The Adventures of Cheddar

What they don't tell you

2011-04-21T08:11:00.004-06:00

Nobody warns you how hard it is to watch your child turn one year old. They don't tell you how crippled you feel when you realize that the day is here and there's nothing you can do to pause time. Depressing.

We considered warning Sara and Scott about little Ada turning one. Then we thought, they have so much to look forward to. In those mere 5 months before Ada turns one, she will learn to hug and kiss, crawl and feed herself. While it's sad that Kyra has outgrown the fragility that Ada currently has, it's so exciting and wonderful to experience her ever-growing personality and skill set. Watching her learn and change just makes us more curious to find out who she will become.

So yes, you can't pause time, but you also can't speed it up. Maybe we'll just enjoy our little one year old. She is pretty great!

Sun Yea, Sand Nay - Take Two

2011-04-15T18:27:00.000-06:00

Even though we had just vacationed in Mexico only several weeks prior, a trip to Florida was exactly what we needed. Work was overly stressful and with an upcoming major bathroom remodel, it was a well planned break before our lives would turn upside down.

We flew down to Ft. Myers to celebrate my dad's birthday. The only downside to the flight was that we didn't get the star treatment we received on our Mexico vacation. (What's up, Humphrey terminal??) While my dad may not have been too excited about turning 60, the rest of us were thrilled.

The sun, water and relaxation were marvelous! We stayed in next door two-bedroom condos on the beach. Kyra was a fabulous eater down south and devoured whole bananas and strawberries like she was an adult. We tried giving Kyra a second introduction to the sand but she remembered the "horrors" or Mexico. Being the brave girl that she is, she did take a chance to play in the ocean. Most of our time was spent swimming in the pool, walking along the vast beach and having dance parties in the living room. Kyra and Ada were adorable together. Watching them be so loving was incredible...and hysterical (photos pending).

Thanks, Dad! Can you turn 60 again next year?

Sun Yea, Sand Nay

2011-02-19T18:43:00.011-06:00

Sara, Scott, Ada, Jennifer and the three of us all took a trip to Mexico to savor the sun and enjoy pina coladas on the beach. Our minds had wavered between considering the excursion with infants to be a great and crazy idea. Although seeing a babies passport is oh so cute. Packing took days, if not weeks. Many thanks to Florie and other girlfriends for providing advice on what to bring. Our packing list was so huge (and of course so incredibly organized) it was considered a "disorder". No matter, it helped!

First thing to note, bring a stroller. Having a stroller was the golden key at the airport. We got through security in a snap, jumped ahead of everyone at check-in and breezed through customs. Kyra was wonderful on the plane. She only napped 30 minutes the whole first day, but didn't whine, cry or disturb other passengers.

Clouds lingered through our first full day but not all was lost because we got to see Sara, Scott and little Ada! It also allowed everyone to adjust to a new rhythm. We spent our days lounging by the pool and ocean, well mostly the pool since it turns out Kyra is terrified of sand (her feet curl up against her bottom at the sight of it). The girls napped in our arms while we lounged under umbrellas. Swimming, eating, and drinking filled our afternoons.

Come dinnertime, we ran into some issues. The hotel had promised us adjoining rooms which they did not follow through on, not even with an apology. We were forced to split up at night since dinner was only served after the girls bedtimes and attempts at extending their day had failed. It was still delicious and with good company.

Valentine's Day Kyra gave both Rebecca and Trevor a treat. Rebecca learned that swim diapers really don't hold anything in as she felt a stream of pee while holding Kyra. Trevor learned that you should always carry an extra pair of clothes with you in case your daughter takes a dump so large it overflows her diaper and leaves a pile of crap in your lap (literally). While these weren't the gifts a parent savors on Valentine's Day, they were quite hilarious.

Overall, we learned a lot on the trip, had tons of fun, and got much needed relaxation and warm weather. Watching Kyra and Ada hold hands on their own accord was beyond touching. While we won't be visiting the exact location again, we will be making the trip annually. And we guarantee you will find us stepping up to the front of all lines since we'll be toting the stroller along, at least until Kyra is 12 years old.

Dear Clothing Manufacturers

2011-01-05T11:16:00.003-06:00

Please sync your sizes!

Why must a Gerber 9-12 equate to a Gap 3-6 which is the same as a Carter 6 month or 9 month, depending?

It should only take a cloth ruler and not a PhD to figure this out.

Thank you,

Kyra's stylist

Happiness versus Fulfillment

2010-10-06T12:31:00.000-06:00

A friend recently told me of a survey conducted between adults with kids and adults without kids. Adults without kids consistently ranked happier than adults with kids. So why do we want kids?

If I were to rank my happiness before and after having Kyra, I would align with the masses. What I realized is the decline in pure happiness is made up for by the extreme sense of fulfillment. Watching my daughter learn and grow is the most satisfying reward a person can experience.

Sitting on the couch watching reruns from the week and drinking an IPA on a Friday night does not sound like a night worth looking forward to. Yet as a parent, I sit there and know my child is sleeping soundly in her crib and am extremely satisfied. I now look forward to an early Saturday morning wake up call. While getting up at 6am does not make me happy, I'm completely fulfilled hearing her giggle with her dad.

Is it a cliche if it's true?

2010-06-30T13:01:00.006-06:00

Parenting is the hardest and most rewarding experience....Your life completely changes....Priorities shift....Sleep is a luxury....You will do anything for your child. These cliches are the best way to describe parenthood but somehow don't even begin to describe it or prepare you.

Maternity leave would be just like summer vacation. We would take walks every day, visit friends, go shopping, do yoga, be BWE, read! I had a very idealistic view of my time off. It's amazing how little you can accomplish in day with a newborn. That was probably the hardest lesson. Every day I had to remind myself of my new priorities: Kyra, eat, sleep, Cheddar, then everything else. Now and again something, usually sleep, would be set aside to indulge in my fanciful version of life in order to maintain my own sanity.

Now that the time is almost over, I feel satisfied with where we are and what we've achieved. But mostly I feel sad and terrified that I don't get to be bothered every three hours for a feeding and diaper change. How am I going to live without seeing Kyra smile as she falls asleep or pout when she gets hungry or struggle through her developing digestive system? We'll have to wait and see...

Unbelievable

2010-04-24T12:13:00.005-06:00

Looking back, we made many poor choices. In our defense, we were ignorant. The insane events and emotion can not be described in full.

It started Monday night with minor, irregular contractions. Our last appointment was Friday afternoon with no progress which led us to believe it was only Braxton Hicks. By 6am, the contractions were short but more frequent. The on-call doctor figured it was nothing but advised to stay home from work. Rebecca's mom came by to help keep track of timing, just in case. We made an appointment to see the doctor which would help us determine if Trevor should come home from his work trip in Bismarck. A hospital bag was thrown together and we were on our way. By 10:45am the doctor determined Rebecca was already at 6cm and should go to the hospital immediately.

This is not happening. Trevor, come home now!

The epidural was administered and everything progressed much faster than expected. There was no way to delay. Meanwhile, Trevor cruised along at top speeds trying to get back to the hospital. Thanks to a gas station under repair the car ran out of gas. Trevor found someone to give him a ride to get a gallon from the nearby co-op which would get him to the next gas station and eventually to Fargo to meet a private prop plane to cut the final three and a half hours down to one.

Even though we weren't physically together for the birth of Kyra, Trevor encouraged Rebecca via bluetooth and was able to hear the first cries of our new daughter. Even though in the moment the situation was less than desired, being together with this little bundle of joy somehow makes us forget how we got here.

Moving On

2010-04-02T13:56:00.005-06:00

As stress relieving as the closing was, it was also quite bittersweet. Saying goodbye to Wentworth was more emotional than expected. Maybe it's because we're not just leaving the house, but an era.

Things we will miss:

Dark wood
Two and a half car garage
Fully fenced in back yard
Front porch
Bathroom space and storage
Claw-foot tub
Electrical where you want it

Luckily, most of the list above can be added to our new house. And knowing us, it'll just take time...

Thanks to all for the love and support you have shown through the years, and especially the past few months!

San Diego

2010-02-11T20:54:00.005-06:00

A cold spell fell onto Minnesota a few weeks ago. It wasn't just Minnesota; other typically warm states were hit as well. At the time, the hottest location in the United States was San Diego, CA. With the help of frequent flier miles and Hotwire, we had a long weekend booked in no time.

The trip was off to a great start (after the usual Delta delay). We had a "stolen" Reese's cup in hand, Thai in our bellies and sandals on. Strolling along Mission Bay was exactly what we needed. For dinner we hopped into the Volkswagen bus at Hodad's on Ocean Beach for burgers and milkshakes. The next day we walked all around the San Diego zoo and Balboa Park. We drove downtown for tapas in the Gas Lamp district. There was a big event scheduled around Mission Bay Saturday so we decided to head up north and hike around Torrey Pines. Unfortunately it rained a lot that morning, but we made the most of it, along with the surfers outside of La Jolla. It cleared up in the afternoon and we were able to see seals lounging on the beach. We stopped by a coffee shop in Corando for our customary Eastern European early evening. Trevor had his typical beer and coffee while Rebecca substituted her Rum for a peanut butter cookie. By evening, we found our way to El Indio and the rest of the Uptown area. Our last full day was spent with brunch in Mission Beach along with a walk in the sun. Then onto Point Loma to see the tide pools and have a late seafood lunch. We treated ourselves to cake and ice cream at Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy. Then ended the trip with a walk around Old Town and along Ocean Beach before heading to the airport (and another Delta delay).

B.A.

2010-01-31T21:10:00.002-06:00

With all the house activity, we've let the pregnancy progress without much concern. Now that there's only one more trimester left, focus has changed. Maternity clothes have been purchased/borrowed, registering is (almost) complete and the nursery is ready for painting.

We've been lucky and Baby Axner is checking in as "normal" at every appointment. The ultrasound in late December was such a surreal and thrilling experience. Check out our photo albums to see little B.A. at 6 and 20 weeks.

We're getting excited!

Summoned

2009-11-17T09:20:00.002-06:00

I was recently summoned to jury duty in Hennepin County. If you talked to me throughout the week, you would have heard me complain, whine and roll my eyes.

I admit, I was planning on never being needed for jury duty so I opted for call-in status. Sunday night I had my first sigh of relief. By Monday afternoon they already needed me. I had trouble getting downtown, finding parking and following the signs to the assembly room and office. There was a lengthy "orientation" followed immediately by two requests for juries. My name was called for the second request.

It took a full day for jury selection. The process was long and drawn out. A lot of time was wasted hanging out in the hallway. After all the questioning, the lawyers decided my opinion was necessary. Over the next two days we listened to instructions, opening statements, witnesses and finally closing arguments. It felt like a LONG time. In actuality, we were only in the courtroom for about 5 hours.

We spent a few hours on our last day deliberating. It was an interesting discussion where I'm sure everyone learned something. After the verdict was announced, the judge asked to meet with us to get feedback. This small gesture added so much to the process that I was swayed to think it was overall a great experience! Plus, you can't beat the $10/day, not including mileage even though I took the bus.

10 blocks west

2009-10-15T07:17:00.005-06:00

After looking through almost 100 houses in two months, we found our future home. As of today we are the proud owners of a house just 10 blocks west of where we currently live. The location is beyond perfect for us. It's our style with old wood floors, built-ins, a fireplace and multiple sunrooms. The kitchen is big, the basement is unfinished and there's potential for a third floor expansion. While it's move-in ready, we won't be packing up until after we sell our current house. Instead, we'll take the time to make the house ours with various electrical and paint projects. It's exciting and scary to see all the potential the house has and to know it's just a matter of getting it done. Luckily we have many years ahead of us!

This house-buying experience vastly contrasted to our last house purchase. The market was quite a bit different six years ago. The day our house was put on the market, we walked through and within hours put in our final offer (above asking price due to multiple offers). What a whirlwind! Without the pressure this time around, we saw the house a few times before deciding it could be our future home. Negotiations were settled upon and today we closed. We feel very lucky in both cases to find such beautiful properties. Now we just have to unload the first one!

For anyone interested, check out www.4618wentworth.com!

Hooplas, Camping and more

2009-09-08T12:37:00.007-06:00

It is so convenient that Trevor's 30th birthday fell smack in the middle of Labor Day weekend. Thanks to summer hours and flex time, we were both able to take Friday off without using a vacation day. To start things off right, we headed to the State Fair to indulge in fried goodness. The day began with a blackberry milk shake at the Dairy Building, as close as you can get to our daily smoothie. We met up with family to check out our pickles on display. After 5 hours, our bellies were filled with corn on the cob, cheese curds, turkey sandwiches, pronto pups, fried pickles and cookies. Even though the food was spectacular, the best part of the day was the Giant Slide. You really can't beat six adults racing down on burlap sacks!(Pictured left to right: Sam, Sara, Scott, Jennifer, Rebecca, Trevor)

After a short recovery nap, we got the party started. Trevor's favorite people made it over to celebrate the big day. A bonfire, dance party and wrestling match with a gigantic monkey helped make the event a success. Thanks to all who participated - this was the first party that ended with less alcohol than started. We really appreciate it!

The festivities continued with a family lunch at French Meadow, another recovery nap, and a trip to Nerstrand Big Woods camp sites. We got a walk-in site, which was great. Ted Cooks was on the menu along with essential s'mores, gourmet style. Cheddar was a huge ~~disturbance~~ protector and fended off the evil wind/squirrels by his growling. After camping, the Friedpeople had to return to Chicago. But we continued celebrating with a romantic dinner at Solera, a walk to the Hennepin bridge and a movie in the theater (The Hangover - highly recommended)!

Last up was a barbeque in the park on Monday. Many yard games were played, including mega-golf, bocce ball, and speedminton. All of which Trevor (surprisingly) won. That's what happens when you turn 30!

Mt. Waverley

2009-08-31T10:49:00.003-06:00

How does a 15 hour flight trump a 3.5 hour flight? The DC777-200LR. My biggest learning from my recent trip to Australia is that traveling BusinessElite is definitely the way to go. Not only does your seat fully recline, the food, drinks and service are better, but you also get to use the express lanes through customs! I might not be home if it weren't for the BreezeWay (tm).

We had a day and a half of free time before starting work Monday morning. After getting settled into our apartment, we took a stroll into the town of Glen Waverley. On the small street, there were multiple Asian restaurants and grocery stores. We filled ourselves with Thai and bought our first round of groceries. We took the 30 minute MetLink into Melbourne for some quick site seeing. After strolling the Yarra river and nearby botanical gardens, we walked through the city and found a restaurant in South Gate. I tried char-grilled kangaroo, it was good. Sunday we drove to Dandendong National Park, did some hiking and tasted wine at a wonderful little winery. The rest of the week was spent at the plant or at our apartment. I won't bore you with those details. Thursday night the team took us to the sea for dinner and dessert. It was beautiful!

Though my time was quick, it definitely gave me a view into the country and intensified my desire to explore further. Now I just need to figure out how to get another BuinessElite ticket!

Bled and Beyond

2009-06-29T19:19:00.004-06:00

The town of Bled sits adjacent to a shining blue lake with a church on an island and a clifftop castle. Nothing gets more picturesque, especially with the Julian Alps in the background. You can't help but be relaxed surrounded by such beauty. We arrived mid-morning and spent the day in the town walking up the cliff and around lake. Again the weather was not very cooperative, but certainly didn't keep us indoors. It was easy to convince Scott to join in our afternoon ritual of coffee and beers. We also introduced him to the delicious Bosnian meat, cevapcici. With a great night under our belts, we took the next day to explore the national park. We visited both Bohinj Lake and a nearby waterfall before lunch. Then we drove back to Vintnar Gorge with it's crushing rapids and winding wooden paths and bridges. Both were sights to be seen! We spent our last evening with pizza and wine on the balcony with cards.

We are currently home after a quick jaunt in Amsterdam. The trip has been incredible and we thank everyone at home who helped us take this journey. We feel so lucky to have been able to explore such beautiful countries for so long. It is highly recommended!

The city we can't spell or pronounce

2009-06-29T19:06:00.004-06:00

After a morning drive and train ride, we arrived in Ljubljana mid-afternoon. It was raining so we opted for a taxi to bring us and our luggage to our hotel, a huge splurge. After getting settled, we walked four blocks to try and find Scott at his hotel. We found out he was off spelunking a nearby cave so we hunkered down out of the rain for our afternoon beer and coffee. We were able to find a cafe with dark beer on tap where we relaxed until meeting Scott for dinner. The next day we visited the castle on the hill. Trevor led a wonderful walking tour through the city checking out various sites. Our dinner that night was one of the best through the trip. It was just off the beaten path serving local cuisine. Ljubljana was a cute city with an old town filled with new shops. It had less hustle and bustle than the rest of our trip, but we think it was because of the weather.

Plitvice Lakes

2009-06-24T04:15:00.004-06:00

The weather has gone from perfect to not so much. The rain and mist have become never-ending, but our smiles continued thanks to Plitvice Lakes. The national park is a series of lakes connected by ever changing waterfalls. The paths wind through the park over the water with a natural feel. We spent hours walking up and down the various elevations awed by the beauty in all directions. The water is crystal clear and filled with hundreds of trout, probably because there is no fishing or swimming allowed within the park. It is nothing like anything we have ever seen before, and highly recommended!

The Adriatic Islands

2009-06-21T07:49:00.004-06:00

Our first stop was on the island of Korcula for two nights. The bus ride over was much better than the one to Dubrovnik. It was air conditioned and we got to ride a bus ferry - so exciting!! The island is quite a bit like a miniature Dubrovnik, but more peaceful and quaint. The old town is surrounded by walls and a beautiful promenade that we took advantage of for afternoon coffees and drinks. The pine trees hang over us and the water creating a gorgeous view. Most of our time was spent strolling the city, shopping and swimming off the rocks.
Next we took an early morning catamaran to Hvar, known as the party island. Mostly because it is a port town that attracts yachts and mega-yachts. We saw one with four levels, a crane and a full staff. We had three nights to occupy. Our room had a balcony overlooking the sea, beautiful as always. The first day was filled with relaxing on the rocks, swimming, shopping, hiking to the castle and wine. Unfortunately when we went to watch the sunset, we encountered a fight with a man beating another man with a rock in the head. It was VERY disturbing, but the sunset helped calm us. The second day we took an excurison to Vis which included a trip to the green cave and blue cave. Wow - the blue cave was awesome! It just glowed. Our last full day we ended up taking a water taxi to one of the Palenki islands, Palmasana. This was yet another peaceful island where we got the best mussels and finally a good, dark Croatian beer, mmmm!

Currently we are off the islands in the city of Split. We took full advantage of our time so far and visited the Diocleatian Palace, a Chagall exhibit and a great lunch. Tomorrow we are driving off to Plitvice Lakes for our last night in Croatia.

Dubrovnik

2009-06-15T05:59:00.005-06:00

The bus ride from Mostar to Dubrovnik took longer than expected due to the multiple passport control stops (Bosnia to Croatia, Croatia to Bosnia and Bosnia to Croatia again). Old Town is huge and magnificent! Enclosed by towering walls and marble floors, the walk around the city walls has been the highlight of the trip. Our first full day was spent on the neighboring island of Lokrum, a national park. It was far more secluded than the busy streets of the Old City (especially with the overload of cruise shippers). The island is full of rocks to sunbathe, Adriatic water to cool off in and trails of pine trees everywhere. It also had the added bonus of no smoking on the island, excellent. We rented a car on the second day and drove to Montenegro. The freedom of hitting the curvy seaside roads and exploring Kotor and Saint Stefan was marvelous. Today is our last day in Dubrovnik. We found some hidden rocks outside the walls of the Old City with deep water to splash in. The pictures will not do justice of the beauty surrounding us. We are excited to head to the next couple islands as we explore the coast.

Thanks for keeping up with us, and as always, we would love to hear how everyone is back home.

A Minute in Mostar

2009-06-15T05:54:00.005-06:00

We got to Mostar earlier than expected but the ride through the mountains was gorgeous (of course Rebecca slept through half of it). It reminded us a little of Sweetbriar with the green hills and river below. We stayed outside of Mostar's Old Town, small and quaint. The Old Bridge, Stari Most, was quite a sight and we were able to catch a guy jump off the 70 feet! The river is beautiful, ice cold, we could barely keep our toes in, probably as cold as the Kawishiwi in May. We tried the local wine...interesting. Our highlight was finding a rooftop terrace and watching the sunset.

The Valley of Sarajevo

2009-06-10T13:37:00.006-06:00

We are wrapping up our time in Sarajevo before a day in Mostar and then on to Croatia. The city is not at all what we expected (not sure what that was though). It is nestled in a green valley with a fabulous Old Town next to a river. Originally we had a trek planned, but it ended up getting cancelled last minute. No worries, even though it would have been beautiful, we created our own voyage. With much help from a local taxi driver (who spoke no English), a foreign announcement was made on the loud speakers of a bus directing us toward our stop. It was a gorgeous view of the town and surrounding hillside. Other than our spontaneous non-trek, we have filled up on loads of meat. Yep pretty much just meat, mostly seasoned ground beef, lamb, or both. Delicious and incredibly filling!

Architecture of Budapest

2009-06-08T10:10:00.003-06:00

It is our last night in Budapest and have loved every minute of it. The first day we spent our time in Buda on Castle Hill which had beautiful views of the Chain Bridge and all of Pest. It rained a lot! Being unprepared for the rain didn't stop us from walking all over, sopping. We even made it back over to Pest and saw Parliament, which was gorgeous. In the evening we went to see Romeo and Juliet ballet at the opera. Unfortunately our seats were so good we only saw half of it. For dinner we sat outside wrapped in blankets and had their famous paprika chicken. Jet lag kept us in bed longer than expected until we jumped up and went to the market and Vaci Utca. Following shopping, we relaxed in the Szechenyi baths. They were extraordinary, except that Rebecca got locked in a bathroom stall which was completely traumatizing. We walked back along Andrassy street and marveled at all the gorgeous buildings. All in all, the goulash, gelato and beer are superb and the buildings of Budapest are worth the journey alone.

Note: We think we saw Luke Wilson at the Heathrow Airport.

The Fabulousness of Turning 30

2009-03-02T17:30:00.011-06:00

It took awhile to get here but I made it to 30 years. As the momentus occasion approached, I never felt any fear or had a problem with the age. I really thought it wouldn't be any different than years past. Overall, I still feel I'm right. Although over the past week, nothing could have been better. Trevor was BHE and treated me as a queen. (Saturday) It all started at the Bulldog NE for a lively dinner with 17 friends. We divulged in Belgians, burgers and cupcakes. The night progressed down the street at Nye's with jag bombs and more friends. Despite the snow enduced towings, it was fun for all! (Sunday) To help Sybil celebrate her birthday as well, we had delicious greek cuisine at the Med Cruise Cafe. (Monday) The big day was spent with free yoga and fondue at the Melting Pot. (Tuesday) Trevor seared ahi tuna after our massages. (Thursday) More snow fell but we were able to make it to my parents house for my traditional birthday lamb dinner. The festivities continued in Wisconsin for a weekend away from the cities. Jennifer, Trevor and I met Sara and Scott at a secluded cabin. There was delicious meals encompanied by cookie cake, martinis and presents. We opted for snowboarding at Cascade Mountain for most of the day Saturday. We skipped the lesson but thoroughly enjoyed tumbling down the slopes and off the lift gracefully. It was quite wearing, but completely worth it! Luckily we had a hot tub to soak away our pain. Spending the weekend with my favorite people was the perfect end to a perfect celebration.

Christmas in January

2009-01-28T10:20:00.005-06:00

Instead of a typical holiday season with mounds of presents, we decided to limit the gifts and book a trip to Mexico. What an excellent decision! We spent four nights at the Hyatt Regency in Cancun. The weather was gorgeous!

It's amazing how easy it is to get out of bed when the sun is shining and you don't have to go to work. Every morning we rose early to catch some rays before filling up at the free breakfast buffet. Once the sun wore us out, we took a stroll in the city for guac, quesadillas and cervezas. Then it was back to our balcony for games before heading to dinner and calling it a day.

It was time well spent swimming in the ocean, reading in the sun and ordering drinks at the swim-up bar. I love Christmas!

History is made

2009-01-20T14:06:00.003-06:00

Today Barack Obama became the President of the United States of America. Goosebumps rise whenever I think about the signficance of the day. We have been waiting for this change for too long. I have an overwhelming sense of hope and I am proud to be an American!

Today should be a National Holiday.

Benefits of a small pooch

2008-12-04T10:53:00.005-06:00

Cheddar had a rough start to the week. He threw up 1-2 times daily until we took him to the vet. Like all dogs, Cheddar HATES the vet. Even while there are no doctors in the room, he wiggles around on the examination table impatiently. This time he was only forced to get his temperature checked (mind you it was via his behind). They prescribed wet food and a medication like pepcid for a week. He's already much better.

On the way home, we looked over the bill and saw they only prescribed 2 pills to him. That's because he's so small he only has to take 1/4 of a pill per day!

Let your voice be heard

2008-11-04T12:04:00.011-06:00

Vote!

Cabintastic

2008-10-26T18:46:00.000-06:00

Once the bugs die off and the river warms, we spend more time up north at the cabin. We started the season off with a weekend trip to join Autumn, MacKenzie and the rest of the Axner/Wyckoff crew. A visit by a bat in the wood stove led us to tell fun ghost stories. Our next trip was a combination of visiting the Engels at Aspen Lodge and trip into the BWCA. It was the first time Cheddar ventured onto canoe waters. The paddle into camp was sunny and trouble free, perfect. On the way back, the wind picked up and Cheddar decided to jump ship. Luckily he was hooked into his life jacket for easy recovery. Aspen Lodge was filled with our usual skinny dip, cribbage and good food.

After two family trips, we took a bunch of friends up with us for the weekend. We spent our time playing lots of games while the dogs ran wild. Lastly, we had a chill weekend with the Becketts. With cold weather approaching, we cuddled up near the fire for some much needed relaxation.

The Circle of Life

2008-10-21T17:53:00.005-06:00

Over the past couple of months, Rebecca's Nana and Trevor's Grandpa Jim passed away. Even though both grandparents led long and fulfilling lives, it was hard to say goodbye. Dealing with death prompted thoughts of getting old and the next stage of our life. As difficult as it is to move on, it's comforting to know that these changes also bring new, wonderful people into the world.

Here's to all our friends and family with new additions and to our grandparents for reminding us to cherish every part of life.

Sweet Sweet Sweetbriar

2008-07-30T14:49:00.009-06:00

Our good friend Casey has a cabin in northern California on the Sacramento river. This was our second visit to this picturesque retreat. Sweetbriar consists of a series of old family cabins nestled along a fish filled, rapid paced, cold water river just south of Mount Shasta. Most of the week was spent lounging riverside and eating good food. We ate, showered, slept and played outdoors. With such beautiful trees and mountains surrounding us, it is the perfect vacation.

Our crew consisted of Casey, Tina, Sean, Becky, and Ben. Casey's parents joined us for a portion of the trip as well. They were extremely generous with delicious home-cooked dinners. Beyond swimming and tubing in the river near the cabin, we also took a couple half-day trips. Due to the haze from the nearby fires, we took one afternoon to shop around Mt. Shasta city where Rebecca picked up some great earrings and clothes.

Once the haze cleared, we spent an afternoon jumping the Sims cliffs, a secluded stretch of the Sacramento river. Casey led Sean, Becky and us for a swim up the rapids to a nearby waterfall. Though it was very cold, it was a great swim.

Another day was spent at a mountain reservoir. Castle Lake is a beautiful, deep, clear lake with mountains on all sides and more cliffs for jumping. We hiked a mile around the lake and ate a picnic lunch. After our sandwiches had settled, we swam across the lake to jump off some cliffs.

Sweetbriar provided us again with much needed relaxation, beautiful landscapes, and good company. We hope to be back soon!

Mah-keese

2008-07-18T10:06:00.008-06:00

As you all know, I (Rebecca) currently support a system called MQIS for General Mills plants. MQIS is an acronym for Manufacturing Quality Information Systems. The system is used for a variety of data entry and reporting needs. To help broaden my knowledge base, I was recently sent to Irapuato, Mexico to help with the start-up of the new taco lines and implementation of MQIS. When introduced to MQIS, our Spanish friends referred to it as one word, pronounced Mah-keese (similar to Matisse). I'm petitioning to rename my team.

Onto the trip....Our descent into Leon, Mexico was accompanied by a picturesque sunset to the west and storm clouds penetrating the mountains to the north. It was quite beautiful. Pete, my co-worker, and I picked up the car and took a 45 minute drive southeast into the neighboring city of Irapuato. With an elevation of over a mile, Irapuato is 3.5 hours northwest of Mexico City. It's a smaller city, but large enough to host a General Mils plant, a Con Agra plant, a Coca-Cola plant and much more. Our days were spent at the plant in a large conference room setting up data and training the trainers. For lunch, the plant provided us with a variety of food including Dominoes pizza and chilaquiles. With our limited free time, we were able to take a tour of the new taco lines (still in the construction phase) and the neighboring Green Giant lines.

The time at the plant was constructive. Most days we were able to finish by 6pm. Our after hours schedule was determined on day one. After returning to the hotel, we split up to work-out, study, swim, and raid the grocery store of interesting Mexican treats. We met for dinner around 7:30. The first night we ate at the hotel. Despite the electronic 80s jams playing in the background, it was a pleasant evening. Vaishali, another co-worker, ordered a beer Michelada style. I was nervous for her due to our experience in Guatemala, but it was quite good! The second night we ended up at an Italian restaurant in a mall. Again, quite good, but not very cultural. Our final night in Irapuato surpassed all expectations. Pete visited Irapuato in the past and brought us to Panteon Torino (The Bull Fighters Cemetary). The restaurant is designed to look like the inside of a stadium with the liquor lined up behind the bar in the "stands". Through dinner we were serenaded by mariachi which made the meal more enjoyable. After a couple shots of tequila (served alongside tomato juice and lemon juice), the bull arrived. The bull danced through the restaurant inviting all to join along. Once everyone was roused, a stage was set up for bullfighting. We each took our turns to be the Forcados waving a red cape trying to distract a fellow patron running back and forth with bull horns held up to their head. It was quite adventurous. We had one more night in Mexico, but had to stay near the airport in Silao due to early flight times and thus had dinner at Applebees.

Even though we weren't able to fully experience all Irapuato has to offer, the trip was an excellent experience. If I ever end up in the city again, I'll be sure to see more sights and hopefully have another shot at Panteon Torino.

Madrid

2008-06-08T13:02:00.000-06:00

We spent three lovely days in Madrid. Despite being the third largest city in Europe, it still had some of the same charms we witnessed in Barcelona. Scott guided us on an evening stroll through Plaza de Oriente, Placio Real, Cathedral de la Almundena and Jardines de las Vistillas for our first night. The rest of our nights were spent strolling the city finding spots for dinners and gelato. During the days, we took time to see Museo de Prado, Parque del Retrio, Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Jardin Botanico, Plaza Mayor, and various other monuments. It was great to be able to see so much of the country within such a short amount of time. We were always remember the beautiful architecture, tasty tapas and daily siestas.

Barcelona

2008-06-05T13:00:00.000-06:00

We arrived in Barcelona in time for a traditional late lunch. Our hotel was only a couple blocks away from the Picasso museum, thus a perfect place to start our exploration. The variety of work leaves all visitors content. To help with jet lag, we forced ourselves to stay up through dinner and even a couple of beers at a nearby pub.

We started our first full day at the Museum of Contemporary Art and walking along Port Vell. The museum had gorgeous photography along with odd pigeon videos. We spotted a line of locals outside a restaurant where we stopped for a traditional Spanish lunch of sangria and paella. With our bellies full, it was time for our first siesta. We spent the evening people watching at a bar off of Las Ramblas.

With museums closed on Mondays, we took the day to see the beautiful architecture of Gaudi. After a full day of walking and sight-seeing, we spent the evening sampling sangria, chocolate churros and litras of cerveza.

Tuesday we took a walk to the beach at Port Olimpic and passed by the beautiful Arc de Triumph and Parc de la Ciutadlla. In the evening, we split off from the crew for some shopping, drinks and dinner in Placa Reial. A long line of people attracted us to a fancy but cheap restaurant. We continued to drink wine more than water and finish every meal with a scoop of gelato.

Our last day in Barcelona was spent enjoying the works of Miro. We visited the Miro museum and continued on to the Parc de Miro. The museum was fabulous although the park was not much more than a single statue. We experienced much more than posted here. Overall we spent our time walking the streets, looking at old buildings and drinking wine. Fabulous.

Espana

2008-06-01T17:22:00.000-06:00

What a splendid country! Filled with cozy neighborhoods, pitchers of sangria, siestas and even the beach. Spain is definitely a worthwhile vacation. We were lucky enough to spend a full week exploring Barcelona and Madrid alongside Pam, Robin, Sara, Scott, and Jennifer.

What the heck, Jeffrey!

2008-05-30T08:07:00.002-06:00

We knew our flight to Newark was going to be long when we took our seats just in front of the family we had been mocking while awaiting the boarding call. The family was complete with a young boy (XYZPDQ Peter!), his older brother wearing a woman's watch, their mother tuned into her book, and a controlling father.

The flight started out like any other. Before take-off the boys were given a portion of a piece of gum each. "Wait, wait, wait, NOW! Everyone start chewing!" Luckily we made it into the air safely. The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, except for the lies being told. Who knew that seat backs needed to be in their upright position because it's better for your back?

The main event occurred during our descent. Older bro, Jeffrey, started having pain in his ears due to the change of pressure. Unfortunately, the gum was incorrectly portioned and there wasn't enough to heal the pain - Jeffrey was forced to yawn. "Yawn, Jeffrey, yawn" was yelled behind us by his frantic father. In turn, young Peter pointed out that he "highly recommended taking a car to visit grandma to prevent ear problems". Unfortunately the insight of a 9-year old did nothing but aggravate poor Jeffrey. Instead, Jeffrey continuously hit Peter when the pain became unbearable. Luckily their father stepped in to help with a lesson on yawning, "You have to yawn all the way. Watch me, watch me". In spite of our eagerness to learn, we held back and didn't take in the lesson.

We do need to add...having issues with pressure and your ears inflight can be quite painful. We do not wish that upon anyone. So, be sure to yawn!

Spring to Summer

2008-05-22T09:30:00.004-06:00

Since our trip to Guatemala, we have done our best to keep busy. Before spring crept up on us, we did some work on our kitchen. After only a couple weekends, we added lighting and switches, painted, and upgraded the fan, faucet and doorbell. It now looks a lot brighter and bigger. Later on this year we'll update the flooring, maybe.

Outside of working on the kitchen, Trevor's softball league started while our tennis league ended. We celebrated many birthdays and holidays with family and friends. Kaki King, Califone and Iron & Wine performed for us. All while we were able to make two trips down to Chicago to celebrate Sara and Scott's birthdays and help them with their big move.

Coming up, we're taking a trip up north for a long weekend and then we're off to Spain! We'll make sure to add some posts and pictures after the trip.

Until then, we hope everyone has a great start to the summer!

Winding Down and Celebration

2008-02-24T14:58:00.001-06:00

The hippy town of San Marcos was our next destination. It is situated on Lake Atitlan, just a boat ride away from San Pedro. We had rooms at a luxurious hotel nestled in the cliffs. After a vegetarian lunch, we showered up and explored. It is a small town filled with restaurants and holistic centers. We booked massages for the next day and picked up some Guatemalan wine for the evening. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting it up with a Chicago-native-turned-Guatemalan-artist while sipping on tea and smoothies. The chef at our hotel served us Spanish tapas for dinner. The tapas were great, but we missed out on dessert, major bummer! We made the most of the luxury by hanging out in our rooms, playing cards and drinking wine. We woke up to a bright sun and a stretching yoga class before breakfast. We took a quick dip in the lake before checking out of the hotel. Then it was on to massages and lunch to round off our time in San Marcos.

It was a grueling ride back to Antigua due to road construction We made it in time for dinner and found a fun fusion restaurant to eat at and a fancy garden for dessert and drinks. Rebecca was awoken with banana bread overflowing filled with candles for her birthday. It was a wonderful way to start the day! We spent the morning shopping and exploring the city. We ran into some fun art galleries and local markets along the way. We experienced our first typical Guatemalan lunch at La Fonda de la Calle. After walking the city further, we took a siesta. We started the evening festivities with a happy hour at a local Irish bar. We moved on to coffee and sangria on a terrace overlooking the city. Dinner was at a Spanish-style tapas restaurant with seafood and paella. We stopped at a Bavarian bar before heading back to the hotel for beers and cards. Overall, a great birthday celebration!

Xela to Lake Atitlan

2008-02-21T13:53:00.000-06:00

On our way to the starting point of the trek, we picked up a fellow traveler, Brad, our non-English-speaking guide and two porters. We all got dropped off in Cantel, a small village outside of Xela. The porters loaded up their packs with food and sleeping gear. They didn’t include any of our stuff, which was expected. So we put on our packs and followed our guide up the first mountain. The day was cool which helped with the climb. After 600 meters, we made it to the highest point of the trek. The view was gorgeous! We continued on until a much needed lunch break. We had the opportunity to call it a day, but decided to forge on. The second half of the day was a strenuous and long downhill climb through the forest. We made it to the Nahualate river right as it started raining. We had a steep uphill climb before stopping for the night. We were greeted by a man who played the guitar and told us folk tales. We found a “candy store” to fill up on sugar treats before dinner. By 8pm, we were all snuggled into our sleeping bags on the concrete floor. Luckily the roosters were nothing compared to SE Asia and we were all able to get some shut-eye.

The following morning we started the uphill hike out of the village. Again, the views were magnificent. You could see various villages hidden throughout the mountains. The rest of the trek was less steep, both uphill and downhill. We made it to Santa Clara by lunchtime. This was a much bigger town with restaurants and stores. After lunch, we set up camp in the house of an indigenous Quiche family. We had the afternoon and evening to ourselves and spent the time drinking beers and playing cards. We went to bed early again so we could get up for the sunrise. Unfortunately, our hosts did not aid in our sleep plans. We were kept up with bright lights and chanting. It had rained the night before which left a mist over the town. We woke up to see the sunrise, but only caught a quick glimpse of light over the lake. We filled up with breakfast before making our final descent to the San Pedro on the lake.

For more details of the trek, check it out through Adrenalina Tours: http://www.adrenalinatours.com/English/Hikes/XAtitlan.html

Exploring Tikal

2008-02-18T13:12:00.002-06:00

From the time we forced ourselves up at 3:45am until we boarded our 6:30am flight, a higher level of stress was maintained. The transfer was late starting off, another pick-up couldn't be found, there were discrepencies in flight times and luggage tickets. We finally made it to Tikal for a group tour. Our guide was full of information about the sites and the Mayan culture. The ruins were tucked away in the jungle, quite amazing. After lunch, the four of us went back to the Grand Plaza for more exploring. By the afternoon, the site had cleared out so we had a chance to climb the ruins by ourselves. We saw various birds and monkeys all around us. We showered up and had dinner at our hotel before playing cards and calling it a night.

The next morning, we started the day with a Canopy Tour. We got tied into our harnesses and glided through the forest via zipcords. What a thrill! The rest of the morning was spent lounging and acrobatting in the pool before traveling onto Xela.

Getting Accustomed with Lava

2008-02-16T12:16:00.005-06:00

After 3 hours of sleep, we arrived in Guatemala City at 6am on Saturday. Our transfer never showed up, but we were able to find a ride into Antigua. Our hotel rooms weren't ready, so we stopped for breakfast before spending the morning strolling the streets. Antigua is a colorful and quaint town. It is filled with stores and restaurants with all types of cuisines. For lunch, we ran across a hostel with a balcony and Super Nachos. Just what we needed before heading back to the hotel. Only one room was available, so we all took a brief nap on the full size bed.

We got picked up at 2pm for our Pacaya Volcano Trek. With our driver going only 40 mph and getting stuck behind a smelly bus, the ride to the volcano took over 2 hours. Needless to say, we were anxious to get on our feet and start the climb. It took about an hour and a half to arrive at the crater rim. The view at the top showed streams of flowing lava! We followed the crowd into the crater to get a close-up of the lava. It was pretty incredible. Once we got back to the van, we had a sandwich dinner before heading back to Antigua for a brief night's sleep.

Is it 2008?

2008-01-03T15:42:00.000-06:00

The past month and a half has gone by in a complete blur. Before the holidays came around, we spent some time in cooking classes, at the theater seeing The Lion King, and throwing a baby shower for Florie. Mid-November crept up and we made our way to Chicago for the beginning of the end of 2007.

The Friedman's hosted a marvelous Thanksgiving celebration for the two families. It was relaxing, enjoyable and very filling! We had wonderful brunches, drinks at the top of the Hancock building, and a collaborative Thanksgiving feast. Rebecca, Sara and Jennifer took a day to have some sisterly fun (walking and shopping) before heading back to reality. This kick-started the holiday season. We spent Thanksgiving day between Sybil's and Rebecca's Nana's, both enjoyable and filling! It felt good spreading out the festivities this year.

For the next couple weeks, you could find us at stores around town or celebrating with friends and family. Erin and Vincenzo made it into town. Jay took SPAers around town in a pimped out limo. Sean got a new job. The Kremenak's threw a boys and girls baby shower pizza party. Sara and Scott came into town for some old fashioned fun. Between all that, we celebrated Hannukah four times. You can never have too many latkes!

Before Christmas, we had one final Hannukah celebration in late December. Pamela won the 3rd annual Frieaxlicher racquetball tournament, per usual. Christmas came and went. It was as busy as ever. We snuck in a birthday dinner for Pamela before Bill and Katie came up from St. Louis to meet Cheddar. We rounded up the year with a New Year's Eve bash.

The year was full of fun and excitement. It was wonderful to see everyone and celebrate. We're now looking forward to some downtime before the big trip to Guatemala! Until then, you can check out more of our Thanksgiving, SPA Limo and New Year's Eve pictures online.

Weekend of the Obvious

2007-11-08T15:55:00.001-06:00

Last weekend Rebecca was able to take some time and visit Erin in Connecticut. Michelle drove down to from Boston to add to the fun. Friday night we treated ourselves to a gourmet meal on Main Street. Old Saybrook didn't agree with us Saturday, so we spent our time shopping, baking and watching Factory Girl. Luckily the clouds parted in the evening to show off a gorgeous sunset over the ocean. The weekend was full of catch-up and good times.

Meanwhile, Trevor was BHE at home reconstructing our staircase to the basement. (Pictures coming after the last bit of paint is thrown on the walls.)

Thanks for being a great hostess, Griff! Next time we'll have to plan it so Vincenzo can teach Trevor his great fisherman skills.

The Big Jump!

2007-10-28T11:49:00.000-06:00

6am is not our ideal time to rise on a Saturday. The thrill of sky diving makes it worth it. We got to Sky Dive Twin Cities by 8am, signed our lives away by 9am, and all 10 of us were safe on the ground again by noon.

Tina, Casey, Erin, and Jeff were the first to jump. Due to some unexpected winds, they landed in a corn field near by. By the time we saw them, Tina was ready to jump again! Sean, Becky, Trevor and Rebecca went up next. Rebecca's dad was co-pilot.Standing on the edge of the plane about to jump was definitely the most surreal experience of the day. Everything after that was a lot less terrifying. Free falling for 60 seconds is pretty intense. Since you hit maximum velocity within 6 sec (thanks for doing the math, Miles), most of the time you feel like you're floating with a super strong wind whipping against your face. Once the parachute is launched, it becomes a peaceful glide back down to earth. (Rebecca got to drive the parachute most of the way.)

Miles and Phil were the last to jump. Everyone loved the whole experience. We ended the day with pumpkin carving and a Malaysian dinner.

Check out pictures of the big day:

Frankly Awesome

2007-09-04T10:09:00.000-06:00

The State Fair is always a good time for all. When we're lucky, we come across a rare time that makes the experience Frankly Awesome. What could render such an opportunity? Meeting Al Franken! He was genuine and friendly, we were star struck.

Since our last major update, we've been doing our best to make the most of the remaining days of summer. We've spent multiple weekends up north between both cabins. Cheddar took us up to Boulder Lodge for a weekend of relaxation. Trevor spent a weekend up at Aspen Lodge with the Engel family while Rebecca maintained B.W.E. status and welcomed the Friedman's to town. We spent another weekend at Boulder Lodge with Sara, Scott, Jennifer and Bryan. Each trip was filled with sun and no bugs, perfect.

Between the cabin visits, we flew out to Orlando to celebrate Josh and Ira's marriage. We took a day to ourselves and visited Blizzard Beach, a Disney theme park with the tallest water slide in America (120 ft). What a rush! The rest of the weekend was spent with family. The ceremony and reception were beautiful. A good time for all!

Other than weekends away, Becky has been kicking us into shape with her awesome circuit training programs. We shared the pain with Sara, Scott, Jennifer and Bryan while the Danaher's traveled through Europe. We now all hate and love Becky depending on if it's during or after the work-out.

You'd think all that would have kept us busy enough. Yet we've still had time to get our front steps redone and our sewer fixed. We'll be celebrating Trevor's birthday shortly. He'll be a whopping 28 years old! We're looking forward to another visit to Chicago, Autumn, Jeremy and Mackanzie's visit, Erich and Jess's wedding in San Francisco, and hopefully another trip or two up north before fall kicks in!

Chica-Chica-Yeah

2007-08-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

Recommendation: Go see Superbad!

We were lucky enough to see the flick as a prescreening, twice. Rebecca was "dragged" to see it yet another time once it hit theaters. Every viewing has been superb! The humor is a mixture between 40 Year Old Virgin and American Pie. So if you're not ready to feel the humiliation of teenagers, you may want to skip out. Otherwise, sit back and take in a few laughs!

35W Bridge Collapse

2007-08-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

Thank you to everyone who contacted us after the 35W bridge collapse. We were safe in our house when it happened. Luckily, everyone we have contacted is also safe and unharmed.

Back in the swing

2007-07-23T11:31:00.000-06:00

Since Cheddar delayed posting for over three months, we figured it was time to take charge. We may not be that much better than Cheddar, but at least we have opposable thumbs.

Our past three months
After our big trip, things were a bit hazy for a week. We spent most of April reacclimating ourselves to daily life and being jealous of the Friedmans still off galavanting across the globe. May was filled with happy hours and hookahing for the big Chicago send-off. Rebecca took on a new position at work and Trevor finished his fifth year with Ulteig. We took weekend trips to Ely, Chicago, St. Louis and Chicago again. You can see some photos from a few of these trips through our photos link (right panel).

Exciting news from our loved ones (in order of time)

Sam made it back to the US after a year and a half of teaching in China and traveling through Asia
Sara and Scott moved to Chicago and are on their way to becoming doctors
Erin and Vincenzo got approved for their visas to move back to the US
Florie and Gabe bought a new house and are preggers
Jennifer moved into her own apartment
Katie got hired at Bryant-Cave
Mike and Liz got hitched and are expecting a Krum
Rebecca's mom got hired at General Mills as a taster
Jay bought a condo in Minneapolis
Becky made it home safely after two years of being a brave soldier

Congratulations to all of you!!!!! And thanks for making our lives interesting and bloggable.

Coming Up
The rest of the summer we hope to relax and spend some time up north. In any downtime, we'll be attending to our favorite half of the yard and other house improvements. We're heading to Florida to celebrate Josh and Ira's wedding, as well as hitting up a Walt Disney park. We also have tickets to San Fran for Erich and Jess's wedding.

To anyone who is still out there, give us a shout!

Great Success

2007-04-01T16:51:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it. After another 36 hour journey, we are back home. Traveling home was not as blissful as on our way out. Turbulence was high and the leg room was less than plentiful. We've been licked, cleaned (less than 2 loads of laundry for all our stuff), and even seen some family. Now that we have free, fast internet, we've uploaded more pictures to help you visualize our trip (http://picasaweb.google.com/axners/SEAsia).

A big thanks to everyone who has followed along through our travels. We hope you've enjoyed our stories and pictures. To those who communicated with us along the way, it really meant a lot, thank you.

We look forward to catching up with everyone, so give us a call!

P.S. This blog is now under Cheddar's control. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Trevor's work showed their love by doing decorating his office to celebrate his return.

Balified

2007-03-31T07:25:00.000-06:00

We're on our way home with multiple flights and layovers to keep us busy for 36 hours. While in Bali, we were able to use our layover time to see the city of Kuta. After requesting that we be dropped off in Kuta Center to shop around the local market for cool wood and stone carvings, our driver left us off at the mall. We didn't think Polo made wood carvings and not at all where we wanted to be.

Before leaving, we got stopped by a friendly man trying to give us pulltabs. He said it was free and all we had to do is see if we won. Of course our curiousity got the better of us and we pulled. Awesome! Trevor won a shitty t-shirt. With some excitement, the gentleman started to explain the winning t-shirt until out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Rebecca had three matching stars. His excitement grew exponentially. Shaking our hands, he explained that Rebecca won $1000 USD or a luxury 7 day/5 person vacation and that he gets a $50 commision for giving away the one winning ticket!!!! We couldn't help but be astounded, what do we need to do to claim the money??? He said a free taxi would take us to the hotel where his boss would hand over the prize. After much discussion about the time we had left and the time it would take to finalize the winnings, we got in the cab.

On the way it dawned on us, there were two other options Rebecca could have won, and it's not a choice, but another pull tab. Huh. Once we got to the hotel, we would have to sit through a 90 minute sales pitch to find out which of the "winnings" were actually ours. We left the hotel right as we arrived. Turns out, if we would have stayed, we would have won $250 worth of worthless coupons. Stupid Americans. At least we were able to lie our way into a free ride back to Kuta and only waste an hour of our time.

Looking back, our initial scammer could not have done a better job at convincing us. His quick pull-in with the t-shirt win, hammering it home with his excitement, we were sold on the spot. The trip could not end without us getting scammed at least once.

Gili Trawangan

2007-03-31T00:16:00.000-06:00

Gili Trawangan is part of 3 islands known in Indonesia as the Gili Islands. The translation of this is the Island Islands, hmmm. Gili Trawangan is the largest of the 3. Although this time of year it is probably just as quiet as any since it is the off season. The island is known for great diving and snorkeling, as well as selling "magic mushrooms" at almost every restaurant and store. We'll have to save that trip for another trip - Scott, there's a good pun for you.

Our hotel bungalow was very nice with an outdoor shower, traditional thatched roof construction, and a large balcony/hammock area. Our days included snorkeling on the coral just outside our hotel, eating at one of the many roadside seafood barbecues, and relaxing both pool and oceanside. We needed the relaxing after our recent mountain trek. Our pool had a mini waterfall to sit under, a jacuzzi with water the same temperature as the pool, and a swim up bar.

The remainder of our island time had some rain, some sun, as well as our first blisters of the trip. Throughout the trip we had been on plenty of all day walks in our sandals. It ended up being a 2 hour walk around the island with the wetness and sand around the sandal thongs that did us in. This little walk also had Trevor stubbing his toe on a piece of coral the size of Cheddar on the middle of the beach. How he missed that one will remain a mystery?

After a long day at the beach, nothing was better than a nice salt water shower. Oh yeah, all ground water on the island is salty. During our first shower after our mountain trek, we were stunned by how much salty sweat was running off ourselves until we realized the difference in the water.

We also tried lots of new drinks. Some that used brown sugar, and others that included a local rice liquor called Arak. Our favorite was the Arak Attack. We ended up purchasing a bottle of this duty free in Bali. We are excited to try out our new food and drink recipes on others back home.

Did we mention?

2007-03-30T19:19:00.000-06:00

Ever since we posted the Tidbits and Whatnots post, we've noticed a few more points of interest that you may like to hear about.

Shoes
Throughout SE Asia, there are several countries that expect you to remove your shoes before entering their establishments. This is usually not a problem because the floors are relatively clean and we like to respect their customs. The problem, we never knew when you should take off your shoes or not. Sometimes you get yelled at, sometimes you just get stared at, usually it's just safest to take them off.

Flying

Airports in SE Asia do not use gateways. Instead, you get onto buses that transfer you to the planes. Small airports are the best because they transfer you about 40 feet. By the time you board the bus and get back off, you could have been in your seat on the plane.
Even on 20 minute flights, you get food! One time, we even got ice cream, mmmm!
Beware getting off the plane. People don't go by the first row exits, then second, and so on. You have to force your way out.

Dining
The waiting time in restaurants seems to be opposite of what we're used to back home. It can get uncomfortable when they hover over you waiting for you to place your order. It's hard when the menu has 10 pages! Indonesia was much more relaxed than Thailand about this.

Also, food comes out when it is ready. Appetizers are often served at or after the main course. Luckily we share meals so we split up each plate when it comes and we don't have to take turns.

Internet
While in Thailand (and again in Indonesia multiple times), we tried to put some pictures online with our USB connection. I felt around for a USB port and got shocked! Trevor tried as well until we asked the moderator who told us to put our shoes on so we weren't grounded. She was not concerned of the fact that an electrical charge was running through her computer.

Lombok

2007-03-28T00:58:00.000-06:00

Sengiggi
Lombok began with a day on the beach. Due to the early flight, we had all day to relax. Our hotel was on a black sand beach with a large pool to play horse basketball in. All of Indonesia is pretty quiet this season. We had most amenities to ourselves which was very nice. Town was filled with anxious sellers which was a bit of a turn-off. We were able to enjoy a nice dinner while watching a large gecko attack a moth above our heads. That night we packed up for our trek and put everything in Sam's backpack so we could take turns sharing it.

Mt. Rinjani
We got picked up at 6am for a two hour drive to the mountain village of Senaru (600m altitude). We met up with our guide and three porters. Each porter carries a bamboo stick with a wicker basket on each end. They place them over their shoulders and walk up the mountain in flip-flops, amazing! Oh, and they beat us up and down the mountain every step of the way. The plan was to climb to the crater rim at 2600 meters, sleep for the night and trek down to the crater lake and hot springs (2000m) the next morning. We would hang out at the lake for the day and climb out and back to camp for another night before heading back to the village. The company doesn't tell you that if it's raining, the climb down to the crater lake is not possible or that sleeping at the crater rim is not recommended due to shelter. We were informed of this by our guide on the way up. In actuality we spent the first day climbing to Position 3 (2000m). It rained the entire time, no, it poured. For the most part, the path was a waterfall. We made it to camp around 3pm and enjoyed dry clothes and good warm food. It rained through the night forcing us out of our leaky tents around 11pm. We brought our air mattress under the shelter where the three of us cuddled together to keep warm. (The air mattress was the size of a double bed). Needless to say, none of us got much sleep, especially since our air mattress was wet and deflated most of the night.

After breakfast the next morning, we climbed up to the crater rim (see photo above). The climb was extremely steep and took us about 2 hours. Once we made it to the top, the view of the clouds 20 feet from us was amazing. Fog up close is incredibly beautiful. (Note the sarcasm). In reality, the clouds and mountain landscape was eerily beautiful. Part way back to camp, the sun came out! At this point the view was incredible! The landscape around us was more of a mountain prairie with few trees. Below you could see lush forests and the city far away. Once we made it back to base camp, we changed and set in for a relaxing afternoon. Throughout the afternoon, we were joined by two other groups of trekkers, making it quite cramped and full of testosterone (14:1). The sun peaked out now and again until nighttime. The three of us squished together again with a dry air mattress and more shelter from the wind and rain.

In the morning, we woke up at 5:30am for breakfast and hiked back down the mountain. The local monkeys said goodbye and wished us well. It rained lightly throughout the trek down and we made it back for lunch. Overall, the trek could have been enjoyed more in the dry season but was fun and a memory not to be forgotten. We took our transport to the harbor and said our goodbyes to Sam. We went off to Gili Trawagan while Sam plans to head to Gili Nangoo (an island to the southwest of Lombok with only one restaurant and one hotel).

We are currently on Gili Trawagan and enjoying our last couple nights on the road. We hope to add at least one more post before we leave for home. Stay tuned!

Ubud, Bali

2007-03-28T00:26:00.000-06:00

We met Sam at the airport. He was quite nervous we didn't make it because we picked the wrong line to get our visa and took three times as long as everyone else. It was great to see him! Mr. Bowo was waiting for us with our local plane tickets, as well as our driver. We were quite popular. We made the hour drive from the airport to Ubud and arrived at our favorite hotel to date, Alam Shanti. It was so peaceful and lush with a huge terrace attached to our room. Ubud was a wonderfully quiet town. The first night our hotel drove us into town for an Indonesian style dinner. Our table was set back in a garden type atmosphere, very well landscaped. We sat on pillows next to a low table and had a "Pass the Plate" style dinner with Sam.

The next day was very rainy. We did not realize that this was still the rainy season. Later on in the trip we were informed that the rainy season started 2 months late and thus will end two months later, bummer for us. We took a walk through the Monkey Forest, got massages and browsed town, despite the rain. The Monkey Forest is a small stretch of the road through town with hundreds of monkeys that protect the temple. Upon entering, we bought bananas and fruit. The monkeys were not bashful! Within seconds, Trevor had four monkeys climbing him and reaching for fruit. He threw a couple pieces to Sam who got bombarded as well. Luckily Rebecca video taped the attack. No longer holding food, we walked the rest of the forest watching the monkeys. We saw no other attacks other than ours even though everyone else had fruit as well, weird. We ended the day with tea and cake at the hotel. Our relaxing evening included a nap, a bottle of wine with cards and a final Indonesian style dinner. Trevor and Sam ended our Alam Shanti stay with a nighttime swim. The next day was an early wake up and off to Lombok.

Comments Update

2007-03-21T19:16:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
We've only got a couple minutes but wanted to let you know that you should be able to post comments now without having an account. We figured out how to change the setting and hope it works. We're on our way to meet Sam in Indonesia and are very excited!

Koh Samui

2007-03-21T01:36:00.000-06:00

We're in tropical paradise. Koh Samui is a small island off the east coast of Southern Thailand. Our hotel is along the south side of Chaweng Beach with smooth sand and warm water. We've been enjoying our time relaxing, shopping, snorkeling, boating, eating and drinking, with yes, another massage. It's been splendid and much needed.

Yesterday we took an excursion to the Angthung National Park by speedboat. It was like a mini Halong Bay. We climbed up to the top of one of the islands to see a lake in the center and a gorgeous view.

We haven't had the best weather thus far. It's been raining most of today, but it's been a good break from the heat and humidity, as well, it gives us some fun waves to body surf. Last night we went to a nice dinner on the beach, very romantic!

Tomorrow we leave at 4:40am (argh, too early for us) to meet Sam in Indonesia. We haven't seen Sam for a year and half and are very excited!

Tidbits and Whatnot

2007-03-18T17:51:00.000-06:00

We're half-way done with our trip now. We've kept you informed about our activities, but not the little things that keep life on the road interesting.

Paying
At most restaurants throughout SE Asia, you have to ask to pay for your bill. We've tried waiting for it to come on it's own, but it never does. Also, don't trust any Visa signs outside establishments. Hanging a Visa sign in a window does not indicate that they accept Visa. While in Laos, most conversations went like this:
Us: Do you take Visa?
Them: Yes.
Us: (We take out Visa card and hand to them)
Them: No. Cash only.
We've even seen a Visa sign that underneath says "Cash Only".

Massage
Ah, the multitude of cheap massages is incredible throughout SE Asia. While in Laos, we managed to get three massages (yes, we were only there for 3.5 days). They've all been under $4, so we figure you really can't turn it down. During these massages we got pulled, proded and stretched to the point of relaxation. Our armpits even got massaged! We got another massage in Thailand after our trek. As Scott put it, we strained our muscles to the point that they can't be touched, then we paid someone to touch them. We decided not to get one in Cambodia because Sara told us they really just slap you around.

Cleanliness
Before our first night in Hanoi we were ready to do laundry. We had the same feeling after Halong Bay and Laos. As you travel with only a few shirts, you get accustomed to what you previously considered dirty. This holds true to bathrooms. Many of our bathrooms were shower/toilet combos. It's great to sit on the wet toilet after a nice shower. On the Halong Bay boat cruise, we had to coordinate when we should all sit on one side of the boat in order to drain our bathrooms. The other fabulous thing about SE Asia bathrooms is there is never a way to dry your hands after washing them. Never. It all adds to the ambiance!

We'll add more as the trip progresses.

Cambodia

2007-03-18T03:36:00.000-06:00

We spent our first full day visiting Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. How incredible! The detail and magnitude together must have been an outrageous undertaking in the 12th century. Elephants and rafts carried huge stones for over 50km to the sites. Entire cities were created stone by stone then carved with emaculate detail. It is an archeologists dream. Unfortunately, due to the extreme heat and humidity, we only stayed through the afternoon.

The rest of our time in Cambodia was spent in Siem Reap. The city resembles the quietness of Luang Prabang in a larger setting. Along with the larger setting, you get ruthlessness. The tuk-tuk drivers won't take no for an answer and neither will the children. Our best defense was a polite "No thank-you", over and over and over. Sometimes the children ask "Why no" and it is difficult to explain that we don't want to positively reinforce child labor in Cambodian culture. One kid who sold postcards was smart enough to offer games of tic-tac-toe. If you win, you get a free postcard; if you lose, you must buy.

We went to a cello concert on our last night in Siem Reap. It was a free concert offered by Dr. Beat Richtner(?), hence it was called Beatocello. He is a Swiss doctor that has built four hospitals within Cambodia offering free healthcare to ALL children and pregnant mothers. His main battles are against dengue fever and tuburculosis (65% of the population), as well as the WHO. They claim his facilities offer too high a standard of care for a poor country. The concerts main purpose is to attract donors of money and blood. The most amazing fact that we learned was that an average stay for a child is 5.5 days, costing them only $170. Most of their funding is from private donations. Hearing from Dr. Beat really put a light on for how easy it is to help these countries.

Go Wildcats!

2007-03-17T03:01:00.000-06:00

Our last day in Chiang Mai was also our last day traveling with Sara and Scott. In Minnesota, it was an even bigger day, Match Day. For those who don't know, Match Day is the day all med students nationwide find out which program they will be residents at for the next several years.

Even though we were all exhausted from the trek, we decided to go all out that night. We spent the afternoon trying to nap (only Trevor got shut-eye), getting laundry done (wahoo to fresh clothes), and cleaning ourselves. Once we were all ready, we found a cute restaurant to get some good Thai food. Since it was such a big day, we purchased one more Haagen Dazs bar for the road. Through the night, we stopped by multiple street side cafes for beers and drinks. Beers are easy to order, mixed drinks require effort. We never quite knew what we were going to get. There was a lot of pointing and shaking of heads, but we were often pleasantly surprised. The only thing we did realize was that a lime is called a lemon to Thai bartenders.

On our way to the last joint, Scott got THE phone call. We were all surprised since it was an hour before expected. Sara got into her top choice, Northwestern! The street vendors around us watched in amazement as we all jumped up and down in excitement. We had a couple more drinks to round off the night and toast to the great trip together.

Trekking Thai Style

2007-03-15T04:52:00.000-06:00

We signed up for a 3 day/2 night trek through the mountains of Northern Thailand. The trek included an hour elephant ride, visiting two villages, and bamboo rafting. We left early in the morning and drove to the the elephant camp. We saw an hour elephant show before our ride. The show was beyond explanation. Our favorite part was the dancing. We'll show you videos when we return.

Our guide, Pan, filled us up with Pad Se Yew before the journey. We started with what we thought was an one hour uphill hike followed by an hour hike. It turned out to be a two and a half hour strenuous hike, up. Eighty people lived in the first village we arrived at. They had a nice room set up for us with mosquito nets and sleeping bags ready. If you discount our bathroom troubles, the evening was quiet and peaceful. That is, until the roosters had a sound-off around 3am. Every half hour following, the roosters were kind enough to let us know they were still there. Too bad we don't have audio for you.

The next day was full of trekking past the Chang Dao mountain to what is known as Lightning Peak. The top of the peak was 1800 meters high with a stunning view, minus the haze. The terrain was hilly, to say the least. We trekked through tea trees, evergreens, and a bamboo forest. After 7.5 hours and over 13 miles later, we arrived in our second village. The town was around 3 times the size as the first one, but no electricity. It made for some cool candlelit pictures after dinner.

The last day we hiked downhill out of the mountains to level land. We took an hour bamboo ride down the river before saying goodbye to trekking. By the end, we were all overly exhausted. Luckily, it was a rewarding experience!

Chiang Mai

2007-03-15T04:38:00.000-06:00

Due to the delayed flight out of Laos, we were in rush once we arrived in Chiang Mai. We hurried to book a cooking class and mountain trek for our 4 day stay. After many calls and emails, we were set. We even had time to hit the Sunday Market which some refer to as "the best shopping in Chiang Mai". The streets were full of little vendors selling anything from t-shirts to chopsticks to waffles (we bought it all). We stopped by a small restaurant on the way home for some good old Pad Thai, yum!

The next morning we spent the day learning how to cook, Thai style. Sara and Rebecca took the chance to head to the market while the boys learned how to smash up many ingredients to make a splendid curry paste. Through the course, we cooked seven different dishes and ate them all. Needless to say, we were quite full by the end. We got a cookbook that included all the dishes the cooking school teaches. Most of the dishes include multiple chilli peppers and are pretty simple, so we look forward to trying them out on all of you upon our return. We spent the evening browsing through the Night Bazaar, a smaller version of the Sunday Market.

Then we experienced the best part of the trip thus far, Haagen Dazs Crispy Sandwich. Rebecca has been eying this ice cream delicacy ever since she started General Mills. When we saw the Haagen Dazs cafe across the street from our hotel, we knew it was time to finally taste the treat. Wow! Why they don't market these in the United States is beyond comprehension. Vanilla ice cream is encrusted in a sweet caramel shell sandwiched between two wafer cookies. Together, it's splendid! The treat cost us more than dinner for two, but was entirely worth it.

Luang Prabang

2007-03-10T22:29:00.000-06:00

What an amazing city! Luang Prabang is small and laid back. Everyone is very friendly. The first night we arrived, we climbed the 360 steps up Mt Phousi to see the sunset. Due to the haziness from the rice fields burning, our pictures could not capture the beauty.

Rebecca came down with a small fever, so Sara and Scott took the next day to do a hillside trek while we browsed around town. The food here is great. Everyone orders a bowl of sticky rice to dip in curry with their fingers, mmmm! The only problem with the town is there are a lot of chickens and roosters roaming. Luckily, they aren't the attack kind. There is a big market in the middle of the street every night. We found fun t-shirts and bracelets. You can bargain with the traders, but for $3, it's not worth it.

The next morning we took a boat to some caves up the Mekong River. We stopped by a paper making village and whiskey making village. The boat ride was beautiful, but the caves were nothing compared to Halong Bay. In the afternoon, we split up with Sara and Scott again and visited the most magnificent waterfall (they accidently saw it the day before). After an extrenuous hike up the right side of the falls, we realized there was a much easier route on the left with stairs. Whoops.

Today we planned to head out to Chiang Mai. Laos had other plans for us. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11am, but got postponed to 6pm. We got to the airport and they laughed out loud at us. We're taking the extra time to do some research on our time in Chiang Mai. Luang Prabang is a beautiful city, so we don't mind.

Hanoi

2007-03-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

The first day we spent in Hanoi was hot and humid. By the time we got back from our trip to Halong Bay, the city had cooled off. It made it a lot more comfortable for exploring. We spent our time trekking through the Old Quarter, Lake Hoan Kiem, the French Quarter, and a gorgeous park with badmitton and water balls. In case you don't know what water balls are, we're going to set up a stand on Lake Calhoun after we return. They are huge plastic balls, filled with air. You climb inside the ball and run around on the water.

For dinner we played "Pass the plate". (One of our many new games). After everyone has consumed 1/4 a meal, you pass the plate and silverware to your left. We thought about playing a timed version, but reconsidered after knowing how fast Scott and Trevor can eat noodles.

In the evening, we experienced the famous Water Puppet show. Wow. Think Team America meets the Chinese New Year, on a pond.

We spend our last day in Hanoi by seeing Ho Chi Minh and the Masoleum. What an orderly activity! Scott's bag got searched 4 times. We left Hanoi with bellies full of Vietnamese coffee and pho, mmmm!

Hanoi is filled with scooters and horns. Crossing the streets is an awesome experience just in itself. Overall, Hanoi is a wonderful place to walk the streets, eat delicious food and drink Halida.

Halong Bay

2007-03-08T21:19:00.000-06:00

Halong Bay is a 3 hour drive east of Hanoi. Tinh drove along with us to give us thorough background of Vietnam. We stopped by a center where disadvantaged kids make beautiful works of art. We left with three silk weavings and a few purses. I really wanted a gorgeous lacquer painting, but it would be too hard to travel with.

What an incredible place! Some would say magical. Not us, that's pretty dorky. From our giant 12 person boat to eight course seafood works of art, we were treated like kings. Halong Bay consists of over 1700 islands with giant limestone cliffs on all sides. It is impossible for our pictures to do it justice. Through our journey, we explored 5 of the over 900 caves, kayaked, swam and relaxed. The weather was cool and dreary, but it didn't stop us, we just drank more coffee to stay warm. The five crew members had a difficult time attending to our every need. Actually, they probably loved having just the four of us so they could relax as well.

36 hours of Bliss

2007-03-04T02:18:00.000-06:00

We've completed our journey overseas. Rebecca was dreading it, but it ended up being much better than anticipated. We were able to share 3 seats for all of the flights. We feel as though we're adjusted already, even though we only arrived 5 hours ago. So what are we doing on the computer? Well, we won't be near one again for a few days, so we thought we'd fill you in quick. The longest part of the trip thus far was the 4 hour layover in Taipei at 4am. Ugh. Tinh picked us up at the Hanoi airport. He took us to our hotel and walked us around the Old Quarter for a bit. At the time, we weren't in the mood for a tour, but it ended up being very beneficial. Plus, Trevor found a delicious iced coffee and condensed milk drink. We've had our first Vietnamese meal which was superb and only $6 (including beers). The only problem is that the weather is quite humid and the food doesn't cool you down. Tinh bought us front row tickets to a water puppet show which we'll go to on the 7th. Tomorrow we're off to Halong Bay for a boat cruise. We're planned to have a 12 person boat for the four of us, not too shabby! We'll update you when we get back.

Step One of Many

2007-03-02T22:20:00.000-06:00

We were lucky enough to make it out of Minneapolis more or less on time. Garrison Keillor was on our flight. We spent our lay-over driving with our good friends, Jenny and Greg. It included driving up and down the coast, a stop at Starbucks, and pulling over so Jenny could hurl. Good times. Our bellies are filled with pasta and we're on our way to LAX for the best 14 hour flight China Airlines has to offer.

Goodbye Winter

2007-03-01T22:26:00.000-06:00

After months of planning, we are on our way... almost. Our bags are packed, our out-of-office notifications are set, and Jennifer is beyond prepared to take over the life as a home owner. Tomorrow morning we leave behind the snow, work, friends, family and our pup for an opportunity to explore the world. We will miss you all.

Thank you to everyone who left us last minute wishes!

See you in the spring.

Itinerary

2007-01-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

Getting there:
We will be departing the MSP airport on Friday, March 2 at 11:20am. We have a stop-over in LA from 1:30pm until 11pm. We are hoping to have dinner and hang out with our good friends Jenny and Greg before taking the 14 hour journey overseas. We will have one last stop-over in Taipei, Taiwan before landing in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday, March 4.

Traveling as Four:
Sara and Scott will meet us in Hanoi later in the day where we will spend the night. We'll take a two night boat cruise through Halong Bay and stay another night in Hanoi before moving on. We leave for Luang Prabang, Laos on Thursday, March 8. We will stay in Luang Prabang for three nights. Our next stop will be in Northern Thailand. We arrive in Chiang Mai on Sunday, March 11. We will tour around Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and possibly Chiang Khong until Friday, March 16 when we part ways.

Just the two of us:
We will continue on through Siem Reap, Cambodia and see Angkor Wat until Sunday, March 18. From here, we travel south to the island of Kho Sumui, Thailand. We will stay around this island and other neighboring islands for a few nights.

Brotherhood:
On Thursday, March 22 we head further south to Indonesia. Sam will meet us on the island of Bali. Together, we'll stay in Ubud for two nights exploring the city. Next, we'll travel east to the island of Lombok where we will spend a night on the beach in Sengiggi. From here we will take a couple day trek up Mt. Rinjani to see the crater lake and hot springs.

Finale:
The last couple of days will be spent lounging and enjoying the time away. For three nights, we will stay on the Gili Islands just off the coast of Lombok. We'll make one last stop in Sengiggi for a night before heading home late on Saturday, March 31 arriving back in the Twin Cities early on Sunday, April 1.