Vegas Baby

Fred and I spent a long week-end in Las Vegas. We had a great time. Our major activity was playing cards. We did fairly well. I am saving my winnings for our Diva trip to Stamford, Conn. The Diva's and I are taking a camera class with CK magazine. We are really excited and have been looking forward to it for a long time.

We attended the Donny and Marie show and thoroughly enjoyed it. The big disappointment was Cher. We had second row, center seats. She got sick and had to cancel. BooWhoo!! I was really looking forward to that concert.

My sister, Alyse, and her family meet us in Vegas. We had dinner together at the Hofbrauhaus House. It was okay but when you have been to the real one in Germany it is hard to pretend.

To see some of my pictures from Vegas click on the photo above. Please excuse these pictures. I took my point and shoot for the small size and weight. Next time I will stick with my DSLR. About my pictures, the pictures above is of glasses that I wish I had bought. They are so funny. I could have had a good laugh with those. The picture of the girl with the rose on her boob, Fred wanted to smell the flowers. All the girls in the Hofbrauhaus House were in traditional dress. We were staying at the Venetian with it own St. Marks Square. The man with the real puppet was great. There is a picture of Alyse and her family. It was a great four day trip but good to be home.

This blog was dictated to me by "Bella" the sexy little lamb.

"I really think this is my Mom and Dad's idea of a joke. I would like to put this witch suit on them. Can you see Mom with her figure? Ha! Ha! Ha! You know they are doing a movie about us little lambs. "Hollywood Chihuahua" They did contact me but my schedule did not allow the time. I am really busy visiting my buddies at Nana's. Maybe I will get the chance to talk about Bandit and Bambi at another date. If you like the picture above, just click on and check out the rest. I know it is a little early but the costumes sell out fast. Oh yeah, I am not this fat. It is the dress that makes me look fat. Don't you think? Have a great day."
Bella


This post was straight from the dogs mouths. See for yourself how she feel about this dress.

Tucson, Az.

Off for a short trip to Tucson, Az. We are leaving on Saturday and will be back on Sunday. My goal is to take pictures of a beautiful sun set. Sun sets are one of my favorites. I am looking forward to this short trip and a sneak peek at Tucson, Az. I think of this city as being smaller than the picture above. It looks so big.

More pictures to come on my return. Have a great, safe and fun week-end.

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn is the capital and largest city in Estonia. It lies on the northern coast of Estonia on the Gulf of Finland. The city is an important industrial, political and cultural center and seaport.

On 24 February 1918, the Independence Manifesto was proclaimed in Tallinn, followed by Imperial German occupation and a war of independence with Russia. On 2 February 1920, the Tartu Peace Treaty was signed with Soviet Russia, wherein Russia acknowledged the independence of the Estonian Republic. Tallinn became the capital of an independent Estonia. After World War II started, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1940, and later occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941-44. After Nazi retreat in 1944, it was occupied by the USSR again. After annexation into the Soviet Union, Tallinn became the capital of the Estonian SSR.

In August 1991 an independent democratic Estonian state was re-established and a period of quick development to a modern European capital ensued. Tallinn became the capital of a de facto independent country once again on August 20, 1991. It was at this point,, in this little country's history that the people of Estonia stood on the border of the state holding hands and declared their independence.

Tallinn, Estonia was the second stop on our Baltic cruise. As you can read in the brief history above that Estonia has struggled to become and be it's own independent state. As we toured this city our tour guide shared some of the facts of today. She stated that Estonia has a flat income tax system. Starting in 1991 at 28% and is at 21% today. The goal of their flat tax is to be 18% for each citizen of their country. This small state and country has a lot to teach us about manging money. Estonia is a well run, benefit providing state.

We visited the old town in Tallinn with only a glimpse of the city. Cruises are great for letting you see if you would like to visit a place again or not. The church we went to was decorated with the Coat of Arms of the old families. I were not suppose to take pictures, but I had to sneak a few. Every old town in Europe has a castle. The pink building is the town hall or city hall.

The funniest things catch my eye. Tell me what you think I thought when I saw the picture above. Click on the photo to view a few pictures from Tallinn, Estonia.

Bird in a Hand

We were leaving the port of Finland, sitting on our balcony, enjoying the close of a wonderful day. Fred and I had enjoyed a great day visiting Helsinki and a re-created village of days gone by. The wild flowers, mushrooms and wildlife were amazing. Photo to follow in another blog.

Being the nature lover that my husband is, he started feeding the sea gulls. We had the best time watching them. We were up so high on the balcony and the birds were so close. You can see by the picture that the birds would take the chips out of his hand. They loved the plain Pringles but hated the cheese flavored ones. I do not blame them I hate the flavored one but love the plain ones. Enjoy our close encounter with sea gulls.

Missing My Scrap Club Buds Today

Just a short post to say HELLO. I really miss you guys today. Skinny Butt stay out of my space. We are having a wonderful time. Fred and I are in Finland and loving it. I took some great photos of mushrooms. I can't wait for you to see a little red one with one dots. It is tiny and precious.

Miss everyone. This may be my last post due to minutes. We will be in New York on Thursday and I will post again.

Love to all,

London and Splendor

I am sorry for not updating you guys at home for a few days. The internet service is slow and is down alot. You will only find a few photos in flickr due to how slow it is. We are paying by the minute. Hope that you can laugh and enjoy the few pics that I have. Click on the photo above for fun and adventures.

I truly enjoyed this soft serve cone. My darling husband almost had a stroke over the price. He thought I paid 20.00 euros for it. I kept telling him that I have 17.50 in change but in his little fit he never heard me. Do I look like I was really worried about it. I finally showed him my change and he calmed down. He also said "I'm sorry!". It was a great Danish cone. I had a great laugh at my love bird.

Check out the photos of us at the life boat drill. Are we ready or what? I was ready to toast our sinking boat or should I say ship. Our crew staff did not think it was funny. I say you can always drink to something.

Meet my new next door neighbor. Can you guess who lives in the castle or palace? You got it "Queen Elizabeth". It is quit a place. I would really hate to keep toilet paper in all the bathrooms. We did learn that we would like to come back to London and spend about a week or more. There is alot to see and do. We did not have enough time.

Crossing the street and driving is very dangerous in London. Everyone is on the wrong side of the street. Where did the British come up with this idea. Every where else they drive like we do. It is just something that they do. They also go up stairs on the wrong side and walk on the wrong side. They are a left brain nation.

The London Eye is a huge ferris wheel. It never stops moving. 24/7, 365 days a year. It continues to move as you enter and exit. It takes 30 minutes to complete the entire circle.

Thanks for all the question about my cold. Yes, I am feel better. Much Better! Deb, I did have meds from home. I called the day before and the doctor called in something for me. I have been pretty sick but getting better each day. I only missed one day of adventure.

We are St. Peterburg, Russia today and tomorrow. We have had a great day today. We left the ship at 7:00 AM and returned at 5:00 PM. We are going to Catherine's Palace tonight for a tour and dinner and music. We are off again tomorrow to tour St Petersburg. This is a amazing place. I can not help but think about when this country was under Commist rule. You can still see the bars and bob-wire around everything.

I will miss everyone at Scrap Club this week-end. Drink some Vodka for me.

At Sea

The sculpture is of the little mermaid. Hans Christian Anderson wrote a story about the little mermaid that later became a Disney's Little Mermaid movie. The story is the same. The mermaid falls in love and trades her singing voice for her legs. The prince does not know her so she goes back to the sea. Danmark is very much like most Scandinavian towns.

We were in Germany yesterday. I was very sick and stayed on the boat. I have had a bad cold the entire trip. I am taking meds, since leaving, and feeling better today.

We will be in Tallinn, Estonia tomorrow. It was part of Russia and was one of the first to form it's own state. Three million people held hands on the border of their state to show Russia that they were with drawing. Those people formed three states. All of this happen in 1989. Not very long ago. It goes to show that if people really want something they can stand together and achieve great things.

Deb, The ship we are own is a new ship and was launched in July of 2008. It is truly amazing. I love the colors. Pink, Gray, Silver, Black and lime green. All my colors. There is black tile every where with lime green grout. The decor is very make believe and fun. I feel like I am in a Dr Seuss story book with all the horns and shinny surfaces.

Will post photos tomorrow.

Copenhagen, Danmark II

Click on the photo above to view a few photos of Copenhagen.
Fred and I spent a wonderful day in Copenhagen, Danmark. Yes, Danmark is the correct spelling and it is said like "Dan"mark. It seems that we as Americans like to change things to our liking. I am not sure why we spell it "Denmark" and say it "Den"mark but we do. Danmark is a very modern city with old and new mixed together. We went on a city tour with a stop at the Palace Square and Tivoli Gardens. The gardens is a amusement park that was built in the 1800's and is still standing today. What a wonderful place with rides, shows and great Danish restaurants. My husband was happy with his Carlsberg beer and pickled herring.
I truly missed my Father-In-Law today. He was such a calm soul with a cute Danish accent. I would like to think that he walked with us today. The Danish people are a very good looking race of people. The children we saw were beautiful. My favorite photo is of the different color houses. When Dusty was little his Grandfather built him a harbor of houses and a pier to dock his boats at. As you can see from my photos the sky was a glorious blue like the color of the Danish people's eyes. I enjoyed the short time we had in Copenhagen today and look forward to another visit to this country.
We are off to Germany tomorrow.