Palm Trees and Periwinkle

So, where to begin...  Kalee and I took the kids to Sanibel, Florida last week.  The trip started off by leaving our house at 6:30 AM to catch a flight from Kansas City to Dallas to Ft. Myers.  From there it was a 40 minute drive across town and the causeway to Sanibel Island, home of the sprawling metropolis 6,066 people.

So if you're wondering, it's true, Sanibel does have a small town feel.  One 2,000 sq-ft grocery store, 2 gas stations, and no traffic lights.


 Some call Sanibel's beaches the "shelling capitol." As a barrier island at the southern end of Pine Island Sound, Sanibel sits at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, that connects Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico.  The waters around the island are very shallow, and the current is favorable to deposit large amounts of bivalve and gastropod shells on the shore.  So what's the main thing to do on Sanibel?  Go to the Beach!

The Kids had a great time.  Sand castles, shell hunting, and splashing in the ocean where the aim of the day.  That is if we could get them out of the pool. Our kids love to swim and weren't super keen on the idea of swimming with SHARKS!  Of course there weren't any, but I did see a dolphin surface once.  Speaking of dolphins, is a Mahi-mahi a Dolphinfish or Dauphinfish (or just a Dauphin)?  Marketeers couldn't decide either so it's Durado in Latin America and Mahi-mahi every where else.  No body wants to eat Flipper!

So, on Thursday, Papa took everyone on a sight seeing cruise, officially called the Captiva  Dolphin Watching and Sunset Cruise.  We saw both, plus a manatee!





Our Manatee friend was hanging out right next to the dock at the marina.  It was a good thing that we came early to the cruise slip, or we would have missed a chance to almost touch Fred over here.  I'm calling him Fred, although he could have been a she, and we would have to call her Freddie like my 5th grade teacher.  Anyway, we could have touched him, but then we would have been arrested like that lady who got thrown in jail for "riding" one.  I'm not sure how far she rode one, because Fred here mostly didn't move at all except to catch an occasional breath.







So back to the cruise...  We did see dolphins!  Jane here and her whole pod gave us a show by jumping through the Lady Chadwick's wake.  At one time there were at least ten of these streamlined bottle nosed dolphins jumping and twisting through the air. 

I'm not sure who was getting the better show with all the work Sarah and Mike were going through trying to get a picture of the kids with Papa and Lala.  Well they did get a few pictures I guess.  And we saw the sunset too.  Just as promised, Dolphin Watching followed by Sun Setting.  What  a performance!







The next day were back to the beach for  more sand castles and salt water.  This time we we actually convinced the kids to walk out into the water, and even out to the sand bar that sits about 30 yards from the shore line.  There the water depth drops back down to about 2 feet, and through the crystal water you can see baseball sized snails sliming their way across the sand.  Disgusting or amazing depending  on how you look at it.





Best part of the trip?  A bit of the Caribbean with out leaving the US of A.  Your money spends one-to-one, gas is cheep, and most people speak your language where ever you go.  Oh, not to mention you can drink the water.

Wild Life

Wild-Life, is what we found at the Henry Doorly Wildlife Safari Park.

It took on many forms, from crazy faced kids and moms to Bald Eagles, Pelicans, Ducks, Turtles, Cranes and Elk.













Everybody had a great time.

Where else can you see all this stuff from the comfort of your car?

Made in Germany...

For one afternoon,while in Germany, Daniela and I decided we needed to do a little shopping.  So we kindly left Matt back at the hotel to take a nap.  We looked all over to find my kids the cutest little traditional German attire.  This is what we came up with.  All the while not knowing what size to buy because they use a different sizing method. It turns out they fit just right. Maybe now we will need to have our very own Oktober Fest!!

Isn't he cute!!

pretend I am not in this picture.

Our blue tongues after eating the Lebekuchen. 

Marcus and Molly with their own Lebekuchen from Daniela.

Here goes!!

Molly was more specific. She wanted a heart shape cut out of the middle of her heart shaped cookie.

Again... I cannot figure out why the pictures will not turn the right way...

...it's easier for you to turn your head!

-Kalee

Summer Fun

Marcus and Molly spent time at my parents and Kalee's parents too, while we were in Munich.  Kalee's rents put in an above ground pool this summer, just in time for all those consecutive 100+ days.  They haven't been the only ones to enjoy the pool.  Kalee's brother's kids live about 15 minutes away and get to take a dip pretty regularly.

Turns out that Marcus is learning how to hold his breath under water, and all it took was some time at Grandma Mickie's house.  He really likes the dive masks, I think because they keep the water out of his nose.  Molly prefers a more aunatural approach to swimming, and just keeps her eyes open the whole time.




Even with all the hot weather, the water was still pretty cold.  I could only stand it for a bit and then I switched to taking pictures instead.  It was fun to catch the kids as they jumped in and capture the happy looks on their faces.

Glick, Chuckie, and Rocket joined us on Sunday for some swimming fun.  Can't wait to go back.

Munich 2012!

Munich (or München to those who speak Duetch), Bavarian city of Art, Music, bicycles, beer, sausages, and pretzels.

Kalee and I arrived at Flughafen München on Sunday, July 29th.  From there we took the S8 München Bahn to Hauptbahnhof, only it doesn't stop there on Sundays.  So we blew all the way across town to Pasing, and took the S6 back.  Once we got to the central station (literal translation of Hauptbanhof) it was a two block walk to the Art Hotel, where we stayed all four nights.

That night we had fun hunting for a restaurant, because being a tourist town, Munich is closed on Sundays.  We found this cute little place, that was showing the Olympics and serving typical Bavarian food.  We weren't the only expats there and ran into an Aussie/Kiwi couple and talked about Windows 7, the Olympics, beer, and world travel.

I gave my presentation on Efficient Quasi Group Block ciphers at ICCCN Monday morning, and Daniella, Kalee's friend met us that night and we had dinner at the Hofbräuhaus that evening.  More vinegar and salt, yum!

Munich is a great city.  It is both modern and Gothic at the same time.  Much of the Gothic architecture isn't truly from that time frame though, as it was constructed in Munich's golden age in the 18th and 19th century, with a good portion coming from (Mad) Konig Lüdwig von Bayern's pocketbook.  Like the rest of Europe, turns out that imperialism was a good thing for the pocket book and with Lüdy being from Bayern (Bavaria to us Englush) Munich prospered too.

I mean where else can you surf 450 km from the sea.

As a tourist town, there was a lot of shopping, and Munich is an art city, has been for a while.  We visited the Alte Pinakothek, which has the largest collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings in the world.  So whether you're looking for a pair of 12€ jersey jini pants, or multimillion dollar 14th century art, it's the place to go.  Not to mention the weather was awesome.  Highs of about 24 every day, sunny and no rain.

Arruh, avast ye matys.  'Twas a wonders event, to be all told.  By the spirits of the see, a celebration of the quite proximate annular completion of the cosmic sailors Macrus Jamos and Molly Elizabet.  Fur three and five long years these scallywags have strode upon the waves of the cosmos in search of hidden treasure.  Congratulate them on their magnanimous achievements!

Oh ya, and I got to wear some face paint, to look like one of those crazy Frogs.