Emil, James Lake BC, Canada

Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2008, 1:08 am	My travel plans: Lejow - Netherlands magicwoman - Netherlands Pandamao - Germany Vicki - South Africa sararingham - Australia gingermuggins - Australia at home mystery host through Random Acts Part 3: Michele one L-USA at home Texas trip with my family at home SenoraVetinari - USA Luv_Lioness - USA brilliantlyxx - USA twennifer - Scotland JaymeC - Japan/USA I am so excited to finally get out and travel. I have to say goodbye to my friends first and enjoy the beautiful winter days here, so we went to the zoo today. There were donkeys there that were from Africa and eagels! Those were a bit scary, because they were flying around and eating small things, small meaning my size.  But I enjoyed it a lot and am now looking forward to my trip to the Netherlands. Here you can see some parts of my day:
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 18, 2008, 5:53 pm	Last night I went to sleep in a paper envelope made from the little bag I came in. I was part of a children's surprise bag. And this morning Apperveilchen dropped me into a big yellow box. It's freezing cold. I hope I'll arrive somewhere warmer soon.
Lejow Posted Feb 21, 2008, 6:33 am	heeeellllo!! I arrived yesterday, wow that postingpeople are fast overhere! Today Lejow has to work so I'm gonna stay home and talk with the other TV's and stuffed pets over here! I'm gonna make lots of friends I think Bubaaj! Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Feb 22, 2008, 6:44 am	Good Morning!! I'm so excited to be in The Netherlands! And wow Lejow has maaannnyyy stuffed friends! So I will not be bored Yesterday Lejow let me sit at the table with diner. They were eating peas, carrots and patatoes. Strange taste, but I like it! I'm looking forward to the weekend and the next week, Lejow has a week off from work so she can do all kind of cool things with me!! Bubaaaaaaj Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Feb 23, 2008, 9:52 am	I have a lot of fun here.. and guess what, I am not the only TV at Lejows home! Apollo is also here! Yesterday we had a nice friday-evening. We talked and talked and talked.. and I can say that I have made lots of friends. We even had a little time to pose for a photo: Finally Lejow has a week off now, so lots of time to do fun stuff! Bubaaj again! Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Feb 23, 2008, 7:29 pm	Here I am again! Tonight it's Idols night and I am watching it!! And I found a friend to sleep with.. It's Lejows boyfriend.. Ssst! bubaaj!
Lejow Posted Feb 25, 2008, 6:20 pm	Wwwwwwwwwwwowwww Lejow had a surprise for me! We went to the beach and eat an icecream!!!! The sun was shining sooo nicely! I love the beach, I did not get to close, because there were soooo many big dogs over there! But from a little distance I could see everything perfect Am I getting a tan allready ? Talk to you later! Big Kiss! Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Feb 27, 2008, 11:56 am	Heeellllo again! Yesterday I watched Lejow making her jewelry, wooww she has a lot!! She maked some earrings, doesn't they look pretty on me?? I also taked a look outside! Lejow is living on the 4th floor and the view is wonderfull! She can see al the way from Scheveningen to Kijkduin (the beach we went earlier this week) When the weather is very good and there are no clouds, you can see the boats behind the threes, because there is the see! Tomorrow we are going to the Zoo, I'm finally able then to make friends with an exotic animal!! Talk to you soon Kisses Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Feb 28, 2008, 9:34 pm	Heeelllokidoki! Lejow is staying with her boyfriend these days, I went with her so now we are in Rotterdam. Pfoeee my feet are tiiiiiiiiiiiiiired!! I had a long day. First we went to the Zoo, I can say I completed my life mission to become friends with an exotic animal. I saw a looot today!! First I posed yesterday together with Frodo the cat. And here the photo's of the zoo: The giraffes, Lejows favourite animal. Look how tall they are, I feld verrryyy little next to them! Hop Hop a kangaroo Can you find the animal in this picture? These are prairiedogs! So cool! Are they white with black marks, or black with with marks?? The zoo we went to is the home of Bokito, you probably heard from him. He became worldnews when he escaped last year out of his cage, when he couldn't handle the appearance of one woman anymore. She came almost everyday to Blijdorp to see Bokito and thought he was smiling at her. In fact he was very angry, and that became clear when he escaped and attacked her. I tried to make a picture of Bokito, but unfortunate he would sat still! This is him! The woman who got attacked found Blijdorp the responsible one, but the judges says that Blijdorp did everything to make it safe for human and animal, and that it was just an strange bizar accident! After the zoo we went eating at Mc Donalds and after that we went to the movies! We went to Step up 2, a cool dance movie! Now it's time for me to go to sleep.. my feet can't do anything no more.. Tomorrow another day, we go to Limburg tomorrow, a 2 hour drive. Lejow and her boyfriend are going for a weekendholiday! So more pictures will come! Hug Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Mar 3, 2008, 4:43 pm	Hello again! Finally time to update my log, it was such a great nice busy weekend! We went to Reuver, to Landallgreenparks ( I believe you know that also in Germany). They have al kind of houses there for people to stay in for a weekend or longer. In the middle of the parc there is a big plaza/centre where you can do everything. Eating, swimming, bowling, drinking, shopping and so on. Off course I made a LOT of pictures! Arrival Enjoying the house from the couch. With Appolo the blue alian from the USA, and Pien, the elephant who belongs to Lejow herself View again, but now with a squirrel. Can you see him? We called him Alvin, as in the movie. Later that day we spotted another 2, those 2 we called Simon and Theodore Making tea Having breakfast After breakfast we went to the parcplaza, its nice over there playing games look how much we have won Later that day we went to Reuver, doing some shopping We saw a big church After that I took a quick shower.. it was almots 8 o clock!!! So that means: IDOLS NIGHHTT It was the finally, very exciting. Nikki won, she was just the best! Sunday we went eating in the parc plaza, I saw some stingy little plants, they hurted me! When it was time to go home, we didn't want to.. so we played hide and seek. But unfortunately we really had to go, and after a more than 2 houre drive, we finaly arrived home and I was sooo tired I fel a sleep immideatly Hugggsss Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Mar 8, 2008, 9:28 am	Hello! Here I am again. Lejow is currently sick, so we couldn't do so much this week.. But I take good care of her and she thinks I am very sweet! Today we watched Ice skating, the Dutch girls won with the plough persuit (I have no idea if this is the good word for it haha). They won the gold medal! But... when I looked next to the TV, I saw a new mommie! She is soooooo sweet! But then I taked a good look.. I am grey.. they are yellow.. I make different sounds.. I have big ears.. They don't Wait a minute! THESE ARE CHICKENS! Ok.. not my new mommie then, but just some new Dutch Spring friends At last I waved Apollo goodbye, he is going to Australia. I'm also having my last days her in this village, coming friday I am going to someone else! Exxxciiiting! Hug Emil and Lejow
Lejow Posted Mar 12, 2008, 2:17 pm	WOEHOEHOEHOEHOE EMIL, IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, WE'RE GONNA CELEBRATE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! That's right!! I am turning one today!!!! Lejow had a suprise for me when she came from work.. Look at the cool had an card she bought! Fits like a charme! The birthday had has one candle! She gave me a loooott of hugs and kisses! Turning one is not so hard.. I feel just the same as yesterday Hug Emil and Lejow
Apperveilchen Posted Mar 12, 2008, 3:11 pm	Happy birthday, Emil! We are celebrating with you and are having a little TV party here to wish you a great new year of your life and many happy voyages to come. Thank you Lejow for being such a good host!
magicwoman Posted Mar 15, 2008, 6:14 pm	Hi mum Today I Arrived at magicwoman her house And also we went to Alkmaar today,I've met my new host Magicoman.Also I meet Eryah and a lot of other TV's. Fluffy and Pebbels are staying with Magicwoman to at the moment and it are really nice and kind TV's.And i became friends with them allready. Here are the pictures from Alkmaar. Here we are going to Alkmaar cause Marije (magicwoman) wants to have a nose piercing Alkmaar with all the toyvoyagers from the left to the right Pebbels,Nelly,Palmeke,I,Meleleuca ,Fluffy and Chompers I have to go in the bag cause Marije was going home Waiting for the train at the station Bye Bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 17, 2008, 7:44 pm	Hi mum Last Wednesday Marije gets a Playstation from her boyfriend So we played on it today,we played a game called "bugs bunny" I played with Fluffy It was so much fun And Marije has a real electric guitar I tried to play on it but is was so difficult but it sounds really cool Bye Bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:34 am	Lejow send marije some pictures she made with her camera from us last saturday in Alkmaar this one is made in the car Me and Buddha Eryah has a puppy,he was so sweet,his name is Dharma bye bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 20, 2008, 10:08 am	Hi mum Today we did some funny things in and arount the house I climbed in to a tree We played a game who is first on top of the tree,looks likes I win this game Marije has a really cool moped,it really looked like a motorcycle but it isnt And offcourse she invites me for a ride We eat some dutch candy called "drop"it was really yummy and especially Fluffy loves it Bye Bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 21, 2008, 11:45 am	hi mum Today we say goodbye to Pebbels,she leaves today. And we are a bit sad.Cause I became big friends with Pebbels.Pebbels brought some chocolate as a goodbye treat. giving Pebbels A big goodbye Hug Bye Bye Pebbels we are gonna miss you Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 23, 2008, 12:24 pm	Hi Mum Its easter today And I celebrate it at Marije her house She hide eggs for me and I had to find them,pretty diffy cult to do.But it was fun Were is the egg...please help me can't find it Yea I find it,it was in the cups me and fluffy with a yellow egg candle,Happy Easter Today I've completed a Life Mission it is ride on a bike finally on the bike with fluffy And..ride on the wheel bye bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 23, 2008, 12:41 pm	Hi mum here i am again Marije forgot to showed a picture she made from me friday big grey clouds are on the sky in Holland and suddenly there was snow,lots of snow. Thats so strange snow with easter days.Its not a white christmas but a wiht easter
Apperveilchen Posted Mar 24, 2008, 10:45 am	Hallo Emil! Frohe Ostern! Looks like you are having a great time. We are also having white easter here. Beats Christmas
magicwoman Posted Mar 26, 2008, 11:21 am	Hi mum good to read a message from you,I really had a great easter time with Marije. Hi mum Today I was bored,so I looked something I can climbed on It play some games,and suddenly Marije came in.She really laughed about me cause I was climbing in the lamp Here I am in the lamp,its amazing you can look so far in this lamp Here I am in the pumpkin Today Marije let me paint a painting,it was really diffycult to do it We had some visitors today,i've met some new dutch friends.They were very friendly ,and I hope they visit Marije more in the future. Playing a ball game with Fluffy You can see I made a lot of fun today Bye bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Mar 29, 2008, 3:39 pm	Hi mum It is very cold in Holland,and no sunshine (except for today) So Marije has an great idea to warm me up,she puts  me under the solarium thats how I get my tan,and i was great cause it was very warm I've read the news paper,cause I really want to know whats on in the world these days Enjoying the view on the fence Marije had a French Bulldog,unfortunately he died in august 2007 thats so sad But she had a french bulldog stattue in the garden we had some tea visit this afternoon,it was a bear and a pony they were so nice and we really enjoyed our tea,and discuss about our lifes Bye Bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Apr 1, 2008, 10:03 am	Hi mum Last Sunday I went to the "betuwe"thats an area in Holland,lots of fruit grows there ,and there are also a lot of apple and pear trees. It was great and we went with a small ferry boat.Cause we had to cross over the river thats called "the Rijn" Unfortunately the weather was really bad,a lot of rain this is still Ede A Dutch grass land Wating at the ferry boat ,made a picture from a house On the boat on our way to home you can see the boat in this picture A picture with me fluffy and scooby doo when we were back Marije took us to the local bar to drink something Bye Bye Emil
magicwoman Posted Apr 5, 2008, 7:56 pm	Today I say goodbye,i'm going to my next host.I had such a great time here in Ede. I'm gonna miss it here and I miss Fluffy we became big friends.But now its time to go giving fluffy a warm goodbye hug Bye Bye Ede and thank you for such a great time here Emil
Pandamao Posted Apr 13, 2008, 7:17 pm	I have arrived at Munich!
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 9:48 pm	I took a tour to Feldafing at the Starnberger See (Starnberg Lake). First I had to cross the golf course - in the background you can see the lake. Then I helped my host to pick some bear's garlic which grows there wild.
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 9:55 pm	I took a nice walk along the lake side (Starnberger See). The sun was shining, it was a beautiful spring day and I could even see the Alpes.
Pandamao Posted Apr 30, 2008, 10:15 pm	I was out just around the corner. There is a beautiful opera house - the opera at Gärtnerplatz.
Pandamao Posted May 6, 2008, 10:42 pm	As it was a nice spring day we all went out for a walk to Türkenfeld. It's about 45 minutes with the train outside of Munich. The colours of the tree leaves are beautiful, you only find this colour in spring time.
Pandamao Posted May 6, 2008, 11:00 pm	Our host is very interested in herbs so we helped her to search for them. We found lots of blooming wild violets and helped our host to pick them because she wanted to make sirup of them. If we would not have helped her she surely would have needed a long time to fill the small container. Later we also found woodruff which will be dried and used for tea and food flavouring.
Pandamao Posted May 7, 2008, 9:56 pm	We went out for another walk to pick herbs at Türkenfeld. We found chickweed, deadnettle, chervil and lots of other herbs.
Pandamao Posted May 7, 2008, 10:32 pm	Yesterday we had sorrel soup for dinner (delicious!!) and today we used the herbs for chickweed salad, then deadnettle lasagna and wild herb quiche ... I could not resist and tried every single dish. For the quiche I helped to collect more than 10 herbs: chickweed, deadnettle, silverweed, yarrow, sorrel, stinging nettle, dandelion, meadow sweet, ribwort, beech leaves, daisies, chervil, violet leaves .... I think that's about all of them. And all of the dishes were really tasting great.
Pandamao Posted May 14, 2008, 9:08 pm	I did a bit of sight-seeing today and visited the Marienplatz
Pandamao Posted May 23, 2008, 10:09 pm	I made a trip to Frankfurt on the weekend. The photos show the view of the Frankfurt skyline taken from a bridge over the Main river.
Pandamao Posted May 27, 2008, 9:28 pm	Just around the corner there is the Isartor. It's one of the old town gates and is used today as a museum.
Pandamao Posted May 27, 2008, 9:52 pm	Oooooh, I crawled into another envelope to travel to a continent I have not been before - Africa!!! So exciting!
Vicki Posted Jun 7, 2008, 6:00 pm	Yay! I've arrived!! I'm safe and sound! Vicki actually fetched me from the P O Box yesterday and her children Juanita and Nicholas were soooo excited. I arrived together with Grape Ape, so they were arguing over who was going to hold who first!! I love all the attention! . I was told I arrived a day too late for Juanita's pageant at school. She won the title of Miss Photogenic and tried to put her sash on me.... uuummm, it's a bit big! Look at the beautiful flowers she got! The children showed us their drawings and paintings, wow! They have an art gallery here! This is their little dog Lulu, she wants to play but Juanita said she will protect us, whew! Here Juanita is holding us and she is very proudly wearing her winning sash. We also got to meet Juanita's TV Pearlz who is getting ready to travel to her first host. She's very excited. Vicki told us that we are the first two ToyVoyagers that they have ever hosted, they were visiting the post box everyday, waiting for our arrival! Soooo much excitement! We are getting ready to cuddle up with Juanita tonight! Yay! She has a nice big bed! I can't wait t hit the hay, after such a looong journey and all this excitement.......zzzzzzzz!
Vicki Posted Jun 8, 2008, 6:11 pm	Good morning! We had such a nice warm, toasty sleep. Juanita warmed up her bean bag for us and we both cuddled up. I was so excited to start the day! Vicki had assignments to finish, she is studying through UNISA (Univ of South Africa) to be a teacher. She is already teaching at the school her children go to. Of-course I offered to help..... Yes, yes, this is very easy! I know the answers, we'll be finished in no time! Vicki says she loves Math!  Now the work is done and we are going to have some fun!! Nicholas was playing a cricket match at the club. The boys played a game against the Dads. It was a lot of fun and they allowed me to make some 'runs'. I had to run from one wicket to the opposite wicket. In the end, the boys beat the Dads and were very happy!! Whew, what a day. All the fresh air was exhausting!
Vicki Posted Jun 8, 2008, 7:11 pm	Hey! Juanita's cooking supper! It looks delicious, hope there's some for us! Oh no! Not the dishes! I'm exhausted! We're not helping with this chore, sorry! My bed is calling.....
Vicki Posted Jun 14, 2008, 10:06 am	Hey Mom, how are you? I bet you were wondering what we were up to way down south here!! It has been a busy week and here's the catch-up! On Monday and Tuesday it was pretty chily, so we stayed snuggled up indoors, but on Wednesday I got to go to school with Juanita. Her friends were so nice to me, even though they made me get up to some tricky stuff! They get up to mischief sometimes but they were a great bunch of kids! Erm, guys....why the firehydrant? That's a bit better, that sculpture behind me is lovely! Please don't let me fall! Aaaah, English class. Juanita says they are reading the Merchant of Venice, she says Shakespeare is difficult. Now for the Technology class, J loves technology, the teacher is really cool! No guys, no nonsense in here! Especially at the glue station... and with the nails.... oooh, the children are making blankets for the poor. I'll just cuddle up in one for a quick nap! That was quick, more glue? Ummmm, Juanita! That's NOT funny!! See what I mean about mischief! No guys! Not in there! Can't you read? Whew! That's the end of classes and now off to watch Nicholas play a soccer match. Don't you love the socks?! Hey Grape Ape, how's your day been? What an exciting game.... Yay! Nic's team won 3-1, it was a nailbiting game though. Vicki and I were hoarse from shouting! We went home for lunch and Vicki made us tea, with delicious South African Koeksusters! Yum, they are plaits or knots of dough that are fried and then dipped in cold syrup. They were very sweet. Later in the afternoon, Vicki took us to visit Mrs C and Threadbear. We took some bears to help with Threadbear's mission of handing over 500 bears to the Teddybear clinic in Johannesburg. Can you see Grape Ape and I in the front of the photo? Here we are with Threadbear and his brother Buttons. We also met up with Pinky bear and Fiona, we had a lovely time together. There are approxiamtely 160 bears on this couch. Imagine 500 bears together?!! What a busy day, back home to relax.
Vicki Posted Jun 14, 2008, 10:15 am	On Thursday Grape Ape and I went to school with Vicki. She teaches Art and English at the same school that her children go to.  The Grade 4 classes were busy making 3D figures of themselves. They had so much fun and so did we! This model is not quite finished yet. The boys love soccer! They made themselves as soccer players. It was a tiring day, because as I said, the children were 'busy'!! Can't wait for Saturday! Vicki said we will go shoppig and to see some sights around their neighbourhood! Lots of love miss you Mom!!
Vicki Posted Jun 15, 2008, 7:03 pm	Hi there again! Well we truly had a busy day today. We went to the library to help Juanita get some new books. She is a real bookworm!! This is the 'library basket' with all the books to be returned. Here is Juanita choosing some new books. And I am helping! Then off to a local shopping centre called Cresta. Wow, what a lovely shopping mall... And soooo many people. Juanita and Nicholas held onto us and held us up to see the sights. They were both wearing their Springbok rugby jerseys because there was a big game on: SA vs Wales and a lot of people were wearing the green and gold colours. Here we are with Nicholas. Then into a bookstore, more books Juanita?? Nicholas wanted a Cricket magazine....he is sport crazy! And we sat watching the people go by and of-course helped Juanita pick ANOTHER book! We did a bit more shopping and then made our way back home. Ken, Vicki's husband, took out the Harley. This is a lovely bike and now I have ridden on a motorised bike too! Here is a photo of us at the water feature in the front garden. This is Vicki's back garden, in the distance is Johannesburg city. We will take another photo on a clear day! Here's the trampoline..... we had a lot of fun jumping!! ....and another view of the back garden. Maybe we will take better photos in the sunlight. The sun was setting and it was getting dark and chilly! Ken made a 'braai' for supper. This is like a barbeque, quite a tradition here in S Africa!! Lucky there are lots of greens too! Coleslaw salad and Greek salad too, yum! Off to bed, it's been an exciting day.....
Vicki Posted Jun 19, 2008, 7:50 pm	Hello again! Today was Father's Day here in South Africa so Vicki and the children said they would treat Ken to lunch at a lovely restaurant in Pretoria. First we went to visit the Voortrekker Monument just outside Pretoria. The municipal area is now called Tshwane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tshwane The monument was erected to commemorate the Dutch, German and French settlers who left the Cape and trekked inland from 1835 onwards. The settlers (or pilgrims) wanted to be free of the British rule in the Cape. There were huge bronze sculptures in the gardens, here we are sitting on the ox-wagon. This is a magnificent bronze statue of a Voortrekker mother and her children (and Grape Ape and I!). We went to the top of the monument, which is about three stories high and this is the view of Pretoria city! It was a hazy day so you can't see too much unfortunately. There are marble wall murals which depict the stories of the past in the Hall of Heroes. We went right to the top of the monument, Ken's idea, thank goodness no one is scared of heights! Well Vicki wasn't sooo sure of this, walking up a narrow straicase.... This is the view from the very top down into the basement where the cenotaph is. This symbolises the resting place for all those who perished in the Great Trek. This flame symbolises the civilisation in South Africa. The building from the outside. And this was the cannon called 'Grietjie' that was pulled along behind the ox-wagons for protection. The museum is full of paintings and tapestries. Here is a painting with embroidery on it. The Monument is surrounded with a huge wall made with 64 of these ox-wagons built in it. It forms a 'laager' around the monument as they did in the days of the trek. We all posed outside the monument for a photo. Vicki sure likes taking photos!! On the way out , we visited the gift and curio shop and Juanita and Nicholas showed us some of the little creatures (the springbok and crocodile were cute!) that they were trying to convince Vicki to buy and make into Toyvoyagers but Vicki said that the two TV's (Pearlz and Potjie) they already had were enough for now. Here we are sitting amongst the beautifully decorated ostrich eggs.... ...and here are the miniature handmade Baobab trees that are indigenous to Southern Africa. After all that walking around, we set off for the Blue Crane restaurant. Aaaaah! I looked forward to that nice cool drink! No, no not that drink! Ken was given this tot bottle because it was father's day. These are the majestic birds that are the national bird of Southern Africa and that the restaurant was obviously named after. What a lovely venue!http://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/birds_blue_crane.htm Food was really yummy too! There was traditional fare, Babotie, Lamb curry and Pap ( made from maize meal ), which Juanita always enjoys! After a delicious lunch we took a drive up to the Union Building which is the official seat of government and the residence of the presidency. Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa.http://www.southafrica-travel.net/north/a1pret03.htm Oh dear! It seems the mouse on the computer is no longer working!! Vicki will have continue with this update when the mouse is working again, sorry mom! I am having a good time though and will update more soon! love Emil.
Vicki Posted Jun 20, 2008, 1:57 pm	We're back! That was a worry! The mouse would not respond at all in the end but Vicki switched the computer off, nothing else would work.  It seems to be working fine again so now Vicki can finish catching up. Where were we?? The Union Buildings have pretty gardens, here is the view from the Buildings with Pretoria City in the back ground. What? Another canon? On our way home we went past Cosmo City. Here they have built low cost housing to help house all the previously disadvantaged people living in shacks. You can also see the Dome far in the distance. We also drove past Nooitgedacht squatter camp. There are so many immigrants streaming into South Africa and this is where many of them live. It is here that some of the xenophobic attacks happened. This is a better photo of Cosmo City with the Dome in the back ground. We drove right past the Dome, they hold concerts here and exhibitions. Vicki said we will take a closer look another time. The week has been busy with Grape Ape and I helping Juanita and Nicholas with their homework and their studying for tests. Vicki is also very busy with her school work and her assignments for her studies. But the weekend is here again and while the children are at Art lessons this afternoon we are going shopping again! Whopeee! Speak to you soon... Take care love Emil.
Vicki Posted Jun 23, 2008, 3:26 pm	Hello, hello! Here is the latest from us.  Juanita and Nicholas went to art this afternoon and here is what they are working on..... Nicholas is busy with a collage with chameleons... And Juanita is drawing a picture of her and Nicholas together, for Vicki. Vicki did a bit of smudging on the photo for safety's sake. They really enjoy art! We all got treated to McDonald's for supper, YUM! And then we shared this great, big chocolate!! Double yum!! I never introduced you to the family parrot, Percy. I should rather say to Vicki's parrot because he only lets Vicki go close and he gives her kisses but anybody else will get a mean bite!! He is very talkative though and keeps singing 'It's raining, it's pouring...', even when the sun is shining brightly outside!! Silly parrot! He fights with the bells in his cage a lot and makes a noise! Because the weather has been so cold and miserable, we are all cuddled up under the blanket with Nicholas and ready to watch a movie. Grape Ape asked if we could watch 'Hairspray' since Nicholas will be in the stage show at school. Look at the video and dvd collection! Nicholas was happy to show us his playstation games too! Well we will update again soon, the weekend is here, hooray! Love from Emil
Vicki Posted Jun 23, 2008, 3:36 pm	It's Saturday and we are helping Vicki to sew an outfit for Nicholas for the school Revue. He is taking the part of 'Edna' from the musical 'Hairspray'. Vicki is also making a matching outfit for Tracy - Edna's daughter. Ooooh! This material is quite bright and glitzy! But that is what the teacher requested. We have been rolling around with laughter because Nic has to wear a dress and a wig!! It's very funny to watch him in his outfit! Here is a photo, cunningly disguised by Vicki, of the final look. We are going with to school to see the show. Each grade has chosen a different musical, so it should be a lot of fun, I can't wait.
Vicki Posted Jun 28, 2008, 11:36 am	It has been a crazy and hectic week, especially with the school play on every night! We watched it and it was sooo much fun, what a laugh!! We have had some really beautiful sunshine days. These people don't know what cold really is, there is no snow here! Can you see me sitting in the Camelia plant, soaking up the sun? These cranes made of metal are in the garden, I perched on their backs and took in the lovely sight. We are busy packing for our holiday to Durban! Yay! Everyone is excited and bags are being packed as I write. Vicki has taken more photos and will update when we get back! I am so excited, I will be able to see the view from the airoplane window, instead of the inside of the envelope. Still having a great time, love you Mom.
Vicki Posted Jul 6, 2008, 11:50 am	Here is a quick catch up from before we left for Durban on holiday! Here are some photos of the back garden.... Hey! Don't let us fall down the slide into that freezing water!! Here is a view of Johannesburg city from the back wall. It was lovely to spend some time in the garden..... and then we were treated to tea and cakes. Delicious traditional 'Malva Pudding' which is a sticky sponge pudding served with custard or cream, yum! And we also had cheese cake and choc mousse cake. Enough of the sweet stuff though!! Now for the great holiday update, keep watching.....
Vicki Posted Jul 8, 2008, 7:15 pm	At last some time to update on our holiday away in Durban... We were all excited and packing, Grape Ape and I were watching... Wooohoo! All packed up! Off to the airport we go! We went to the 'Mango' travel counter and checked out the flight details on their computer, Juanita is always inquisitive... Er, help guys, where to now? Only teasing! Juanita and Nicholas take good care of us, always ready to show us the sights. We bought a cool drink and of course... a chocolate for the trip. It is only a 50 minute flight. Look at this huge coin! It is a Kruger Rand (chocolate!). Real Kruger Rands are made out of REAL gold and are sold for investment usually. Some people also wear them as jewelry!! Yippeeee! Finally on the plane and I get to see out the window! Juanita had us safely tucked under her safety belt. This is the plane we went on. Bright orange, go man-go! Ha,ha! We finally arrived and it was much warmer in Durban. We were staying at Vicki's mother's house. Look at this beautiful view from the front patio!
Vicki Posted Jul 8, 2008, 7:36 pm	We woke up to breakfast cooking and Grandpa Mike (Vicki's stepdad) was making a delicious 'fritata'. We all ate a scrumptious breakfast. Then we sat and admired the view for a bit, this is the Durban harbour and we can see the huge boats coming and going and the cranes moving up and down. Vicki showed us the light which shines red when there is a boat entering the harbour. We walked around the garden and saw the beautiful hydroponics garden that Grandpa Mike has. Wow! I could get lost in here!!! Look at the lettuce and the celery, yummy... Juanita had homework to do, she had to make a carving and it had to be ready when she returned to school. They even work when they are on holiday!! I suppose I can help her again!! What would she do without me? Lovely to sit here, take in the view..... and what? Munching on some freshly roasted peanuts?? Double YUM! Granny Janette went and bought them especially for us. Oh, it is lovely to relax and be waited on like this! This is the life!!
Vicki Posted Jul 8, 2008, 8:09 pm	The weather hasn't been the best but we have been kept very busy. It is still warmer than Johannesburg. Today we were invited to visit at Vicki's step sister's (Lydia) apartment in Umhlanga Rocks. It is about 20km north of Durban and they live on the beach front. We drove past the new soccer stadium being built in Durban for the 2010 World Cup. It is called the Senzangakhona Stadium after the father of the famous King Shaka Zulu and is costing R1.6bn to build. http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Soccer/0,,2-9-840_1952456,00.html. This is not the best photo but it was overcast and getting dark. Lydia and her family live on the third floor of the Longbeach apartment block. Another stunning view... We took a walk on the promenade and looked at the lighthouse and all the other fancy apartment blocks. This is the view back down the coast and the lights in the distance are Durban city lights. Juanita took us down to the beach.... Lydia was preparing dinner, whew, all that sea air has made us hungry!!! We offered to help, is that an avocado? No a watermelon, with an avo next to it. OK, we are ready... and some tasty wine... And so we eat again....
Vicki Posted Jul 13, 2008, 7:01 am	We woke up to a bright sunny day and Granny Janette said we could go to the beach. We drove through the city and looked at some of the old buildings. This is the Central Post Office.... And the City Hall.....not so easy taking photos from the moving car. This street sign made Vicki laugh! Imagine having to warn people against doing this! The eThekwini (Durban) municipality has decided to change the road names to more traditional or ethnic names. The beach at last!! There are many beaches along the coast, this one is the South beach or Addington beach. It looks as though there was a sailing regatta going on, there were so many yachts out there. It was a beautiful day but the water was still chilly, so we walked along the promenade. We came to the Ushaka Marine World. Nicholas and Juanita loooove going to the Water World but with the water so cold we didn't go in and they have visited the Aquarium side a few times too, so we unfortunately missed out. We looked through the fence at the rides. Beautiful up-market apartments are being built here with waterways running between then. There is a huge plan to upgrade the whole harbour area and the entrance to the harbour. This old 'marooned boat' houses the aquarium and pubs and restaurants. http://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za/home.html Hey Nicholas....what's he up to? Oh, this is a pretty banister! Just don't forget us here!
Vicki Posted Jul 13, 2008, 7:20 am	This morning Vicki woke up early to watch the sunrise. She decided that she shouldn't wake me, good idea that! It did look very pretty though.   After breakfast we were off to the beach, woohooo! Granny Janette decided it was her turn to hold us! The water was 23C and the weather had warmed up. This beach is close to the harbour entrance. I was watching the life guards and making sure they were doing their duties! Aaah, smell the sea air!! It was good to just sit on the sand and watch the waves! Juanita took us into the water with her..... not so sure about this.... Then Vicki decided she would hold us so we could watch, she didn't want us getting all salty. I loved watching the people enjoying themselves on the beach. Having fun on the beach?? Hey! What's Granny Janette up to here? Time for a rest? Those waves are hard work. Watching the ships come in..... this one was a motor vehicle transporter. It was huge! Ice cream time, apparently a family tradition! Can't come to the beach without having an ice cream!! Good for me! Another unusual ship, couldn't figure this one out? It had tall chimneys and cranes on it...  Emil?? Emil! No, I am not coming to watch you swim... just leave me here to relax and watch the scenery.....zzzzzzzz. This is the traditional 'Rickshaw Boy'. He takes tourists for a ride (literally and figuratively!!) up and down the beach front but they are soooo expensive. More road name changes!! The poor Postman can't keep up! When we got home, Vicki and Nicholas made sushi. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it.
Vicki Posted Jul 13, 2008, 7:30 am	Our last day here in Durban.... we have had a lovely time, it is sad to be leaving... Granny Janette took us to a wonderful delicatessen. Vicki wanted to take some treats home with her. This is her favourite shop and keeps threatening to open a deli like this one in Johannesburg!! It smelt so good in the shop, they smoke the meats on the premises. Here I am with all the salami and traditional dried meat, called 'Biltong'. Biltong is very popular here as a snack served with drinks especially. It is salted and then dried and once ready, sliced up into pieces. They do the same with sausage which is called 'dried wors'. Lunch was a really tasty 'Boerewors Roll'. Another very traditional type of sausage. It is usually cooked on a 'braai' or barbecue and here it was served in a bread roll. The day was spent packing and relaxing a bit more, before getting ready to go to the airport. We were due to fly out at 5.30pm and Granny Janette dropped us at the airport and we said our farewells. Once inside we discovered that our flight had been delayed until 10.00pm!! Vicki was mad and she phoned Granny Janette who very kindly came back to fetch us! They don't live too far away, thank goodness. I was very happy not to have to wait in the airport. Vicki managed to take this last photo of the beautiful scenery, the harbour by night. It will stay in my mind as a reminder of Durban.
Vicki Posted Jul 13, 2008, 7:58 am	Catching up at last! Vicki went to the Post Office when we returned and guess who she found there?? Another two TV's arrived! Here we are cuddled up (Whew! It is cold here! Can we go back to Durban please??) together with Purple Bun and Gilbert, on Juanita's bed having a chat and introducing ourselves...
Vicki Posted Jul 13, 2008, 8:08 am	Juanita wanted to introduce the newcomers to her friends and show them her school and we got to go along for the ride! Here we are in the Afrikaans class reading a book called 'Blinde Sambok' by Riaana Scheepers, which is their setwork for Afrikaans. This is one of the National languages and students at Juanita's school are allowed to choose between Afrikaans and Zulu and take it as an additional subject to Gr 12. Here we are at break, soaking up the sun, chatting and making new friends! Ooooh! It is lovely and warm here... Juanita dropped us back at Vicki's art class and we helped the Gr 6 students to finish off their carnival masks, great fun! Er, guys.... please mind out for that glue gun!! As Vicki said... another busy day at the office!!
Vicki Posted Jul 19, 2008, 8:03 am	Here I am for a last update before I pack my bags and get on my way again.... Vicki has been very busy organising marks for the children's reports. The school term ends in two weeks time for the August holiday so once again things have been hectic around here!! Last Saturday, Vicki strapped us all in with the safety belt and we were off for a visit. First we stopped in at Mrs C and visited with all the TV's visiting her. Unbeknown to me, Vicki had told Mrs C that it was my last weekend in South Africa so Mrs C had a surprise farewell party for me!! We had a lovely time, all chatting and comparing notes of where we had been and where we were off to. I was sad to leave but we were off on another little adventure. We were visiting a children's home called 'Footprints'. Vicki and her children visit there often and take any toys and clothing that they can gather from anyone willing to give. All the Gr 9 classes at Juanita's school collect toiletries for the home on a regular basis. Here I am with Grape Ape amongst their toys. The ladies who look after the children, helping with their lunch. Some of the children playing in the garden.... they are so happy here! Here we are all sitting on the sign. These two were kept entertained with this trolley for quitesome time!!!
Vicki Posted Jul 19, 2008, 8:29 am	They are building up a farmyard for the children. 'Clyde' is the goat, he is cheeky and tries to head-butt everyone! And there are the cutest pigs called 'Crispy' and 'Bacon'. We kept some of the children company while they were having lunch. This is the back garden, the children have fun on the trampolines. It was really icy cold, so no-one was interested in being out there. Juanita propped us on the statue of David in the front garden and the children laughed!!! We drove back home past the Zandspruit Squatter Camp. Vicki hates to see all this poverty. Some 'entrepreneurs' are selling their wares on the side of the road. We saw a tree full of Glossy Starlings which were so pretty but it was such a dull and gloomy day, that you can hardly see them in the photo. When we got home, Ken had made a lovely log fire and it was so warm, we all sat around chatting and watching tv.
Vicki Posted Jul 19, 2008, 8:38 am	Sunday turned out to be even more gloomy than Saturday!! Vicki had to catch up with marking test papers, so we hung around and watched. And then moved on to sit with Nicholas cuddled up watching tv. Just a relaxing day.
Vicki Posted Jul 19, 2008, 11:28 am	After a final photo and many hugs and kisses, a few tears too, Vicki placed me into an addressed envelope and I was ready for postage. They all said they would miss me and remember me as one of their first toyvoyagers to visit them, together with Grape Ape. I was happy to have spent time with Grape Ape too, we are fast friends and enjoyed our adventures together. I hope our paths cross again sometime in the future. Off to Australia, also the Southern hemisphere, so winter there too.... hopefully a bit warmer though. Farewell South Africa....
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 7:15 am	Hey! I arrived in Australia today... and just in time, we went and visited something very interesting today and I already got a bit of a history lesson! I'll update with all those photos later! <3 Write again soon! <3
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Jul 30, 2008, 9:11 am	Today it's pretty sunny outside so Sara decided to take us along to something "historical" in Orange... there's a lot of historical buildings but nothing too very interesting anyways... so, we took a short drive, and before we knew it we were there... Banjo Pattersons Birth Place... Here's the memorial of Banjo before you enter the park... :-) ...so who is Banjo Patterson? He's the famous guy that wrote a famous poem called 'Waltzing Matilda'... and he's on the back of the $10.00 Australian bank note... so he must be really quite famous... here's the famous poem that he wrote... Waltzing Matilda Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled "Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?" Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong, Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee, And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag, "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred, Up came the troopers, one, two, three, "Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?" "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me" "Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?", "You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me". Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong, "You'll never catch me alive", said he, And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, "Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?" Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, "Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?" Anyways, his house is no longer here, but the Templer's Mill is, that was right near where he was born and raised and in 1971 sadly the Templer's Mill was demolished since it was deemed unsafe for people to go near or in... Here we are sitting on the bricks and remains of the Templer's Mill... can you see us? ...see here we are... :-) Here's a bit of information about the Templer's Mill... Well it was time to move on... this is me with the landscape around the area where I'm currently visiting... ...as you can plainly see it's very dry, even though it very occasionally rains it surely doesn't rain very often... and there are LOTS of cows and sheep! I'll write again soon! <3
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 7, 2008, 8:34 am	Well today was a big day, we got some mystery shops done with Sara - which wasn't really picture worthy, but when we came home we helped Sara make a cake... I wonder why? Well Sara wasn't thinking and didn't remember to take photos, but instead we got to decorate the cake... although we didn't have much we used some gummy worms and spelled out "Dan" which is her husbands name... So we finally figured it out - it must be Daniel's birthday! Happy Birthday Daniel! The cake was SO yummy!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 7, 2008, 8:47 am	Wow, today was quite a surprising day... it all started with Sara cleaning as they had a house inspection today - so it just seemed like a day of just watching what was going on, nothing really happening other than that. Oh well... and then... the unbelievable happened... it SNOWED! Who knew it snows in Australia? Well, apparently it does... just Sara told me not this much. Also, it's more likely to snow here - than in Sydney as were a lot higher than snow level. Sara expects that Mount Canobolas will be covered in snow... Sara decided to let us all play out in the snow, since it was so cold we all huddled together... ...then after a bit of time we all started to get covered in snow... um, can we go inside?... ...after only a few more minutes we were even more so covered in snow... Sara said she has never seen snowflakes as huge as these ones were... they were probably at least 2 inches in size... HUGE! Finally... it's time to go in... ...we all sat on top of the heater to dry off after that - I was happy to be back in a warm house after that... sadly it didn't stick around it got a bit warmer and started to rain and we said goodbye to all the snow... maybe we'll get some tonight? *fingers crossed* ...this photo shows you how much it was really snowing... it was pouring down for around 45 minutes to an hour, and Sara went picture crazy!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 7, 2008, 9:29 am	Today was a very busy day... we got woken up very early and got in the car - we were on our way to Bathurst. We had four mystery shops to do, again, not really picture worthy so no photos were taken of that... but for us waiting in the car to not get lost we got a bit of a treat. We got to visit the famous Mount Panorama... a very famous race track that is used throughout the year, but you can drive on it and many people do drive on it to get to their homes (as a shortcut). During October it's EXTREMELY busy as the races are in the beginning of October. They're already preparing for the races, and it's only August... ...here I am standing at the famous sign that's on the side of the 'mountain'... ...and here's a close up of the famous sign... ...here is some information about the track, a sign showing what the track looks like - and then a bit of information about the race track... ...and now it's time to get on the track, we drove around it counter-clockwise which is the same direction as the v8 cars that drive around it... now here's a whole bunch of photos as we are going around the track. :-) ...and as were coming back around here's the starting gate... ...and here's what you see as you're leaving the race track. :-) As you can probably tell there is a lot of people that drive around the track, it seems like a big reason to come to the Central West... anytime but race time... race time it's extremely busy, even in Orange - which is around 55kms drive from Bathurst... and even farther than that... ...now it's time to get all the stuff done... here's William Street the main street of Bathurst as were about to go down it, as you can see it looks like a small town but it's actually got around 40,000 or so people in it - so definitely not a city but a nice little "country town". ...after we were done doing all the mystery shops we pulled over quite suddenly, I wonder why? Well... of course Sara decided to pull over and show us a famous Australian sight... kangaroos... ...as you can see them in the background we had to keep our distance but Sara got a lot closer and got some better shots of them for us... :-) Well I hope you enjoyed our trip to Bathurst! It was quite exciting - we're going back next Friday - and were going to visit the fossil museum, Sara's been itching to visit it for quite some time... I'll write again soon... :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 14, 2008, 11:55 am	Today was a big day, Sara didn't tell us where we were going but it was sure cold outside so we were so glad to get into the car... even Toothy Walrus came with us today, so that was pretty exciting for us! First stop was Wellington, which is around an hour West from Orange... it's a small town around the size of a lot of the smaller towns that surround Orange and Bathurst, and it's got the famous Wellington Caves. Sara's been in there once before, she said that it was sure pretty... here's us in the main street of Wellington... Back onto the road... watch for a big update soon!...
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 14, 2008, 1:45 pm	Next stop was Dubbo... We all were sure happy to stand up for the first time in 2-1/2 hours our legs were sure tired from sitting that long. We stopped, did two mystery shops, and then was off to do the thing we were set off to doing. We first stopped at Red Rooster and got something to eat and headed off. A very short drive later we were there... the entry looked like the entrance to Jurassic Park and then Sara told us it's Taronga's Western Plains Zoo. She told us that this zoo has a climate very similar to the African climate so they breed endangered animals... this zoo is so big that you drive through most of it, park get out an see the animals, walk on trails and everything. Sara said the zoo is over a 6 kilometre radius, so there's LOTS of room for the animals to walk around... First thing we see when we get into the main part of the zoo are the African Wild Dogs there was only two in the exhibit as the sign said that they were currently introducing a female to the pack. They were quite active and running around at the back of the exhibit so it was hard to get myself in a photo with them. You'll find most of the animals in the zoo aren't close it doesn't look good for me to be in the photo as I'll be just a blurred mess but it was still an amazing adventure... before we moved onto the next animal we decided to have a look around one of the huge ponds they had throughout the zoo... there was some Australian white ibises there, Sara took a photo as there were masses of them - they weren't part of the zoo, but they obviously liked their living quarters... It's common to find these guys all over the place including the dump, all over Sydney... they're known like pigeons are known throughout the world... but much bigger... The next animals were the Arabian Camel and the Barbary Sheep. They were both in the same enclosure. You could see the camels straight away, but there was no Barbary Sheep, hmmm... I wonder where they could be...G] ...then we had a closer look at the other side of the enclosure and we noticed they were in the rocky area... how strange, they blended in SO well I could barely notice them... Sara had to zoom all the way in on her camera to get this photo... as we went back to the car they all stood up and were walking around... Sara got some more photos, but there's so much to get to already we moved on... Sara took a few photos of some of the signs for you to read if you wanted to... the Arabian Camel sign says: Life In The Desert... Camels are well suited to life in the desert. By producing dry faeces and very little urine or sweat, they can survive for a long time without water. When good food is available camels store fat in their hump. When food is scarce, they use this as an energy supply. They will also eat thorns, dry vegetation and saltbush that other animals avoid. Life In Australia... Camels were introduced to Australia in the 1840's to carry heavy loads and passengers into the dry heat of the country. Many survived and are now in higher numbers in the Australian desert than in the wilds of Arabia. There are no known wild Arabian Camels left. The Arabian Camel's wild ancestor is unknown - it is presumed to be extinct. The sign for the Barbary Sheep reads: Barbary Sheep are the only wild sheep that live in Africa. They are an important source of meat which is valuable to the desert economy. In some areas, their numbers have dropped so low that they are now considered vulnerable. Rocky hills, mountains and stony plains don't offer much protection from predators so Barbary Sheep rely on camouflage. If threatened they stand still and their sandy colour coat blends with the desert habitat. Their hooves have soft centre pads with hard-rimmed edges that can grip any ledge - great for scampering up sheer cliffs. Whilst we were watching the animals we saw some Australian birds, Sara got a photo of some of them as some of them are very pretty unique birds known to Australia... first we saw the Grass Parrot, they're very pretty... ...and then near the parrot we saw two Crested Brozewing's which are Australia's native pigeon... Sara has some she feeds in her yard all the time... they're quite pretty for pigeons I think. :-) Onto the next animal, this animal was something that is unique to Australia, the only Australian zoo known to have them and breeds them... the critically endangered Black Rhino... ...the next animal it was quite exciting as you see when we were driving up they were all quite close as they were eating so Sara was able to get some really nice close up shots... here are the Giraffes. Once we watched the giraffes for a while and they all moved on we went to the next stop, the African Elephants... they also were eating, some branches... how strange is that? There was one there that was HUGE... Daniel was saying how the one closest to us, and in most of the photos was one of the oldest in Australia. He was lucky enough to be able to feed him a few years back... We next stopped at the White Rhinos which are almost threatened, but no where near extinction like the Black Rhino... there were quite a few there, and even a baby, in the way back lying down... so cute!... Here's what the sign for the white rhino says... When white isn't white... White Rhinos are not white in color. Their name comes from their 'wide' upper lip, which in Africaans, is 'weit'. Family Values... Unlike the solitary Black Rhino, White Rhinos form complex families made up of females and calves. 2 ton males duel with their horns for mating rights over females in the group. On the brink... In 1893 the White Rhino was thought to be extinct due to poaching and settlement by white people. A small group was found in South Africa and an international conservation program is now trying to save this gentle giant. I quickly turned around noticing these birds seemed to be following us all throughout the zoo, they must want some food, sadly I didn't have any food to give them but he was happy to pose for a photo, I thought they were quite nice looking birds... kind of had an eagle appearance with the bone structure... Right across from the White Rhinos we visited some more water animals, although these guys weren't active at all when we were visiting them they were the Common Hippopotamus... ...once we left though they actually became quite active and were swimming around and making growling type noises, sadly Sara wasn't able to get any more photos beyond this one of the hippo... they seemed to dive a lot when Sara went to take a photo... I guess they didn't want their photo taken... oh well... ...as we were about to go to the next animal... we heard this really loud screeching noise, we went to investigate... after a lot longer of a walk than we thought it would be we ended up at the Siamang Primates there was a family of three there and they were making such noise... but they were quite funny, and it grew quite a large crowd as well!... ...we could hear them across the zoo the rest of the time we were visiting the zoo too - pretty fun to watch!... On the way back from visiting the noisy monkeys we saw some more calm monkeys that didn't quite have a crowd, like at all... so we decided to watch them for a little while, they were the White Handed Gibbon... The sign for the white-handed gibbon says: In the early morning the South East Asian rainforest comes alive with the spectacular 'great call' of the white-handed gibbons. Started by the female and ended by the male, this singing reinforces their lifelong bond to each other and alerts others of their location. By day they search for and eat rainforest fruit. As they move about, they expel the seeds of the digested fruit and help more trees to grow in their forest home. Gibbons are well adapted to their life in the trees. Leathery skinned hands provide excellent grip and their small thumb is set back near the wrist, allowing them to swing rapidly through the treetops using their hands as 'hooks'. ...next stop before finally going back to the car we saw some Ruffed Lemur... these guys were quite playful, especially when the zoo keepers came in to feed them and clean out their enclosure, it was pretty cute to watch... As we were coming back to what we originally intended to see next we saw another Australian native bird... it's called a Willy Wagtail they're cute little birds that look like they're wearing a tuxedo... ...finally back on track again, the next animal is known as the largest antelope in the world, it's called the Common Eland... The common eland sign reads: The world's largest antelope! Even though male eland can weight 1000kg (about as much as a car) these antelope are very agile an can easily jump a 1.5m fence from a standing start. Eland have an unusual social life. They come and go, taking advantage of herd life when they need to without forming any close ties. All eland have long, spiral horns though the females horns are shorter than the male's. In Africa, common eland are highly valued for their good quality meat and milk, which has triple the fat an twice the protein of a darily cow's. ...time to move onto the next animal... this just happened to be the fastest land animal in the world... the Cheetah... fast? really? all these guys were doing was lounging around... they looked pretty happy though! We turned around and took another little walk down another trail towards the centre of the zoo when we came upon the strange looking Bongo's... although the animals so far have been pretty good at posing for the photos, these guys wanted nothing of it... it was very hard to get a photo with them looking at us... they must be pretty stubborn little (or not so little) guys! Here's what the bongo sign reads: What a lucky guy! Bongos live in 'harem' groups, one dominant male and several females - he gets to mate with them all! Sexually mature, young males form small bachelor groups before starting their own harem. Unknown future... although bongos are still found in 10 countries from west to central Africa, they are now threatened due to habitat destruction and poaching. Their numbers are unknown. Whoops... it was about time to go to the front desk to ask a few questions so we did a quick run through the rest of the zoo before going back through... but on the way through we stopped and visited some more animals... the stay wasn't as long for the rest of the animals for the time being though... So on the way there the first stop we made was for the Fallow Deer it was amazing how small they were... they even had the spots like a baby deer in America has... how cute!... The fallow deer sign says: Unusual breeding behavior... where fallow deer are found in high numbers the males gather during the breeding season and use their antlers to defend a small territory called a 'lek'. They mate with any female they can attract into this area. After the breeding season they lose their antlers but grow them back in time for the following year. Fallow deer range in color from pale fawn to a very dark brown with barely visible spots. The most commonly seen color is rich brown with white spots. These deer were originally only found in the Mediterranean but they have been successfully introduced across Europe, the America's and Australia. ...We seemed to be in the hooved section of the zoo, as the next stop was the strange looking Persian Onager, they just looked like tan colored donkeys to me, but obviously they're quite different... As the Persian Onager sign reads: It's not a donkey... the Persian onager is the fastest member of the horse family. It is able to sustain a 50km/hr pace and is capable of short bursts at 70km/hr. In the flat, Iranian desert, herds of onager feed on grass and succulent plants. They travel long distances to reach feeding grounds in the winter and to find summer watering holes. Modern firearms and competition with life stock for food and water have led to a decline in numbers in the wild. They are now only found in three desert regions where they have been protected for 30 years. ...next was the Asiatic Water Buffalo... Sara said that the last time they came through it was the middle of Summer and they were all crowded into the water, this time they were out of the water but were relaxing together eating... so still not extremely active, but it was amazing how huge they are! This is what the Water Buffalo sign reads: Asiatic Water Buffalo, like the ones you see here, have been domesticated in Asia over many thousands of years and are descended from the new endangered wild Asiatic Water Buffalo. Asiatic Water Buffalo feed on the lush grass and dense foliage that grows besides rivers and lakes. During the day they wallow in shallow, muddy pools to escape the heat and to protect their skin from biting insects. Their large splayed feet and flexible ankle joins help them move easily on swampy ground. ...as we were nearing the end of the hooved animals we had a visit with some Sambar and Banteng. There wasn't many to be seen but I got both of them in the same photo, the one near the front, the larger one is a Banteng and the one towards the back is the Sambar... here's some information about them... Here's what the Sambar sign says: Raising the alarm... when alarmed, Sambar signal to other deer by stamping their front feet and raising their tails to show the white underside and rump. These large, woodland deer also make a 'belling' call when they sense a predator. They are partial to water and are often found bathing and feeding in lakes, rivers and marshes. Male sambar grow and shed their antlers each year. They can grow up to a meter long in less than 5 months! They recognize each others antlers as a signal of strength - bigger antlers signal a stronger individual. Usually, a male sambar won't compete for females with another male whose antlers are larger than his. ...and the Banteng sign says: These wild cattle are rare in the dense forests and bamboo jungles of South East Asia. There are only a few thousand wild banteng left because of hunting, habitat loss and diseases spread by domestic life stock. It is thought that around 1.5 million banteng live in domestic herds, most notably on the island of Bali where they are known as 'Bali Cattle'. Male banteng have a blackish-brown coat and the females are mainly fawn in color. Our banteng are descended from a small herd that was introduced into the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory in 1849. ...next stop was the famous Australian animal, the Emu... we all got a photo with them... ...and here's a better photo of one of the emu's, they're quite big birds... and we actually have them wild in the area where I'm staying with Sara although not very common they have been seen in farmers paddocks... ...whoa it's coming much closer to 2pm than I thought it was... we gotta get off to the information desk... when we got there... there was a peacock... ...kind of startled us all as we weren't expecting it... we then realised that what we were going to the information desk for was canceled for today... which was very sad... ...So instead we took a break and ate something then continued on... where we sat down to eat our lunch were some more crazy animals... some [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_tailed_lemur]Ring-Tailed Lemur's... they were all grouped up and we were pretty close them actually only a bit of water separated us from them... ...well that wasn't all for the day we were only around half way through the zoo, but sadly Sara's memory card needed to be changed to a much larger one... so we didn't get anymore photos able to be uploaded for today... watch for an update in the near future with lots more Australian animals... this was quite a fun day today. I can't wait to tell you all about the rest of it! Write again soon!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 24, 2008, 9:08 am	Today was another big outing... it's been a big week, we were sure tired... sadly Sara couldn't really take photos of us inside the museum as it was pretty dark and it had around 100 students from a school field trip so we couldn't get in the photos sadly... but we were there in Sara's bag peeking out and watching... so we got to visit Australia's famous Somerville Collection in Bathurst... Sara had never been in there so she thought it would be fun to take us all along and go and see what it was all about... there was lots of rocks, fossils and many other things... We first saw a fossilized crab, Sara was listening to what the teacher was telling the kids and they were saying how when a fossil is normally made when something is dead and gets covered in mud or whatever then it suffocates and dies... but this crab wasn't dead when it became covered in mud... as you can see it's very alive and looks like it's trying to defend itself from something... and as such it got frozen in that position... ...We even got to see they very well preserved dragonfly fossil... ...and something was extremely interesting... Sara had to zoom all the way in and it was very dark but this is a gecko that got covered in sap and therefore has been sealed inside a medium sized piece of Amber... the gecko is fully preserved... there's only 3 in the world... how cool is that? ...and the last and best thing we got to see was Australia's t-rex skeleton... there wasn't any t-rex dinosaurs in Australia at the time they existed so it's very uncommon to have a full skeleton... but it was pretty awesome and VERY big... We spent a good 90 minutes going through the museum and we learned a lot and saw a lot of interesting things including a velociraptor skull, trilobytes, and even an egg of an elephant bird! That was very exciting! I hope you enjoyed the photos!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 24, 2008, 9:14 am	Today was a big day for Sara... it was her 26th birthday! We all got to celebrate with her... sadly none of the photos turned out with us in them so Sara just threw this one in... the cake was really yummy! ...Sara said I'll soon be moving onto my next host - I wonder where I'm going next!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 24, 2008, 9:36 am	We haven't done much in the last week... we've said goodbye to some of our travel partners Misko and WinnieThePooh went to Sydney and Hermies is on his way to Arizona... maybe I'll meet up again with them one day? This weekend we just helped Sara with the laundry so we spent most of the time just hanging by on the line while Sara put the clothes up... we found we weren't much help because of how small and lightweight we are... oh well, it was nice and sunny so it was nice to be able to have a bit of time outside... Tomorrow we're going to Blayney and I'm going to be sent onto my next host... :-) I wonder where I'm going, but I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of fun!
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 27, 2008, 3:22 am	After a nice long stay with me, Emil was sent onto the next host today. He was quite excited to be getting into the padded bag to his next location... he just wonders where he'll pop out next! Thanks for being such a great visitor with me, and good luck on all your future journeys. :-)
sararingham sara.ringham@gmail.com Posted Aug 28, 2008, 10:46 am	...continuing on with the last zoo post, I finally got the photos back... here's a better picture of the Ring-Tailed Lemur's they all seemed pretty cold as they all cuddled up together, aren't they cute? ...finally we were back to going through the zoo, we started back off at the beginning and stopped at the animals we hadn't yet visited, revisiting a few as the animals were being fed when we came through the second time... next stop was the African Lion after quite a bit of time of waiting something down the hill got their attention and I got some pretty good shots of the male and one of the two lionesses... Then we got back down the hill and saw some African Plains Zebra's... funny enough when Sara took this photo the person feeding the animals stopped and gave them their food, one of the zebras ran right up to Sara thinking she was the zookeeper feeding her, then moved onto the zookeeper. Pretty cool. :-) ...we saw these in the earlier post... these are the Sambar Deer deer you saw far in the back of the photo, they were coming up to be fed as well, the antlers on the male were HUGE... very pretty!... ...next stop again was the Fallow_Deer... they were also being fed... they also came quite close... a few of them even rammed each other it must have been some kind of dominance thing within the herd... ...back into the car, it was another short drive there was the Spotted Deer (Chital Deer)'s they were so far away... like in the very back of the pen, Sara had to zoom in all the way which was around 12x to get them, and a bit farther again to see them a closely as these photos... they were all in a group, huddled together... :-) Then we got back in the car, time to move onto the next area of the zoo... then we got out and seemed to walk for what seemed like forever in what seemed like circles, then we encountered the rare Greater One-Horned Rhino... This endangered rhino is known as 'Dora', and the breed is known as a great success story, and here's a sign about the success story of this one-horned rhino... ...because it's so small I'll type out what it says... A Great Success Story Greater One-horned Rhino numbers have increased over the last century. However, poaching remains a critical issue and success is dependent on continued and increased support for conservation efforts in India and Nepal. Pre-1600 - Greater One-horned rhino common in the wild. Early 1600's - Early 1900's - Loss of Greater One-horned Rhino's habitat as floodplain grasslands used for agriculture. Late 1800's-Early 1900's - Sport hunting of rhino is popular. 1871-1907 - 207 Rhino's killed by one hunter. Late 1880's-Early 1900's - Government bounty on Rhinos to stop destruction of tea plantations. Early 1900's - Rhino near extinction, 12 left in India, 50 left in Nepal. Late 1900's - Period of intense poaching (Rhino horn in 1972 worth $35.00/kg (USD) and in 1991 it was worth $50,000.00/kg (USD). Late 1900's - Rhino's in Chitwan National Park, Nepal protected by 1,000 troops and rangers. Now - Rhino numbers increased to 2,400. Local support for tourism industry increases funding for Rhino protection officers. Not all eggs in one basket - some Rhinos relocated from large groups to other protected areas, decreasing possible impact of local disasters. That was extremely interesting to read that the one-horned rhino's went down to only 62 individual rhino's at one point, and now have been brought up to 2,400... still a lot more work to do, but still amazing none the less... a few years ago one of the rhino's was actually born within this zoo, it was shown internationally as it was an amazing thing... especially for a zoo to successfully breed this animal. :-) Next stop was the Asian Small Clawed Otter... their were two in the enclosure and didn't seem to be too active at the time... but were very interested in watching us... no swimming for them while we were visiting though... ...Time then to go back to the car and get to the next animal, as the zoo was getting ready to close... whoops! Next stop was the American Bison they seemed happy and well fed, this was the only good shot I got before the moved onto the back of the enclosure... Now finally were in the Australian section of the zoo, first stop was quite exciting for Sara as she hadn't ever seen one, even in the zoo... the Dingo... they're not found in New South Wales as the sign reads below... and this one was actually quite cheeky, he was watching the people watching him and someone went to bring out their camera and the dog leaned forward and licked his lips... when the person said "no mate, I don't have food" and the dog sat back down and whimpered... it was pretty funny and cute... Here's the information about the Dingo, and what it says: Dingoes are regarded as one of the most ancient primitive breeds of dog living today. They are intelligent, good climbers and able to live in different habitats. Unlike domestic dogs, their ears are always erect. Although originally an introduced animal, the dingo has become an integral part of our Australian ecology. The world's longest fence... The dingo fence stretches almost 10,000km from South Australia to Queensland. It is designed to protect sheep and cattle in the rich pastoral areas of south eastern Australia by keeping dingoes out. It is 1.8 metres high and extends below the ground to stop dingoes from digging under it. ...the next stop we all had to get out of the car and walk up a big long boardwalk type thing, we were going up into the trees... I wonder what Australian animal we'll find up here... of course we found a few Koala's... ...here's a bit of information about this little guy, they seemed a bit wobbly an one of them almost fell out of the tree before catching himself... :-) No, they aren't drugged! The common belief that koalas are "high" is just a myth. These animals only eat eucalyptus leaves with are inedible and toxic to most other animals. They are also low in energy and hard to digest, which is why koalas sleep as much as 20 hours a day. When they're not sleeping, they're chewing leaves into green paste to get every bit of energy out of them. A different animal at night. Koalas are much more active at night. They can be seen running along the ground between trees or jumping from one branch with surprising speed. They are also very vocal, 'bellowing' in a kind of snorty growl to chase subordinate males away and advertise themselves during the breeding season. ...next stop was something I've seen in the wild... one not the other... there was the Red Kangaroo and the much more common Grey Kangaroo... there aren't as many red kangaroos in the area I'm staying... they're more common in this area (Dubbo and beyond)... they're also more common in Western Australia than Grey kangaroos are over there... Red kangaroos are the largest species of kangaroo, as you can see this guy is pretty huge! ...kangaroos are very interesting creatures... these animals can be pregnant, and then stop or slow down their pregnancy in the driest of times... and when the land is more fitting for the baby (especially during the wet season) the baby will continue with the pregnancy that way the baby can flourish during this time and not die because of the extreme droughts that Australia goes through... ...time to move onto the next animal... another species of kangaroo, a smaller species called the Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby... there was actually two types of kangaroo in this enclosure but the other wasn't seen, it was called the Wallaroo which is surprisingly more common... ...here's some information about the Rock Wallaby and the Wallaroo... The Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby lives on rocky outcrops in semi-arid Australia.  Hunted for sport and it's beautiful coat this wallaby has become increasingly rare over the past 200 years. Introduced animals like rabbits and goats destroy its habitat and compete with the wallaby for food. Predation by cats and foxes has also reduced wallaby numbers in the wild. Our Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies are part of a regional management program for this species. Wallabies from this program have been successfully reintroduced into an area of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia where their competitors and predators have been removed. How can you tell a wallaroo from a kangaroo? If you look closely you will notice that wallaroos have a large, bare patch around their nose. Their ears are also bigger and rounder than the over-shaped ears of a kangaroo. Although wallaroos live across most of Australia they prefer sheep escarpments and rocky hills. The name 'Wallaroo' is given to the shaggy, dark grey animals which live onthe slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Male wallaroos are extremely muscular, twice the weight of females and are usually more darker in colour. Next stop again was another type of kangaroo... the Red-necked Wallaby... and the other type that's not pictured (because I didn't see it to get a photo of it) the Whiptail Wallaby... both are a bit uncommon, but after a bit of consideration I realised this photo is indeed of a red necked wallaby... ...and here's a bit of information about both species of wallaby... :-) These wallabies are the ones most commonly seen in the south east Australian bush. You may see them in the Western Plains Zoo grounds during your visit, particularly in the early morning and late afternoon when they come out to graze. Red-necked wallabies usually live alone but will eat together. If they are disturbed though, they don't act as a group but scatter in every direction. There are two types of red-necked wallaby, the mainland and Tasmanian. Mainland red-necks breed all year but the Tasmanian wallabies only give birth during late Summer. The wallaby gets its name from it's long whip-like tail. It is also known as the pretty-faced wallaby from the beautiful markings on it's face. Like many wallabies Whiptails are social, living in groups of up to 50 and communicating with a series of soft coughs (fear), growls (anger) and clucking (courtship). When alarmed, these wallabies thump their hind feet on the ground in warning and hop away on a zig-zag course. Whiptails are usually found in open forest on gently rolling hills. During the hotter part of the day, they find shade. Like all other kangaroos, if it gets really hot, they will lick their forearms to help themselves cool down. Next stop wasn't an Australian animal, we're done with the Australian section for the time being and now were visiting the endangered Galapagos Tortoise... ...the tortoise was walking away after she had finished eating, she was a tortoise that actually was born in the wild... she is currently 120 years old and there are two other tortoises... they were both asleep, as you can see in the second photo. Aren't they just amazing animals? They're trying to breed them in this zoo. :-) Nearing the end of the zoo now, there are only a few more animals, and one large enclosure to visit... this enclosure had Brazilian Tapir's and Alpaca's.... Here's a bit of information about both of the animals... Is it a pig? Is it an anteater? No it's a tapir, which is most closely related to horses and rhinos. Tapir have a flexible nose which they use to grab forest plants and fruits and pull them into their mouths. They have a superb sence of smell and hearing and are mainly active at night. Brazilian Tapirs live in lowland rainforest, always near water. They are excellent swimmers and are known to retreat into water if threatened. In the forest they create well trodden 'tapir trails', which connect their water sources, salt licks and feeding and sleeping areas. These well worn trails make them an easy target for hunters. They are also increasingly threatened by forest clearance. The finest wool of any animal... The alpaca's luxurious, fine fleece was reserved for Incan Royalty as a sign of wealth and nobility. Alpaca wool is lighter, cleaner and stronger for its size than sheep's wool and its fibres can grow to 50cms in length. Alpacas are found in South America's alpine grasslands which are almost 4,800m above sea level - twice the height of Australia's highest mountain. They carry more oxygen in their blood than most mammals and do well at high altitudes where the air is thin. Alpacas were domesticated about 5,000 years ago and are still used for food and clothing. This again was an area where you had to walk around a bit to find the area, these were smaller enclosures which fit just the amount of animals per enclosure, we stopped first to visit the Meerkats... they were all quite active... :-) Onto the next enclosure we got to see two other Australian animals... the Common Wombat... Sara said she's seen only a few in the wild, they're common, but not as much in the area where Sara has been... they're quite large, and very solid... Here's a bit of information about the Wombat... Wombats have powerful claws and dig large burrows, up to 20 metres long, in which they stay cool during the heat of the day. They usually live alone except during the mating season. Like other burrowing marupials, the femal's pouch opens to the rear to help keep it clean. Western Plains Zoo's Common Wombats are part of a successful breeding program. Zoo staff are researching wombat reproduction in specially designed 'off exhibit' enclosures. It is hoped this research will help us to learn more about the breeding behaviours of the critically endangered Hairy-Nosed Wombat. Next enclosure was the Short-Beaked Echidna... he was quite friendly and came up to us, and actually let us "pet" him... although as you can imagine their not the type of animal to pet... we did though and we just were sure to pet him the right direction. :-) Sara was actually telling us about the fact that they live in the area where were staying (Orange) and how Daniel (Sara's husband) has actually stopped finding them on the side of the road and helping them cross the road. He also said never to let them in the car because when they're frightened they'll dig and tear up the inside of the car out of fear. ...and here's a bit of information about the short-beaked echidna... Spines or hair? Echidna spines are actually long, hard hairs. Fur growing between the spines keeps an echidna warm. There are no spines on the belly. Frightened echidnas burrow into the ground or roll into a spikey ball. Echidnas rip into ant and termite nests with strong claws and lap up the insects with a long, sticky tongue. Sometimes they lay on an ant-mound with their tongue sticking out and the ants walk onto it! ...last stop was a huge aviary with a whole bunch of Australian native birds... we got one photo while we were in there which was the Diamond Firetail Finch... Well, that was that, the zoo was closed and we were ready to head home... sadly no more photos as the battery had just died (good timing)... the drive home was long but we were all exhausted and ready to lay down at home... I hope you enjoyed my trip to the zoo!
gingermuggins Posted Sep 8, 2008, 11:08 am	Hi Emil has arrived at Casterton after a short trip but long stay at the post office. He is happy to see the blue skies again and sends you lots of hugs. Photos to come soon.
gingermuggins Posted Sep 18, 2008, 11:22 am	Hello When i arrived here the weather was horrible! Wet, wild and windy. So windy that a tree fell down and blocked the road! A few days later the sun came out! I went in search of something yummy to eat. Mmmmm i found the vegetable garden. Then i found a pile of wheat on the ground. Sam tells me this is for the kangaroos that sometimes pass through the garden. It stops them eating the vegetable plants. I didn't think it was very tasty though. We didn't see any kangaroos this time, hopefully another day!
Apperveilchen Posted Oct 16, 2008, 3:51 pm	I am back home! After an adventurous 8 months of touring around the world I am back at home for a little bit. I had to be fluffed up some. Those envelopes really make a tv loose weight.
Apperveilchen Posted Jan 25, 2009, 8:41 am	I met Mr. Grey and SaruMaru here. They are currently visiting. I am also ready to travel to my next host. Wish me luck!
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 16, 2009, 11:03 am	I don't know where exactly we are but we are being man-handled. Some funny person went through our bag and just put in a note after that. I tried to read it but only got a glimpse before it got dark again. Something about all luggage having to be searched now.
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2009, 12:12 am	We started out at the airport early in the morning. It was still a bit dark outside. Here's our plane.
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2009, 12:19 am	Look here, we're flying over GB. These people have a lot of snow.
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2009, 12:22 am	After spending some time trying to get comfortable and to sleep we have now reached Canada. Look at these mountain ridges. They are quite regular and separate the more mountainy areas from flatter ones and the houses also stop with those lines.
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2009, 1:03 am	Let's have a look at Texas: a street with condos (kind of freaky if you ask me, they are all the same, how do people know which one they live in?) a rest of the plains, with a shopping area and the water tower, everything is still pretty new here a residential area
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 17, 2009, 3:56 pm	We spent a nice afternoon on the playground, going around with all the kids.
Apperveilchen Posted Feb 18, 2009, 12:06 am	And it's back to the US for me but this time to Baltimore. I am looking forward to meeting my next host.
SenoraVetinari Posted Mar 20, 2009, 3:42 pm	Hi everyone! I've been in Baltimore for awhile and I'm ready to update! My host Ashe and I have been so busy! We ate Maryland crabs from the supermarket. Normally, when they are in season, Baltimoreans get them by the pound, hot and fresh. These were good, too. Princess Sarah and I both had some. I helped Ashe work on an art project for her friend Esther: The art is by Katja Tukiainen. She let Ashe use it for the project. We emailed her and she was very nice. Princess Sarah, Ashe, and I went out for breakfast. We went to Spoons, where Ashe used to work. They are a green restaurant and use alternate sources of power, unbleached napkins, and they compost their leftover food. Here I am with the sign: One Saturday, I walked around Fells Point with Ashe and her best friend Louis. Here I am with Baltimore water: Icky, no? And here I am against some buildings: If you look to the left of the flag, you can see the Marriott where Ashe works! Ashe and I had to do some work. She's in grad school for Hospitality and Tourism Management. Work also was keeping her busy, so I helped her make a list of stuff she had to do: She's checked off the first three since then. I also helped her with Managerial Accounting work. Here I am, listening to the lecture: You may notice the spiffy bow I'm sporting. It came on her friend Kris' wedding invitation and Ashe gave it to me! Ashe has been planning a bridal shower for her friend Susan! So we clipped coupons to go shopping later. Here I am buried in them: Sully Monster arrived today! Here we are posing: It's been a busy week and it's shaping up to be a busy weekend! I'll write again soon! Love, Emil
SenoraVetinari Posted Mar 20, 2009, 3:42 pm	Hi everyone! I've been in Baltimore for awhile and I'm ready to update! My host Ashe and I have been so busy! We ate Maryland crabs from the supermarket. Normally, when they are in season, Baltimoreans get them by the pound, hot and fresh. These were good, too. Princess Sarah and I both had some. I helped Ashe work on an art project for her friend Esther: The art is by Katja Tukiainen. She let Ashe use it for the project. We emailed her and she was very nice. Princess Sarah, Ashe, and I went out for breakfast. We went to Spoons, where Ashe used to work. They are a green restaurant and use alternate sources of power, unbleached napkins, and they compost their leftover food. Here I am with the sign: One Saturday, I walked around Fells Point with Ashe and her best friend Louis. Here I am with Baltimore water: Icky, no? And here I am against some buildings: If you look to the left of the flag, you can see the Marriott where Ashe works! Ashe and I had to do some work. She's in grad school for Hospitality and Tourism Management. Work also was keeping her busy, so I helped her make a list of stuff she had to do: She's checked off the first three since then. I also helped her with Managerial Accounting work. Here I am, listening to the lecture: You may notice the spiffy bow I'm sporting. It came on her friend Kris' wedding invitation and Ashe gave it to me! Ashe has been planning a bridal shower for her friend Susan! So we clipped coupons to go shopping later. Here I am buried in them: Sully Monster arrived today! Here we are posing: It's been a busy week and it's shaping up to be a busy weekend! I'll write again soon! Love, Emil
SenoraVetinari Posted Apr 20, 2009, 10:54 pm	Hi everyone! I've been so so busy. I want to tell you guys what's been going on! Sully Monster and I helped Ashe with her friend Susan's bridal shower! We helped her set up and we posed with things. Here I am with the buffet. And the drink bar... And the favors. And me with edible underwear. Sigh. Ashe thought that would be a funny shot, I just think she's silly! Stanley Monkey arrived and we all dyed Easter eggs with Ashe's niece, Abby! Here I am with the blue dye in Ashe's favorite mug... With some finished eggs: Group shot! I had some Easter candy. But now it is time for me to leave Baltimore for Wisconsin! I hope I can get some cheese. I had fun in Baltimore and I will miss Ashe and the other Toyvoyagers, but I look forward to meeting Kay!
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 21, 2009, 2:49 pm	I made it to Wisconsin!! I even got to meet some other voyagers! Lewis, Nat Noy and Smooch So we are sitting around talking about our adventures. We're going to be going out on adventures soon so I will write more then!
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 5:14 pm	Today was my big travel around the city day! It was a gorgeous and almost HOT day (32*C/90*F). She made sure that I stayed cool throughout though. My first stop was to see what the area she lives in is called. To read what it says: “The Coulee Region” Coulee is a term derived from the French verb “couler” meaning to flow. The area before you and the entire coulee region of west central Wisconsin has been dissected by water erosion into a series of narrow ridges separated by steep-sided valleys called coulees. Fertile soils are farmed on the bottom and sides of coulees. The narrow ridges, often protected by woodlands, are capped by erosion resistant dolomite bedrock which commonly overlies sandstone. During formation of the coulees, erosion cut through the dolomite and removed the underlying weaker sandstone thereby creating the valleys. To the north and south of this marker you can view several coulees and intervening ridges and note that State Highway 33 is situated on one of the dolomite-capped ridges. The Wisconsin novelist Hamlin Garland, was a native of this area and wrote about pioneer life in the coulee region. Then I had my picture taken in front of some coulees. Next stop was to another landmark, but I had to pose in front of the American flag. It was rather windy so the flag was flying with ease. I'm on top of Grandad's Bluff!  We had to read the signs since we are high up.
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 5:19 pm	This is a great spot to see the whole city. Plus you can see land in Iowa and Minnesota! The path that is shown on one picture is blocked off due to erosion from flooding that happened the last couple years, it wasn't safe to go down. Pictures are from south to north. Pretty isn't it!?
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 5:26 pm	Going down from Grandad's is tree lined and very twisty. We had to drive down very carefully... but we made it down!
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 5:35 pm	Next stop on my adventure around the city was the official city welcome sign. The statue is of men playing the sport lacrosse, after which the city was named. The flags flying is the American flag, state of Wisconsin flag, and the city flag. Baseball anyone?  I got to see and sit on a giant bat for the city's baseball team. We then went down to her favourite park that's right on the Mississippi River (called Riverside Park). This is me viewing the blue bridges that connect Wisconsin and Minnesota. Then looking at the Mississippi River towards Minnesota. The children are statues which are an always present welcome to those who dock their tour boats here.
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 5:56 pm	All this sightseeing can make a donkey thirsty!! Here is me with a large statue of the American Bald Eagle.  We then sat down with the other visitors Nat Noy, Lewis, and Smooch for a picnic sandwich. (They were resting since they have seen what I have so far). Right after lunch, we got to see a barge go by!
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 6:02 pm	After lunch, I got to see some of the resident ducks that like to stay around the park. Sometimes people will bring down bread crumbs for them to snack on. I got to see a paddle wheeler boat! This one takes people on eco-tours or sightseeing tours around on the Mississippi. Then I got to see Hiawatha. Representing the Native Americans that lived around this area before.
Luv_Lioness Posted Apr 27, 2009, 6:07 pm	We walked through the International Gardens within the park, but nothing is really blooming at this point for me to get my picture taken with. But I did get my picture taken with the gazebo that shows the friendship between Dubna, Russia and La Crosse. Then I saw some fish! Then before leaving, another picture of the big American flag that is in the center of the park. On the drive home, we stopped so she could show me something huge! Don't worry, I didn't drink any. More adventures another day!! I need to rest!
Luv_Lioness Posted May 5, 2009, 5:48 pm	It was a very nice day out so we went along with our lovely host to run an errand which was also quite a drive... we got to see a lot! First thing she showed us was something they call "Ten Mile Hill." It's just 10 miles long from one end to the other. Sounds intimidating though! You can see that they had to carve into the bluffs to make the road. At one point on the road, we had to watch out for farm equipment.
Luv_Lioness Posted May 5, 2009, 6:05 pm	Small town (population ~2000) of Westby, Wisconsin! Since we are in the country, we found a big ear of corn! Really it's a big advertisement for a company and made out of recycled milk jugs. It was a short drive to her dentist and there I found a friend! He stays there but said he would pose with me. After she was done at the dentist, we were driving and saw an Amish horse and buggy. The Amish don't rely on what we call modern conveniences such as electricity and cars.
Luv_Lioness Posted May 5, 2009, 6:38 pm	She took us down a twisty road in the country to see something amazing... A ski jump! In February every year, skiers from all over the world come to this place to practice for the Olympics. We then headed for home but she stopped to show us ... Wisconsin Cows!
Luv_Lioness Posted May 5, 2009, 7:14 pm	We stopped and learned something about the area. What the sign says: This point is near the center of the 90,000 acre Coon Creek Watershed, the nation’s first large-scale demonstration of soil and water conservation. The area was selected for this purpose by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (then Soil Erosion Service) in October 1933. Technicians of the S.C.S. and the University of Wisconsin pooled their knowledge with experience of local farm leaders to establish a pattern of land use now prevalent throughout the Midwest. Planned practices in effect include improvement of woodlands, wildlife habitat and pastures, better rotations and fertilization, strip cropping, terracing, and gully and stream bank erosion control. The outcome is a tribute to the wisdom, courage and foresight of the farm families who adopted the modern methods of conservation farming illustrated here. Then we posed in some pretty grass with flowers.  Will write more when we go out again!
Luv_Lioness Posted May 18, 2009, 11:32 pm	Hi! I know it's been awhile since I've written but I am still here and today we were a help to her. We got to help out with some laundry that she had to do at the laundromat. More soon ... I promise.
Luv_Lioness Posted May 19, 2009, 8:36 pm	Today was a nice warm day so we went out for a treat, mainly because she said we were a great bunch of visitors ! A local landmark that even made it on to cable tv (she said if you get the Food channel it's on a show with a woman who went to college here, Sandra Lee). Rudy's is the best place! We got our food brought to us by rollerskating waitresses.  We all split an order of onion rings and an ice cold root beer.
Luv_Lioness Posted May 19, 2009, 8:56 pm	After our wonderful treat, we went down to Riverside Park and saw the different flowers blooming in the gardens since there wasn't much when we were down there before. We then looked in on the fish in the pond. The waterfall leads into the fish pond. It was nice and cool there! Another picture at a cool place. A water fountain which represents all the rivers that flow into the Mississippi River.
Luv_Lioness Posted May 19, 2009, 9:42 pm	Remember the blue bridges that we saw from Riverside Park? We went over one!! So I got to cross the Mississippi River! This is me in Minnesota! Right over the border, it doesn't look much different than Wisconsin. She had to show us that there are really two seasons here (haha): Winter and Road Construction. So we got to see the orange cones that limit driving lanes. The final picture is us on the Interstate 90 coming back into La Crosse. (not that much to see)
Luv_Lioness Posted May 20, 2009, 10:18 pm	Well, my time in Wisconsin is up and I'm headed now to Missouri! I wonder what I will see there! It was hard to say "Goodbye" to the friends I made here but they are going to be doing their own traveling!
brilliantlyxx Posted May 24, 2009, 6:01 am	Hi! It was a VERY short trip for me from Wisconsin to Missouri..just like I like my post time.  Short.  I was greeted by SunnyHH who opened my envelope when I arrived.  He's a very friendly little rabbit! Well, we are going to go on a hike tomorrow! I can't wait!
brilliantlyxx Posted May 24, 2009, 6:41 am	Hello! Emil here! Today, we went to Millstream Gardens.  It's about 8 miles west of where Steph lives, so it wasn't too far at all for us to go hiking.  The St. Francois River runs right through here, and the rive is home to the Missouri Whitewater Races in March. We stopped for a moment to read the poster and the rules, not to mention check out the map of the trail as well. We didn't get TOO far and we could already see some remains from the big storm that came through.  Here we are resting on a tree that has been cut down so that we can get through. We had to cross a few bridges along the way, but we weren't scared! They weren't very high, anyway. And will you look at what we found, Mom! A REAL turtle just hanging out on the trail! We stopped to have a conversation and ask him what he has been doing...but he didn't seem to want to talk to us.  Must be shy.. After what seemed like an EXTREMELY long walk, we FINALLY reached the place where we could look at the river!  Isn't it pretty out here? Of course, SunnyHH and I decided to take a nap on one of the MANY benches.  It's a hard walk for a tiny TV...especially a mile!  On the way back, we found the coolest looking broken tree!  Someone had cut it so that the paved path was clear, but look at how it broke. Pretty neat, huh? We got back to the car just in time from the hike.  It began to rain like crazy! Lucky us, huh?
brilliantlyxx Posted May 24, 2009, 7:01 am	After the hike, we really needed to get some food..and Steph needed to buy herself a new pair of shoes since really didn't have any hiking shoes. Once we got done with the shoe shopping, which didn't take long, we stopped at Steak n' Shake for a meal. We had a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Milkshake, which was REALLY yummy! Milkshakes are my new favorite thing, now! After a few moments, our food arrived to the car.  We got a Frisco Melt.  It's two steakburger patties, American and Swiss cheese, and Frisco sauce (it's made from French Dressing and 1000 Island Dressing) on a sourdough bread.  We also HAD to get a cup of cheese for our fries! FAN-TASTIC! I'm VERY tired, so I think I'm just going to go to bed.  We might be going on another hike tomorrow if the weather allows it! Miss you, Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 5, 2009, 8:35 pm	Hey Mom! Well, it rained today, so another hike was out of the quesion, sadly.  But, Steph still wanted to go do something, so we decided to go to a flea market! But first, we had to stop by Sonic Drive-In for a sweet tea.  Now, we are on our way! Here I am with the Green's Flea Market sign, our destination.  It's a little dinky place, but it sells pretty much anything you want for a very low price.  There were about a million porcelain dolls sitting right when you first come in the door. Steph wanted me to take a picture with this rattle snake, but I refused.  She told me it wasn't real, but I didn't care!    After that, I wouldn't let her take anymore photos, with or without me in the store..and she really wasn't supposed to, either. We helped Steph pick out a few rugs for her house.  They were only $1.50 each. Once we got them into the car, we promptly took a nap.  Running from the snake was hard! When we got back home, I met Steph's pets! First, we tried to takea nap with a cat named Gracie.  She wasn't very friendly, so we decided that it might not be a good idea to do so. Next, I met Kobie.  He was REALLY big, but very sweet! Then, there was Patch.  She's really nice, but she's not very smart...don't tell her I told you that, though!  Finally, I met the one that SunnyHH has been talking about! This is Otis, he's a Great Dane and weighs 190lbs!  That's a LOT more than me! But, I wasn't scared, he was too nice. Uh-oh! Help! Well, we are going to go listen to some music, Mom! We found all these cds! I can't wait! Love, SunnyHH
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 10, 2009, 12:52 am	Hello Mom! Today, Steph had to do some things at Mineral Area College, a local community college, so SunnyHH and I decided we'd go with her!    Here we are at the college's sign. We waited in her purse while she filled out a few forms.  We waited for atleast an hour before we finally got out and got some fresh air.  We came across this fountain along the way.  Very beautiful, don't you think?  The campus was VERY nice. On the way back to Steph's, we stopped at the old Blackwell Motors location.  It is famous for it's REALLY large pink elephant mascot, and we got to see it! We also got to see an American flag elephant as well! We also saw a gorilla, but I didn't want to get close to him! He had a shotgun and looked pretty angry.    I didn't want to die. Once we escaped the crazed Gorilla, we took off toward Steph's house, but first, we had to stop at The Family Center.  It's a store that sells Farming supplies, clothing, and much much more! It's a really cool store. Well, Mom! I'm really tired from my trip today! I think I may just take a nap! I love and miss you! Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 10, 2009, 3:56 am	Today, we helped Steph clean up her computer.  It was REALLY messy and cluttery.  We thought it would take ages and be really boring, but it was actually kind of fun. Here's the mess we were dealing with. While cleaning, we came across some interesting toys! Hello.  I'm Emil Potter.  Be nice, or I will cast a spell on you!  Well, we didn't get a picture of the after result, but it looked a LOT better! Steph said we are GREAT cleaners! Steph also asked if we would paint help paint her table for her! We gladly agreed! I've never painted a table before! Lots of Love, Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 10, 2009, 6:13 am	Hello! SunnyHH told me that he was going to be heading to China.  I was pretty sad, but then I came up with the idea that we should have a LOT of fun before he goes. First, we wrote a sign in this scratch paper that Steph and her cousin bought the other night.  It says "Emil & SunnyHH <3 Toyvoyagers (and you)".  It was fun to write! We settled down for a game of Uno.  I won the first hand, but SunnyHH beat me in the second round.  I was kind of bummed, but I couldn't stay like that for long because we needed to have fun! Afterwards, I took a cruise in the Mach 5 that I found lying on Steph's VCR.  She said it's the case for the complete series of Speed Racer on DVD, but I found it as a better car than that. We decided to chill for a bit infront of Steph's iPod.  We listened to Steph's favorite band, McFly.  They are from the UK and formed in 2004 and have since broke many records!  Including having their first album debut at #1 in the UK album chart, which caused them to take the title from The Beatles as "the youngest band ever to have an album debut at #1". All that music inspired me to learn guitar! I found Steph's guitar, put the pick in my mouth, and away I went!  Afterward, it was definitely time for a snack! We had some Butterfinger Ice Cream Sandwich Cake and was it delicious! It is made by taking a box of ice cream sandwiches and laying them in the bottom of the pan.  Then, you warm up a jar of hot fudge and a jar of caramel and drizzle it over them.  You take some whipped cream and spread it over all of it.  Then, finally, you crush up two Butterfinger candy bars and sprinkle on top.  Freeze and then eat!  Well, it's time to watch The Dark Knight with our ice cream!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 10, 2009, 6:36 pm	Today, I had to say good-bye to SunnyHH, who's heading off to China.  I helped him get packaged up and ready to go.  I hope he has a great time and I even told him of my travels and how much fun I've had.
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 25, 2009, 8:46 pm	Well, Mom, today was rainy.  That was okay, though, because Steph and I are packing for our trip to Orlando, Florida! I hope I see some really cool things while I am down there!  I'll update soon!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 27, 2009, 6:27 pm	Hey Mom! Today, we arrived in Florida!  We won't be staying long and probably won't be seeing as much as Steph originally thought we would.    We're both pretty bummed about it. The hotel we are staying at is the Caribe Royale.  It is a resort hotel that has a convention center, where we will be spending a lot of time. Here I am entering our room.  It was number 2436 and on the 4th floor, so the elevator ride wasn't long. This was the view out of our window.  It was the convention center. I decided that after an eighteen-hour long bus ride, I needed to sleep for awhile.  These beds were so comfortable. That is, until some girls put their things on my bed and interrupted my sleeping.  Even the sink was nice! It was shiny and clean!  I want a sink like this one! I found a map of the hotel lying on the table.  It was VERY useful for all of us.  I would've gotten lost in such a big resort if I hadn't kept the map. Well, Mom, I am going to make myself a cup of coffee and settle in for the night.  I need my rest. Love you, Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 27, 2009, 7:06 pm	Well, today was our last day in Florida. There really wasn't much to see, or else I would've had massive updates.  Steph was very disappointed with how this trip went as she didn't get to see much of anything besides the hotel.  Once we packed up, she decided to take me on a tour of the resort.  The first point of interest? The pool!  This was a view from the hotel window while we waited for an elevator. Here is the view of one of the towers down by the pool, which was an amazing pool. And, while down by the pool, I got to make a few friends!  DUCKS! Apparently they live down by the pool, which is an odd place for ducks to live, don't you think? This was a RESTAURANT entrance inside the main tower.  Crazy, right? The tour didn't last long because I had to catch the bus.  The seats were very nice and roomy for me, but not for everyone else on the bus.  Since we were sitting by the emergency exit, I had to learn how to use it just incase it was needed.  You lift the bar and push the window out.  That'd still be a big drop out of the bus, though. On the way home, we stopped at the International Drive Flea Market.  It was a sort of dumpy place with about 400 booths of many soviener things.  It wasn't that great and we really didn't find much. But, we did find two cool things! We found two new toys to be TVs!    I had to explain to them what a TV is and tell them all about the exciting things I have seen.  The hampster backed out because she was afraid of being lost, but PookyBear didn't!  Well, Mom, it's going to be a LONG ride back to Steph's home.  I'm just going to try and sleep the whole way! Sorry that this trip wasn't very exciting! I hope we do some fun things when I get back to Steph's!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 27, 2009, 7:16 pm	Hey Mom! We arrived back at Steph's home around 5:30 AM.  The bus ride back was VERY bumpy and we were both unable to sleep well.  It was nice to be back in Steph's town, but man, it sure is hot here.  The humidity is a lot worse here than it is in Orlando. I got to see some deer out in the field next to Steph's house.  Apparently they have been coming out every night since Steph and I left for Florida. I also found a nice little fountain in the front yard to cool off by.  The water was nice and very delicious. Well, I'm going to be hanging out with the gnomes tonight! They showed up while we were away.  They'd love to go to Florida someday, too!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 27, 2009, 7:22 pm	Today I found a puzzle in Steph's closet and asked her if I could put it together.  She didn't have a problem with it, so I did it all by myself! I began sorting through the pieces to try and find all the border pieces first.  That's usually the easiest way to start a puzzle, I think.  It was hard to sort through 500 pieces, but I did not fail. I also pulled out this little piece of paper.  Its an overview of what the entire puzzle will look like once it is finished. Here I am right after I finished putting all the border pieces together.  It didn't end there, though.  I had to finish it now! It was slowly starting to come together... Here comes the last piece... Finished! It didn't take me very long! Steph was very impressed with how fast I did it! She said she is going to glue it, frame it, and hang it up on the wall so that way when I leave here, she can remember me!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 27, 2009, 7:36 pm	Today the air conditioning went out in Steph's home.  It was extremely hot and a poor little donkey like me doesn't like to be hot.  It got up to ninety degrees, which is VERY hot. I tried to find many ways to keep cool, though.  First, I hung out with the popsicles in the freezer.  They were nice enough to share the cold, but they didn't say much. Then, I rode on a ship to try and feel the sea breeze.  It worked for just a little while. I left the ship on a tiny lifeboat and found two birds.  I asked them if they could point me to the nearest air conditioning repair shop.  They didn't seem to want to talk. Come on, breeze!  I went to see if there was any place to keep cool outside.  The fountain was dry, but I came across this sign that said 'Cold Beer'.  Maybe that would keep me cool! I followed the arrow.. But, there wasn't any beer.  There was just a pool and since the big storm back in May ruined the liner in Steph's pool, there wasn't any water there, either. It was so hot that even the Hummingbirds weren't coming out to drink their sugar water. As I started to head back in, I heard thunder! I looked to the sky and saw that a rainstorm was coming in! Finally! When I went back inside, it was still very hot.  I went to get into the fridge and look what I found! That evening, the repair man FINALLY showed up!    I sat at the window and watched as the repairs went on.  It was really cool, to be honest. Well, Mom, Steph says she has a surprise for me tomorrow! I can't wait to see what it is!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jun 29, 2009, 6:59 am	Hello! This morning I woke up and was treated to a delicious plate of Biscuits & Gravy with some scrambled eggs.  Biscuits & Gravy is a very popular dish in the plain states.  It consists of buttermilk American biscuits and homemade country gravy (Steph's is made out of flour, milk, sausage grease, bits of sausage, and black pepper).  It was EXTREMELY good and a LOT better than I thought it was going to be! I remembered the surprise Steph told me about, so I began to search the house for any clues.  After a LONG time, I FINALLY found what I was looking for.  I questioned Steph and she told me that we were going to a professional baseball game!  We arrived at Busch Stadium in time to catch much of the pregame fun! Here is the score board showing the St. Louis Cardinals logo.  That's the home team and definitely the team we are rooting for!  They are playing the Minnesota Twins tonight.  And look who it is! Fredbird! He is the mascot for the Cardinals. I would've been in this picture, but he was going by a little too fast for my little legs.  As I said, Fredbird is the mascot for the Cardinals. He's always seem cheering the crowd on, pecking on people's heads, dancing on the dugout, and he also shoots shirts out with a group of girls called "Team Fredbird".  Wish I had ladies that followed ME around! As the team came out to warm up on the field before the game, we got a picture of Adam Wainwright, one of the pitchers for the Cardinals. I guess he just needed a moment to relax before he got all worked up for the game. Before the game, former Cardinal Ozzie Smith threw out one of the first pitches.  He is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and was once the short stop for the Cardinals.  His jersey number "1" is a retired number, meaning no other player on the Cardinals team can have that number as their own.  They only do that for the legendary ones.  He is well known for doing flips during games. Another pre-game event was in honor of music legend Michael Jackson, who passed away on Thursday.  A man named Dizzy did a dancing tribute to one of Michael's most famous songs, "Billie Jean".  Steph recorded it on her camera with help from me and posted it on YouTube for you to see!  Here's the video! Enjoy! Once the game got started, it was a lot of fun.  People were cheering and booing and the WHOLE stadium did the wave, which looked REALLY cool, even if it was 90 degrees out!  Here I am checking the score board.  We were down by two, but that is nothing.  We could easily make a comeback. Joe Thurston was up to bat at the time.  He's a utility player, meaning that he doesn't play just one position on the field.  Tonight, he was playing third base. Here's a view of the field when the Twins were up to bat and the Cards were in the outfield.  The field looks really neat a night.  Look at all the people, too! Isn't that just insane how many people show up? Albert Pujols was batting tonight.  He apparently is one of the biggest names and is regarded as one of the best players in baseball today. He was even voted "Most Feared Batter" in a poll that was taken by the managers of the thirty baseball teams.  I could definitely tell he was big name, Mom. People were constantly cheering "Albert! Albert!", even when he was just standing at first base (his position) and nothing was going on. Toward the end of the game, they did the attendance quiz. What they do is they add up how many tickets were checked on the way in to tonights game then give you four options on the board.  You have to decide how many people you think are in the stadium tonight, then they slowly take away three of the four choices until the final one is revealed. You don't win anything, but it's just part of the stadium fun.  There was 44,159 people in the stadium tonight! 44,159!! That's a LOT of people! I've never seen so many people in one place, I don't think! Well, the Cardinals ended up losing 3 to 1, but I wasn't TOO down. It was a GREAT game and I had a lot of fun.  I hope I can go to another one sometime! Well, I need my sleep! I'm so beat from all the cheering I did tonight! Love, Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 4, 2009, 5:51 am	Happy July, Mom! Today I went with Steph to the local laundry mat to help her do some clothes.    We got stopped for awhile on the road because someone must've been getting a new trailer to live in.  It took ages to get that monster across the road. But, we finally made it to the laundry mat! First thing we did was purchase some detergent so we could do the clothing. Then, I was put in charge of getting the quarters so that we could use the machines.  I put in a twenty dollar bill.. And out came 80 quarters! Gee..that's a LOT of coins! We got all the clothing and detergent into the machines and began to watch them all. Now, all we could do was wait. But, don't worry, Mom! I found some great things to do.  First things first, I bought myself a soda out of this machine.  Steph said this was the first machine she had ever seen like this.  She said that usually soda vending machines are really big. Next, I found a little machine the sold regular M&M's, Peanut M&M's, and Skittles.  I didn't get any though.  A little donkey like me needs to watch his weight, especially when he is a toy voyager!  The laundry mat also provided entertainment.  Here I am playing a pinball machine.  I think I had the top score! They also had this old Mrs. PacMan machine! Steph said that this is one of her favorite games.  I think this may be one of mine as well. As clothes began to come out of the washing machines, we began to put them into the dryers.  As I was taking clothes out, I found some more money!  They were just one-dollar bills, though. Here I am watching the clothes in the dryer.  They just spin, spin... And spin some more. Once the clothes were FINALLY dry, it was time to fold them.  We placed them in this little cart and rolled them over to the folding table. I don't think anything smells better than clean clothing. Oh, and I found more entertainment just as we were about to leave.  I got to witness someone being pulled over by a police officer across the street.  I think they were speeding. Well, I hope you are doing well, Mom! Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 7, 2009, 7:58 am	Today Steph took me to a place not TOO far from her home called Elephant Rocks.  It has a hiking trail, so we decided to go on it. Let me give you some information I learned about Elephant Rocks: Quote: One of the most curious geologic formations in Missouri is found at Elephant Rocks State Park. Giant boulders of 1.5 billion-year-old granite stand end-to-end like a train of circus elephants. Many of the elephant rocks lie within the seven-acre Elephant Rocks Natural Area. This natural area is recognized for its outstanding geologic value. Elephant Rocks Natural Area can be easily viewed from the one-mile paved Braille Trail. Designed especially for people with visual and physical disabilities, the Braille Trail is the first of its kind in Missouri state parks. The formation of this extraordinary herd of elephants began during the Precambrian era about 1.5 billion years ago. Molten rock, called magma, accumulated deep below the earth's surface. The magma slowly cooled, forming red granite rock. As the weight of the overlying rock was removed by erosion, horizontal and vertical cracks developed, fracturing the massive granite into huge, angular blocks. Water permeated down through the fractures, and groundwater rounded the edges and corners of the blocks while still underground, forming giant rounded masses. Erosion eventually removed the disintegrated material from along the fractures, and exposed these boulders at the earth's surface. Physical and chemical weathering in low areas on the crest of the large granite outcrop has produced distinct, roughly circular depressions up to several feet in diameter, called "solution pans" or "tinajitas." Temporary pools of water that collect in these depressions often provide a home for tadpoles and mosquito larvae. Since no official census of the herd has ever been taken, the exact number of "elephants" inhabiting the park is unknown. Although the elephant rocks are continually eroding away, new elephants are constantly being exposed. Information collected on Dumbo, the patriarch of Elephant Rocks State Park, shows that he is 27 feet tall, 35 feet long and 17 feet wide. At a weight of 162 pounds per cubic foot, Dumbo tips the scales at a hefty 680 tons. Just outside the park is the oldest recorded commercial granite quarry in the state. This quarry, opened in 1869, furnished facing stone for some Eads Bridge piers across the Mississippi River, and from 1880 to 1900, millions of paving blocks for the St. Louis levee and downtown streets came from this quarry. Other nearby quarries supplied granite for many major St. Louis buildings, as well as stone for the turned columns on the front porch of the Governor's mansion in Jefferson City. Today, this granite is used primarily for monuments and building veneer. The higher quality granite blocks produced from quarries before the area became a state park were used for building homes and other structures; the flawed and damaged stone was hammered into blocks, which were used for paving streets. Roughly the size of a shoebox, these granite paving blocks sold for about eight cents each. At that rate, a good block maker, producing 50 blocks per day, could earn a whopping $4 a day! Pretty good wages for a very hard day's work. The nearby town of Graniteville, in its day (circa 1890), boasted a population of more than 700 people, making it the largest town in the area. Most of the town was owned and built by the quarry company. Walking down the street, you would have seen a hotel, post office, store, railroad depot and numerous homes. Today, only a few of the original granite buildings remain, including an impressive stone schoolhouse and several homes. Thirty picnic sites among the giant red boulders provide ample opportunity for family picnicking and exploration of the elephant rocks. Camping is not available in Elephant Rocks State Park, but can be found in several nearby state parks. Pets must be on leashes. Rock-climbing equipment is not to be used in the park. Here I am reading the very first sign I came across. They also have to sign in Braile so that the blind who are going on this trail can also enjoy the nature with their minds.  I'm not really sure why a blind person would be hiking, though.. Look at this rock! It's one of many, but I think this one kind of resembles a snake. Do you see it? Steph noticed a sign she had never seen before that lead to a place off of the trail.  She decided that we needed to follow it.  It lead to a place called the 'Engine House'. I ventured inside and took a look around.  This looks like the place where the train would come in to be repaired. And the rails continued off into the forest.  I thought that it was really neat how they had never pulled those up. Back on the regular path. We came across a place in the path called the "Fat Man's Squeeze".  I read the sign beforehand just so I could figure out why it got this name. Oh dear, hope I fit. Once I *barely* made it through the squeeze, I was off to climb on there VERY high rocks.  It was risky, but I'm brave!  There was also a nice little river that I checked stopped to look at. On the way home, we passed this mural of a battle.  Many Civil War battles were fought in Missouri, and Steph believes that they are the inspiration for this. When I got home, I enjoyed a VERY nice bowl of homemade Strawberry Shortcake.  It was very delicious! Tomorrow Steph said we are going to this place called Meramec Caverns.  She says that she has never been before, but has heard many great things about it.
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 7, 2009, 9:34 am	Today we visited Meramec Caverns, the hideout of the famous pair of outlaw brothers Jesse and Frank James.  They are well known in Missouri and many parts of the US, even almost 100 years after both of their deaths.  This was a statue of both of them right in the entrance. In the gift shop, I came across two 'wanted' posters for Jesse James.  Steph was very tempted to purchase one. I also found some family in the gift shop as well!  This is a map of the ENTIRE cave.  Many places were marked, including the exact place they believe Jesse, Frank, and their gang hid in.  And right next to that was a photo of Missouri and all the caves in the state that are available for touring. We also came across some old artifacts that were found in the caves and thought to be left by Jesse James and his crew.  These were discovered after a few tour guides in the cave felt cool air coming through the wall. They had to swim in 40 degrees Fahrenheit water in order to find the opening, and these items. This gun is actually made completely of wood. I wouldn't want to shoot that!  This is where the tour starts.  Our tour guide, Abby, told us that the cabin had nothing to do with the caves at all.  It is actually just a tiny moonshiner's shack that they found up the river and decided to keep to add to the atmosphere. Here is another statue with the James brothers.  We were in the 'room' that is believed to be the furthest they went into the cave.  The legend goes that a sheriff and his gang chased the brothers into this cave.  They decided that they would drive the boys out with starvation and dehydration.  After three days, the sheriff and the rest of his crew raided the cave, only to find it empty.  The boys had taken their leave in the Meramec River, which flows through the cave.  You can no longer make the same exit that the brothers did, though; the parking lot is in the way now. I got to see many Stalactites and Stalagmites.  They make up most of the caves and look very cool when they have the lights on them. Steph and I both thought this one looked like a giant pepper.  What do you think? I also got to see one of the world's largest stalagmites.  It is about 500 feet wide and is in both rooms.  It actually cut off its own supply of water and caused one side of it to go inactive.  Notice the rusty color.  This side is still active, so water still runs down it.  Notice the white color on it. Across the stalagmite, there was this lake.  Our tour guide changed the colors on the lake to give us a cool view.  We had to say our "ooo's" and "ahh's". Next stop on the tour, The Wine Room.  The room is called this because there are Botryoid formations all along the walls, which look like grapes.  There is also an formation they call the "Wine Table".  It is a form of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragonite and can support itself on only three legs.  There are only two of these structures known..and the other is in Italy. In the Cavern, we were taken to a room called "The Theater Room".  It is called this because of the sheet formation that is shaped just like a stage curtain.  We were treated to a light show by our tour guide, which ended in a light that shows the United States Flag.  It was the perfect day to show this because July 4th is Independence Day in this country.
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 7, 2009, 9:50 am	I have split this day into two different entries, just so that you don't get overloaded with one!  Down the road, I spotted a place called the Jesse James Wax Museum.  I was pretty curious, so I told her that I would like to go check it out.  She agreed. We found out quickly that this museum was founded by a couple who believe that Jesse James was not killed in his home in 1887. This is how it is said that he died: Quote: On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James prepared for departure for another robbery, going in and out of the house to ready the horses. It was an unusually hot day. James removed his coat, then declared that he should remove his firearms as well, lest he look suspicious. James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. Robert Ford took advantage of the opportunity and shot James in the back of the head. James' two previous bullet wounds and partially missing middle finger served to positively identify the body. However, these people seemed to have a lot of proof and I was ready to make my judgement! After the short tour, we went into a room where they had this photo transition.  They age progress the photo of Jesse James and then compared it to a man who claimed to be the real Jesse James.  They really did look quite a bit a-like. On the wall was the actual family tree of Jesse James.  Steph said that one of her friends is supposedly related to him, but she wasn't quite sure how. Also on display were gloves and a bullet-proof vest, both used by the real Jesse James. Neat, huh? When we left the building, I still wasn't sure if I was convinced if the real Jesse died in the 1880's at 34 or in the 1950's at 102.  They say that the body in Jesse's 'grave' is his cousin's, so DNA testing isn't enough. Well, I hope you enjoyed my updates! I know I had a fun time! Miss you!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 7, 2009, 9:58 am	Today, a package arrived for Steph.  I waited on top of it until she got off of work.  I had a feeling that I needed to keep an eye on it. But, I grew VERY impatient and decided to just rip the package open. And out tumbled King Tut all the way from Canada.  He looked at me with delight and told me all the things that donkeys used to be used for when he ruled Egypt.  I was not very excited to hear that he wanted ME to be used to carry loads, plow seeds into fields, and carry people around.  I made him promise that he would not do those things to me.  He promised.  I think we may become great friends. We also posed with a postcard that was sent along for Steph.  She really liked it, and I did too!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 13, 2009, 7:30 am	Tonight, King Tut and I popped some popcorn in Steph's microwave.  It was just a little, single serving bag, but it was definitely enough for us to share.  I think I may have had more than just half though..oops!  We settled ourselves in front of the television for a night in.  We flipped through the channels and found a show called Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction on the Chiller channel.  It's a tv show from the late 90's that shows eerie situations and then you have to decide if they actually happened or if the writers made them completely up.  At the end of the show, they tell you which ones were real. King Tut and I did a really good job at guessing.  We usually got three or more right. During one of the commercial breaks, King Tut decided that we needed to have a wrestling match, just like in one of the stories on the show (the story ended up being false, by the way).  I agreed and the game began! At first, it seemed like King Tut was going to beat me.  He climbed onto my back, and I thought it was over. But, then I bucked him right off my back... And was declared the winner!! Don't worry, I didn't hurt King Tut! I would never hurt another TV or anyone, especially royalty!  It was just a friendly competition. Well, I hope you enjoyed this update.  I had lots of fun!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 14, 2009, 7:48 am	Today King Tut and I were hanging around when we heard a noise at the door.  We stepped outside only to find Wieka!  He had flown in all the way from Germany. Here's a group shot of us. I'm so glad that Wieka came to visit! We have another TV to go with us on trips!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 30, 2009, 5:18 pm	Today, we had to wake up early because there were people coming over to put in new carpet in Steph's house.  The three of us decided that we should get right on in and help with the process.  Just because we're little does NOT mean we can't help out, you know. Here's the living room with the carpet just lying in it. They put the carpet down in the hallway last.  What you see on the floor is the padding that goes under the carpet. Steph also got ANOTHER surprise.  The pool company called and they were ready to put the new pool liner in today! She was getting two things done at once!  If you look out the window in this photo, you can see them putting the liner in. When they were done, we went outside to get a good look at the pool.  They were hauling water to fill it, but it wasn't filled all the way just yet.  They had to go get a few more loads in order to finish it.  I think they did seven loads in total! A little while later, the carpet was finished and we were able to move the furniture back!  Here's what everything looks like with the new carpet. Looks nice, huh? Steph REALLY likes it.  I think I do, too! Well, it was such a long day.  I think I'm just going to go to bed.  I'll update soon! Emil
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 30, 2009, 5:22 pm	Today I had to say goodbye to King Tut and Wieka.  I will be traveling to see Jennifer and Scotland.  I'm VERY excited about this trip! It should be a lot of fun.  Steph said that her tv Chance is headed for Scotland, too, but to a different host. See you in Scotland!
twennifer Posted Aug 5, 2009, 12:06 am	Hey Mum!  I've made it safely to Scotland, yay!  The weather here is somewhat disappointing though, it has rained practically all day. I spent the morning meeting my host, exploring my host, Jennifer's bedroom and meeting another ToyVoyager!  Here I am with my new host, Jennifer... And me with Jennifer's own ToyVoyager, Annie who will start her adventure next week, There was a dry half hour in the afternoon so Jennifer suggested that she took Annie and I for a cycle around her village, Lundin Links 'Lundin Links is very much a 19th Century village which was virtually a suburb of Lower Largo but now has strength of its own with the facilities available, especially two of the best restaurants in the area. Coming through Lundin Links you can see on both sides the beautiful big houses. The most unusual building is the Lundin Links Hotel, built with red bricks and tiles with black and white half-timber inserts and headed gables makes it quite a striking design rather different from the other local building character. Sport is a major part in Lundin Links, with two golf courses, the Lundin Links Club and the Lundin Ladies club, both of which are very popular, Bowling Club and Lundin Sports Club, where you can enjoy a game of tennis or squash or have a work out in the gym.' I took the driving seat as we headed towards Lundin Links beach, The beach was deserted, porbably due to the bad weather, who would have thought it, torrential rain in August!?  It's supposed to be Summer!  Nevertheless, I still managed to enjoy my time at the beach, . Hopefully tomorrow's weather will be better so that I can have a nice trip out for the day! Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 7, 2009, 11:43 pm	Wow, Mum!  I have been busy with Jennifer over the last couple of days.  And guess who I met up with, Chance!  My host, Jennifer was staying at Chance's host's house for a night so it was a bit of a ToyVoyager party which was exciting!  There were 4 TV's there, Myself, Annie, Chance & Rocky.  Here's a photo... We had a really good night together.  Chance is staying in a nice house by a Golf Course, I am begining to realise that there is a lot of golfing going on in this area!  Maybe Jennifer will take me golfing whilst I'm here?![color=crimson] Wish you were here, Emil xxx[/color]
twennifer Posted Aug 8, 2009, 10:01 am	Dear Mum, Today I visited possibly thee most famous town in Scotland, St Andrews!  Have you heard of it?!  We went out for dinner with Jennifer's family to celebrate Jennifer's Exam results.  Here I am checking out the menu... To be quite honest it was a tough decision so Annie and I helped Jennifer eat her Vegetarian Fajitas, mmmm!  We enjoyed a post-dinner walk around St Andrews, which is very famous for golf.  International Golf Competitions such as 'The Open' have been played at The Old Course in St Andrews.  Jennifer's Dad was keen to take me for a walk by the golf course as he is a golfer himself. The sky was lovely and the beach looked gorgeous!  Jennifer couldn't resist taking a photo of Annie and I by 'West Sands Beach' which, she told me, is where the opening scene of the famous film 'Charriots of Fire' was filmed many years ago. Annie and I took a seat on the real grass famous golfers such as Tiger Woods have walked and played on, wow!  What a claim to fame!  And here I am on the fence by the 18th Green at the Old Course, St Andrews This place is obsessed with golf I tell you, Mum! The weather here has definatly imoroved since the day I arrived here which is nice, as we were able to walk about in the evening sunset and it was still warm, which is a rarity in Scotland. Jennifer also took me around St Andrews and showed me various parts of the famous St Andrews University.  It is the oldest University in Scotland and was founded in 1413.  Here I am outside on of the Music Departments, I have just one more photo to show you, Mum!  It's something that is famous in the UK, seen in many films, such as Harry Potter and in TV programs like Doctor Who.  It's a red phonebox!  Woo, they are famous here and a big tourist attraction. Jennifer says sorry for the late update and the lack of decent photos!  This is due to how dark it was. Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 11, 2009, 10:50 pm	Today Jennifer, Annie and Jennifer's friends took me to where they work for a meal, it was very nice.  Jennifer let me meet the waiters & chefs because she knows them all from working with them.  Annie and I checking out the menu... We seem to go out for meals a lot, haha!  I'm not complaining though, I could get used to this Mum! I have grown very close to Annie and I will be sad when I have to say goodbye to her as she embarks on her voyage later this week.  I've also grown to like Jennifer a lot, too.  And the feeling is mutual, Jennifer is looking after me well. My host, Jennifer informs me that I should be meeting some new ToyVoyagers soon as more toys will be coming to stay with Jennifer.  We wait by the letter box every morning in the hope of some new toys being delivered. Bye for now, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 11, 2009, 10:56 pm	This afternoon, after Lunch with Jennifer, Annie, Ellen, Georgia & Hallie, I baked a cake! It was a cake for Jennifer's colleague, Betty because it was her birthday.  We went to Anna's house to bake the cake. The message on it was funny for the staff at Jennifer's work but I didn't find it very funny!  Nevertheless, the finished product looked pretty good, don't you agree Mum? Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 11, 2009, 11:55 pm	Today along with Jennifer, her friends, Eilidh & Laura-Jayne, I went to Dundee, which is the 4th largest city in Scotland (thanks, Eilidh!)  I also met up with Eilidh's ToyVoyagers, Chance, Rocky & Ronnie.  It was nice to see them again. We had lunch in a Chinese buffet, I ate a lot!  Here we ToyVoyagers are, by the menu... We had a look around the shops, Dundee is pretty good for shopping Jennifer says! Here I am in 'Clinton Cards'... Oh, just one problem Mum!  The red ribbon on my neck has started to fray!  ):  Jennifer said that she would happily get me a new bit because, it looks a little scrappy and I need to look smart for all of these photos I have taken of me!  I told her that she should go ahead and buy me a new ribbon but she was just wondering if that was okay?  We still have the red bit if you would like it sent back to you but really, it is not much use!  Just send Jennifer a message and let her know what you would like her to do!  (I'd like a new ribbon, just for a change!  Haha!) Here is a photo of the ribbon, just to show you, See Mum, it looks kinda' scrappy now. After a while it was time for an ice cream stop, all that shopping was making me hungry so we stopped at 'Marble Slab,' it's such a cool shop, you choose a flavour or ice cream and choose a mixin or two.  Jennifer and I enjoyed Birthday Cake flavoured ice cream with fudge and Diam bar mixed in.  It was very tasty.  Here's a photo... Jennifer likes going here with her friends as the ice creams are so exiting but Marble Slab, Dundee is the only one in Scotland so they rarely get a chance to go there. After a few more shops it was time to get the bus back to Lundin Links.  The route home was very scenic and we got the 'coast bus' especially so that Jennifer could show me the scenery on the east coast of Fife.  Here I am on the bus going over the Tay Bridge, The Tay Bridge is about one mile long!  It connects Fife and Tayside and runs over the River Tay which is very deep at parts, I was worried I would fall in but luckily, Jennifer held tightly onto me! This picture shows the view from the bus on the bridge. On the journey home, we went through St Andrews, which looked familiar to me, here is the old cathedral ruins... (Jennifer says sorry for the qualitly of the photos, it isn't easy from a bus!) We then passed through Anstruther further along the coast.  Jennifer told me that Anstruther is where she goes to school and that next Wednesday she will be taking me to school with her but, now it's summer holidays so we can enjoy ourselves! Here are the boats in Anstruther Harbour, And here is a view of the sea, if you look right across the water on a clear day one can see the capital city, Edinburgh but the weather was bad today and it wasn't clear enough. We went trough many small fishing villages, Crail, Pittenweem, St Monans and through beautiful countryside on quiet roads. This place is so lovely Mum, I wish you could be here to share it with us, but I guess, you'll be having fun with Knopf!  Here I am beside some feilds in St Monans, And on the road between St Monans and Elie and Earlsferry, where Eilidh is hosting Chance, Rocky and Ronnie. Hope you and Knopf are well and having a nice time together!  I'm very happy here right now, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 12, 2009, 11:52 pm	After being presented with my new purple & white ribbon this morning (see picture!) I headed off to Dunfermline along with Jennifer, her sister Ailsa and their French Friends, Marie-Helene, Kirsty Jane & Gillian Estelle.  Our destination was the Odean Cinema but as the tickets were sold out for 'Aliens in the Attic' we went bowling first!  It was very exciting.  Here I am at the bowling alley, I watched the girls playing because there were no 'Emil sized' bowling balls, much to my dissapointment. I got a great view from the floor but I was quite worried a bowling ball would land on me, they are very heavy! After the bowling, (which Jennifer and Ailsa drew first place!) we headed to the Cinema again, this time we were more sucessful and we got into the screen.  The film was brilliant, I loved it, so did Jennifer.  For obvious reasons Jennifer couldn't take photos of me in the film but here I am in the foyer, We headed home for more fun straight after the film but the views from the car weren't half as beautiful as they were yesterday on the way back from Dundee, Bye for now, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 13, 2009, 12:01 am	After returning from the cinema & bowling, the fun continued - oooh yeah! Jennifer took me, Kirsty Jane & Gillian Estelle to the park in Lundin Links where I had a good play with them. The weather looks nice but it was actually quite cold, for August!  I was happy to be out in the fresh air though... And here I am with Gillian, my biggest fan!... After a good while at the park we returned to the house where Kirsty & Gillian are staying (their Grandma's) to make French crepes!  YUM.  They have a crepe machine, so it's easy, all that needs to be made is the mixture.  Here I am trying my hand at crepe making! The crepes were very good, I am full up now.  Kisses, Emil, xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 14, 2009, 9:57 am	For supper tonight we made pancakes!    They were very good, here I am making the pancakes, They're pretty easy to make and a lot of fun too!  We made quite a lot of pancakes, infact probably too many but they are all shared out with some of Jennifer's neighbors.  Here I am with all the pancakes we made!.. I loooooove pancakes Mum, they're so good!  (: Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 14, 2009, 10:31 am	Today I was back in Dundee, to Jennifer's Hospital Appointment.  I didn't mind being back there because, I got to see different parts of the city.  The first thing Jennifer showed me was the Tay Rail Bridge. The Tay Rail Bridge is 3 and a half kilometers long and crosses the River Tay between Dundee (Tayside) and Wormit (Fife) The bridge you see with me in the below picture is infact the second rail bridge after the Tay Bridge Disaster, they built this one... The Tay Bridge Disaster happened on 28th of December 1879 when, in a violent storm the bridge collapsed, thus throwing a passenger train into the freezing cold river.  75 people were killed.  The bridge was also in ruins, so this new, much stronger bridge was built.  If you look closely in the picture of the bridge (above) you can see the stumps in the water of where the old bridge was. After my short history lesson, (haha!) we headed up to Ninewells Hospital.  Jennifer was only in for a little while so I stayed in the waiting room.  When she came out she took me to see a nice stained glass window in the foyer.  I liked it, it was very bright and beautiful... After the hospital, Jennifer told me it was time for some 'retail therapy,' which means SHOPPING!  (:  To get to the shops we had to cross over a busy road, it would be too dangerous to walk straight over the tarmac between cars, so we went over the road in a walk way.  Here I am looking down at all of the cars... Then we arrived safely at the shops.  It was very busy in the shopping centre, lots of people about, After a spot of shopping we took a break in Starbucks, hot chocolate, mmmmm yum!... Jennifer told me she had something to show me, so she took me down the street to a kilt shop.  A kilt is a knee lenght skirt-type thing made of tartan fabric.  Tartan Kilts are the traditional outfit of Scottish Men and boys.  They are often worn on occasions such as Highland Games and Weddings.  Here I am beside 3 models in kilts; Jennifer says I may see some real people in kilts whilst I'm here!  I do hope so!  (: See you later, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 14, 2009, 4:27 pm	Hey Mum!  Today Jennifer & I welcomed Misty Mouse to Lundin Links.  Jennifer took us to Lundin Links Golf Course for a little look this morning, despite the rain.  Here, you can see Misty and I... I like Misty, she's good fun!  Here I am by one of the Golf Club signs.  Lundin Golf Club is an 18 hole course and one of two courses in Lundin Links, the other is Lundin Ladies Golf Club. The golf course was unusually quiet today, possibly due to the weather.  Here I am by one of the fairways, The weather is awful, this afternoon we are going to bake and tidy!  It's too wet to venture outside. Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 17, 2009, 11:58 pm	Willy Whale arrived today!  Now that Annie is off to England there are three of us, Misty Mouse, Willy Whale & Me... Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 20, 2009, 8:21 pm	Today, I went along with Jennifer, her family & the other TVs to visit her friends who live in Eskbank, outside Edinburgh. Whilst there we played on the trampoline... And met their puppy, Dwight.  Dwight is a Guide Dog Puppy in training.  He will hopefully be leading the blind or deaf when he is older.  Jennifer's friends have to be very strict with him. He looks violent & scary but he was really very cute and affectionate.  I liked him... Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 20, 2009, 8:56 pm	Today Jennifer had to go back to school!  So less adventures outside for me right now but, I don't mind because Jennifer took me to school today and to be quite honest it was a lot more exciting than I had thought it would be!  (: There aren't any photos of me in classes as cameras are prohibited in School but Jennifer managed to take a few sly ones (ssssshh!) Jennifer goes to school from 8:50-3:35.  She is in 5th Year, which is the second last year of 'Secondary School' here.  Jennifer told me about some of her subjects.  This year she is studying Higher English, Higher French, Higher Modern Studies, Higher Human Biology and Intermediate 2 Mathematics.  Jennifer seems to quite enjoy school.  She says she'll take me back another day to get some more photos later on.  But, here are today's... The above photo is of little me with Laura-Jayne (LJ) She is Jennifer's friend and has recently been chosen out of the whole of the UK to be in the final 100 of 'Miss Teen UK' a beauty-pagent!  We are all very excited about this, she is very pretty, don't you agree?!  I'd like to wish Laura-Jayne Good Luck. (: And here I am with, Iona (IP) she is a very talented gymnast Jennifer tells me...  Maybe she'll show me a flip someday?! Eilidh's TV Rocky was also at School with Eilidh today so, that was nice!  I had someone to talk to!  Here we are beside the 'Dodgeball Board'... The girls go to a nice Deli in Anstruther, so naturally, I went along too!  Here I am in Mrs P's, the Deli... It was very busy inside, filled with a lot of School Pupils so I was glad to get out of there.  The girls took Rocky & I to see the best Fish and Chip shop in the UK, Anstruther Fish Bar.  Rocky's host, Eilidh works there.  All of the seafood served here is local as Anstruther is right on the coast, just like Lundin Links. Here I am outside the world-famous Anstruther Fish Bar... I didn't really experiance school life today as the first day is always a bit hectic!  But I'll be back one day again with Jennifer. Love, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Aug 20, 2009, 9:09 pm	This evening, Jennifer's Dad (Neil) came to show Misty, Willy and I what he works as.  Neil is a Paramedic, and today he was driving the RRU, Rapid Response Unit.  It goes faster than a traditional Ambulance but he can't take patients in it.  His job is mainly to go to serious accidents or people who are very very ill, because he can get there a lot quicker than the Ambulance crew can. Before he came to the house he had been at a car crash in Lundin Links, very close to our house and the main road has been closed so there is a lot of traffic coming along this street now.  Here we TV's are sitting beside the blue lights on the roof of the vehicle... & on the front... But then Neil recieved an emergency call to a village nearby and he had to drive away very fast so, our photo session had to stop. Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Sep 8, 2009, 7:41 pm	I've had such an exciting weekend Mum!  I even saw the Queen of the United Kingdom!  (: Jennifer took us TVs to Braemar, where she was doing a hill race at The Braemar Gathering.  Braemar Gathering is a Highland Games that takes place here in Scotland.  At the Games, many sporting events take place in a big arena filled with between 4000 and 5000 people, including the Royal Family, so it's a very special occasion and a big honor to be a competitor in one of the events.  Jennifer was 5th in her Hill Race and recieved a standing ovation from the 4000 people in the stadium which made her a little emotional and very happy, so us TVs had to calm her down a bit!  Here are some of the photos from the weekend; One of the main attractions here are the Pipe Bands, they are made up of Bagpipes, a traditional Scottish instrument and Drums.  Here we all are checking out one of the many Pipe Bands present at Braemar Gathering, Because the Queen was there, there were a lot of Uniformed Police Officers, undercover Police and the Army were there too.  Here is part of the Army, they were all carrying guns to protect the Queen; Talking of the Queen, here we are waving to her as she left the games, she was in this car along with Prince Philip & The Duke of Edinburgh... It was very difficult to get a close up photo as cameras near the Queen were banned due to security reasons, but here is a photo of the Queen being presented with flowers by on of the Highland Dancers, All in all a very exciting weekend, Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Oct 14, 2009, 4:35 pm	Sorry for the lack of updates, you must have been worried.  Don't stress Mum, Jennifer has been looking after me! Today we took a trip to Edinburgh (Emil, Moxy, Jennifer & her family.)  We had a really good time shopping and Jennifer really enjoyed acting like a tourist, taking photos of sites etc! We saw a piper, & put some money in his box. Jennifer showed us 'Scott Monument' which is really a big high tower.  We didn't go inside to walk to the top because Jennifer isn't a big fan of hights but here is a photo from the ground, The Monument was built to honor Sir Walter Scott. We enjoyed a rest in Princes Street Gardens, which is a large public park on Princes Street in the center of the city in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. And after that, some shopping!  Here I am in Debanhams with Ailsa, Jennifer's little sister... From the busy streets of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle can be seen, here I am looking up towards the Castle... I had a great day!  I never want to leave here! Emil xxx
twennifer Posted Oct 14, 2009, 10:16 pm	Today we climbed Largo Law, a volcano (which hasn't errupted for thousands of years.) near Jennifer's house. Quote: The area around Largo Law is associated with many legends. The actual hill of Largo Law is volcanic in origin, and was said to have been created when the Devil dropped a huge boulder. Part of the outcrop on the top of Largo Law is known as the Devil's chair, and has seven steps leading up to it. There has always been talk of a gold mine or hidden treasure which lies under the hill. It is said that sheep who grazed the area were often found with yellow tinged coats, a result of feeding near the site of the goldmine. Here are some photos; Tonight we are going with Jennifer to her running training, update you later, xxx
JaymeC Posted May 9, 2010, 9:44 pm	My first day here was an exciting one! We got to go visit a fun place called Forest Adventure Park. Unfortunately us tvs only got to see it from the sidelines. Jayme said it was a bit too dangerous for us to go on the course since if we fell down we'd be lost for good and it'd be a little too easy to drop us. We did get to watch her and others while we waited though. Forest Adventure is a zipline and obstacle course. You can see the zipline course behind me. The lines may be a little too small to see clearly, but they go over the valley, which is very deep. Those aren't shrubs below, they're full grown mature, very tall trees. You can see while she didn't want to drop us on accident! To show you what the course is like, here is the practice course. Before you're allowed to do the real course they have you go through the practice course so they're sure you know all the safety precautions. They don't want anyone falling! Finally there's the obstacle course. There's a net that you jump into like tarzan hanging from a rope then you pull yourself up. And then lots of other various obstacles you can walk over. Here's a picture of Jayme, you can see why it would be kind of hard for her to hold us for poses as well since she was holding one for dear life, which was at least pretty funny to watch More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted May 29, 2010, 2:49 pm	Well, technically we have a couple more udpates to write about Okinawa, but I thought you'd like to see what we've been up to the last couple weeks and so I thought we'd jump ahead and come back to the Okinawa updates once Jayme can download the information from the camera. First is our last night on Okinawa. We went out to eat at Jayme's favorite restraunt. It's called Sam's They cook the food in front of you so it comes in courses. First is a small treat made of Okinawa sweet potato. Next comes Navy Bean soup, and you can also see Jayme's new glass in the background. She ordered her drink with a souvinier glass since it was her last visit Next comes salad Then the cook arrives and cooks right in front of you! It's served right off the stove of course. We started with potatoes, onions, and green peppers Then came the meat And finally came the fried rice and beans Yum! At least we'll have our bellies full for what comes next More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted May 29, 2010, 3:01 pm	The next day we got up and sat and sat at the airport trying to catch a flight. Finally we left to go home for a bit and came back at midnight to try for a flight then. We were flying space-available so unfortunately we couldn't get on just any flight. Finally we made it on the one at midnight! But it wasn't time for the plane to leave til 3am. We were all very, very tired. And unfortunately Jayme isn't allowed to take pictures of the plane or the airport since it is on a military base But once we got on the plane we could take a shot of us in the seats, looks like an ordinary plane doesn't it? Really we're on a seat above a HUGE cargo hold. We flew on a C-5 which is one of the largest planes out there. After a long, long 10 hour flight we arrived in... Alaska? We checked into a hotel there even though we'd only have a few hours to sleep, but the kids had a hard time sleeping because it was still light out! Kind of neat really. Here's the view from our hotel at 11pm. Finally we went back to the airport at 5am to catch our next flight. This one was on a slightly smaller plane, but still very big. We had to get onto our seats first. But after take off we were able to get out and stretch, and look at how much stretching room there was! The kids had a blast running and playing during the flight. It was lots of fun. They even took a nap spread out on blankets on the floor. Finally after all those plane rides we made it to Camp Pendleton's airfield just North of San Diego. We took a taxi to the beach to wait for Jayme's ride to show up, since she had an hour or so to drive. We just crossed the Pacific! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jun 16, 2010, 1:11 pm	I am sorry I didn't update for so long! We had all sorts of internet problems and couldn't get the pictures up, but hopefully over the next few days you'll get to find out what I've been up to for the last month. We spent a lot of time just relaxing at Jayme's in-laws house, but we forgot to take pictures there. D'oh! We did do some day trips though. Our first one was to Balboa Park in San Diego to visit the Science Center. Here I am looking towards the park from the parking lot where we waited for the park tram. And here's the Rubean H. Fleet Science Center. All the buildings here are done in a similar architectural fashion. Inside was very neat, there were lots of handson science experiments for the children to explore as well as a small area for children under 6 (Jayme's barely made the cut off!) where they could play with balls and other toys. Here you can see some pictures inside. When we came out the water fountain was on! Here is the water fountain outside the museum and behind it you can see the Natural History Museum. Here's the central area of the park where we waited for the tram to come get us again. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jun 16, 2010, 1:27 pm	A few days after our trip to Balboa Park we headed to the Ramona Rodeo. Jayme's inlaws actually live in Ramona, which is on the outskirts of San Diego. Every year there's a rodeo held here. It's very, very popular. Here's a couple pictures of me at the rodeo And these are some zoomed in pictures Jayme took during it. It was lots of fun to see. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jun 16, 2010, 2:05 pm	After the rodeo we lazed around a bit then thought we should go back to Balboa Park again since we'd only seen such a small portion of it. Our goal today was to go to the Air and Space Museum (you can tell we're taking little boys along, right?). We went to a different parking lot this time. We walked past the Organ Pavillion. We didn't get to see it, but every Sunday they have free concerts here. Then we walked a short ways in Palm Canyon Trail on our way. Finally we made it! Whew. Here's the entrane to the Air and Space Museum. There are lots of neat things inside, the boys really liked this globe. You could make it look like any planet in the solar system by pushing a button. And they lots of stuff besides planes to look at, like this Aircraft Carrier model. But of course, there's lots of planes to see! Whew! We got to see a lot. On our way out we headed back towards our car and decided to stop at the Botanical Gardens. Here's the outside. And here's some of the lovely plants inside. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 15, 2010, 12:43 am	Today we stopped by a place called Dos Picos park. It's a nice small park here in Ramona, CA where Jayme's relatives live. They have many hiking trails, but you have to be careful of the wildlife and most specifically the mountain lions on them. Here we are at the entrance. Oh and did I mention we took Jayme's new puppy with us? His name is Max. He's a sweetie. We stopped by the playground here at the park to let the kids play for a little bit. Then we took a little walk around, but we stayed nearby since Jayme didn't really feel like dealing with any mountain lions today They also have a small duck pond here. It was nice to get out and stretch a bit! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 15, 2010, 1:08 am	Today we headed somewhere special, to Sea World in San Diego. We started out our trip in the artic exhibit to see the polar bears. After that we headed over to the brand new dolphin show. Unfortunately we got there a little late so we were seated way up high! It provided a nice view of the stadium though. Here's some zoomed in pictures of the show so you can see it. Sorry I'm not in them, but if I was all you would see would be specks. It was a very neat show, there were a lot of human acrobats in it. After the dolphin show we headed over to see the sharks, here I am in the shark tunnel. After that we headed over the main-line attraction, the Shamu show. And again with some zoomed in pictures. After the Shamu show we went on to see some flamingos. And then the seals. Finally we headed to the kid's area to let the kids unwind a bit. They had a jungle gym type area. And of course some kiddie rides. Our final show of the day was the seal show. Here's a few pictures of me and some zoomed in ones. After that we headed home to collapse for the night! But we had lots of fun. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 15, 2010, 12:37 pm	Today we headed up a little ways north to a city just south of Los Angeles called Anaheim. Anaheim is famous for one very small reason... it's the home of Disneyland! We got there a little too late in the day to go to Disneyland, so instead we checked out the Downtown Disney area, which is a shopping plaza right outside Disney's gates. Here you can see some of the stores here. We also went inside the Lego store where they had various creations made of legos (and of course blocks to purchase!) We found a statue of a celebrity there, Woody from Toy Story 3. Jayme's little boys love Toy Story and they were very excited to see this life-size Woody. Finally we stopped by one more store called Build-a-Bear. We didn't take any pictures inside, but we helped the boys to make a dog to send to their daddy for Father's Day. After that we headed back to the hotel for a good's nights sleep, we wanted to be well rested before our day at Disney! Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 16, 2010, 3:03 am	We got up very early to go to Disneyland, Jayme said it's best to be there early because it's less crowded the first hour or two the park is open. When we arrived there weren't many people at the plaza in between the two parks at Disney in Anaheim, California Adventure and Disneyland. We aren't going into California Adventure, but we thought you'd like to see the entrance. You usually can't get a picture like this because there's too many people around. As you can see, once we got inside the crowds showed up! They open up the turnstiles early to allow people into mainstreet, but you can't get to the rest of the park yet. You can see the castle though! And the rest of mainstreet. Once they put down the barriers and let us in we headed right towards FantasyLand. Jayme said those rides are a pain later in the day because they're so slow to run and load and offload. The first ride we did was Casey Jr's Train. Here's a picture waiting for it and a picture on the ride. After that we headed over to do the teacups, what fun! Then it was time for the carousel. Then the children really wanted to do It's a Small World. We ended up riding it three times! I don't think I'll ever get that song totally out of my head. Next we headed over to Toon Town. If you look closely in this picture you can see a celebrity That's Pluto in the background! Next we went over and took the ferry to Tom Sawyer Island, here you can see us waiting in line. We forgot to take pictures over there we were so busy running around chasing kids. Next we went over to do the Buzz Lightyear ride. Like we said yesterday, Jayme's kids really love Toy Story. They had lots of fun on this ride. Sadly all we got were pictures in line. Here's the line. Here's a better picture of one of the wall murals. Next we went onto the Jungle Cruise. Here's the entrance. And the boat's we road on. And here's some of the animals we saw on the way Finally after that it was time to take a breather while we waited on the parade to start. The kids took a little nap in their stroller and we read for a bit. Then it was time for the parade! It was more of a show than a parade this time, instead of floats they came out and danced around. After the parade we ran over as fast as possible to do the Nemo subs. They're very popular right now because they're still new. Here you can see a sub. And you can't really see what's out the window, but here's where we sat for the ride. After the Nemo ride the kid's were getting cranky and we were all worn out so we headed home. Whew! I'm sure we'll recover to do some more updates before too long! Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 28, 2010, 2:00 am	After we visited Jayme's family in California it was time to head to Ohio to see the next batch of family! So off we went. Our first stop here was at the Columbus Zoo! It was very neat. This year it was voted by some travel magazine as the best in the nation. We ended up starting out at the petting zoo to see the goats. Then it was off to see the Moose! We were in the North America area. Keeping with the North America theme we went onto the polar bear exhibit. The bears were hiding, but we got to play on the playground there. We stopped by the bobcat exhibit as well. We didn't see much of the bobcats, they were napping. But I wanted to show you this plaque because the people in it are Jayme's relatives (by marriage). They raised the bobcats here at the zoo as well as working with the bonobos here at the zoo and some other small cats. Jayme got to have some real fun here when she was younger and they still worked here. After that we headed into the Asian area. They had a bell there that was very sad. It chimes every time a species goes extinct. After that it was time to stop for some dippin dots. Mmm! And then we went into the aquarium. We saw a couple more animals on the way out, but decided it was time to call it quits then because the kids were getting tired. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 28, 2010, 2:39 am	We didn't do too much in Ohio besides the zoo, Jayme was too busy making phone calls! But then we found out we had a road trip to go on! We spent a very long time in the car... When we looked out the window quite awhile later we were... in CHICAGO?! I thought were supposed to be headed towards North Carolina... Apparently we had to come up to an area near Chicago to pick up Jayme's furniture that had been in storage. In the meantime, we decided to take some time to check out the city Since Jayme's father hadn't been to the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower we decided to head that way. Here I am outside. And here are the views of the city from the tower. They had this neat new thing there. It goes out over the street itself and has a plexi-glass bottom so you can look straight down at the street. I thought it was scary! But Jayme's kids loved it. More later, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jul 28, 2010, 3:01 am	After Chicago we had to go up to Wisconsin to pick up Jayme's items. We only had to go just over the border, and we weren't there long but sine Wisconsin is famous for cheese we had to stop to get some. We also stopped by a restaraunt called Cracker Barrel. They have lots of what's considered American country cooking and you can find them all over the country. Mm. Lunch. One of the fun things here is that they have these little wooden table games you can play. We got to relax and play one while drinking some root beer while we waited for the kids to finish eating. Whew. On our way to North Carolina finally! Next stop Wilmington. Emil
JaymeC Posted Sep 4, 2010, 1:34 am	I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated! Jayme's been too busy. She also realized she forgot to put up the 4th of July photos! Oops! We arrived to Jayme's new home just in time for the 4th of July here. We spent the morning on a quick trip to the beach, it was lots of fun. We spent the afternoon unpacking, yuck. Then it was time to head out for some fireworks. Aren't they pretty? More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Sep 4, 2010, 1:40 am	We had to make one fun stop before the kids went back to school as a special treat. We stopped by Krispy Kreme Donuts. Yum! Unfortunately the hot donuts sign wasn't on, so we couldn't see the donuts being made. But we did get to enjoy a tasty one. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Sep 4, 2010, 1:46 am	Wilmington is very well known for the it's downtown area on the waterfront. We didn't have long to look today, but we wanted to go check it out finally so down we went. Here's a view of the water front. And a little view of the downtown. They were also having a farmer's market the day we were there with lots of things for sale. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Sep 4, 2010, 1:57 am	Today we visited one of Jayme's relatives and she took us to a local farm. Here you can ride on wagon rides, here we are waiting in the barn for the wagon. Once on the wagon ride we got to ride around for awhile and feed various animals. The children had lots of fun feeding them as the animals ran up to be fed. Here are some views on the ride. After the ride we walked down a small path that had these funny gourds growing from the arch. And we stopped by the petting zoo and to see some camels are on our way home. Hope to have more adventures soon! Emil
JaymeC Posted Nov 14, 2010, 1:30 pm	Jayme says one of the things she enjoys most about being stateside again is the shopping opportunities! We took a trip out this weekend to go see some of the yard sales in the area. In the colder states where it gets lots of snow they only hold yard sales during the summer, but North Carolina stays warm enough that they can hold them well into the fall. People used to only advertise for them with street signs, but these days they put up their ads online, which is nice because then you don't have to just drive aimlessly. Yardsales typically run very early in the day from 7 or 8am to noon. Jayme made up a list of sales for us to go to and printed out directions from mapquest and we were off Some yard sales are small and at people's houses like this one. Others are called community sale and they may meet in a small parking lot, or sometimes a church building and have many people with different tables or areas like this one. Kind of like a miniature flea market. The children behaved very well while we were out on all the yardsales, so we stopped by McDonalds on the way home to let them play at the play area. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Nov 14, 2010, 1:51 pm	We had a very nasty storm come through here over a series of days. It was very interesting. Before the storm came we were actually considered to be in drought conditions for the month, as it was the end of the month. Normally the town would have had something like 7-8 inches of rain for the month, and there had been none. There was quite a bit of concern about this. Then this storm system came through and over 4 days we went from being in drought conditions to being in surplus... to surpassing the record for rainfall not in a 4 day period, but in a month! It rained and rained and rained! And that month that we beat the rainfall record on had two hurricanes in one month, so we had quite a bit of rain! Many areas were flooded, but Jayme's house sat up pretty high so we only had to deal with the rain and wind. You can see how many pine needles came down on the roof. And some bigger things like this branch came loose as well. They made some very loud noises on the roof when they fell. Luckily the damage done wasn't too severe anywhere since the ground was so very dry, but quite a few places had some minor damage from water a couple feet deep! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Nov 14, 2010, 1:56 pm	The storm cleared up just in time for RiverFest here in Wilmington. We didn't stay long because it was VERY crowded, but here you can see a picture of the crowds and booths as well as the water front with a coast guard ship. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Nov 14, 2010, 2:04 pm	It's Halloween! We didn't have time to make costumes this year, but we did have fun. The children picked out designs and we helped them carve their pumpkins. Here it is when it's dark, though you can't see us too well. Then we went out to go to trunk-or-treat instead of trick-or-treating! It was lots of fun. Here you can see some of the decorations on the cars for the people that participated. The dog-truck was a local veterinary hospital. When we got home Jayme said it was a time honored tradition to put the children to bed and then sit back and relax with a drink for the evening. She even had some small bottles for us, and our new friend we found along the way. We're trying to talk her into becoming a new toyvoyager, she said she may try to travel somewhere new for next Halloween. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Nov 14, 2010, 3:03 pm	Jayme's grandfather and his wife invited us to do something very special this weekend! So knowing that we decided to skip out on the unpacking here, all of Jayme's items finally arrived! Looks like time for a good weekend trip. We took the long drive across the state to their house to see the local hot air balloon festival! Over 50 balloons come to this festival, so we knew it'd be fun to see! We paid for our tickets, and set our lawn chairs out to get a good seat. After eating a picnic lunch and relaxing for a bit, it was time for the balloons to start! Here are the first ones being blown up! By the time that one was up and going, there were so many more! Goodbye balloons! Hope you enjoyed seeing them! Emil
JaymeC Posted Jan 16, 2011, 5:54 pm	We're about to head out on another trip to San Diego, but before we go I wanted to show you the pretty leaves here since by the time we get back they'll sadly all be gone. San Diego won't have many leaves that are changed yet. We didn't get to go anywhere special, but these are a few pictures on Jayme's drive to work. Lots more soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jan 16, 2011, 5:58 pm	After our airplane trip to San Diego we decided to go to Balboa Park again. You've already seen a lot of it, but we went to a new museum this time. Here are some photos at the Model Railroad Museum. The children really liked it here, as you got to watch all the trains going around and there was room after room of them. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Jan 16, 2011, 6:04 pm	There were a few new things to see walking around Balboa Park. The Globe Theatre had just geared up for their Christmas special of the Grinch before Christmas so they had some new decorations up as well as the Christmas tree! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 1:42 pm	After spending some time with Jayme's family we headed back to Disneyland again... you'd think we spent enough time there the first time, but we had fun the second too! This time we got to go to both parks, Disneyland and California Adventure. I'll start with telling you about Disneyland. Here we are at the entrance! We had already seen a lot of Disneyland so we didn't take as many pictures, but we did take some. Here you can see the Mickey and Walt Disney statue at the front of the park with the castle in the background. And here's a better photo of the castle, doesn't it look so pretty decorated with all that snow? Jayme's sons went on their first roller coaster ride on the Matterhorn! We got to ride along too of course. And we went onto Small World again, this time it was also decorated for the holidays. Finally that evening we got to see the Christmas parade. I'm sorry the photos aren't better, I tried to take some with me but in the low light they didn't come out well. The next morning we got up bright and early to head over to California Adventure, which is another Disney park here in Disneyland Resort. The picture many months ago of me in front of the California sign is the entrance. Here I am inside, you can see the small Golden Gate Bridge in the background. After we got in we made a mad dash to the Toy Story ride, because it is still really new so it has long lines unless you're one of the first ones there. On the way we stopped to take a quick picture of paradise pier, where the ride is located at. You may even be able to see the Toy Story Carnival ride in the middle at the bottom. We didn't get any good photos on the ride, but it was lots of fun. You shoot out various things from your guns, like hoops for  ring toss or pies depending on the 'game' you're at at the time. The kids really liked it. After that we headed on up the ferris wheel since we were there already. Finally we headed back towards another area, but we had to stop along the way because we found some real celebrities! Lightning McQueen and Mater. Jayme's sons are big cars fans, so we had to stop to say hello. We went to a kid's play area with lots of tunnels and such to run through for a bit. Then we went on the Soarin' Over California ride. A very neat ride where you sit in special pretend hang glider seats that take you way high up in the air to a special screen so that you pretend to hangglide over different areas of California. It's one of the more popular rides here. Finally we were all worn out and it was time to head back one. We did take one more picture of Paradise Pier as the lights turned on for the evening. I hope you enjoyed reading about this adventure! More soon, Tiger Lilly
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 1:51 pm	Our trip to California was actually pretty unplanned. It was decided at the last moment. However, a few months before hand, Jayme had bought tickets for a thing called Disney on Ice. It's a big show put on in an ice rink. They travel around the country and put on lots of shows, some with different themes. This one was a Toy Story 3 show. Here I am waiting for the show to start, they were putting different pictures on the ice in the mean time with the lights. And here's a few photos from the show. When we left to our surprise it was snowing! Quite a bit actually, you can see how much was on Jayme's car. We decided it was time for the 2 hour drive home before the snow got worse. Thankfully there wasn't any in Wilmington. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 2:04 pm	With the start of the Christmas season, Jayme and her family had a new visitor. He wasn't much larger than us, but he definitely wasn't a toy. He was an elf and it was his job to report back to Santa on how well the boys behaved. Every evening he'd fly to the North Pole and every morning he'd come back and when we (and the children) woke we'd find him in the oddest locations. His name was Cookie the elf. The first day after Cookie arrived we awoke to find him taking a cotton ball bath... apparently he thought they were snowballs. The next evening we decided to stay up and see him fly out, but he said he couldn't fly until everyone in the house was asleep, little toys included. So instead we spent some time helping him decorate the Christmas tree, but we fell asleep afterward and he was off again. Another morning we woke up to find him playing with the stickers. The silly elf had wanted to put them on the children that night, but they were too big for him so he ended up covered instead A few days later the boys had been very, very good so Cookie arrived with a gift for them! Some yummy popcorn and a copy of Elf the movie. We had a fun movie night that night! A different day we woke up to find Cookie going fishing... in a bowl of goldfish crackers. Amazingly none of them were biting... Sometimes the other toys got into it. Apparently he and Mr. Potatohead decided to have some fun one night. Another day we helped the children make some yummy gingerbread houses. The children left some for Cookie and apparently he took some to Santa who decided the boys needed another small toy and sent them Bullseye the Horse with Cookie that night! On another day we couldn't find Cookie anywhere! Finally Jayme looked out the window and noticed the car was parked all funny. We went out to investigate and discovered that Cookie had apparently taken a car ride that night. A few nights later was Christmas Eve... time for Cookie to go back to Santa until the next year. We helped put the cookies and Cookie out for Santa, then we went to bed. The next morning Cookie was gone, and Santa had clearly come! He even left a bone for Max. We had a great amount of Christmas fun! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 3:01 pm	The weather was pretty decent, so we decided to take a little walk near a local beach. There's a small hiking trail here that Jayme hadn't been to yet, so we all decided to go explore it. It starts out closer to the beach. Then we veer away for awhile among the marshlands. There's a small WWII bunker you can see here as well. Finally at the end is supposed to be a nice view of the local marshlands, but it's still a bit cold for all the animals, so there weren't any animals to see. More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 3:08 pm	Today was Jayme's son's birthday, so we went out to Chuck E. Cheese to give him a chance for some play time. First we had to get lots of tokens to use. Then we let the kids go at the games. They also had a show with Chuck E. Cheese as a star. Finally we went home for some yummy icecream cake. Delicious! More soon, Emil
JaymeC Posted Feb 13, 2011, 3:13 pm	We decided to take a trip to the Natural History Museum in Raleigh this weekend.  It had lots of neat exhibits, all based around the state of North Carolina and it's history. Here you can see the state map. They had many examples of animals found here in North Carolina like mountain lions, pelicans, and wood peckers They also had a section on the ocean and the animals in it. Some were bones like this whale skeleton While others were exhibits like this sea turtle One section was dedicated to the rocks and earth and gem stones, where you could learn how dirt was made and what the different type of rocks are. And the last section we saw was dedicated to dinosaurs that used to live here many years ago, this was the boys favorite section. Hope you liked the museum,
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 11, 2012, 12:18 pm	After a logn trip around the world I've decided to go home and relax a bit in Germany before my next trip.
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 11, 2012, 12:20 pm	With Knopf I am taking a small trip to Paris. We had to get up really early (4:30 am) to catch a bus to the main station and then a train. Luckily it goes directly to Paris and we were served breakfast!
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 11, 2012, 12:27 pm	We took the metro to go and see the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. In the metro station lots of people were waiting in front of the elevator, I wondered why because it's not like I can't walk a few steps. Well, they probably knew that station well because "a few steps" turned into a lot. At some point they said 97 more to go (I think) and some tourists in front of us turned back to the elevators. But we went all the way up. We decided to sacrifce a metro ticket for the funiculaire after that,  because we didn't want to climb even more steps. The weather wasn't that good but we were able to identify many buildings by their location and rooftops. We zigzagged our way down and passed by the Moulin Rouge. Our reward for all the walking were 3 little macarons. Yummy!
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 11, 2012, 1:35 pm	We bought a picnic dinner and took the metro to Trocadéro. We took our time enjoying the fountains and illumanation and crossed over the Seine to the Eiffel tower. We were just in time for the blinking lights that are on for 5 min every full hour in the evening. Unfortunately it started to rain and we had a wet way back to the metro.
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 11, 2012, 4:10 pm	With Knopf, I took a train from Paris to Fontainebleau castle. We had really nice weather with about 20°C and sun and were abel to enjoy the walk through the park and the courtyards )of whish there are many). We saw the staircase where Napoleon said his farewells on his way to Elba, as well as his private rooms and office and other furnished rooms of the stale. We esp. liked the gallery of Franz I with the salamander (that looks to us like a dragon) emblem everywhere. On the way back to the station we even saw some hot air ballons travelling above us. It was a great day!
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 19, 2012, 2:44 pm	We had Monday to ourselves, so Knopf and I did a typical tourist tour around Paris. We started out at the Eiffel tower (photo 1-2), strolled along the Champ de Mars, admired the bears designed to represent the different countries in the world (3), crossed over the Seine to experience the traffic chaos that is the Place de la Concorde (5) where a fashion photo shoot seemed to be in progress, looked along the axis of the city from the Louvre(9-10) through the Jardin des Tuileries(6-8), the Place de la Concorde to the Arch de Triomphe and La Defense, enjoyed the warm autumn day and just generally had a good time. We crossed the Seine again at the Hotel de Ville (11) and sat in the small park next to Notre Dame de Paris (12&13) in the late afternoon to people-watch. Many tourists asked us which way to go to get some place or where the entrance to something was which was funny as we were tourists ourselves.
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 20, 2012, 1:19 pm	On our last day in Paris we wanted to visit the Musee d'Orsay. We took the RER to the museum station, but when we got above ground we were directly in a mass of people with big flags and signs right in front of the museum. Apparently it was a demo of some sort and the museum was closed due to it. We fought our way through a row of police men in riot gear and the stalled traffic to the sidewalk along the Seine. We crossed a bridge with many signed locks along the bannister and deciced to join what was left of our time in Paris in the Jardin des Tuileries, sitting in the sun and reading and talking along with many tired tourists and Parians of break or students getting out of school for the day. After a picnic lunch we made our way tot he Gare du Nord to catch our train back to Germany. It was a really long train!
Apperveilchen Posted Nov 20, 2012, 6:35 pm	We had some great galettes filled with egg, bacon, spinach and cheese in the Breton streets of Paris. Yummy! But unfortunately so greasy that we didn't manage a serving of the sweet version for dessert.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 20, 2012, 2:20 pm	After another train ride, we got back to Germany late in the evening. I can't wait from my next journey, but for now I will be happy to relax at home.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 20, 2012, 2:29 pm	There are some busses for public transportation and of course some organized sight-seeing tours, but to really see the island and go to interesting places, one need to have a car. So we rented one and drove to the north. The roadsigns aren't always logical, e.g. the main road out of the rotary might not have any directional sign at all or there are signs to show the way to a sight coming from the north, but not from the south or signs to a museum that lead you through a pedestrian zone. So we took some unplanned detours and one of them led us to this place where we got a great view or waves hitting the beach and also of some surfers further east and west. Please don't mind the colors, the camera thought it was indoors and messed up the white balance. But do you see the waves rolling in? And behind me you can see part of one of the biggest highway bridges in Spain. It's built around the hillsides.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 20, 2012, 6:36 pm	After driving up a curving and nearly deserted road, we found Cenobio de Valeron. These caves were supposedly a granary for the Guanches, also containing dried fruit and possibly also used for some ceremonies. The caves were closed with stones and possibly sealed with seals pressed into clay, maybe to signify the owners of the stored grain, but it might also have been communal. It seems to me that the historians don't really know all that much about the Guanches and their culture. We did have a nice view down towards Las Palmas and could see big lizards living undisturbed on the slope. We went on to Gáldar to see the Cueva Pintada museum. Unfortunately photos weren't allowed at all in the whole museum. The cave itself could only be visited in groups and light was only turned on for 4 min per group to protect the mural. The really interesting thing I learnt, apart from some facts about the social structure of the Guanches, is that the cave was painted in the middle ages, not anywhere near the stone age I imagined.
QuamQuam Posted Dec 21, 2012, 6:13 pm	Hey Mum, I safely arrived in Berlin to spend Christmas time here, whohoo! When I arrived I was friendly welcomed by Diddl-Maus. Then two animals greeted me friendly: The cat Feli and the guineapig Klea. They are so cute. Marie, my host, told me to thank you for the nice presents, she really likes them . I think my time here will be great. I already know that we will do many nice things together and I'm really looking forward to them. Greetings Emil
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 21, 2012, 7:46 pm	Today we went to the Pico de Bandama. It's the highest point around the crater of the Bandama volcano. From there I could look over the northern and eastern coast of the island: see ing the capital Las Palmas, the coastline, the vineyards we drove though to get here to the north-west and the oldest golf club of Spain (founded by the British in the 19th century) to the south-west.  (views are: north/east/south-east/north-west/south-west) On the way back down from the top I took a peek into the crater.If you look closely you can see a farmhouse at the bottom. Warm air is rising along the sides.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 21, 2012, 8:07 pm	We continued on unto the parking lot of the golf course. This is the view into the crater from the south. The island is very green this year, apparently there was a lot of rain this autumn, even though we saw some signs of the forest fires that raged here last summer. Look how pretty and colorful it is here even though December also means winter here. I looked back at the Pico de Bandama. The road to the top leads around it in circles.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 22, 2012, 11:20 am	Next, Knopf and I wanted to visit a pottery center where the traditional production of ceramics is shown, but it was closed with no information about when it would be open. So we just took a look around the town. Those are chicken pens below me and a very suspicious little dog kept barking up at us.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 22, 2012, 8:46 pm	On our way up inot the mountains from the south we also encountered a farm with goats.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 22, 2012, 9:10 pm	The Fortaleza de Ansite consists of several rock formations with multiple caves rising out of the valley near Santa Lucía de Tirajana.The are counted as a fortress because they were (and are) hard to access. Supposedly it was the last stonghold of the prehispanic people in Gran Canaria and was conquered by General Pedro de Vera in 1483 after a 5-year-long siege, during which many Guanches surrendered themselves. According to the story we heard, Bentejuí, one of the leaders of the Guanches and several of his followers in the end preferred to jump off the cliffs to surrendering to the Spanish. The Fiesta de Ansite commemorates this event each April 29th. (The first 2 pictures are from a view point, the next from the biggest fortaleza incl. some caves.)
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 23, 2012, 11:28 am	We are on our way. It's mostly just water and a few clouds below us. Two more hours to go... (The date in the camera settings was wrong.)
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 23, 2012, 11:35 am	We arrived in time to swim in the pool for a bit and to enjoy the sunset.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 23, 2012, 4:03 pm	We are on the road again toward the center of the island. Here'S a look back towards the valley of Fataga.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 23, 2012, 4:11 pm	From the road above Tejeda I had another good view over Roque Bentayga and could see the top of the Teide of Tenerife rise above the clouds.
QuamQuam Posted Dec 24, 2012, 12:22 pm	I love Christmas markets and fortunately we visited one today. It was a big one with many shops, carousels and many people. Everything was so colourful and shiny, it looked great . And after a short time snow began to fall, that made my day perfect . At the end of our visit we drank a hot wine punch to get warm again. Then we went to a shopping center right next to the Christmas market to do a bit Christmas shopping. Now we have all Christmas presents. Greetings Emil
QuamQuam Posted Dec 24, 2012, 12:51 pm	Hey Mummy, only one day and then Santa Claus will come . Today Diddl-Maus and I decorated the flat, I think we did our job very well. Then we all went outside to buy the Christmas tree. When we came home we helped to unpack it. After that the lights were attached to the tree. Then we decorated it with the Christmas baubles we bought yesterday and with other nice things. The Christmas tree became so beautiful that birds came to build their nest in it . Now I am very tired and want to go to sleep. Good ni.. zzzzzzzzz
QuamQuam Posted Dec 24, 2012, 6:05 pm	MERRY CHRISTMAS for everyone but especially for you, Mum. I love you sooo much <3.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 27, 2012, 9:58 pm	In stead of taking the bus to the lighthouse of Maspalomas, or walking to the beach of Playa del Ingles, more often than not we opt to walk through the dunes. It's hard going up the dunes but so much fun sliding down the steep ones.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 29, 2012, 2:12 pm	Artenara ist a town in the highest montainrange of Gran Canaria. We could see Roque Nublo (left) and Roque Bentayga (center) and the over Caldera de Tejeda. We could see where the Cuevas del rey are, but they cannot be visited because the are in danger of caving in.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 29, 2012, 2:19 pm	We walked around the town and up to a view point. Many houses seem to be built in front of older living caves, and combine the living space. We didn't find the cave with the altar for the Virgen de la Cuevita, though and neither did other tourists we met on the way. It was warm in the sun but cold in the clouds and they were moving in, so decided to get back to the coast.
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 30, 2012, 10:51 am	It's nearly time to go back to Germany. We said good-bye to the sun, the palm trees, the poinsettias that can get very big here, our Christmastree and the pool and packed our bags to wait for pick-up.
QuamQuam Posted Jan 1, 2013, 5:31 pm	HAPPY NEW YEAR!! To celebrate the beginning of the new year we first decorated the flat with paper streamers. But I entangled myself... Later on we ate yummy doughnuts and then we went outside to make a firework, it looked so nice. Even without fireworks in the dark sky, it was very colourful because of the Christmas decoration which still was there. When it was midnight I got a glass of sparkling wine and raised it together with Marie's family and Diddl-Maus. Then I watched the fireworks from above. I hope you had a good start into 2013, Mum, I surely had one. Greetings Emil
QuamQuam Posted Jan 26, 2013, 3:04 pm	Hi Mummy, today we made pancakes! It was much fun to help Marie together with Diddl-Maus. The pancakes were so yummy, especially with maple syrup. Love you Emil
QuamQuam Posted Jan 31, 2013, 2:00 pm	I visited a zoo today! It was the zoo in Eberswalde. Although it was very cold, many animals were outside and the penguins were happy about the weather . I was very impressed by the the cheetah, it looked so majestic. I even met some of my relatives . But all the other animals I saw were cool, too. Grrrr, Mummy Emil
QuamQuam Posted Mar 2, 2013, 4:31 pm	Hi Mum, at the moment Marie has a lot to do for school but today her sister took me to the Museum of Natural Science. It was very interesting there. I saw many different things but the most impressive one were the big dinosaur skeletons. I also had a look at Knut, the popular polar bear which lived in the Berlin zoo. Later I met some friendly looking animals which had a close similarity to me. That was why I went on the meadow and had a break together with them. It was a great day Greetings Emil
klubwerks Posted Apr 4, 2013, 3:23 am	I made it to Oklahoma City in time to travel!  I went to the Tesla Tea Part in Tulsa Oklahoma. It was a small Steampunk event at the Jazz Hall of Fame. They haven't finished the place so there wasn't a lot there... but it was still a good time! I got to meet a bunch of Easter Bunnies and other people.
klubwerks Posted Apr 26, 2013, 3:05 am	I went to Planet Comicon in Kansas City MO. It was a fun convention. We actually got stuck 5 hours from Oklahoma City because the car died. The car had to be junked completely. We rented a car home and then got a new car. It was very frustrating, but at the same time, we have more comfortable car to travel in now!
klubwerks Posted Apr 26, 2013, 3:39 am	My host was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is where Cyphacon was held. It was really nice seeing my hosts home town. It was a beautiful place! The food was fantastic! The convention was also a lot of fun. It was a small convention with very friendly people.
klubwerks Posted Apr 26, 2013, 3:42 am	We visited the New Orleans french quarter and open-air market before we traveled back home!
klubwerks Posted Apr 27, 2013, 3:35 am	My host made me (and my friends Toki & Benno) a pair of goggles! They fit rather nicely. Do I look steampunk?
klubwerks Posted May 1, 2013, 1:36 am	I went to work with my host! She works in technical support.
klubwerks Posted May 4, 2013, 6:17 am	We went on a brief visit to see our hosts friend Joey. He lives out in the country in Tulsa!
klubwerks Posted May 10, 2013, 7:01 pm	We ate at a place called Popeyes. They made cajun fast food and it's pretty good if you don't leave far enough south to have real cajun food.
klubwerks Posted May 20, 2013, 1:26 am	I helped make a baby octopus toy. She's a girl! Does this make me a father now?
klubwerks Posted May 21, 2013, 2:14 am	I wanted to let you know that me and host are safe a well! We had a devastating tornado that has killed many people today (it's all over the news). Thankfully my host and I are safe and with power. Please keep our friends in your thoughts!
klubwerks Posted Jun 2, 2013, 1:28 am	WARNING! This post is about the devastation we've experienced in Oklahoma recently. On May 20th, there was a devastating tornado that destroyed schools and homes in Moore, Oklahoma. That tornado kill 24 people, which included 9 children, and many more where injured. Teachers put themselves on top of children to save their lives. My hosts co-worker Jeff was the first person to get to Briarwood Elementary, which was completely destroyed by the tornado. He saved several children and teachers and his daughter was thankfully among the rescued! Jeff broke both his arms saving lives that day. It was a horrible experience for a a lot of people... it was devastating. Thankfully, myself and my host and her loved are alive and well! My host and I cried a lot that day, as it was a very emotional experience. Jeff on the news! Interactive images that shows the amount of damage the tornado caused. On May 23rd, the first funerals were held where parents buried their children. If this wasn't enough, the Westboro Baptist Church tried to protest the funeral. They are a radical religious group that is pretty awful. They said that God hates us and killed the children in the storm because we are all sinners. It was a very hateful thing to do and they were arrested - it's illegal to protest funerals in Oklahoma. And then there was yesterday - May 31st. We were in the middle of a tornado. It was a powerful storm and it was very scarey given what had just happened a week ago. The tornado was a lot bigger than the one last week. We were in the middle of the circulation, but we all came out alive and well! When the storm first hit, it was a lot of rain and high winds. Then the hail started to beat at the walls. The sirens were sounding outside for about an hour. It seemed like the hail and rain wouldn't stop. We were huddled in the bathroom (the bathtub is the safest place in the house) and we listened to the news telling us about the tornados that were coming for us. When the power went out and the internet dropped, and the cell reception died... we could no longer know where the tornadoes were. It was like being blind and hunted. It was frightening. 100,000 people, including us, were without power. We lost power around 6pm and then didn't get it back until today around 1:30pm. Cell phone reception is still down. Luckily, the fridge and freezer kept cold and our food didn't spoil. This afternoon, we learned that 5 people died and more than 70 people are in the hospital. Luckily, the tornado that was coming right at us, decided to "hop" over our apartment complex and went south of us! Out here in the states, we have Storm Chasers, which are people who make a living chasing storms and tornados. They provide valuable information during the storms that helps to saves lives. One of the crews got too close to a multi-vortex tornado and the vehicle was destroyed. Two of them died (corrected info).  And they got some amazing video of the tornado that passed through El Reno, OK - yes there were several tornadoes yesterday. Here's the video! Here's a photo of the destroyed vehicle. Aside from the tornados and hail, there was lots of flooding. We braved the rain and hail around midnight and ate at a diner called IHOP where they had power. We spent some time in comfort with a friend, and it was a nice way to relax after an intense evening. And now for the pictures!! Look closely, because there are photos of downed power lines that are live. We had to be very careful there taking photos. I couldn't be in every photo, but I thought you might like to see the photos anyway!
klubwerks Posted Jun 8, 2013, 8:32 pm	I tried Big League Bubblegum! It tastes like grape.
klubwerks Posted Jul 6, 2013, 1:40 am	I ate at a place call McAlister's. For a sandwhich and soup place, it's pretty good. My host says it's the only decent fast food place where you can get soup in a bread bowl that is really good! They also have some of the best cookies.
Emjay Posted Jul 12, 2013, 8:07 am	Hi everybody! After an exhausting long journey I landed on er... something with a bang. Luckily my envelope was cushioned!
Emjay Posted Jul 12, 2013, 8:14 am	Uh-oh! I see a gigantic rat with a sword! "Don't be scared," he says, "it's just a letteropener!" There's a small donkey at his side. "Hi," the donkey says, "I'm HolgiHH, pleased to meet you." I guess they're nice enough. So I decided to come outof my enveloppe.
Emjay Posted Jul 12, 2013, 8:28 am	Rattie Rat, HolgiHH and I gave eachother a hug. They wanted to know all about my journey and if everything was okay again in Oklahoma when I left. We talked for a long time.
Emjay Posted Jul 12, 2013, 8:32 am	HolgiHH showed me around the garden. He knows a lot about plants. There were some juicy berries in the garden as well.
Emjay Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:19 pm	Hi mom! I was resting for a few days, but I'm back now to tell you about my adventures in the Netherlands. Today we went to a big music event: North Sea Jazz Festival. It takes places in Rotterdam. Here I am at the entrance.
Emjay Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:22 pm	Now I'm inside, listening to one of the bands. Emjay only took one photo of me, because photographers weren't allowed to use flash. (Can you spot me in the second photo?) But here are some photo's of Branford Marsalis and Bonnie Raitt. It was pretty special to be there.
Emjay Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:25 pm	We stayed until very late at the festival. The next day we looked at our souvenirs. Been there. Did that. Have the T-shirt!
Emjay Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:28 pm	Emjay took us to a shopping mall in Rijswijk. HolgiHH had been there before. He showed me aroud. Don't worry, I didn't loose my goggles.  I left them at home.
Emjay Posted Jul 16, 2013, 1:30 pm	At a roof of an underground parking lot, we saw these guys. They've got big horns, but they look friendly. That's it for now. Bye, mom! Until next time! Your little donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 4:57 pm	Hi mum! How are you? I'm fine. I slept like a rose last night! It's nice and quiet here. I can use that after all the commotion in Oklahoma. HolgiHH and me went for a walk in the neigbourhood and had fun at the children's playground. Then we crossed a bridge and walked through a park.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 4:59 pm	Then we crossed a little bridge and we walked through a park.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:01 pm	I'm glad to see caterpillars, cause caterpillars mean... butterflies!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:02 pm	In the distance we can see a little church. It stands in the village Schipluiden. Kind of difficult to pronounce!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:06 pm	The little church is called "Op Hodenpijl", as you can see! Can you see us too?
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:08 pm	The church is surrounded by farmland. And there's even a little farmshop, where you can buy veggies. You have to weigh them first. We're testing the scales.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:09 pm	What a suprise! There's a relative of me in the meadow. Hi there, cousin!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:11 pm	Inside the church there are a lot of modern stained windows. I like them!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:21 pm	We climb up in the tower and have a nice view over the country side of Midden Delfland.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 5:22 pm	A final look at the church and then we walk back home again.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 7:51 pm	Oh-uh, that's the fire brigade. What happened? Not to worry, the firemen are just practising their soccer skills at a nearby soccer field. Gives us the opportunity to check out the van!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 7:54 pm	The next day was a pretty warm day. We decided to walk to the city center. On our way we passed this art work. It's called "Etruscan Treasure Trove".
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 7:55 pm	Look at this car! Isn't that funny?
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 7:59 pm	This statue of playing children stands in Emjay's old neighbourhood. She has fond memories of it.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:01 pm	HolgiHH told me Delft is a beautiful, historic city. Well, I don't think this is pittoresque. It's a bit of a mess!
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:06 pm	HolgiHH explains to me that this is the site where the new railwaystation is build. It's going to be underground. We leave the buildingsite and come to a beautiful square. Yes, I think HolgiHH is right after all! Delft is a pretty town! Here is the Old Church towering high above the Prinsenhof Museum.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:08 pm	At the same square there are a kind of Delft blue totem poles.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:10 pm	And here's some more Delft blue.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:14 pm	This is William of Orange (Willem van Oranje), an ancester of King Willem Alexander, the king of the Netherlands. He used to live in the Prinsenhof and was murdered there in 1584.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:18 pm	But today the Prinsenhof is peaceful.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:20 pm	We leave the Agatha Square behind and walk towards the New Church at the Market square. Here's a pittoresque corner.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:22 pm	This is the New Church. Well, not THAT new! It was build in the 14th century! It's the second tallest tower of the Netherlands.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:26 pm	As HolgiHH and Rattie Rat are about to leave, Emjay has a special treat for them. We're going to climb to tower of the New Church! But first we admire the interior.
Emjay Posted Jul 18, 2013, 8:32 pm	This is the mausoleum of Willem van Oranje, the gentleman we saw before. It's impressive!
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:09 am	Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, we're climbing up the stairs! Phew, it's hard work! There are 356 steps to the top.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:12 am	Oof, we finally made it. It was worth it: what an amazing view!
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:13 am	It's market day, so the market square is full of stalls. At the end of it you see the town hall. It's a pretty building and people come from far to get married there.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:14 am	On the way down we see the bells and the old hourwork.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:16 am	We're on ground level again, on the market place. This picture is  taken from the balcony of the town hall.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:20 am	We walk to the Old Church now.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:25 am	The interior looks fabulous. There is a mausoleum for a sea hero, called Piet Hein. Dutch people all know a song about him, which goes like "Piet Hein, Piet Hein, Piet Hein, his name is short, but his deeds are big!"
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:26 am	This is a plaquette in memory of the well known painter Vermeer, who was born in Delft. He isn't burried in the church, because he was too poor when he died. Oh, dear! But he will always be remembered.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:27 am	This is a nice painting, but it's not by Vermeer!
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:30 am	Here you see windmill "The Rose". Last year it was lifted up and replaced a few meters further on, in order to replace the tram rails! Wow, can you imagine that?
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:35 am	Here's the proof, mum: I REALLY am in Delft!
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:41 am	Later that day we had a nice surprise. Another TV arrived. Rattie Rat opened the package and out came... Orkku Orava, a squirrel from Finland.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:42 am	Group hug!
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:43 am	Orkku Orava brought a lot of sweeties! Yummy! And she showed us a postcard from Freiburg in Germany.
Emjay Posted Jul 19, 2013, 9:46 am	We took her for a walk in the garden. What a great day it was! I think I like Delft. No, wait a minute! I LOVE Delft! Bye, mum. Have a nice day! Emil
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:46 pm	Dear mum, Oof, what a warm day! We're going to the beach to cool off.
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:48 pm	We found some treasures. I found the house of a seasnail, HolgiHH found a shell, Orkku Orava some seaweed and Rattie found... a piece of cheese!
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:48 pm	Time to relax!
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:50 pm	We had lunch in a relaxed hippie beach hut. And then we went home, before the beach got too crowdy.
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:51 pm	It's such a tropical day, so Emjay offers me a can of coconut drink. She knows I love coconut milk. My life mission is to sip coconut milk from a fresh coconut. Uh-oh! I can't reach it!
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:52 pm	That's better! Mmmh, tastes good!
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:55 pm	It's a sad day today, because two TV's are leaving: my donkeyfriend HolgiHH and Rattie Rat. I will never forget them.
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 1:59 pm	Rattie has a lot of luggage: a dvd, sweets, a little box of "hagelslag" and a postcard! He's going to Italy.
Emjay Posted Jul 22, 2013, 2:00 pm	Bye, Rattie Rat! We'll miss you!
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:31 pm	Dear mum, Emjay had to run some errands and we came with her. We went on foot to the local shopping mall and stopped at the art object called "Etruscan Treasure Trove".
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:33 pm	A bit further on we found another art object we could climb!
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:33 pm	The entrance of the shopping mall.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:34 pm	Near the mall there's a small local market each Tuesday.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:35 pm	Look what Emjay bought for me!
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:38 pm	It's a fresh coconut. In the Netherlands! How is that possible? Off course I let Orkku Orava take a sip too. I'm happy, because one of my life missions is fulfilled!
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:45 pm	Yiiiiiieha! We're going to the countryside! In this region, called "Westland", there are a lot of farmers who grow vegetables. This farmer grows tomatoes. You can buy them from a vendingmachine.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:46 pm	This is the smallest village in the Netherlands.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:50 pm	What a lovely little village! Artists come to paint here. In fact, the late Queen Wilhelmina did so too.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:51 pm	This is a landscape called "polder". It's flat, it's green and sometimes it has cows in it.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:52 pm	Orkku Orava is into climbing. I'm a sporty guy, so I go along with it.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 2:53 pm	This photo is especially for our friend HolgiHH, who loves flowers so much.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 3:00 pm	This is what  you find a lot in Westland: glass houses to grow vegetables and flowers. Here they grow lettuce. It's hard to see, cause the windows are painted white.
Emjay Posted Jul 24, 2013, 3:03 pm	That's another thing you see often in Westland: milkcows. We had a nice conversation with them. That's it for today, mum. The weather is still fine. It has rained a little, but now it's sunny again. Bye, mum! your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:20 pm	Hi mum! Today Emjay took us to Maassluis on bicycle. Everything was fine, until we were caught in a thunderstorm. So we seeked refuge under a tunnel and stayed there until it became a bit dryer.
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:21 pm	Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yes! Come on, let's go!
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:25 pm	As you might have guesed, this means "welcome to Maassluis". Maassluis is a village in Westland. It's near Rotterdam and near where the river Maas goes over into the North Sea.
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:27 pm	We're going to a small shoppingmall. They have a very attractive recycling station.
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:29 pm	This is the modern church of Maassluis. And next to it we find a beautiful cow.
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:30 pm	Isn't this a pretty house?
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:33 pm	In between Maassluis and Schipluiden there's a lot of farmland. And look who we see: my family!
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:37 pm	Wow, what a beautiful sky!
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:39 pm	My second windmill!
Emjay Posted Jul 27, 2013, 5:43 pm	We're back in Delft again. Here are some lovely fieldflowers for you, mum! Until next time. Hug, Emil
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:15 pm	Dear mum, Today Orkku and I go to explore the city center of Delft. It's not such a sunny day, though. Here's the Delft blue heart of Delft.
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:18 pm	This is the lovely chapel of Maria van Jesse. To catholic people she is the patron saint of Delft.
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:22 pm	We are on the Market Square. I've been here before with Rattie and HolgiHH. Now I'm showing Orkku Orava the New Church and the town hall.
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:23 pm	Trying some wooden shoes.
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:24 pm	This is one of the nicest views in Delft: the oldest canal and the Old Church in the distance. It's a pity that it's such a grey day.
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:25 pm	Emjay bought some yarn. What will she do with that?
Emjay Posted Jul 31, 2013, 8:27 pm	She knits clothes for teddybears! It's for a good cause. I wonder if she could knit a little sweater for me too... That's it for today. Bye, mum! Hug, your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:09 am	Hey mum! How are you? I'm fine! It's warm and sunny today and we're going for a walk. We start at the vet. Don't worry, I'm not ill or something. We just buy some food for Emjay's cats.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:11 am	We meet some nice animals at the vet. They could be TV's!
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:14 am	We visit the church of Den Hoorn. In the chapel there's a beautiful old icon on the wall, some glass stained windows and a rosary.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:16 am	Here we start our walk to Schipluiden.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:18 am	The rural region between Den Hoorn and Schipluiden is called "Midden Delfland". It's beautiful.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:21 am	Here we are in Schipluiden, visiting Op Hodenpijl. I've been here before, but now I'm looking at other things. There's an art exposition of colourful paintings.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:22 am	I think this is art too.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:31 am	I don't mind being here for the second time. It's such a beautiful church. We also visit the Brown Madonna. You can see why she has that name!
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:36 am	We buy some eggs at the farm shop. Than we cross the road and visit the farm itself.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:37 am	These are free range chickens. They can go in and out, but as it is such a warm day, they prefer to be inside.
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:39 am	I feel at home at this farm!
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:44 am	On our way back to Den Hoorn we stop at a canal and Orkku asks me: "Do you dare to sit on the leave of a waterlily?" Sure!
Emjay Posted Aug 2, 2013, 9:47 am	Well, I gotta go now, mum. My hoofs are wet and I have to dry up in the sun. Bye, bye! Hug, your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:13 am	Hi mum! We had a lovely day today, cause we visited...
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:15 am	"Varend corso" means "sailing flower show". But first we had coffee in a nice restaurant and we did some sightseeing in Schipluiden.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:23 am	We looked for a good spot to watch the parade and found one! What a beautiful boats, full of flowers, fruit, vegetables and dancing people! It was lots of fun to watch.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:26 am	The next day it was nice and sunny. We did some sightseeing in the center of Delft. I had been there before, but it was nice to see everything bathing in sunlight.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:28 am	Delft is famous for it's Delft blue, but also for the painter Vermeer. This is one of his famous images. You can see it all around Delft in all kind of shapes.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:31 am	This is some modern architecture: the theatre and the library.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:32 am	It's still early and quiet. Look how peaceful this canal is!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:48 am	I show Orkku Orava the Maria van Jesse Church. From early Middle Ages, Delft was renowed as the city of Mary for Holland and the surrounding Low Countries. In 1327 a new statue of Mary was placed in the Old Church. During the dedication a blind woman from The Hague was miraculously cured. This statue was probably destroued during the second iconoclastic fury of 1573. In 1939 a second statue was acuired that closely resembles the original statue in the chronicals, dating from 1320 and was made in or around Cologne. This statue of the smiling Madonna stands in it's own chapel of the Maria van Jesse church. I don't know all this by myself. I read it in a leaflet
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:51 am	Here's another history lesson for you  This is a statue of Hugo Grotius. He was imprisoned in a castle, for expressing his liberal ideas. He was allowed to read books and he was very smart, because he escaped in a bookchest!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:54 am	Everything looks better with a blue sky, don't you think?
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:55 am	We see a cow again! That seems to be a theme during my stay here!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:56 am	This is a nice corner of Delft too.
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 10:58 am	The Old Church (also known as "Oude Jan", which means "Old John") has a leaning tower, as you can see!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:01 am	Dutch people are so funny  , they have a sign against smelly socks! Well, I don't have to worry. I don't wear socks at all! Or... perhaps Emjay can knit them!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:02 am	Orkku and I are a bit naughty. We're climbing the fancy fences on the Oude Delft!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:03 am	We LOVE Delft!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:04 am	This one isn't very inviting. It's in front of a dentist practice!
Emjay Posted Aug 6, 2013, 11:09 am	The last one is the most fancy of all. Emjay's doctor used to live here. We had great fun, climbing all those fences! And we didn't get caught! Bye mum! Till next time! Your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:39 am	Hi mum! Emjay had a meeting in The Hague (or Den Haag, in Dutch) and she took us with her. We went by tram.
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:40 am	Here we are! It's a pitty it's raining.
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:42 am	That's a familiar face! It says "Het ezeltje" (but some of the letters are worn away). That means "The little donkey". It's a kindergarten.
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:43 am	We have some time to shop before Emjay goes to her meeting. Here we are in a little supermarket in China Town.
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:44 am	Can you read this, mum?
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:45 am	In the afternoon the weather was fine again and we went to a garden center in Pijnacker. There was a display with gnomes, a talking tree and even a squirrel, just like Orkku!
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:46 am	I enjoy the flowers.
Emjay Posted Aug 11, 2013, 8:47 am	Wow, I feel enlightened now! Bye mum! Until next time! Your little donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:44 am	Hi mum! We made a little cycletour today. In the region of Rotterdam, there are a few small villages. They are even too small to call "village", but I don't know another word for it. We visited Kethel at first. Nowadays it's part of Schiedam, but it used to be an independent village.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:47 am	Next to the church we find a nostalgic letterbox, which is still in use.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:48 am	Guess where we are now.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:49 am	This is Kandelaar bridge, across the river Schie.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:51 am	Now we are in Overschie, a lovely village close to Rotterdam.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:53 am	Here's another church in Overschie.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:54 am	We make a short stop in De Zweth, to greet some cows. One of them is really close, but she isn't interested in me.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:01 pm	We've had some good news. A new TV is coming. She's called Cherry Lola. She's a distant relative of me, because she's a zebra! And there's something else too. Emjay invited all TV's to come on holiday with her to Greece! How exciting! Orkku and me prepaired for Cherry Lola's arrival. We made a welcome sign and something for her to eat. Late in the morning a package arrived. Orkku stood by with the welcome sign and I opened the package with a pair of scissors. "Be carefull with my beautiful hair!"Cherry Lola called. Oops! Yes, I will be carefull! Don't worry!
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:04 pm	There she was! I can imagine why she was worried about her hair, because she has beautiful manes! And she's soooo big! She gave me a warm hug and showed us a nice postcard with flowers.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:04 pm	She was happy with the welcome sign we made.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:05 pm	We ate veggies and sweets as a desert. Nice!
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:07 pm	We told Cherry Lola about our holidayplans and she was very excited. Orkku pointed out where we are going: first to Parga in the region of Epiros on the mainland and then to the isle of Levkas.
Emjay Posted Aug 17, 2013, 12:13 pm	I think Cherry Lola is really sweet! It will be great fun, going to Greece with the three of us. Bye, mum! I'll write to you again soon. Your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 25, 2013, 8:30 am	Hi Mum! We're helping Emjay to complete a jigsaw puzzle. It's the harbour of Padstow. Can you see it yet?
Emjay Posted Aug 25, 2013, 8:30 am	The weather is much to nice to sit inside. Seems like we're in Greece already!
Emjay Posted Aug 25, 2013, 8:31 am	We're camping out tonight!
Emjay Posted Aug 25, 2013, 8:32 am	Goodmorning, mum! We slept very well in our little tent. And now it's another great day! Bye for now. Big hug, Emil
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:33 pm	Hello mum! We watch the update of Cuty, who is staying with Orkku Orava's mum. Looks like he's enjoying himself in Finland.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:36 pm	We're going for a stroll in the park. The leaves are still green. That's nice, cause I don't like autumn. Orkku does, because autumn is the season for nuts and berries.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:37 pm	This has something to do with the geographical location of Delft. I couldn't understand the Dutch text that well.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:38 pm	As we are walking, Orkku comes up with a funny song: "Heigh ho, heigh ho, across the bridge we go". We all sing along.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:40 pm	And now we sing "Heigh ho, heigh ho, into the forrest we go". We met a friendly gentleman and his dog. And we told him we are ToyVoyagers. He thought that was very interesting.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:41 pm	Another nice spot.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:42 pm	We're playing hide and seek. Can you see us, Emjay?
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:42 pm	Mushrooms!
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:43 pm	The three of us.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:44 pm	The "cigars" and me.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:46 pm	Back home we help Emjay to make onion chutney and bake a bread. Cherry Lola slices the onions and then we all had to cry!
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:48 pm	I'm checking the onions, weighing the flour and adding backing soda.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:49 pm	This is the dough. Is it supposed to look this way?
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:50 pm	This looks better.
Emjay Posted Aug 28, 2013, 7:51 pm	And this looks even more better! We're gonna eat now, mum. Until next time! Your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:00 am	Hi mum! We're going to the seaside by tram! We have to cross The Hague and we arrive at a spot called Duindorp. It has a landscape with a lot of sands and dunes, to protect the coast area. As you might know, a big part of the Netherlands lays beneath sealevel.
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:01 am	In Duindorp you can also meet these fellows. They're Scottish Highlanders.
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:07 am	Oh, I can see one in the distance!
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:11 am	They're coming closer and closer! Emjay has hidden us away safely in her bag. Scottish Highlanders are friendly, but to TV's they're strong and mighty! We peek outside Emjay's bag to have a look at them.
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:13 am	We take a walk through the dunes.
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:16 am	It almost looks like a dessert.
Emjay Posted Sep 2, 2013, 8:19 am	One last look at the dunes, before we go home again. It looks like a cloudy, rainy day, but in fact the weather was really nice! Maybe Emjay has to adjust her camera! Anyway, we enjoyed our daytrip to the coast. Bye, mum! Until next time. your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 4, 2013, 7:45 pm	Hi mum! Today we got a surprise: a thick, brown envelope arrived. Who could be in there? Emjay wasn't expecting anyone.
Emjay Posted Sep 4, 2013, 7:48 pm	Orkku opened the envelope and put her head in. Orkku went to the beauty center yesterday and came back with a radiant smile. I'm sure she wants to show her smile off to our new guest
Emjay Posted Sep 4, 2013, 7:50 pm	Out came a few blue hairs and then Suomi-girl appeared!
Emjay Posted Sep 4, 2013, 7:52 pm	We all gave her a hug and she showed us a lovely card from her mum.
Emjay Posted Sep 4, 2013, 7:55 pm	Suomi-girl is a bit early. Emjay thought she was coming in October, but she's already here. Well, that's fine! We talked about our adventures and ate sweet black berries. Mmm! So now we are a foursome! Only a few more days and we'll be off to Greece! Don't worry if you don't hear from me for three or four weeks. Emjay may not be able to do any updates. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun! Bye, dear mum! your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:47 am	Hi mum! Our adventure begins today! We're having some coffee at the airport to wake up a bit. It's in the middle of the night, you see.
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:49 am	We're up in the air and reading a magazine. There's a teddybear for sale.
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:50 am	I look outside, but all I can see is the wing of the airplane.
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:52 am	Yes, we've landed! A transferbus took us to the apartment in Parga and here we are!
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:53 am	We're on the balcony, overlooking an orchard and the swimmingpool. Not bad!
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 5:55 am	Lounging at the pool with my friends.
Emjay Posted Sep 10, 2013, 6:15 pm	Emjay has decided she will take one TV at a time to go with her on a daytrip. I'm the first in line! We're exploring Parga as the evening falls.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 7:48 am	We're at Andreas, a nice restaurant. Emjay knows I'm a vegetarian, so she orders a special veggie meal for me and some natural springwater aswell. Isn't it great? That was my first day here is Parga. I'm enjoying it already! Bye mum! Big hug from Greece, your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 7:52 am	Kalimera, mum! As you can see, I speak Greek already ;-) We're on our way to the village of Anthousa. It's a beautiful walk through an olive orchard.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 7:56 am	These are olive trees. The olives are almost ready to harvest. By that time nets are rolled out beneath the trees to catch the olives when they drop.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 8:01 am	There's a green landscape all around us.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 8:03 am	At the beginning of Anthousa we see a little tourist train.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 8:06 am	We visit the watermill museum. Donkey's had to work hard in the 20th century. There are still working donkey's in Greece, but not that many. That's good! Now they are on holiday, just like me!
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 9:32 am	A few impressions of the inside of the watermill.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 9:35 am	We return via another way and make a short stop at an iconastasi, that's a tiny chapel. You could say a church, ToyVoyager size
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 5:35 pm	Greece is a beautiful country!
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 5:45 pm	The next day we went to Anthousa again, but this time to visit the castle of Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha was from Albenia, but he fought for the Turks. He wanted to capture Parga. And so he did... by buying it from the Brits! On our way we stop at a TV-church again.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 5:50 pm	Here we are at the castle. It is high on a hill top, so we have a great view to all sides.
Emjay Posted Sep 13, 2013, 5:52 pm	I'm a living canonball!
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:45 am	We're back in Parga and here we have our own castle on the hill top!
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:46 am	I meet some friends in the center of town.
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:48 am	This is my big friend Poseidon. I'm off to dinner. I'll write to you again soon! Big hug, your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:50 am	Hi mum! We're walking to Lichnos Beach and on the way I rest in this nice hammock. (Actually it's a net to harvest olives, but don't tell anyone  )
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:51 am	We've arrived at the beach. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the view.
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:53 am	After a day at the beach, we got much too lazy to walk back. So we caught a water taxi. The boat went so fast, that Emjay couldn't take any pictures. Except for this one.
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:55 am	This is the boat I was on. I guess all of my lifemissions are fulfilled now.
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:56 am	Look, mum, I'm really in Greece!
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 9:58 am	Just in front of the coast are a few tiny islands with chapels on them.
Emjay Posted Sep 15, 2013, 10:05 am	We're having a farewell party for Tupah. He's leaving us tomorrow. He's a Wild TV and he will be released at a secret place
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 8:33 am	Later on I had a great vegetarian dinner.
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 8:36 am	Bye, bye, Tupah! We all give our friend a hug and wish him good luck. Soon he will be on his way to Igoumenitsa, where he will be released in the wild. We all hope to hear from him again. That's it from me for a while, mum! I spend four great days, making daytrips and now it's Orkku Orava's turn. You'll hear from me now and again, off course. Love you, mum! Your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 8:40 am	Hi mum! Guess what! Orkku Orava has invited me to make a boat trip around a few small island in the Ionian Sea! We left the harbor of Sivota and we're on our way! This is sooooo much better than my small boat trip from Lichnos Beach to Parga a few days ago!
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 9:19 am	We moored at the small beach of an uninhabited bounty island. We only miss the coconutpalms, but the rest of the trees and flowers are beautiful! Maybe you've noticed: I'm wearing a harnass, Emjay made outof a hairband. So I can be secured when we're on the boat.
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 9:20 am	Oops, careful! This is a prickly kind of animal.
Emjay Posted Sep 16, 2013, 9:28 am	We made our own boat from an old slipper we found, but we didn't get far. It was leaking like crazy! Well, let's go back to our real boat. It was a great day. Thanks for taking me with you, Orkku! You're a real friend! Bye, mum! Don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while. I'm just hanging out with my TV friends here in Greece. Your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Sep 29, 2013, 8:47 pm	Dear mum, I will send this postcard to you. I hope you like it!
Emjay Posted Sep 29, 2013, 8:56 pm	Something funny happened today. The mailman delivered an envelope. What could be in it? We we're all curious. We opened the envelope quickly and out came...
Emjay Posted Sep 29, 2013, 8:59 pm	Suomi-Girl! But how is that possible? She is supposed to look after Emjay's cats! Suomi-Girl told us that she was bored. She asked Emjay's neighbour to take care of the cats and she said "yes". Than Suomi-Girl jumped into the envelope and mailed herself to Greece. We're glad she's here and we celebrate with lots of Greek candy!
Emjay Posted Sep 30, 2013, 12:05 pm	Today is a special day. It's Emjay's birthday and... we're going on a little trip for two days. Cherry Lola has invited us all to come with her to the Zagoria region and to Meteora. That's sweet! Here we are on one of the stone bridges, famous for the area. One the highest point of the bridge we sing "Happy Birhtday to you" to Emjay.
Emjay Posted Sep 30, 2013, 12:06 pm	How many shades of grey?
Emjay Posted Sep 30, 2013, 12:08 pm	We look just like the Von Trapp Family
Emjay Posted Sep 30, 2013, 12:08 pm	Great view!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:47 am	We arrive in Metsovo. In winter it's a popular ski resort. You can't imagine it now! Here we are in our luxurious suite!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:49 am	I meet Rudolph the Reindeer in the hallway. He tells me he lend his skis to Cherry Lola. What is she planning to do?
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:51 am	Well, first it's time for a party! We are celebrating Emjay's birthday. Orkku has bought her a present at the olive oil factory in Parga. It is olivespread to put on toast or bread. Emjay likes it a lot!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:53 am	And now Cherry Lola has a surprise. She has organized a skiing match! Dutchy the Lion doesn't want to participate, cause he's afraid of heights. But the rest of us go down the slope. Here comes Cherry Lola!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:55 am	Wow, she made a perfect landing! Next is Orkku Orava. You can see she's a natural talent!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:57 am	Now it's my turn. Everyone is cheering me on. Oh my, that slope is slippery! Oh-uh, I tumble down! I guess skiing is not for donkeys
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 8:59 am	Well, never mind! I fell on the soft "snow". Suomi-Girl's feet are too small for the skis, so she uses one ski as a sledge. Here she goes!!!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:01 am	It was a great day! We saw some beautiful sites and had a lot of fun with the skiing match! Now we're all tired. Kali nichta, mum! your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:06 am	Dear mum! It's another great day in Greece! We're visiting the Meteora area. There are high rock peaks. If that isn't impressive enough, on the hill peaks monasteries were build in the Middle Ages! Wow, how did they do that?
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:09 am	We're inside in one of the monasteries, so we have to be very well behaved. As you know, I'm ALWAYS well behaved  Here we are in front of a very old mural painting.
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:10 am	One last look at one of the monasteries, high on the rock. It was an impressive visit.
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:15 am	We're leaving Parga and moving to our second holiday address on the island of Lefkas. As you can see donkeys are still used as working animals on Lefkas. Hm... I wish they could all go on holiday, like me!
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:19 am	We've packed our little silver bag (TV's always travel light, as you know) and we take a last look at our nice accommodation.
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:22 am	After a long car drive, we arrive in Vassiliki. We didn't need to take a ferryboat, cause Lefkas is attached to the mainland with a bridge. This is our new home. We don't have a private swimmingpool anymore, but the sea is nearby.
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:24 am	The last days of the vacation we spend relaxing at the beach in the sun  This is my last update from Greece. We had a great time here! Till next time, mum! Love, your donkey Emil
Emjay Posted Oct 1, 2013, 9:40 am	A little digital postcard for you, mum. As a souvenir from Greece.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:15 pm	Dear mum, I think our holiday in Greece is a suitable ending for my stay with Emjay. I had a great time in the Netherlands and now it's time to move on. So I say goodbye to Delft.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:18 pm	It is a beautiful autumn day when I say goodbye to my friends. We're in the garden with our last candy from Greece. There's not a lot left. We've put it on a tiny saucer, so it looks like it's much more
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:20 pm	Keiko comes to my farewell party as well!
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:22 pm	I take a last look at the garden.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:23 pm	Hanging out with my friends.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:24 pm	Emjay knitted a little... well, I don't know what it's called.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:25 pm	Groupshug! Bye, dear friends! I will miss you all!
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:26 pm	I'm checking out the envelope. Hm, it's small but it looks comfortable.
Emjay Posted Oct 8, 2013, 2:29 pm	Here I go! On my way to... Denmark! Another adventure! Bye, bye, mum! Don't worry about me! And bye, bye, Emjay! Thanks for hosting me. your donkey Emil
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 26, 2013, 9:48 am	Hello everyone. I have arrived in Denmark but am unfortunately unable to post pictures. It's a nice stay anyway!
Apperveilchen Posted Dec 26, 2013, 9:52 am	I am back in Germany. It's nice to come home for the holidays! Frohe Weihnachten!
jinxed Posted Jan 22, 2014, 5:00 pm	Hello! Today I arrived to Turku, Finland. Here I met Teddy and two other toyvoyagers, Gozer and Rocky Raccoon. We talked a lot, mostly about being a toyvoyager and what we've seen and done on our adventures. Teddy told me something about life in Finland and what I can expect to see in Turku. It's nice to meet other toys. I'm already looking forward to our adventures here. Best wishes, Emil
jinxed Posted Jan 22, 2014, 5:41 pm	Hello The weather seemed to be sunny and nice, although somewhat cold. We decided to go out and have a walk in a nearby forest. Teddy was lazy and chose to stay at home. Gozer told us that he had been in the forest earlier, so he could be our guide, if needed. This spruce was so huge that there wasn't any snow under it. We sat on a rock to enjoy the sunshine. This is an old forest and it's mostly left as it is, so you can see lots of old and fallen trees there. Here's one of those and you can also see the huge spruce a bit better. Gozer was watching, when Rocky Raccoon and I climbed on an old oak. We saw rabbits' tracks here and there, but no rabbits themselves. Maybe we were too scary for them to show up. It looked like they had searched something to eat here. Look at all this ice. It's quite artistic, isn't it? It was very slippery to sit on that rock, but we managed to get a good enough grip of the icicles. Here's one of the fallen trees. Looks like it has been lying on the path a long time. We had to climb over the trunk to be able to continue our adventure. We saw a somewhat funny-looking birch. It seemed to be ideal for building a treehouse. We couldn't resist climbing up. Despite all the walking and climbing we started to freeze, so we decided it's time to go back to jinxed's home and have some hot juice. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Jan 25, 2014, 3:38 pm	Hi mum! Today we went for a walk to Linnanpuisto (linna = castle, puisto = park) and the bank of Aurajoki (joki = river). Linnanpuisto is surrounding Turku Castle, so that explains the name of the park. Turku Castle is another of the most notable historical buildings in Finland and it's also the oldest surviving medieval building in Finland. The castle was founded in the late 13th century and it's located near the mouth of Aurajoki. Originally the castle was built on an island, but the ground has ascended during the centuries so much that the island is fully connected to the mainland. The castle has been through a lot during it's long history. It's been built, burnt, rebuilt and extended many times. The latest major damage was caused by an incendiary bomb that hit the Medieval keep on 1941, when Soviet Union was air raiding Turku during the Continuation War. After that the castle has been renovated and restored to its 16th century glory. Now the castle is one of the most popular museum in Finland. That's what we saw, when we jumped out of the bus. The white part of the castle is the Renaissance bailey and behind it you can see the eastern tower of the Medieval keep. Here's the entrance to the courtyard. The courtyard, eastern tower and entrance to the Medieval keep. Here's an old well on the courtyard. Maybe there's still water in it. There's also a cafe in the Renaissance bailey. Seems that no one wants to sit outside in January, which I can understand. It's too cold. A view to the courtyard from the entrance tower. Look how thick the walls are. We wondered where this door leads. It's locked, so we couldn't find out. Here's the entrance to the castle. We didn't go there this time, because you can't see much of the inside without buying a ticket anyway. Here's a corner of the inner courtyard. After seeing the courtyards we wanted to see the castle walls from outside, too. Here you can see the two different parts of the castle. Here we are in the front of the western tower. The western side of the castle is probably most commonly seen in photos, postcards, etc. It's also know as the symbol of Turku. Here's the only round tower of Turku Castle. We also walked a bit on the bank of Aurajoki. There we saw some museum ships. Here's Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland) facing towards the sea. A nice view of Aurajoki. Here's another museum ship, Sigyn. She's facing towards the sea, too. It looks like she's been coverd for winter. This small ferry is called Föri. It transports people across the river for free. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Jan 28, 2014, 10:08 pm	Hey Rocky Raccoon told us that his mum has found a new host for him. So it's time for Rocky to continue his journey. It was time to say goodbye, but maybe we'll meet again. Who knows? Before Rocky crawled into his envelope, Gozer, Teddy and I gave him some chocolates. Now he won't become too hungry before reaching his destination. Yours, Emil
jinxed Posted Feb 4, 2014, 3:05 pm	Hello Today we had to wake up a lot earlier than usually, because we were going to catch a train at 7:00 am. Jinxed is going to a weekend trip to East-Finland to meet some relatives. Of course we wanted to tag along, it's a great opportunity to see another part of Finland. Here we are in the train somewhere between Turku and Pieksämäki. We saw lots of forests and lakes from the train and also some villages and a few towns. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Feb 4, 2014, 3:26 pm	Hello It turned out that our destination was Eno. It's a village in Pohjois-Karjala (North Karelia) that has been a part of the town of Joensuu since 2009. Today it was nice and sunny, but also very cold - something between -15°C and -20°C. No one wanted to stay outside, but we still went for a quick walk to the beach of lake Pielinen. The view there was very beautiful. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Feb 4, 2014, 3:42 pm	Hello Today it snowed almost the whole day. Here's more snow than in Turku. In the evening we went outside to play for a while, it wasn't as cold as yesterday. Here's an old well. Then we went inside a small building that turned out to be a sauna. It's an old sauna. First you have to carry the water inside and then boil some in the big cauldron by burning wood under it. The sauna stove is heated by burning wood, too. There's no showers, either. You're supposed to wash yourself in the sauna by mixing boiling and cold water in a wash basin. I think this kind of sauna is more atmospheric than the modern ones. Here you can see a part of the sauna stove in the corner and a part of  the big cauldron in the front of those. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Feb 4, 2014, 3:58 pm	Hello Today it was time to travel back to Turku, which means sitting seven hours in a train again. There is a railroad station in Eno too, but the train won't go there anymore. That's why we had to go to Joensuu first and catch a train there. The train won't go straight to Turku either, so we had to change at Pieksämäki. Now we're back at jinxed's home in Turku. We all are tired, but happy. It was a nice trip to East-Finland. Best wishes, Emil
jinxed Posted Mar 1, 2014, 10:07 pm	Hello Gozer and I wanted to build a snowman, but I think it won't happen now. It's been somewhat rainy and temperature is something around 2°C. Snow has melted and Teddy said that it looks like April instead of late February / early March. Today it seemed to be nice enough day for a walk outside, so we decided to go to Ruissalo. Ruissalo is one of the islands that belong to Turku and it's also one of the most beatiful places here. Ruissalo is a protected area and a part of Natura 2000. We chose a path that leads to Kuuvannokka. There was a map on the parking lot, so we studied it a bit. The paths are marked well with the acorn signs or yellow dots on trees, so we didn't have to be afraid of getting lost in the forests. There were many fallen trees. Most of them were left as they were, because the area is protected and supposed to be as untouched as possible. Look how big burl this tree has. More fallen trees and their stumps. I like how the moss grows on them. The branches of this fallen tree had grown into new trees. When we arrived to Kuuvannokka, we found a nice place to rest a little. The rock was too huge to fit in the photo. Look, snow! Unfortunately it was too icy to build a snowman. We wanted to watch the sea for a while. It was somehow calming. This tree has found an interesting place to grow. I wonder how it manages to do that when there seems to be more rocks than anything else. I really enjoyed walking in the forest and on the cliffs. A day well spent, I think. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Mar 14, 2014, 12:17 pm	Hello Hanne Hü arrived here on Friday and today Mr. Moose came home. We all gatherd to eat the sweets that Hanne brought with her and to tell stories of our adventures. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Mar 14, 2014, 3:05 pm	Hi! It was time to go to explore Turku again. Mr. Moose said that he was still tired after traveling, so he chose to stay at home with Teddy. Gozer, Hanne and I went to the town center by bus and then started to walk around. There isn't a part of Turku that'd be known as Old Town, but there are many old buildings here and there. Here's one of them. Opposite of that building there's Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum. It's a part of the town that survived the Great Fire on 1827. The wooden houses are still on their original places and are built on late 18th and early 19th century. In the museum you can see how people lived a long time ago and crafts from pre-industrial era are also presented there. Unfortunately the museum isn't open at this time of the year, so we couldn't go there. There are two open-air summer theaters in Turku. Here's one of them. It's located on Vartiovuorenmäki near the Handicrafts Museum. The shows here are usually mostly for children. There's quite a big park on Vartiovuorenmäki and we wanted to walk there for a while. It was quiet now, but it's a popular place for picnics on summer. On top of the hill is the old observatory. It's built on early 19th century, belonged to the Academy of Turku and was also one of the buildings that survived the Great Fire. After the fire the Academy was moved to Helsinki, astronomy followed a few years later and after that this building hasn't been used as an observatory. A nice view over the center of Turku. This old air defense cannon is a memorial for all those people who volunteered to defend their homes in Winter and Continuation Wars on 1939 - 1944. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Mar 21, 2014, 6:41 pm	Surprise! We're on holiday in Tenerife. It's sunny and warm here, very different compared to Finland where it was snowing when we left yesterday. I'm sure we'll have fun here. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 4, 2014, 4:18 pm	Hello Today we went to the beach for a walk. It was wonderful. The ocean is awesome and I liked the black sand and the lava rocks. Of course I enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, too. Warm greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 5, 2014, 2:02 pm	Hello We rented a car and drove to Teide National Park which is also UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was fun and very interesting. Now we've seen El Teide, a volcano which still remains active and is the highest point of Spain. How awesome! Here we're taking a short break on our way up. Look, we're already above the clouds. I really liked the canary pines and lava rocks here. Look at those pine cones, they're bigger than us. We stopped to watch the view near the cable car that goes from the roadside to most of the way to the summit. The view was awesome enough here, so we decided not to go any further. We stopped to take some photos on our way down, too. Here you can see El Teide behind me. Here's another awesome view. And some nice flowers, too. Love, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 7, 2014, 2:47 pm	Hello Today we drove to Las Americas. Part of the group wanted to go to Siam Park and another part wanted to go shopping. We wanted to do neither, so we decided to go to the beach instead. It was fun. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 13, 2014, 12:36 pm	Hello Today we walked to Puerto de Santiago to watch the town and do some shopping. On this photo you can see Acantilados de Los Gigantes, the high cliffs after which the area has been named. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 13, 2014, 12:48 pm	Hello It's one of the lazy days, when we did nothing but enjoy the sunshine at the pools and balcony. Very relaxing. Best wishes, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 13, 2014, 1:03 pm	Hello It's our last day on Tenerife, so we wanted to go to the beach one more time. The waves were huge and we sat for a while watching them. Here I'm enjoying the evening sun at the balcony. Tomorrow at this time we'll be on our way back to Finland. By the way, here you can also see the neighbour island, La Gomera. Maybe I'll travel there one day, who knows? Warm greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 18, 2014, 1:54 pm	Hello We were walking peacefully in a forest, when suddenly we noticed a monkey peeking from a hollow stump of a tree. He seemed friendly, so we went to talk to him. It turned out that he's Qah and he's a toyvoyager too. We invited him to join us. It's spring in Finland, too. Look at these flowers. They're growing here and there in small groups among all the old, fallen leaves. Beautiful. Huge old tree had snapped in two and the upper part had fallen down. The damage seemed to be quite recent, although the tree is very old and hollow. Perhaps the tree had finally gotten tired of standing still. Unfortunately it started to rain and we had to rush back to jinxed's before getting soaked. Best wishes, Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 18, 2014, 2:14 pm	Happy Easter for those who celebrate it and happy spring for everyone. Emil
jinxed Posted Apr 23, 2014, 4:29 pm	Hello It's one of the warmest days of this spring and sun is shining, so we decided to go to the riverbank for a walk. There are very nice walking routes following Aurajoki (joki = river). The river on this photo is Vähäjoki, a smaller river that flows into Aurajoki. It looks like we're on the countryside, but actually we walked only a couple of kilometers away from the town center. Soon after crossing that bridge we arrived to Koroistenniemi. Here's a sign telling something about the area. This is a historically notable area: an old trading post and a church, where the diocese of Finland was located before Turku Cathedral was built. The diocese was then moved to the Cathedral on year 1300 or so. A view towards Vähäjoki. And a view of Koroistennimi. The white cross marks the place, where the church and the diocese were located. The river on this photo is Aurajoki and you can almost see the place, where Vähäjoki joins it. If you look carefully, you can see the tower of Turku Cathedral, too. There isn't much left of the buildings anymore. You can seen some remains here and there, though. Mr. Moose and Teddy arrived later and we gathered on a big stone that's probably been one of the foundation stones of the church. We talked a lot, enjoyed the nice weather and had fun, but nothing lasts forever and soon it was time to say good bye. It's time for Gozer to continue his journey. Best wishes, Emil
jinxed Posted May 5, 2014, 3:58 pm	Hello Tomorrow is the first of May, which in Finland is called vappu and we're going to celebrate it. The celebrations start tonight, even the shops are closed earlier than usually and tomorrow is a national holiday. The roots of vappu can be found from pagan spring celebrations and later it became the worker's holiday. Whatever the reasons for celebrating are now, the Finns gather their friends and/or families and do something fun. Like going out for a picnic and probably getting drunk, too. Silly costumes are a part of vappu, too. Unfortunately we didn't have any, so we took some silly photos instead. The weather isn't that nice, so we decided that jinxed's balcony is a good enough place for our picnic. So, that's where we went with our balloons and serpentine. Teddy brought us some traditional vappu snacks: crisps, funnel cake, doughnuts and mead. We ate and drank a lot, maybe a little too much. But who cares, we had fun. Greetings, Emil
jinxed Posted May 7, 2014, 5:33 pm	Hi there Samppalinnanmäki (mäki = hill) is one of the seven hills of Turku and there's a nice park, too. That's where we went for a walk today. This old cannon is a memorial for the cannoneers, who were in the Winter and Continuation Wars on 1939 - 1945. Hey, look. It's another memorial. This one is for all the veterans of Winter and Continuation Wars. This statue is a memorial for G.A. Petrelius, whoever he was. Here are some nice views to the town center. The building here is restaurant Samppalinna. This one's for the independence of Finland. Here you can see a small part of Aurajoki (joki = river). The red building is Pharmacy Museum and Qwensel House. It's the oldest surviving bourgeois home in Turku, dating back to the early 18th century. Turku is a bilingual town and Åbo is its name in Swedish. Here's a view from Aurasilta (silta = bridge). The nearest building is the town hall. There's a nice cafe in Qwensel House and we decided to go there. Then it was time to say goodbye. I won't return to jinxed's with the others, I'll start my journey towards new adventures instead. Goodbye Finland. Canada, here I come. Greetings, Emil
whodalalee Posted May 10, 2014, 3:05 pm	Betzi, Prickles, Molito and Princess are waiting for Emil's arrival!
whodalalee Posted May 21, 2014, 10:09 pm	Hello Mommy! I made it to Canada safe and sound... When my suitcase arrived in the mailbox, I heard a lot of commotion from the outside and later realized it was all my new friends looking at my suitcase!  Betzi, Princess, Molito, Rico and Prickles all helped me come out of my suitcase and were so welcoming! I feel very small compared to some of my new friends! I was greeted very warmly and soon even my hosts cat "Gibbs" was saying hello to me....There are a couple big dogs as well as two more cats too! Everyone enjoyed the postcard and treats too...thank you for sending them with me. I am going to have a little rest now...my host Arlene says to tell you not to worry about me. And that I will have a wonderful time here in Kelowna!
whodalalee Posted May 23, 2014, 1:36 am	I was both happy and sad today mommy...I was sad because I just arrived and met some great TV's and now two of them are leaving! But I was very happy too because we had a surprise party to say goodbye...I didn't know if I could keep it a surprise, but I did...I almost let the secret out this morning at breakfast and again at lunch but caught myself before I said anything...Both Betzi and Prickles were so surprised! We partied for a long time and then they had to pack there suitcases and leave.  But first Molito, Princess, Rico and I all hugged Prickles and Betzi goodbye....It is Prickles first journey, but I told her not to worry, she will be fine....she is off to Germany and Betzi is off to Oakland California USA!
whodalalee Posted May 27, 2014, 3:12 am	Mommy, I am so excited, I don't know if I can sleep tonight....Tomorrow we are going fishing up in the mountains! So today my host Arlene made all of us life jackets for the boat....she also made us some fishing rods! When Molito, Rico, Princess and I all had our rods together, it was very fun! More pictures tomorrow!
whodalalee Posted May 30, 2014, 8:41 am	I have been fishing...yes mommy, I have been fishing! It was so relaxing and exciting at the same time. I had on my lifejacket and it kept me safe, I held my fishing rod, but I didn't catch anything...but my hosts...they caught 5 fishes! I enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful lake views...We had our new friend Sammie the seal come with us today... so Molito, Rico, Princess and I all had fun in the boat...we saw fish jumping out of the water, we saw a hawk (which kind of scared me because I thought he would swoop down and take me!), we saw bunny rabbits and blue heron...we also saw little frogs!
whodalalee Posted May 30, 2014, 8:56 am	We fished for 4 hours and finally it was time to come into shore and eat! While our hosts built a fire and fileted the fish, we went down to see the beautiful view of James Lake...we sat on a tree cut out like a chair...then we saw what the fish looked like before it was cooked. We sat by the fire while the fish cooked...then we got a great shoot of the yummy rainbow trout all cooked up! YUMMY! Soon after we went exploring, we climb rocks, tree and then we saw a chipmunk watching us....Princess put a peanut on her head and in the picture, if you look really closely, you will see the chipmunk taking it off her head! We went for a little hike and came to this fabulous pond. We sat on the edge and looked out for moose, but didn't see any today...and just before we left, we all went looking for a spot to place a new GEOCACHE...we found a wonderful place under a tree...then we went running through a pretty field of wild strawberries and raspberries! What a glorious day we had mommy!

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