Istanbul, not Constantinople.

Next weekend stop....Istanbul, Turkey.

Where we were joined by family, Josh's dad, Rick, and my mom, Linda. Can you see how happy Josh and Maddie are to have their best friends visit? :o)

Our first night, we walked down to a square and ate all kinds of yumminess. It was surreal to keep passing the hundreds of mosques everywhere and to hear the the call to prayer five times a day. It is so loud and you can hear it all over the city.

Maddie was so happy that her Grandma was there that they slept in the same kid bed, where they were giggling and whispering late into the night.

Maddie was all about the local dress:

Dinner with my cousins Kim & Lee. Kim works for the U.S. Consulate's office in Istanbul, so going to visit her was just enough of an excuse to go all the way to Turkey. :o)

Shopping:

River Tour Cruise:

Maddie swimming in our hotel pool, which looks like a palace.

Riding in the back of a sweaty cab, hoping you won't die because the traffic is horrible and there aren't enough seatbelts to go around.

Enjoying the local cuisine:

Touring one of the Mosques:

Touring the palace of the Ottoman Emperors:

Touring the palace's "harem."

Our last night in Turkey:

The airport in Turkey was probably my least favorite time of our trip. Apparently, lines and manners and air conditioning are not a world wide custom.

Switzerland - Our Motherland

Both mine and Josh's ancestors are from Switzerland. (In fact, one of our great, great, great, great grandpas is the same guy - Johannes Reber. I know. Gross.) So for our first weekend, I got to see that beautiful country for the first time.

Maddie en route to Switzerland with her new Swiss doll. Oh, how I love iPads and iPods. Traveling without them with a child would have been a LOT harder! In fact, it turns out that Maddie is by far a better, more pleasant traveller than me. :o)

Maddie was greeted at the train station by a goat who was in love with her.

One of my memories of Switzerland is that it is a country of trains. We took trains, trains, and more trains everywhere we went.

Here we are at the very highest point of the Alps and Europe. Maddie loved all the snow.

And she loved the "ice palace" which was a huge house made out of ice. She made us call her the "ice princess" and kept saying, "I wish we could live here." I, on the other hand, was freezing cold and couldn't wait to get outta there.

We got to walk through little Swiss towns that epitomize the word "quaint."

We got to ride these ski-lift-type-things to the tops of the alps....

....and hike around. Josh was terrified when he took this picture, but neither Maddie or I are afraid of heights. We were loving it.

Here was our beautiful hotel. Fourth floor, no elevator. There are no elevators anywhere in Europe. I've now got buns of steel. :o)

A Day in the Life of living in Salzburg

The beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria.

Maddie came to visit me at my classroom.

Maddie exploring the town.

Daddy daughter date to the underground salt mines & alpine slide.

Playing horseshoes.

Eating spaghetti at our favorite restaurant.

Having fun at a park.

And another park.

Hellbrunn Palace has a garden of "trick fountains" that squirt you unexpectedly. It was Maddie's favorite place in all of Europe.

We had to play an insane amount of "thumb war" games with Maddie to keep her entertained on trains, planes, and at laundromats. She has become really good and has a freakishly strong little thumb.

Maddie became an expert of Salzburg quickly, and knew exactly how to get everywhere we needed to go. And the people at the restaurants and shops that we frequented knew her and asked about her and loved her. How could they not? She is cute.

This is the ugly fake dog we bought the day before we left for Austria, and she insisted that it come with us.....everywhere. She drug this thing through airports and city streets and insisted that it is real and named "Isabella" or "Izzy" for short. It is annoying when you are trying to pack lightly....