Kong Turkey Trot

We got to travel to Turkey with J's family this year.  Turkey has been high on J's list of places to visit, and she had high expectations.  Let's just say our visit to Turkey met and exceeded everyone's expectations.

Just thought we'd document a few funny Turkey moments:

• "We just spent all afternoon wonderling through the wilderness" -- said Mama Kong on Day 2, when we walked forever from the bus stop to Chora church
• "Dan must be more tired since his legs are longer.  They have to carry the weight of his whole body" -- said Mama Kong.  I guess that's because our shorter legs only have to carry half our weight
• "How many people in your group, five?  Oh six?" -- asked every waiter and ticket collector in Turkey when our family approached them.  They never thought to include him in our group... wonder why?
• "Do you want us to push you up the hill?"  -- asked Joy in Goreme when Mama Kong was having some trouble walking back to our hotel.  We did push her up hill as she walked, which supposedly made it an easier walk.

DAY 1:  Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Sultan Ahmed (Blue Mosque)

Basilica Cisterns - Roman underground water system

Local Turkish cuisine, candy, and treats

Our home in Istanbul was by the Galata Tower.  It was a an uphill
walk every evening, much to the delight of Mama Kong. 

A beautiful view of the Galata Tower that we passed everyday, but never made to the top.  

The ironic thing is, that's the only attraction that actually had an elevator!

And, we may have had our first Shake Shack experience in Istanbul too.

DAY 2:  Istanbul

Our first express bus ride in Turkey was quite the adventure after it dropped us off in the middle of a freeway.  Thankfully, we found a nice Turkish local to show us the way to Chora Church.  He showed us how to jaywalk and cross the freeway, which was a once in a lifetime experience for us!

Walking through a Turkish neighborhood.

Kariye (Chora Church)

View of many of the paintings uncovered under a layer of plaster,

Topkapi Palace - where the sultans and their families lived.

View of the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace

Street Eats of Istanbul

Blue Mosque at night

DAY 3:  Istanbul

Istanbul Archaeology Museum

Eating a fish sandwich under Galata Bridge

Grand Bazaar

Taksim Square - where all the protests were held to protect this precious
green space in Istanbul.  Of course we had to check it out.  No protests going on today.

DAY 4: Ephesus

View of our morning rush to the airport since our taxi service never showed up.  

The taxi we found seem to think fitting 6 adults in a small taxi is not a problem.

This is allegedly the house where Mary (Jesus' mother) lived 

Ruins of Ephesus - once a great port city with amazing infrastructure.

yes, they had toilets back then and a running water system to flush the waste into the sea.

And, apparently someone loved Elvis back then too. :)

Terrace Homes of the Ephesians.  These homes were huge - multi levels with many amenities that we don't even have in our house today. (i.e. heated floors and huge courtyards)

Homes had wall art and floor mosaics that were so well preserved.  Apparently this house had naughty children who graffitied their own house with gladiator and animal drawings.  

Grand marble street - it used to have pillars lining both sides of the street with a domed covering.

Ancient library of Celsus

Walking through the ancient city of Ephesus

Exploring their huge theater that seats 25,000 people

No trip to Turkey is complete without a visit to the Turkish Rug shops

Temple of Artemeis - only thing remaining is the one column.
However, further across is the site/tower where John was allegedly jailed.

A fun but tiring day trip to Ephesus. We requested for the SUV taxi,
but again had to stick Dan in the trunk.  Sorry Dan!

DAY 5:  Istanbul

Views from our walks of our last day in Istanbul

 Scenes from our Bosphorus boat cruise

 Stopped at Anadolu Kavagi to see the Bosphorus connect into the Black Sea

 Opening to the Black Sea - a very important control point throughout history

 Great view and fresh seafood from the top

 Bought a souvenir from this nice gentleman who made all these jewelry by hand.

 Last stop at Istikal street for some more shopping and food

 Last meal in Istanbul - new age Turkish food.  Everything was delicious!

DAY 6:  Cappadocia

Pending

DAY 7:  Cappadocia 

Pending 

Finally... something on our walls

We've moved into our house for over a year now.  Unfortunately, we are still working on settling in. We focused on getting furniture last year and just now started getting some decorations.  It's so nice to not have bare walls anymore!  We still have a long ways to go though... baby steps.

Summer Fun

Just thought we'd document a few activities this summer...

We've been in search of the Best burger in Houston.  We liked Hubcap Grill and Millers, but we like Christians a little better.  It's still not the 'best burger ever', so we're still on the lookout.  It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

D had a new little patient and she didn't cry at all.  Looks like it was a successful visit for all parties involved.

We got to celebrate Father's Day with both our dads.

We love the Miller Outdoor Theater! We went on the hottest day of the summer, but the Houston Symphony was amazing as usual.  Thank you ExxonMobil for sponsoring the summer symphony night!

Our dear friends, the Rowleys, decided to leave Houston.  We are so sad they're leaving us, but we have grand plans to meet up in Montana, the next time we have to go.  Until then, we'll just have this fun memory of Jeff.

During one of J's recent girls brunch, a new visitor decided to join them - baby Harrison Hicks.  His hair is his signature look already!

We got to hang out with the Funky Bunch (as Wing calls them) at our house.  D and Logan became quick friends.  It seems boys and balls always go well together.

D's cousin, Christopher, came to Houston for a month-long training.  It was so fun to hang out with him while he was in town.  D and Christopher are such chums!  They make something as simple as eating watermelons look more fun!

Austin Weekend Rendevous

D had a continuing education conference in Austin, so we decided to make a weekend trip of it.  It had been a while since we both visited Austin.  It's a fun city, and we'll definitely be going back again.

The first thing we see when we pull into the hotel.  Is it obvious there are a bunch of dentists here? 

Since we've been in search of the perfect burger, we thought we'd check out Hopdoddy to try their organic burgers.  We waited in line for an hour for these yummy burgers and also had their amazing nutella pretzel shake!

Austin Skyline

While trying to use the restroom at the Palmer Event Center next to the park, we were given tickets to the event that night - a Mariachi Band.  Since we were obviously under dressed and showed up during intermission, the usher wanted to make sure we didn't just sneak into the show.  When she explained that this is a ticketed event and asked to see our tickets, D proudly showed her our tickets! She apologized and left us quite embarrassed.  Hey, just because we were the only people under 50 years old there doesn't mean we didn't want to party with the Mariachi Band! 

Love this map we found at the Oasis on Lake Travis.  It's so true! 

Next stop, food truck dinner... yum!

UT Graduation

J had a chance to go to Austin to attend her cousin, Kevin's, graduation.  It was a special occasion because she felt like she played a small role in this event.  When her cousins came to the US in 2006, J was Kevin's school guardian while Lilian was Ricky's.  So, she felt like a proud 'parent' attending his graduation from her fellow alma mater.

 

Surprise NYC Visit

J's dear friend Lynda turns 40 this year.  Her awesome husband wanted to do something special for her 40th birthday and asked whether some of her close out of town friends would be able to fly into NYC to surprise her.  Being on crutches didn't stop J from flying up to NYC.  Lynda was definitely surprised and everyone had a very 'memorable' birthday weekend.

First stop after arriving, Emily's house for Lynda's birthday party.  She knew about the party, but didn't know J and her other friend Naomi was flying in to celebrate too.

The four girls at the top right, plus Joy, also spent the next day together, as we all treated Lynda to a Korean spa.  Let's just say we all 'bonded' and took our friendship to the next level. Korean spas have a way of forging these bonds. :)

Not only did J get to catch up with Lynda, she also got to hang out with the cute Todd kiddos.  They just get cuter each time she sees them.