On Patmos

So, just an update from Rodos, we had to pay for a couple of lemonades to use the internet at the internet cafe...too bad we didn't ask how much those would cost before hand. 10 Euros for the internet use is quite spendy. the reality is that if we worked out the time + the drinks it was cheaper than using the internet on the ship.

We had an early morning this morning because we arrived at Patmos at 6:30 am and the last tender back to the ship is at 9:30 am...meaning just about 3 hours at this island. Since we decided not to do a tour, we were one of the first off the ship, the first to get a cab, making us the first tourists to arrive at the Grotto- the cave where John the apostle wrote Revelations. It was very interesting because they have now build a monastery on top of the cave and they use the cave as the place where they do worshiping ceremonies. There was one in progress so we stayed and watched for a while. Then we went up to the monastery on the hill that was built in honor of John and walked around. Now it is time for us to depart, so we sign off for now.

Thank you family for getting us information on parents and Corban. We are now at ease knowing he is enjoying strawberries, watering plants and "having a ball!"

Rhodes (Rodos)

i am posting this blog from old town in Rhodes right now. we climbed to the acropolis of Lindos and spent some time up top where there were fortifications were built over the originals. the temple of athena is still there. amazing that these structures have been around since the 11th century B.C. we have seen the palace of the grand master, walked the best preserved mideval streets, spent the morning in Lindos, and did this all with a guide. his name is Dimitris, which is greek for Jimmy. he was awesome, he is a local and shared a lot of information about the land, history and the culture. we loved it.

i am loving Greece. i am not normally a sight seeing type of person, but i think that this has been my favorite sight seeing trip that i have ever been on. if you love sight seeing you will love it, if you don't you will love it...either way the culture here is wonderful, the country beautiful and the food is amazing. it would be a fun place to live...although you would have to learn greek. you can get by with english and even some spanish, but i get frustrated sometimes with the misunderstandings.

we really miss Corban. don't get me wrong, having this time together is awesome and we are having a lot of fun and laughs and whatnot...but we miss our little boy. we are also finding it impossible to get in contact with Ron and Kathy! R&K if you are reading this check your email...or just email us at jandacrane@gmail.com. if you are reading this and can call R&K please call them and tell them to check emails and send us one.

we really want to post some pictures while we are here, but cannot at the moment. we will as soon as we get the opportunity.

If you pay a Euro

You want to get all you can for your money. We went to an Internet Cafe (1 Euro for 1-15 minutes) to check my email because I have no contact with my mom and dad since we don't know how to use their phone. When trying to unlock the phone, we ended up putting it into another mode that you can't even try the password anymore. YIKES! Anyway, they have not checked their email today, so I didn't have an answer on how to use the phone or whether or not Corban is okay. I am sure he is having a fabulous time with grandma, but this is the first time mom and dad have left the little one.

So we have embarked on a 3 day cruise. I must say that the ship itself is leaves a lot to be desired- Aquamarine doesn't really compare to Freedom of the Seas. However, when you look at the price difference (FREE for Aquamarine...because we have fabulous parents), it is expected. Thus far we have seen our room, picked up a blow dryer, opted out of the standard 80 Euros a day for gratuity, and eaten in a buffet that we probably won't go back to. After that, some time in the room gave us rest before arriving at MYKONOS.

This really is a lovely Island off Greece. Wish I could upload photos for you. The streets are enchanting with cobblestone streets and ALL the buildings are concrete-white stucco, with colored trim (mostly sea blue in color). We are off to hopefully find Little Venice, get some pictures of the sunset, and then we board the boat again.

Well my time it up, but I have got to say that 1 Euro for 1-15 minutes beats the 1 Euro per minute on the ship!

We love you all!

Procrastination

I am avoiding packing our bags for Greece. We are pretty much ready, with all our stuff sitting just outside of the suit cases. All that needs to happen is someone needs to put the stuff into the bags. I make it sound like I am not ecstatic to go, but I am. I am just not as ecstatic about the long flight we have tomorrow. I am praying Corban will find it enjoyable :)

Here are some pictures to tell our tale of the past 2 weeks:


Two Wednesday's ago Corban got really sick. Though it isn't fun to have your child hurt, it is really nice to be able to just lay around with him all snugly-like. I love pictures of these two sleeping together!

Even Nika got in the fun of lounging around.
One of Corban's favorite things to do is put this bucket on his head and walk around. It is hilarious because he looks like an alien. I am sorry I don't have a better picture.
Jared cut out our hot tub so we could build and plant a garden. This happened last weekend.
We had a baby shower for Jamie Heusser at our house. There were more children than adults, so we fixed up the backyard for them. Jared built the beautiful sturdy fence in the background on the evening we decided to move the shower to our house due to a bee infestation at Kim Garcia's. What a husband! It is times like these, at a moment’s notice, that it is such a blessing to have a husband that is a handy man...in more ways than one. The day of the shower he watched all the kids!
This was a picture of only a few of the kids that played in the yard while we women enjoyed getting to know Jamie. Aren't they adorable! They could all be little farm animals in our corral. You need to take note of the sink in this picture compared to the previous picture. Somewhere along the way the original faucet got a clog that wasn't repairable. So Jared rigged up this high class faucet- 2 spouts with twice the power. There were kids surrounding the sink the entire afternoon. Another reason why my husband is amazing!
He is just enjoying our view.
A new game Jared and Corban like to play. Corban brings the ball to daddy…
And daddy throws it high up in the air. Corban goes and gets it and the game goes on and on.
Still enjoying the view. That's mommy at about 28 weeks (6 1/2 months for those who don't like to do the math).
Corban surprised me with this new trick he can do at the fence. We were gardening on the other side so he wanted to join us.
And this is what we accomplished this weekend- garden fully planted! And now Christine Done will tend it while I am away for 3 weeks. Looking forward to telling you all about our travels in Greece!