Kyle and Jemma's blog

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Cruzin' for Czechs... well, maybe Russians.

This is going to be one monster post... our departure from our old house on Marie-Antoinette in Waterloo for the last time, right up to our arrival in the USA. You ready?

Our house... good ol' #4. You were a good ship.

First stop when moving, of course, is to take a 3-4 day vacation in some far off country that has nothing to do with your destination. Mission accomplished - Dover, England. We decided to take the car across on the ferry, so that we could take one last stab at getting our money's worth on the insurance.

Really, the only pictures we have of these 3 days are of Warwick castle. It was pretty cool though!

It was big...

It was scary...

After our visit, It was full of little purple flower leaves from the thing Jemma stole in the cafeteria.

Different location, same cheesy smile, Daddy.

Great 'do, Mom!

The best thing is that they let us have a sword fight! Good thing that a kiss can mend a severed head.

We stayed at a little B&B run by two funny and fun guys - they let us use the trampoline, and join in their kid's birthday party too. Hi guys!

They even dropped us off at the ferry terminal, and kept our car parked at their place while we were on the cruise. If you're ever in Dover, we'll give you the name - they're great fun!

Now on to the Cruise ship! We're taking a few days through the Nordics, up to St. Petersburg and back!

According to mom, however, their place was infested with fleas. Apparently however, that's not a great conversation starter. The doctor however said it was just an allergic reaction of some type, and Jemmy was fine in a couple days.

First stop - Copenhagen. The Maid in the harbor was cool.

The ducks were... well... ducks.

There was a cool old fortress there too. The thing above Kyle's head isn't a Ninja star... it's a map of the place.

Kyle's not 'fraid of no guards. Mom was checking out his butt I think.

Yep mom, I'm afraid I have to pee. Again.

Time to get back on the boat. First though, it's time for more cheesy pics.

Next stop - Helsinki! Mom and Dad went to an Ice Bar there. I guess that means it's some kind of lame fashion show, where they get to be the models.

Even the glasses are made of ice. (one-time-use, I hope...)

Cool camera, Daddy!

Give me the camera! Give me!!!!

Waaaaaaaaa! Camera!!!!!!!!!

We mutinied the ship as pirates. It was a blast!

Look at them muscles!

There were some cool caves and fortresses in the countries we visited. Where's Waldo?

This is a dry-dock from the 1600's (I think)...

This is about as far as we kids got from the ship in most ports... staying onboard was WAY too much fun.

Mom and Dad forced us off so that they could say we visited each country. Lame. :)

Here's Mom and Dad in St. Petersburg - cool tour! They planned it funny though - going off for a day on their own while it was sunny, while.... (check back in a few pics!)

The Hermitage Museum isn't just about hermits, ya know!

Dad has a fascination with this kind of artwork... even though he ain't the most religious guy around.

Yes, that IS dad pushing mom further into the throng of people (despite some claustrophobia) just for the sake of getting her in the same picture as some Carvaggio painting.

Even the ceilings were cool.

This was the customs office... not nearly as bad or scary as they had us believe.

Mom and Dad even went to see a Russian Ballet while there - Swan Lake. It was pretty cool.

I guess the second half isn't as good as the first half - so they ply you with alcohol before you see it.

Dad takes lots of pictures at random times.

Mom is generally a good sport.

She even gets a bit goofy once in a while with him.

But when she says "enough"... Dad just doesn't learn. :)

Remember what I said above about them going solo on a nice sunny day? Well, the second day in St. Petersburg they decided to hire a private tour guide and drag us kids along with them. For this momentus event, they took careful care to order a monsoon. Special import, one-day-only.

However, once you're wet, does it really matter any more?

This is an illustration of how it FELT.

Apparently, Kyle was posessed by some ancient Russian ghost while wandering in the fountains.

But then he snapped out of it.

We also took a boat tour around the canals of St. Petersburg.

And then we were back on the ship. She's smiling because some nice man is currently making her a coffee. A big, strong coffee.

Next, we were off to... Latvia? I'll have to come back and fix this after asking Mommy for the itinerary. Isn't it sad that we can't remember where we went?

Have you noticed yet the distinctive lack of kids in most of these cities and pictures? Should we take it personally that Mom and Dad look so HAPPY?

Ah, never mind. Now we know why they're so happy.

Where IS that Waldo?

Now really, Mom...

And DAD! C'mon!

We kids made tons of friends, really fast. Take this nice boy - we chummed out for a while, but I don't think we ever even learned his name!

We went to Karaoke... some of it was good. Some.

This was the port-hole in our cabin. It was great for sitting in, and looking at the water.

We're going to get married some day.

Nice room, eh?

And that was the end of the cruise! There was more, but either we didn't take pictures, or they aren't that interesting.

After all was said and done, we got off the boat, gathered our car, tempted fate and our car insurance one last time, and made our way across the ocean to Rochester.

And then made a big mess.

There's even a cool little kid door in the basement doorway, so that we can go down anytime we want!

However, it's not so easy to get through as you might think.

The end... Now begins our next chapter in life: Rochester living. See ya soon!

- posted by Kevin @ 5:22 PM

Monday, July 07, 2008

Early Juillet - and not the Romeo kind.

Kyle had his birthday party early in July, because by the time September rolled around he'd be friendless in a new country (or so we thought...). He had a Little-Gym gala, but sans black tie.

The whole gang was there - even my tall friends.

What's a party, if you don't get to bonk people on the head, right?

I'm told this is life training... after bonking someone on the head, it's prudent to run.

Lest she catch you...

I'm teaching Jemma how to take care of herself on a date too.

Opening presents was fun - but mommy and daddy wouldn't let me open all the boxes! How unfair!

- posted by Kevin @ 5:09 PM

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

A few more random pics from July 08

Apparently, Jemma only likes CoCo Puffs because they make the milk chocolaty. After that, their job is done.

Um... we're not sure either.

Our going away celebration...

Jemma and Kyle with Janeva.

- posted by Kevin @ 12:20 PM

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Wayback #2

Next, the Wayback machine takes us back to mid/late June 2008, where school wrapped up, Kyle had his Little Gym final show, and the family did some local touring at zoos.

Kyle's school... the A.C. Montessori

Little Gym...

No, Kyle didn't wet his pants... they're made that way, for whatever reason.

Mommy had a going-away dinner with her friends. We'll pretend these pictures are from that... even if they aren't (I don't know!)

Now starts the big move... by mid-June, we packed up to get ready to move to the USA. We stayed in the house until early July even without it though - and lived on expensive hand-crafted cardboard furniture. :)

Guess what this is.... one hint - it's green, and someday I hope to be big enough to ride it. :)

Nice furniture, right? Custom-made, too!

Don't pack us!!!!!

This lifting is a lot of work.

Driving is a bit easier I think.

Why don't they have these things in America? Wow, they make moving easy...

After all that work, we deserve some play.

I'll miss these things once I get to the USA... I'm told the lawyers there limit them to 3 feet high, and you have to sign a waiver before getting on.