Russian Travelers: Olga & Yuri

Room With A View

2008-10-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

Looky Here

2008-09-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

The weirdest thing happened recently. One of my camera-phone photos was seen on our FLICKR site and was "entered" into, I guess, a contest where, if chosen, it would appear on a travel-related website. I thought "why not" when I got the email notifying me.

So, in the awesomeness that is my mad camera-phone skillz, my photo was selected.

Check it out:

I took the photo during an overnight field trip to Busch Gardens with my son. His class got a tour of the preserve, and hence, my awesome photo ensued.

In all fairness, I am not sure what they saw in the photo. (It's just a bunch of animals--not even looking at us) but hey, what can I say? I'll take all the credit anyways!

Roller Coaster Kid!

2008-08-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Woman o'the Evening

2008-08-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

Disney on a Cloudy Day

2008-08-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

Any Questions?

2008-08-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Resort Pic

2008-08-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Rainy Day

2008-08-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend Disney Trip

2008-08-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Gems!

2008-06-14T18:02:00.001-07:00

Check out this redneck-fabulous side-of-the-road gem mining operation!

For those of you who haven't gem mined in the past, here's what you do. Show up, pay $35-$40 for a large bucket of dirt. Walk over to a trough of running water, grab a sifter (I guess that's what they call it!), pour dirt into sifter and shake it through the water. Any goodies you have will show up after all the dirt/clay is washed away.

Lots of quartz, rubies, garnett, and pyrite (fools gold). Here's some of the better pieces we found this week:

Amazingly, the proprietor of the establishment could, also for a fee, extract the good from the ugly rocks. He was willing and able to cut out the emerald from the chunky kryptonite looking green chunks we found. I told him we'd think about it...NOT!

We had a great time though, even if we were covered in mud-water and dirt when we were done!

Games Games Games

2008-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

One of the selling points for the cabin was the pool table and the
jacuzzi. We hit the hot tub on night 1 but the flurry of humongous
bugs of all shapes and sizes sort of deterred us from doing it again
at night. Suckage! We were literally overrun and not overjoyed that
they wanted to share the tub with us.

Now the pool table is another matter all together. The kids and I have
been missing shots and making "scratches" since we arrived. But we
are having a great time in all of our pool blunders! Amberly has
become quite good considering she has never played before. I am very
proud of my little Russian girl.

We are going out and scouting the area for gold and gems so I'll give
an update on our success (or lack thereof) in a later post.

We Made It To the Wilderness

2008-06-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, the Olga 'n Yuri household arrived safely yesterday at our
mountain hideaway.

As expected, there is no Internet and barely a cell signal here !
Talk about getting away from it all !

I took this pic today during a walk. The area is very quiet and cozy.

More deets later.

2008-03-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Group shot.

2008-03-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Houston, we may have a problem!!!

2008-03-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Austen on the moon! Not really, but I had the privilege to chaperone
his 5th grade trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

We had a blast trekking through the many space-themed exhibits and
movies. A tiring but fun day indeed!

When We Were Young

2008-02-23T18:25:00.001-08:00

Olga and I found our engagement pictures this weekend. Man, it's been A LONG TIME since these have seen the light of day!

We were hot back then!

Wii-Mania!

2007-12-31T05:12:00.000-08:00

Austen's dreams came true on Christmas day this year as Wii-mania swept across the Olga & Yuri household! (Amberly cracks me up...you can see the "whateverness" in her look as her brother screams triumphantly!) Don't get me wrong, Amberly likes the Wii too, but you see, Austen has been eyeing a Wii for about a year now. Olga and I have been trying to see if he could "save" his money to buy one. Yeah, that worked out! Austen would get $25, and it'd burn a hole in his pocket so fast! Oh well, to be 10 again...

I am what you'd consider a "gamer." I am of the Atari mentality. Games are "supposed" to last 4 minutes or less, you have 3 lives, the graphics generally suck, etc. My attention span is not so that I can endure a typical Mario game. I usually have to get up and do something else after 3 minutes, as I've lost interest in the game. What's funny is that Wii Bowling seems to have gripped me! Decidely longer than 3 minutes per game, yet I am OBSESSED with it! I love bowling a "turkey" strike...3 strikes in a row. Mind you, this rarely happens! I think I've achieved that 1 time in a zillion games. But it's so fun, especially in the 10th frame! Bowling is sooo addictive!!

The tennis game is fun too. I would like to be able to do a straight-up singles game or at least be able to switch between the doubles players (I'm sure there is a way to do this, I just haven't figured it out yet...), but nonetheless, the game is very fun.

Austen's been playing his Mario Galaxy game quite a bit too. I can watch him, wait for it..., for about 3 minutes before I have to get up and do something else! Damned Atari programming! :)

Canada Wrap Up: Toronto

2007-12-09T14:33:00.001-08:00

Autumn changed into winter literally overnight!

Olga's wish for snow fulfilled..in spades!

Taking a picture of this stupid boat became an obsession for me! The camera didn't want to focus just right (I was aways off), and I think this was the 1,498th shot!

Tilt your head to see a Christmas tree of lights in Eaton Centre, which is akin (distantly) to Times Square.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) was a complete dud! You had to love the floor devoted to the "paperweights of the world". I kid you NOT.

We found that Canada has BLACK SQUIRRELS! We loved them!

The base of the CN Tower. Sorry you have to crook your head! Check out those trees for a sense of perspective!

Of course, I insisted on going to the TOP of this monstrosity. Everywhere you went, you were reminded of just how high you were! No wonder I got freaked out and clung to the walls!

Another cute black squirrel...looking for a nut...so move your...

From the top of the CN Tower.

Olga braved the "glass floor" and took this picture for me!

This is what you get with the standard ticket! Wired in views of the city! This is the bulky middle part of the tower.

Before we went up...

From four blocks away.

This adorable cat/bird sculpture graced the inside food court area of a building Olga and I had breakfast in each morning we were in Toronto.

Love the red tree!

Our first day in Toronto. Very autumnal pic.

Niagara!

2007-11-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

More snow, more delight, more really cold weather!

Snow coming down!

2007-11-22T09:39:00.001-08:00

Snow collecting in Olga's hair. The snow was coming down even as we
played!

From a Distance

2007-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2007-11-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

A David Lynch styled Christmas Tree

2007-11-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

We made it!!

2007-11-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

Olga & I made it to Toronto in one piece Monday night.

We traveled by car from Buffalo to Toronto without incident thankfully.

Yesterday we walked about 10,000 km (because we're using the metric
system!) and ventured into the very tall CN Tower and the not so
glamorous Royal Ontario Museum (the paper weight collection was
fabulouso...not!!).

Today it is raining, so we headed into the underground PATH, which is
not straight nor easy to find your destination. Well, at least we are
not getting wet!

I am blogging outside of the Apple Store because there just hasn't
been free wifi that I could find. I have discovered the difference
between "hotspot" and free wifi. That difference is $$$.

Anyways, Olgie and I are having a blast. Tomorrow we're moving on to
Niagara!

Sent from my iPhone

Delays!

2007-11-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

Well, after breezing thru security and feeling pretty good, Olga & I
hit a roadblock. Our flight out of Jax is delayed for 2 hours, which
throws off our connecting flight. UGH. We may get out of here today
if we're lucky!

At least we saw Phil Stacey from American Idol! I would have snapped
his pic, but alas I was dealing with my travel woes at the time!
Suckage...

Wonder if Phil's flight was delayed too? He's not on my flight so
maybe he was able to excape!

Sent from my iPhone

Have you seen this man?!

2007-11-18T10:11:00.001-08:00

Pirate scouted on the starboard bow!

Captain Doom & Gloom (as I was today!) made his debut appearance at children's church today!

Jack Sparrow, look out!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Olga Loves Me!

2007-10-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Lookey what my darling Olga bought me for my B-day!

Love love love it!

Habitat For Humanity Day

2007-10-16T13:52:00.001-07:00

Guess where I've been today? Give ya 3 guesses but the first two
don't count!!

Grueling but rewarding day today. Did much painting, caulking, and
sweeping in this "fixer-upper". And I got a freebie day off as well.

This Habitat House is in a very bad part of town...ugh, but I
survived. :)

Now where is that box of Epsom salt??!!

Photos from Orlando

2007-10-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Some shots of the kids and I last weekend in Or-LON-doh (as verbalized in Amberly's faux-British accent...funny how that accent only comes out when she says certain words. Trust--she was riled beyond humanly possible about "Or-LON-doh" this weekend!!)

You can check out the rest at our FLICKR page.

Obsessed With Rain??

2007-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Ok. We had a blast in Orlando this weekend! The mobile posts I did (from the trusty iPhone) seem to talk a lot about rain. What's the deal, you ask?

Well, up to this past weekend, it has rained for 2 solid weeks in Jacksonville! Frankly, we're past needing an ark now! Some very good friends have had their homes flooded, and we've all been incovenienced by flooded roads and wrecks. Seriously, FEET of rain have fallen. The forecasts all pointed to 3 solid days of rain, but we were pleasantly surprised with that piece of inaccurate information.

The rain had obviously visited Orlando but had departed post haste when we arrived. YAY for that! Things were a bit soggy, but we were not rained on during our outings. Heck, we got the wettest on the Little Mermaid attraction at MGM Studios! FOR REAL! I was like "SO.NOT.FUNNY" when they did that!

So that's the deal. We prayed for no rain, and that's what we got!

Orlando Day 3: EPCOT

2007-10-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

Taking in the sights @ EPCOT today. Weather is gorgeous, and we're
having a great time. This pic is from the Nemo exhibit at The
(living) Seas.

No Rain!!..Orlando Day 2

2007-10-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

This a shot of the weather we're having! No rain in sight!!! It is
still raining at home so this is a beautiful thing!!

Orlando: Night 1

2007-10-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Trip to Canadia: BOOKED!

2007-10-03T07:18:00.001-07:00

Olga and I are off to Canadia (yeah, I know I'm misspelling it, but it just sounds so much cooler when I say it and type it that way!) the week of Thanksgiving!!!

You may remember that this is when we took our fantabulous trip to London and Paris last year. We just like to be away from home for Thanksgiving!

Not really, it's just easier to schedule time off then. See, everyone likes the week of Christmas off, so that usually leaves open Turkey Week. But I digress...

Here's the itinerary:

November 19: Fly to Buffalo, NY; drive to Toronto.

November 20-21: Living large in T-Town

November 22: Niagara Falls!

November 23: Fly back home

Now we're off to buy some guidebooks! Too bad Rick Steve doesn't have a Canadian series. His European books (and PBS TV show) rock!!

Picture Link

2007-09-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's where you can go and see our family photos, travel pics and such.

Just click the link below and you'll be taken over to our Flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/olgalovesyuri/

Start-up!

2007-09-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Olga suggested (euphemized, of course) that I start a blog where she could share with her friends and not be "embarrassed" by my music posts and such.

Voila!

I've actually wanted to do this for a while now, and have a more devoted blog for travel, pics, and family updates and such.

Enjoy!