaho! Thanks for the blog! It is so great to read of your travels in Kathmandu. Thanks for sharing the photos as well! We loved the one of the prayer flags! It sounds like you are having a lot of fun and we hope this continues! Today at Twin Eagles we finished up our 3 day Spring camp with a bunch of kids where we did willow weaving, made willow bark medicinal salves and more! We are thinking of you three and hold you in our hearts. We look forward to seeing you in the spring!

Jeannine (and Tim and River, too!)

off again!

I hope you guys have fun over in Europe! Take good pictures, and post about your adventures. We'll miss you, and see you when you get back!

Ok, we are ready to see the world through your eyes again. Take some good pictures for Conner to see. Have an Awesome time. Maybe next trip we will go with you guys. :)
Love ya guys, Lyn & Conner