The Best of 2010

As we look back at 2010 we feel very fortunate for our happiness, friends, families and are thankful for all the wonderful memories.We can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us.

This year was full of exciting travel with vacations getaways to South Africa, Zambia and Rapid City, SD. We also did a fair amount of driving between southern Washington and Portland for dog training and shows.

We had lots of highlights for the year such as having Odin in his first hunt tests towards his senior hunter title, being in his first dog show and winning Best of Winners in multiple shows, getting a second Brittany- Loki, buying a new house, selling our old house and best of all going to South Africa for the World Cup. But, undeniably a low point of our year was watching certain family relationships worsen rather than get better.

There were a couple of additions this year for our friends and family. The birth of Emily for the Gran's, Robin for the Shimkus's, Evan for the Purdy's and a baby coming in 2011 for the Wass's. We also celebrated the marriage of the Staneff's in September.

And, we celebrated a big marriage milestone with our 8 year anniversary in July which marked the 11th year we've been together!

We look forward to a great 2011. Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season! May it bring you many fun times with family and friends. 

Love, The Campbell's (Ben, Jacqui, Odin and Loki)

The Big 3-0!

It is hard to believe I am now 30.

I must admit, my 20s were pretty exciting -- graduating college, my first job, getting engaged, getting married, buying/selling 2 houses, Odin and Loki -- I can only imagine what exciting events and milestones the next decade of my life will bring.

As I head into my 30s, I feel truly blessed. An awesome hubby, a loving family, and a group of thoughtful (and always entertaining) friends. Thanks for making my birthday so special!

Let the Celebrations Begin!

Friday night Ben and I headed out to the first of my turning the Big 3-0 celebrations by going to Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle. We were lucky and secured a seat right next to the stage which meant we were close to everything and at times involved in the mayhem that evening. This was our first time to the Teatro ZinZanni so we were in for a treat as it is a 3.5 hour performance which includes acrobatic (similar to Cirque events) and comedy performances and a complete 5 course meal which is served throughout the show.  This was a great start to the birthday festivities and I am looking forward to the party on Saturday with our friends and family as a way to round of this birthday.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

We are slowly getting into the Christmas spirit this year and decorating the house for the holidays. It has been a little overwhelming getting our new home ready for not only our first Christmas here but also before we debut it to our friends, family and some co-workers next weekend for our housewarming/holiday/Jacqui's turning the big 3-0 party but we are finally on our way.

Fill In the Blank Friday

1. Holiday spirit makes me happy and seems to make the world a little better and a little happier.

2. The holidays are incomplete without family, Christmas trees, snowman, twinkle lights and a fireplace.

3. My favorite things to do around the holidays is baking cookies and other yummy treats and hosting holiday parties.

4. A holiday tradition my family and I have is trying to get everyone together to celebrate the holidays.

5. Holiday music is not my favorite. I listen to it when it is on but I do not have favorite songs that I must hear during the season.

6. This year, I'll be spending the holidays at my house with my family on Christmas eve and on Christmas day. We will also see my husband's grandma in the afternoon on Christmas day. We will try to see my in-laws if it works into he plans.

7. Holiday wish list laptop, decorative shelves for the new house, new cookie sheets and maybe a new smartphone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent this Thanksgiving with my family and my dad's friend Benard who is visiting for the month of November from Chicago at our new house. Everyone braved the snow to make the trek to our house and my mom and I spent the morning cooking. We enjoyed spending time with friends and family and of course eating yummy foods and pumpkin pie.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Seattle Snow

Even though winter is still officially a month away, Seattle got it a little early with 4 inches of snow at our house as proof. We both worked from home yesterday and stayed bundled up and warm while the dogs decided that they wanted to play in it. For Loki this was his first time seeing snow so he wasn't so sure about it at first but a little pushing from Odin and they were off playing.

Happy Friday!

This week has been a hectic one with getting the house ready for Thanksgiving next week, repairing the newly completed fence that a deer decided to remove, craziness with work,getting over a nasty cold and of course getting the boys ready for the shows this weekend. Wish us luck as we debut the puppy in his first show tomorrow!

1. My Thanksgiving plans this year will include eating copious amounts of food at my new house with my family, grandfather and my dad's friend who is visiting from Chicago.

2. My favorite Thanksgiving was the first time I spent it with my husband's family at his grandparents and the rest of the extended family joined. It was great to see all of the extended family spending time with each other and even better that everyone got along for the most part.

3. My signature Thanksgiving dish is corn pudding. It's one of the few times a year that I make it but everyone requests it to be made and usually there is no left overs which must mean it is a crowd pleaser.
4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is mashed potatoes and gravy. Since Ben doesn't really like potatoes we don't have them very often at our house so I enjoy getting them covered in gravy during the holidays.
5. Thanksgiving free association! turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce.  with the lines on it, thankfulness, family time.

6. Thanksgiving is  a time to stop and pause to be thankful for the things that I have .

7. I am thankful for a best friend who is also a husband, two silly dogs, for family in general, our health and happiness and much more.

Deer-1, Fence- 0

We have been working on getting a fence put up around the smaller yard for the past 3 weeks that we have been in our new house and were within a day of being finished and having a space for the boys to run free until yesterday morning. Somewhere between the time that the boys were initially let out to potty and were let out again before going into the kennel for the day a deer came through and decided he didn't agree with where we put the fence.

Guess were back to work on the fence this weekend. Deer-1, Fence-0

It's Friday!

What a week! It was very long and productive one both on the work and home front. As usual, here is today's Fill in the Blank Friday...link up here to play along!

1. The most spontaneous thing I've ever done was a trip with ten other people (including Ben) packed into a SUV designed to carry six people and headed to a club in the middle of the night in a foreign country and we barely knew how to get home at the end of the night.

2. The best gift I've ever received was a strand of pearls that belonged to my grandmother for my wedding.
3. A time that I was truly and genuinely surprised was when Ben proposed. I was completely unaware he was even proposing since his line came across more like a joke than a proposal.

4. I can't leave the house without my cell phone, chapstick and GPS if driving.

5. My favorite day of the week is Saturday because I get to sleep in late and set my own agenda for the day -- whatever that may be.

6. Something that can always make me laugh is Odin and Loki. They are always doing something that will make you laugh.

7. My perfect day would include sleeping in 'til 10. Doing something with Ben and the boys- Odin and Loki and hanging out with friends in the evening.

Halloween 2010

This evening we headed to the Sounders first play-off game against the LA Galaxy so we skipped out on the usual dressing the dogs up and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters though we are not really sure we would actually get any now that we live out in the county and our neighbors are mostly horses.

 We hope everyone had a wonderful treat filled Halloween!

Fill in the Blank Friday

Happy Friday! With questions inspired by this blogger, here are my answers to fill in the blank Friday. The theme was 'Halloween.' Feel free to play along in the comments or on your blog.


1. My Halloween plans this year will include spending the day working on unpacking and finishing the fence at our new house and then heading to the Sounder playoff game with my mom and sister.


2. My most memorable Halloween costume was cat in the hat from the Doctor Seuss book when I was a freshman in high school.
3. For Halloween this year I'm going to be me, myself and I.

4. I've always wanted to dress up as...hmmm don't really dream of any costume.

5. Halloween free association! pumpkins, chocolate, orange, candy corn.

6. The worst thing about Halloween is that is usually cold and rainy here. Makes you wonder why the kids want to go out in this weather.

7. The best thing about Halloween is admiring all of the creative costumes. I love to see what people come up with.

Another Win!

Odin spent October 14th - 17th being a show dog again this time in Boise, Idaho much to Ben's dismay as he would rather been hunting than packing or without hid buddy for the weekend. Odin took Best of Winner's at the Brittany Specialty which gave him another couple of points towards the championship title and some fancy ribbons for the wall.

Up next is another show for Odin the weekend before Thanksgiving and then a well deserved break for hunting season before more shows in 2011.

Odin's took Best of Winners at the the Idaho Capital City Kennel Club Brittany Specialty on Oct 15, 2010 with his pro handler Kevin Chestnut

Moving On Up!

For many of you this is not new news but for some of you it is. Last week Monday we officially said goodbye to Chestnut Trails and our home for the last 5.5 years and said hello to our new home in Echo Lake on Wednesday. We have had a lot of good times in our first house and the great neighborhood that we have lived in. We have have had the pleasure of having great neighbors who have become our friends and we will  miss seeing and catching up with them on our daily walks with the dogs.

While we are sad to leave the old neighborhood we are very excited to move into our new home since it is everything we have been looking for over the last few years. The house has a great room/game room for Ben and his toys and of course the dogs to roam in, a big shop for Ben's future toys and of course acreage- 5 acres to be exact. We are looking forward to getting settled in and making this our home.

Our new house

All In A Weekend

This was a divide and conquer weekend as we had a couple of commitments that we need to tend to. First was our usual of taking the boys to the trainer since hunting season is upon us. Normally I wouldn't mind packing up the car for the 8 hours of driving and getting teased by our friends all day about not wanting to touch birds but this time I stayed home and let Ben, the boys, Lisa and her girls have a day of fun since I had commitment number 2 to tackle.

Since my kid sister Tammy is now a freshman in high school and that means schools dances to attend I had the fun task of getting her ready for homecoming. Normally Tammy is a tomboy and wants very little to do with being a girl, let alone a girly girl so I wasn't sure how this was going to go. We started our adventure by getting dress shoes and a haircut. Then came the fun part- deciding which dress to wear and how to do her hair. 4 dresses and an hour and half of putting curls in she was ready for the dance and I was ready for a nap. The next day report indicated a good time was had by her and her friends and the curls stayed in all night.

Sunday was our last commitment and involved lots of driving. Since Ben had shared the 8 hours of driving the day before and Odin had to be taken to Moses Lake to the Professional Handler who is showing him in 4 upcoming dog shows in Boise next weekend I took one for the team and headed over the mountain with both boys. 6+ hours later our adventure ended with one slightly confused Loki since he wasn't sure he liked not having his friend around the house to play with. Not sure how this week will go for him since he is used to being around Odin all the time but being on his own should be good for him since it will happen once in a while.

We did notice that after three months of having two dogs who like to wrestle nightly our house was very quite since Loki was content to sit in one of our laps while we watched football and relaxed before the start of another busy week.

Oh Loki!

Not sure what to say about this other than we're pretty sure that the toy box is not a Loki holder. Give him another week or two and he won't fit so easily.

Sibling Fun

We had a treat last weekend as our trainer Chris Tewes made the trek up to Scatter Creek to work with everyone and their dogs. Since Chris made the trip up to Washington everyone invited their fellow hunting friends and dogs to join us for the day. Ben and I have stayed in touch with Barbara, the breeder that we got Loki from and knowing that she is into hunting we invited her and the puppy she kept from the litter down for the day.

We hadn't seen any of the other puppies since we picked up Loki so it was a treat meeting and seeing Jake in over 2 months. Loki and Jake had a blast running in the field, playing with the other dogs when they could and of course doing what they do best- pointing or should I say chasing birds at this age.


From front to back- Jake, Odin, Loki and Lisa's friends German Shorthair

Ribbions and Points

This weekend we headed to the Shelton Fairgrounds for the Gig Harbor Kennel Club Dog Shows with Lisa and Odin for another round of fun in the pursuit of the championship title. This weekend Odin looked better than he did at his first three shows since the scratch on his nose has healed and the groomer did a much better job this time.

Team Lisa and Odin locked up a win in his class and then the Winner's dog spot which meant one more point towards his championships so we are now at 3 points with 12 more to go and 2 major Brittany dog shows.

Additionally while we were watching Odin in the ring a friend of Lisa's who is a professional handler (Lisa is an amateur handler) spoke to Ben about wanting to show Odin in four shows coming up in October in Boise since they would be major shows and he could get plenty of points and possibly be finished. We were happy and impressed that a professional handler would want to show him so were getting more details but it looks like Odin is headed to Boise in a couple of weeks.

Super Loki



I can fly!



Something to Think About...

Don't you think that "Wag More, Bark Less" is something that we all should practice a little more? (and we don't just mean the dogs, either!).

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Staneff!

Yesterday we headed out to the Newcastle Golf Course to celebrate Sarah and Geoff's wedding. The ceremony was perfect - short and sweet and very romantic. Sarah was literally glowing and I know they will be so happy together. 

We are so happy for you, Mr. & Mrs. Staneff- have a wonderful honeymoon! 

Probably Not Dog Handlers...

This weekend the Puyallup Fair kicked off and they once again had the All About Dogs exhibit/booths in one of the livestock barns. We were invited to bring Odin and Loki to the fair so they could be a part of the "dog show" demonstration on Friday and Saturday so that people could see what happens at a show and see the different types of breeds and classes that they belong to.

On Friday since Lisa had Daphne her English Pointer there I got the pleasure of being a handler for Odin in the show. Thankfully this was only for fun since Odin was super excited by all the dogs and people and I will be the first to admit that handling a dog and getting them to do what you need them to do in front of people is not as easy as it looks. I think we’ll leave the handling of Odin to Lisa for real shows.

On Saturday we headed back to the fair with Lisa and her mom to see the fair and let Odin be in the show again. Lennie decided that we should bring Loki along with as well and Ben and I figured it couldn’t hurt so off to the far he went as well. Lisa was back in the reigns of showing Odin since we left Daphne at home. Right before the sporting dogs took to the ring Lennie and Lisa decided that Ben should show Loki as well and give a try at handling a dog. With some prodding we were able to get him in the ring with Loki though I’m sure he want not too happy. I don’t think he’ll be taking up dog showing anytime soon.

All in all it was a good weekend of dog events at the fair with good company.

Loki with his "2nd Place" ribbon and Odin with his
"4th Place" ribbon from the Saturday "dog show"

Perfecting His Point

Loki got a treat this past weekend when we went to trainer. Chris decided it was time to teach him to use his nose rather than eyes when it comes to pointing birds and wanted to see what his point looked like. We were surprised to see that at 4 months he has a pretty good point and actually held it 3 different times on planted birds. With some more training he'll be on his way to giving Odin a run for who is the better hunter.

What IS Marketing?

I found this on urban dictionary and it cracked me up;

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, “I’m fantastic in bed.”
That’s Direct Marketing

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, “He’s fantastic in bed.”
That’s Advertising

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m fantastic in bed.”
That’s Telemarketing

You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, “By the way, I’m fantastic in bed.”
That’s Public Relations

You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, I hear you’re fantastic in bed.”
That’s Brand Recognition

Best of Winners

As mentioned a few post ago, Odin was shown in his first three dog shows and took Best of Winners in his second show. We got the picture yesterday from the show and are so proud of him and can't wait to see how he does in future shows.

Weekend of Ribbons

This weekend we continued Odin's debut into the world of confirmation and headed to the Olympic Kennel Club Dog show at the fair grounds in Enumclaw on both Saturday and Sunday. Odin was shown by his amazing and talented handler Lisa Merki once again and they had a great weekend of showing.

Saturday was by far Odin's best day and took first place in his class and the winner's group which is the round of showing for all the class winners for those of you who are unfamiliar with how this whole show thing works. To our surprise Odin took first in the winner's group which meant he got to compete for Best of Breed in his second dog show ever. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Best part of him being able to compete for Best of Show was getting to see him compete against his dad, Jake and Loki's dad, Sam for the same award. While Sam took the win and won Best of Show, Odin won Best of Winners. He got a bunch of ribbons for his good work along with a food dish and leash holder which were prizes given by the Washington Brittany Club. We also got a picture with the judge, Lisa and Ben since this was his first big win with points earned towards his championship.

Competing for Best of Breed on Saturday

Sunday Odin was a little hyper since he hadn't gotten to run around much the night before since we didn't want to have to give him another bath and blow dry and decided he didn't want to stay standing in the stacked position very long so it made Lisa's day interesting. Despite this he won his class again and took reserve winner's. The other excitement for Lisa was she showed her Pointer puppy, Harper and took Best of Winners so it was a good day of dog showing for her.

Competing for Winner's Dog on Sunday

Loki also got to come to the shows with us even though he was just a spectator for now since he is too young to compete. Not sure if we'll show him but he enjoyed being around all of the other dogs and of course getting petted by all the people. We also got to see Loki next to Sam which was fun and Sam's owner Liz got to meet him as well.

All in all it was a great weekend and Odin proved that he is really a great show quality dog.

Odin's Debut

For our loyal readers who probably were wondering why after 2 years we decided to get Odin professional groomed last week well it was for his ring debut today at the Rainer Sporting Dog Association Dog Show in Enumclaw at the Fair Grounds. The show had over 700 dogs and was held outdoors for the confirmation events so the cooler weather was greatly appreciated by both the people and the dogs. Odin is being shown by his wonderful handler Lisa Merki who has know him since he was a puppy. They make a great team and Odin really likes her and of course the treats that she has in her pockets :) Were so proud of him for being behaved at his first show and were happy to report that he did AWSOME- he won first place in his group and took reserve in the Winners group.

We're looking forward to this weekend as Odin will be in shows both days and are excited that we'll get to be there in person to see Team Lisa and Odin perform for the judges. Guess we truly have a show doggie after all.

All in a weekend- Birdies, Sun & Water

This weekend with the weather in the high 90's we headed out bright and early Saturday morning with the boys to meet up with Lisa and her girls to head down to the trainer for some training before it got to be too hot to do anything. We met up Andy and his wife LoAnne and their boys Oscar and Chase and Dick and his boy Max who were training as well. This weekend we worked on more backing for Odin as this is his main area of concern and some fine tuning for hunting season.

While at the trainer we also decided to continue Loki's introduction to birds and based on how well he has been doing and his reaction to the pop gun and the shotgun last weekend we decided it was time to introduce him to the shotgun. After a few rounds at distances that got closer to him each time with no problems, Chris decided it was time to go for it and let him have his own bird. Boy was he a happy bird dog once he got his bird.

Since the weather wasn't cooling off on Sunday we headed down to Ben's cousins- Mike and Pam who live on Lake Hicks for a day of fun. We spent our afternoon floating around, swimming and Ben got to go tubing. The day ended with a great BBQ dinner before we packed up to head home with two very tired boys, three if you include Ben :)

All Polished Up

Ben tends to like the "wildman" look when it comes to Odin but we finally decided to let him get a proper grooming. Thursday Odin headed to Der Pet Haus in Bellevue for an appointment with Keith who handles all of the Brittany's. Since we have never sent him to a professional groomer before we weren't sure what would all be done outside of trimming him.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much of a proper Brittany Odin looks now while a little puzzled that they shaved the whiskers and eyebrows but were sure he will make a grand presence at his debut in the coming days now that he is all polished looking.

Happy Boys

Sunday was supposed to be a sleep in day but Ben and the boys had other plans as we headed out of the house at 4:45am to make the drive down to Chris's place in Eagle Creek for training. The drive takes about 3.5 hours each way and the boys sleep the entire way so they don't mind it, can't say the same about us.

Chis was a great host and had let everyone know the day before that he would be smoking ribs so we could have a potluck lunch. Everyone brought goodies to go with the ribs and had a good day of training and socializing.

Loki got to play with more pigeons as well and is showing that he is quite the retriever and a bird dog. While he does have a little trouble actually retrieving the birds as they are usually the same size as him he does make a good effort to figure out how to make it work.

All in all everyone had a good day and were looking forward to next weekend since hunting season is right around the corner.

Loki and Harper

One of the greatest things about having hunting dogs is having friends that also have hunting dogs and train with the same trainer. It makes it much easier when we say were training this weekend and not having to explain why and what for each time. Over the last year while training Odin we have become great friends with Lisa and her Pointer girls- Erin, Daphne and Harper. Were lucky that she lives in Shoreline and is always up for training with our boys.

Yesterday we headed over for the afternoon to do some backyard training before heading back to Chris's place in Eagle Creek next weekend to tighten up on the basics for Odin and Harper and to let Loki play with a birdy. 

After a while Loki and Harper decided that they were done with the bird stuff and it was playtime. Being that they are both puppies, Harper is 8 months old and Loki is almost 11 weeks they got along great and chased each other for about 2 hours before collapsing and falling asleep. Amidst all of this running and playing Loki stumbled upon the pond in the backyard and decided it was prime location to follow the others and get a drink. We all watched as he hovered over the pond and then fell in since it was a bit of out of his reach. Luckily Ben was there to pull him out before he got freaked by the water and later we caught him trying to get into the pond again. Guess he's a water dog as well.

Even though Loki had already fallen in the pond once...

...He sure wasn't 'fraid a nuthin!

Were definitely looking forward to another doggie play date very soon.

July Babies

July certainly has been busy for the stork as two of our friends are now families of three.

Congrats to our friends James and Heidi Wesley .on the birth of their precious baby boy- Conlan who was born on July 6th.

Congrats to our college friends Alex and Carrisa Gran on the adoption and birth of their precious baby girl- Emily who was born on July 21st.

Best wishes to you on your adventure into parenting and the joys that come with parenting.

Loki learns what birds are

Since we were heading to our new dog trainer with Odin we thought this would be a perfect time to introduce him to Loki who had only been part of the family for a little over 24 hours. Chris and Ben also thought this would be a perfect time to introduce the little guy to birds since every Brittany is supposed to be somewhat naturally birdy even as a puppy.

It was funny to watch Chris laying down on the ground playing with Loki and introducing him initially to a pigeon. At first Loki wasn't sure about his whole bird thing but after a few minutes of Chris playing with him and the pigeon he caught on that this was something he wanted. 

Hello Mr. Pigeon

 By the end of the day we had him pointing a chuckar and finding it in various coveys as it flew around. I think Ben definitely has another bird dog in the family and maybe next year he can go out with both dogs during hunting season.

Our Newest Family Member- Loki

We decided to expand our little family with a new Brittany puppy who joined us on Friday, July 16th.. Meet Lacey Mtn's B Campbell Little Jester otherwise know as Loki. He is currently 9.5 weeks old and is learning about life. Odin has taken to have the little guy around quite nicely and we think he really likes having a playmate since the boys are always playing or snuggling together in the evenings.

Thought for the Day!

When life gives you lemons, puree strawberries and make strawberry lemonade! If that doesn’t work, add vodka.

8th Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 8th anniversary. I guess time really does fly when your having fun.

The last year has been filled with both good times and bad, the smiles and laughter FAR surpass the frowns and tears. We're a team and we've accomplished a lot together over the last year and in the past 8 years.

We both feel very thankful. Thankful to have a partner like each other in this crazy thing we call life and we very much look forward to the years ahead....

We decided to stay home to celebrate this year as things have been a little crazy with our recent big decisions (stay tuned for more details) and had a home cooked Mexican dinner and spent time with Odin.

Happy Long Weekend

Were basking in the joy of having a 3-day weekend. Our plan is to do some dog training at Sauvie Island with our new trainer, visit friends and family, relax and sleep in, finish working on the house and hopefully enjoy a few Seattle sun breaks.

HAPPY 4th of July WEEKEND!

An Evening of Acrobatics

Saturday we took a break from our busy week and headed down to Marymoor park to see the latest Cirque du Soleil show - Kooza. Cirque comes to Redmond and holds shows under their big top tent every other year and we try to go each time their here.

The show tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loaner in search of his place in the world through acrobatics and the art of clowning. Like almost any Cirque show this one as well was filled with plenty of acrobatics that made you sit on the edge of your seat and wonder how they do it.

Summer?

After 256 days without it being over 75 degrees and grey skies on the first official day of summer it looks like summer may have actually arrived here in Seattle as yesterday and today has had sun. Here's hoping to many more days of sunshine and blooming flowers!

Highlights of Working in the City

While I may not love the 30- 60 minute commute each way to work, I do love working in the city and being in the middle of all the action. Some of my favorite reasons for enjoying working in Seattle are:

1. I work 3 blocks from the Pike's Place Market- great lunch options and things are always going on

2. Great Happy Hour places. Pink Door, Palace Kitchen, Dalia Lounge, Lola, just to name a few :)

3. Out to Lunch concerts.

Home Sweet Home

Our bags are unpacked and all of the souvenirs and Christmas presents have been put into piles to be distributed or put away. As you can guess we just returned from 16 days in South Africa. We headed down to So. Africa for the 2010 World Cup (soccer tournament for those that do not follow soccer) and to see the county.

Our trip took us to Johannesburg or Jo'burg as it is called by the locals where we headed to see the Soweto township, Nelson Mandela's house and a few other sites. We also attended the Netherlands vs. Denmark soccer match at the newly renovated Soccer City stadium which holds 85,000 people. We proudly wore our USA and Sounders jersey's to the game and were surprised by how many people from the Seattle area we ran into.

Next we headed out on a 4 day safari to Kruger National Park where we camped and took two all day game drives in search of the animals. We were fortunate enough to see all of the big 5 in one day. The Big 5 are the Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Cape Buffalo and are classified as the "Big 5" because of their potential to be the most dangerous animals you'll encounter. Along with the Big 5 we saw lots of other animals including Baboons, Monkeys, Impala's Zebras, Giraffe's and many more.

Our next stop was a quick 2 hour plane flight to Zambia, Africa where we headed to see one of the 7 wonders of the world- Victoria Falls. The falls are called Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) by the locals. While in Zambia we also had the chance to take an Elephant Safari where you got to ride an elephant through the bush.

From there is was onto Durban for 2 days to see the city and to attend the Spain vs. Switzerland match. Durban is right on the coast and has miles of beaches that are warm enough for swimming. We got a chance to check out the sites, go to the casino, though we didn't try our luck and walk in the warm sand.

Initially our trip was supposed to take us back to Jo'Burg for the last day before heading home but we decided that the plans should be changed and booked a last minute hostel and flight to Cape Town. We have never stated in a hostel before so our expectations were rather low and surprisingly the hostel we found, House on the Hill was quite nice and located only a couple of blocks from the stadium and about a 10 minute walk from the waterfront.

While in Cape Town we decided to take a hop-on/hop-off city bus tour so we could see the sights and different areas of the city and it was fortunate for us that one of stops was Table Mountain- a flat top mountain that overlooks the city of Cape Town. Since it was already mid afternoon by the time we got there we decided to take the cable car to the top. The cable car ride turns a 2-3 hour hike to the top into a 4 minute Aeriel ride. The neatest part of the ride is that the floor rotates so the view changes all the way up and down.

Our last trek was down the Cape Peninsula since we wanted to see the Penguins and the Cape of Good Hope. We headed down to Hout Bay for our first stop and got the opportunity to take a 45 minute boat ride out to Seal Island to see all of the seals, a there were a lot of them. Next we headed to Camps Bay where we got to see Hout Bay from the other side of the bay and almost got blown away by the strong winds. After wards we made our way to Boulders Beach, home of the African Penguin's. We got to see dozens of them walking around the beach. While they may be cute they do bite. Lastly we got to the Cape of Good Hope which is the Southern most point of Africa. There we we got to do some bike riding along the coast and hiking.

Here are a few pics from our trip and the rest can be enjoyed on our flickr site.

South Africa Trip Summary:

*74 hours of travel on 10 different flights

*6 different accommodations including our very first hostel

* Tickets to 2 World Cup matches

*Countless other matches watched on TVs in pubs

*Too many vuvuzela's to count

*1 elephant ride

*and much more

And Were Off

After months of planning and getting lucky in the World Cup ticket lottery tomorrow we leave for 16 days in South Africa. We've got another packed itinerary which includes a Safari, trip to Victoria Falls, an elephant ride and of course soccer and lots of it. We'll post pics when we get back.