Mood:  incredulous

Okay, so I haven't updated this BLOG since July.  That probably means that nobody is reading this anymore...

By the time you've realized that this post is...well... posted, I will be "boots on the ground" in Afghanistan.  It'll be my third deployment, if you count Kosovo.

My sincere apologies to everyone I've ignored the last few months.  Perhaps now you understand why.  Between preparations for deployment taking time/energy and Operational Security requiring discretion, there just wasn't much to update.  I will post regularly during the deployment, including pictures where possible.

Take care...

Posted by kisajaja at 10:10 PM MEST

Updated: Thursday, 29 October 2009 10:30 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

Sorrento might as well be Ocean City.  It’s a neat little beach town with markets and food and trinkets, and night-life, etc, etc.  We got there with no difficulty, checked-in without incident, and headed out to see the town.  We shopped, ate dinner, shopped some more, then returned to the hotel.

The whole point of being in Sorrento is that it was an easy hop in the morning to catch a ferry to Capri, an island that Sabrina has visited, but we had not.  Sabrina loved it, and wanted to go back, so we figured, why not?

We woke, ate breakfast, and caught the ferry to Capri.  Once on the Island, we walked, shopped, and climbed to the top for pictures.  After that, we caught a bus to Anacapri (the other town on the Island) in order to ride the chair-lift that Sabrina remembered to the top of the Island for more pictures (from a different place).  Then we walked to a place called the Blue Grotto.

The Blue Grotto is a hole in the side of the cliff that you can take a row boat into, if you have a guide.  The opening is so small that you have to lay down in the boat or you ram your head into the walls of the cave.  Once inside, it opens up, revealing a sizable cave, and enough sunlight to see the walls of the cave.  The impressive part, though, is that the water is so clear that a majority of the sunlight comes from under the water, from outside the cave, so everything “sparkles” and the water appears to be glowing the beautiful blue color all around the cave.

It was closed to us because the waves were too rough that day.

Other than that, we were able to walk all the way to the opening along the cliff front using metal stairs and hand-rails.  We got bunches of pictures, saw the pretty blue water, and got splashed plenty by the waves.  Incredible!

Then we caught a bus back to Anacapri for lunch, then the bus back to Capri for shopping until our return ferry home.

Once back in Sorrento, we swam from the beach for a short while, then returned to hotel, changed, and went back into town for more shopping and dinner.

The next day, we returned to Rome via the same train routes, reversed.  We had plenty of time to kill, so we went BACK to the Hard Rock Café for lunch (it was THAT good), then returned to the train station to wait for our train home.

We arrived home last night, about 11:30p.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

Posted by kisajaja at 3:26 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:37 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

There is no way I could possibly do this trip justice, neither in text, nor the photos.  There was just too much of it to explain.  We took well over 800 pictures in the four days we were there, and stayed busy every day, doing as much as we possibly could.  I’ll do my best to summarize…

We got to Rome via the train and immediately when downstairs to the Metro to buy the three-day passes for the four of us, took the Metro to the hotel, and tried to check-in.  “Tried” because we were too early.  We were told we could leave our bags with reception, and then come back in about an hour (1:00p) to finish the process.

Okay, so we dropped the bags and headed to “Alfredo’s” restaurant.  This is the place that fettuccini Alfredo was invented, and we felt compelled to go right to the source, the very restaurant!  Sabrina and Kimberly got the fettuccini, Jacoby got something else (don’t remember), and I had the Eggplant Parmesan.  Great meal!  Expensive, sure enough, but good food, and how can you pass up the birth place of fettuccini?!?

 Then we walked back to the hotel, got our room, dropped off the bags, and began our official walking tour of Rome.

-And we walked.  Walked some more.  Walked a bit more, and then just to be different, we walked. 

We were on the go from 1:00p to about 11:30p, if memory serves, and we saw Rome.  We went from our hotel down to the Castel St. Angelo and walked across the bridge with all the Angel statues, each one carrying some aspect of the crucifixion (one Angel carried a cross; one, the shroud; one a spear; one, a thorny crown; etc).  We learned that the Castle was the Vatican stronghold, and was used to protect the Pope in times of extreme unpopularity.  Actually, we knew that, but whatever…

 Then we went to the Piazza Navona, with its three fountains and Egyptian Obelisk.  Those who have read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons will know this as “the Water place.”  Beautiful Piazza!  And Tre Scalini is there, near the center fountain.  Tre Scalini is a gelato shop (Italian ice cream) famous for its truffles.  We had one.  It was good. 

We went from Piazza Navona to the Trevi Fountain.  Other than saying it’s huge, very detailed, and full of water, I’m not sure what to say about this.  It was crowded, but very cool!  Off to the Pantheon!

We found the Pantheon easily enough, walked though it, took some pictures, pretended to know what we were looking at, and then left for the Spanish Steps.

We found the Spanish steps, named for the Spanish Embassy at their base, and climbed the 137 steps to the top to enjoy the view.  Honestly, not that good a view, but a neat place in its own right.

Now I don’t know how to describe this next thing without making your skin crawl.  I’ll preference this short paragraph by saying it was EXTREMELY, EXCEPTIONALLY COOL, despite being a bit unusual.  Dare I say, gross?  It really wasn’t, but….

They have this cathedral whose interior artwork is made up entirely of the bones of the monks that served there.  There were these huge murals of elaborate designs made from skulls, ribs, femurs, etc, all of them easily recognizable.  We stayed for about 30-minutes looking at this place in awe. 

Then we went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner.

After dinner, we walked down past several fountains, cathedrals, arches, and ruins to the “newish” war memorial/museum which is a large white building at the Northern edge of the Roman Forum.  Just beside that, along with an abundance of the Roman Forum, the Coliseum leaps into view.

I was determined to be unimpressed with the Coliseum.  We’ve seen it in movies, on TV, photos, books, you name it.  We have the second largest amphitheater in Italy here in Verona (second only to the Coliseum), and it isn’t that big a deal.  Really, how cool could this place be?  I was motivated to be unmoved.  I failed miserably.  What a cool place!  We couldn’t go in the first night, because it was closed, be we walked up to it, took a ton of pictures, marked it as a place we must return, and then moved on. 

We walked under the Arch, I don’t know what it’s called, passed the entrance to the Roman Forum (again, closed for the night) and down to the Circus Massimo.  This is the place where they used to have the chariot races.  I’m talking Ben Hur, here.  There is literally nothing left of it, other than the overlooking Roman Forum ruins and the worn ground where people still gather to walk/jog for exercise along the original race route.

We finished taking several pictures there, which was fun because at this point the sun was down and stuff was basically dark.  We’d heard that you have to see Rome twice to see it correctly.  Once in the daytime, once at night.  So, we basically retraced our steps back to the Trevi Fountain, then to the Pantheon, then to Piazza Navona, then to the St Angelo, and then back to the hotel.

It was probably a 10-12 mile walk…

The next morning, we walked to the Vatican to see the Pope.  We got our tickets the day before, so we showed up at the appointed time, waited in the long, slow line, and then got into the great hall were the Pope eventually emerged to talk to us.  He blessed my sun-glasses. (Not really.) But before I get to that…

St. Peter square is awesome.  You can read all about it if you are interested, but what a fantastic place.  The Obelisk is the same, original obelisk that stood on that same ground (300m away) when Peter, the disciple of Jesus, was crucified.  Try to look at the obelisk with that in mind and NOT be impressed!

Back to the Pope.  He eventually came out and took his seat.  Each one of fifteen or so Cardinals gave some opening remarks in their language (Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and several we didn’t stay for), and the Pope would follow with his address to those people, in that language (mostly, I don’t think he said anything in Polish)!  I don’t know how many languages he speaks, how many he fakes, and how many he just doesn’t attempt, but he sounded fluent in everything we heard!  As part of his address in English, he blessed “all of the religious artifacts we might have brought with us.”  I had my sun-glasses.  Kimberly said they didn’t count.

 After the Pope, or more specifically, after we left the Pope, we toured the Vatican and shopped at the gift shop.  I bought a pair of Rosary Beads, not because I’m Catholic or because I want to be, but I figured we bought a mask in Venice, cheese in Asiago, what I really needed was a pair of Rosary Beads from the Vatican!  -So I did.  I don’t know if they were blessed…

We climbed the 551 steps to the top of St Peter’s Cathedral which overlooks Vatican City, took pictures, and then returned down the same steps to the bottom.  Great views, good exercise, fun times.

After the Vatican (a long day, already) we headed out to a cathedral for their Vespers service, because it was supposed to be one of the few remaining cathedrals where the monks still chant.  We went, but they weren’t there that day.  No Vespers (or chanting) for us!

Back to the Hard Rock Café for another  (late) dinner. 

The third day, we woke up, and went back to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.  We bought the tickets, went inside, and saw what there is to see.  Holy cow, did we take some pictures.  Again, the Coliseum is well worth the visit, but the Roman Forum was a surprise.   Everywhere you looked, there where ruins from hundreds or even thousands of years ago.  This was a vast expansive place, chock full of these ruins!  Honestly, you couldn’t tell what to take pictures of because there was just so much of it!

At some point, we made it out of the forum, and found the last couple of things we wanted to be sure to see.  One was the statue of Romulus and Remos, the kids raised by wolves.  And the other was the “Mouth of Truth” which is a “plate” with a face on it.  The face has an open mouth.  In ancient times, folks would put their hand in the mouth and answer questions.  If they were thought to be lying, they’d lose their hand!  I’m not sure what method the ax-man used to determine this, but I’m hoping it was a reliable one!

 At some point in this trip, before this point, but I’m not sure where, we went to see a modern cathedral, built on a 15^th century cathedral, which was itself built on a 5^th century cathedral.  You could walk down into the recesses and see the older layers of each of the sanctuaries, below.  Just plain awesome.

We then went back to the hotel to get packed, because the next day, we would check out, go on an official tour, and then catch a train for Naples, then Sorrento before dinner.

So we woke up the next morning, moved our bags back to the hotel office, and left for our “Official Angels and Demons Tour.” It was supposed to show us all of the sites mentioned in the book and tells us more about the background and “the rest of the story” about the sites.  It was a neat tour, but it spent way too much time telling us the story (which we’d already read) and not enough time telling us the rest of it, or allowing ample time for loitering and pictures.  Luckily, we’d already seen most of it on our own the preceding three days.

Then we retrieved our bags, and headed for the train to Naples, where we caught the train to Sorrento.

Posted by kisajaja at 3:10 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:49 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

The next day (after Croatia), we had an ODR trip to what is called the “via ferrata,” or “iron way.”  This was the trip we tried to take in June, but there were issues.  Anyway, it’s sort of like mountain climbing, except that you are not climbing so much as you are shimmying your way around the rock faces of the gorge.  It’s horizontal, not vertical.

We were the only four people on this trip, so it was just us and the guide.  We completed the “climb,” and saw the small castle at the top of the gorge, but couldn’t go in (it was closed).  Afterwards, we walked into the town so the guide (and Jacoby) could get some food.  Then we ate a picnic lunch with a view of the entire valley and the mountains beyond. 

Good time!  -And a good way to sneak in some exercise in an interesting way.

After all of this, we raced home pretty quickly, so we could check our stuff to make sure we were ready from Rome, the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by kisajaja at 3:00 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:52 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

For the 4^th of July weekend, we took another Outdoor Recreation trip, this one to Croatia.  We’ve heard some wonderful things about Croatia, and since it just isn’t that far, or that expensive, we figured why not?

The trip was very, very okay.  The weather was nice, but could have been better.  The hotel was fine, but could have been nicer.  The downtown shopping was fun, but small and not much variety.  The terrain was rugged, but not rough.  Even the coastline was fine, but not spectacular. 

The food, however, was great…

We arrived at the hotel via the ODR bus, checked in, and then decided to walk through the town.  About the only thing that we knew was going on was an evening multicultural festival featuring music, dance, and food from around the Med (and in some cases, well beyond).   So we walked around the town, did some shopping, ate dinner, and then went in search of the festival. 

It was okay.  A bit slow for my liking, but the Greeks looked like they were having fun.  We didn’t stay long.

The next morning, we had a cruise around the coastline to see, among other things, two other cities and more shopping opportunities.  The other things…apparently this part of Croatia is one big nudist colony/beach, with a minimum age/weight limit.  After a short while in each of the two cities, we took the boat back in time to catch the bus and begin the long drive home.

It doesn’t sound like much, and truthfully it wasn’t, but we did have a good time and I’m glad we went.  At the very, very least, it was one more weekend spent as a family away from home.

Posted by kisajaja at 8:49 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 2:59 PM MEST

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Ryan has a ball to attend this weekend…in Germany. We were going to make a leisurely four hour trip of it, but then he was told he had to be there by 10AM – which meant we had to leave the house by 6AM. That’s not quite so leisurely… The trip went fine until we crossed the German border and then the clouds rolled in and the rain started…aaaahhh – just like I remember.

We were looking forward to attending this event because the hotel where we would be staying offered paragliding trips and we have never done that before. We tried to sign up for it when we got to the hotel, but it was cancelled due to bad weather – so we jumped on the waiting list for the following day. It was cancelled that day too, so we put our names on the list for Sunday. Sunday turned out to be an alright day as far as German weather goes – lots of clouds hanging around but only a sprinkling of rain. After finding the field which was to be our meeting point – far harder than it sounds as we were given very poor directions by the resort staff, we rode the cable cars to the top of the mountain where we proceeded to put on all of our gear and run off the mountain. Paragliding is such a great experience. It is very peaceful, relaxed, and quiet. We had plenty of time on the descent to look around and take in all of the scenery. By the time we had both made it to the bottom it was time to start our trip back to Italy. On this trip we had gotten to visit the monastery at Ettal and walk through Partnach Gorge. Everyone always talks about how great Germany is, but I find I like it best when viewed on a postcard while I’m in a different country…

Posted by kisajaja at 8:47 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:58 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

It was a busy weekend and a four day weekend for Ryan. Jacoby’s last day of school was Thursday (June 11^th) – so Friday was officially our first day of summer. We woke up early and headed back to Cinque Terre – only this time instead of going by bus trip Ryan drove, so we could take our time and explore without feeling rushed.  We revisited each of the five towns, (It was Sabrina’s first time seeing them.) and stopped in all of the little shops, but we skipped the long part of the trail this time – the one without much of a view but with an insane amount of stairs (all leading up). At the last town, Monterosso, we wandered a bit farther than we had before and discovered the large statue of a man carved into the cliff face. Before heading home we gave the kids a chance to play around in the Mediterranean. It was cold so they only ventured in as far as their ankles. While Jacoby tried his hand at skipping stones, Sabrina and I sifted through the pebbles that had been polished by the ocean waves.

On Saturday Ryan finished up some work from the office and then we headed to the movie theater for a double feature.

Sunday morning we got up early so we could visit Lake Bled in Slovenia. Interestingly, the fastest route from Italy to this lake in Slovenia goes up and through Austria – even though Slovenia is right next to Italy. About an hour and a half into our three hour trip the GPS blinked off. Ryan pressed the power button – it came on again – and we were back in business…for about five minutes until it shut down a second time. It turns out that the power cord had not been working at all during the trip and we had now exhausted the battery supply. So, we had to get to Slovenia the old fashioned way – using maps and road signs.

Lake Bled is beautiful with very bright light blue water – not unlike the super oxygenated water of Huka Falls in New Zealand. In the middle of the lake there is an island – Slovenia’s only island. People can get to the island by either swimming to it or renting a boat. We chose to simply view it from a distance because the island is quite small and holds little more than a church. We hiked the trail all the way around the lake and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. The food was delicious and I am happy to say that pizza was nowhere on the menu. Apparently Lake Bled is known for a type of cake affectionately referred to as the million calorie cake. One of Ryan’s coworkers could not stop raving about it – nor could one of the online travel reviews of the area – so of course we had to have some. We gleefully partook of said cake and, I’m sad to say, we found it to be only average. Oh well. Back on the trail we took the path leading to the castle. The views from the top were magnificent, but I think the thing that impressed us the most was that from the top of the castle perched on the top of a large cliff, we could look down into the lake and see huge fish whose enormous size was even more evident when we compared them to the people swimming beside them. We came. We saw. We ate. We left happy. Slovenia – check.

On Monday we went back to the pet store to see if they had gotten any more rabbits in. They did not – but what they did have were baby chipmunks. Chipmunks are a lot cheaper here than they were in Germany… We are now the proud owners of a small fuzzy chipmunk named Armani (because he’s Italian and wears a little striped suit). 

Posted by kisajaja at 8:33 PM MEST

Updated: Wednesday, 1 July 2009 3:36 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

On Saturday we got up early and made our way to Outdoor Rec. We were signed up for the Via Ferrata trip. For those of you who don't know- “Via Ferrata” is Italian for “iron way” and the trip we were signed up for was something akin to rock climbing but with fixed iron cables, rungs, ladders, and bridges built into the route... a bit like rockclimbing for dummies. We arrived early and got decked out in all the requisite safety gear to check for fit, and  then we sort of stood around and waited  for the others to arrive. At some point one of the guys in charge decided to ask our names so he could cross us off his list – only to realize that we weren't on his list. Eventually, he did manage to find our names...on the list for the JULY 6TH trip and not the June 6^th trip – aparently some sort of clerical error, but enough to temporarily wipe out our plans for the day due to a limited number of ropes available for use. So, as we headed back to the Jeep with a backpack full of water, lunch stuff, spare clothes, and cookies – we were a bit bummed at the prospect of facing a whole day with nothing to do. The consensus was that we had everything we needed to spend the day somewhere; we just weren't quite sure where. So, Ryan asked for suggestions and I threw out San Marino. We had attempted this trip previously by train – before we realized there were two San Marinos, only one of which has anything worth seeing...and not the one we saw. The Republic of San Marino was just three hours down the road, so we programmed the GPS and headed south. After a few hours of driving we spotted a large mountainous region off to our right with towers and we felt pretty confident that we had found the correct one this time. We parked the car and found a trail that led up. As Ryan always says, “If up is an option...”. We followed the trail to a picnic area with a great view and had a glimpse of the third of San Marino's three towers. The third tower had a great view of the second tower – which we were able to go into and check out the different rooms and cases of old weaponry. From there we could see the first tower, which is the biggest of the three. We were allowed to enter this tower as well. I've read that on a really clear day you can see all the way to Croatia from the tower, but it was a bit too hazy for us to be able to do that. The views were still amazing. We left the tower and followed the cobblestone streets into the town which had an odd mixture of souvenir shops, liquor stores, and stores selling swords, ninja gear, and air soft weapons. San Marino is the world's smallest republic and it's oldest sovereign state, and it certainly has retained its old world charm. For an impromptu trip thrown together at the last minute, things came together beautifully and we had a fantastic day.

- Kimberly

Posted by kisajaja at 8:51 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, 9 June 2009 9:12 PM MEST

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Mood:  flirty

Okay, so as a Freshman, Jacoby couldn't really go to the Junior/Senior Prom...But having a Girlfriend that's a Senior does have its privileges...For Jen, she had a date to the Prom.  For us, it was the privilage of buying him a tuxedo, and then making him wear it for photos.  For him, it was the ability to take part in Prom '09 (including the bus ride to and from, and the buffet dinner at the event, not joking here...), and to spend more time with Jen before she goes off to College.  For Jen's parents...Well that was more torture than privilege, from what I saw.

Enjoy the pictures!

Posted by kisajaja at 10:10 PM MEST

Updated: Sunday, 31 May 2009 10:20 PM MEST

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Mood:  happy

                Hello from Italy people!  This is Sabrina, and yes I have finally made it to Italy.  Today, I get to write about our exploits over the past… yesterday.  Wow, that was all in one day.  We did a lot! 

                Okay, so about a month ago Mom signed us up to go on a trip to a ropes course.  This was supposed to take place while Dad was still out of town.  Anyway, this trip ended up being cancelled because not enough people signed up.  Apparently, not a lot of mothers felt like climbing through the trees on Mother’s Day.  We can’t explain it either.  Mom and I were bummed about it because the trip sounded like a lot of fun.  So when Dad got back and started talking about how we should do something on Memorial Day weekend Mom had a plan. 

                Yesterday we left the house around eleven o’clock to drive to one of these ropes courses.  The one that Mom in her infinite wisdom had selected happened to be called Acropark.  I really had no idea what to expect because I knew nothing about this particular ropes course.  We all piled into the Jeep while Jacoby muttered about how we were destroying his social life.  As his sister, I am entitled to find this funny.  

The drive to the Acropark deserves its own paragraph.  The first part was comparatively boring.  We drove past a lot of houses and stores.  Some of those houses were more interesting than others because they had an older European look to them.  While I am capable of appreciating the architecture of a single building I have never really found towns a fascinating study.  Things changed when we reached the mountains.  Mountains always impress me, sheer, vertical walls of green.  It’s difficult to explain.  There are so many places in Italy where it almost feels like you are in a bowl because of mountain chains so high the tops blur into a blue haze.  Dad had a lot of fun with the actual drive.  The road up the mountains had an insane number of switch backs.  These were made even more insane by the fact that motorcycles and bicycles were apparently partial to this road. Motorcyclists screamed past the cars with their knees practically scraping the ground on turns.  Whereas the bicyclists took up half of the lane forcing cars in both directions to make do with three fourths of a tiny unlined road.  Boring it was not.

We ate lunch at a small restaurant on the side of the mountain.  After managing to communicate to the proprietor that we wanted ham and cheese sandwiches we sat outside and ate them.  There wasn’t much of a view from the restaurant because it faced the road rather than the valley.  Shortly thereafter we resumed our drive.  The view on the mountains was spectacular.  There were, I’m not joking, rolling planes of wildflowers spotted with the occasional house.  It was a lot cooler in the mountains as well.  I’ll spare you more praise of the mountains and say that eventually we made it to the Acropark.  It was situated at the edge of a forest next to a huge German style building containing a restaurant and bar.  There was also a small body of water nearby that created a nice breeze.  So we get out of the car and walk around.  The sign on the ticket booth says that it will be twenty minutes until the next safety lecture which is mandatory.  So we walk into the forested area and look at these courses. 

There were four courses at this particular Acropark.  There was a green course for little kids which was only a couple of feet off of the ground.  Then, there was a blue course that was a little more challenging for slightly older kids.  Next, there was the red course which was slightly more challenging.  This was the course that we planned to do because the final course was the black course.  In order to do the black course you had to be older than eighteen and sign a waiver stating that if you managed to harm yourself it was your own fault.  Jacoby couldn’t do that one and Mom and I weren’t sure we were ready for it.

After twenty minutes had passed we walked back to the ticket stand and waited…  And there was no one there.  Now we are thinking, “Huh… that’s not good.”  We couldn’t tell if they were closed or what was going on.  With no one there to ask, we walked over to the bar, which was more like a café, and tried to ask the guy working there.  With some multilingual phrases we managed to find out that the Acropark would open at three.  We got some gelato at the bar and then we decided to drive to Asiago to search for a park that Mom and Dad had heard about.  Dad says he has written about Asiago before so I won’t say much about that.  For those of you like myself who missed that post I’ll just sum it up with: cute cheese town in the mountains.  It only took twelve minutes to drive there, but they never ended up finding the park.  Either that or they found the park but it wasn’t what they expected…  I was there, but I can’t catch everything.

We drove back to Acropark and sat about for a bit allowing Jacoby to catch up on some valuable Game Boy Advanced time.  Finally the Acropark opened for business.  We were each handed helmets and a harness.  Helmets, not a problem, the harnesses took a little figuring out.  With a few exclamations of “Alora” from the Italian course workers we all managed to get suited up.  After a quick demo we were allowed to start the course.  It was a blast!  I can’t say how high up we were because I am no good at judging distances.  All I know is that, had we fallen, we would have broken limbs.  We went across rope bridges and walked along cables; we climbed ladders and hopped from stump to stump.  We also had to traverse a series of logs suspended lengthwise by cables.  The most fun, of course, were the zip lines that connected all of these treetop obstacles.  It was pretty awesome, and had the course gone on any longer I don’t think any of us would have been disappointed. 

We finished, laughing and joking, and were getting ready to turn in our harnesses when one of the course workers told us that we hadn’t done the big zip line yet.  We all kind of looked at each other, because you were supposed to pay extra for the big zip line, but the guy told us to go ahead so we went.  This zip line had two legs.  You took off from what amounted to a dirt slope.  This was fairly ungraceful as almost everyone ended up dragging their butt along the ground before taking off.  From there the zip line led to a platform on the edge of the parking lot, and the next zip line took you across the parking lot and the water to a platform on the other side of the water.  While definitely fun it was not nearly as satisfying as doing a whole course. 

Although the rabbit project was a success our plan to see Angels and Demons was less so.  We discovered on the way to the theater that the movie was at six o’clock rather than nine as we had anticipated.  So, we settled for Chinese food in a restaurant that has a huge aquarium in the floor.  Then, we got home in just enough time for Jacoby to get in some desperate computer time before bedtime.  Fortunately, Angles and Demons is playing again today so we are going to do that shortly.

Posted by kisajaja at 4:37 PM MEST

Updated: Sunday, 24 May 2009 4:44 PM MEST

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