http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kate---Fiko/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Kate Fiko en-us Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:29:53 +0000 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:29:53 +0000 Hello AllHope all is well with everyoneToday was the big day we had our 19 week scan. This scan is used for the doctors to make sure the baby has all the bits and pieces it should and that they have developed properly. For mums and dads to be it is for finding out or not the sex of the baby. As you may have guessed from the title of this blog we are having a GIRL We are all very excited about http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Burleigh-Heads/blog-450621.html Hi EveryoneA few VERY organised people have been asking me for ideas for presents for Noah for his Birthday.We are in the process of getting things together for Noah's big boy room. We have put some things away on layby at a wonderful shop here at Robina called Adairs Kids. As you can see from the picture we are going for a space theme always a favorite. We have put away some decoative lights s http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Burleigh-Heads/blog-442168.html Hi Everyone For those of you who missed the facebook announcement the minute we found out We have learnt we are expecting baby number 2 And I know you're all thinking it..........no there is only 1 baby Yes that's right 1 ...... no twins triplets or quads thank you VERY much It's all very exciting and a little bit scary to think we might have two Noah's running around soon We're at 14 we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Burleigh-Heads/blog-440290.html The final leg of our journey saw us stopping in on some friends in Dubai for a day. We have only been trying to get there to see them for the last 4 years...since they moved there.What an amazing place rediculously hot but amazing none the less. As we arrived well after 2am to the Holt's house we went straight to bed. The next day we spent catching up on sleep and inside until Erin returned home http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-407907.html Here are some more family pics from our trip to Turkey.In this addition Noah had a great time at Fiko's cousin's daycare. Even inviting himself to join in with a class of older kidsWe also had a lovely dinner at Ahmet's new appartment on our last night in Turkey. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-410919.html What a wonderful day was had by all the mothers at the Family's Mountain house.We met early in the morning at Fiko's uncle's house where Gulhan and I were greeted by the others with a rose for mother's day When everyone arrived we headed off for a day of fun at the Mountain house. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-410588.html A lot of fun was had by all during our trip here are some great family pics and videos from our visit. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-407046.html Yes I know we have been home for a while now 3 weeks to be exact but this is the first moment I have had to my self to report inOur trip to Turkey was fantastic we had a lot of fantastic family gatherings and a few touristy outtings. One such outting was a visit to Mersin to see the Heaven and Hell Caves. The hollows were formed by natural subsidence. You can access the hollows via 455 steps n http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Mersin/blog-396745.html After a lazy day at home we headed off for Fikos cousins wedding with 250 of the305r nearest and dearest 305nv305ted It had been a beaut305ful day all day then just as we started to get ready the weather turned ugly. A thunder storm and very heavy ra305n not good 305n a c305ty renowned to loose power 305n a thunder storm We arr305ved at the wedd305ng relat305 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-393933.html Yes my friends for those of you who dont know Noah King of travels 305s off on h305s second overseas adventure. Th305s t305me we are 305n Turkey meet305ng F305kos fam305ly.The story beg305ns at 2.45am when we left on Emerates fl305ght 433. R305ght from the beg305nn305ng we knew 305t was go305ng to be a long fl305ght 8 hours to S305ngapore a 1 hou http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-393391.html As I mentioned to our flight home became quite the drama and for a while we thought we might struggle to make our connecting flight home. All started out ok saying our goodbyes to Jonquil and Trev outside we collected our tickets grabbed some dinner and made our way to our gate. After waiting a short while they made an announcement that we would no longer be travelling on our plane and were be http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/LAX/blog-388451.html After a teary farewell between mother and son we boarded the plane bound for Vegas to catch up with Trev and and his new fiance Jonquil. It turned out to be quite the adventure first our plane was late arriving at New Orleans and then the plane was delayed in Dallas so we arrived over an hour late into Vegas. Thankfully Trev and Jonquil still met us and our luggage at the airport We sat up for a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-386304.html We decided we would spend our last day in New Orleans in the French Quarter and take a ride on the Streetcar. So we strolled the 2 blocks to the streetcar stop and only had to wait a few minutes until it arrived. We rode the car all the way up St Charles to Canal St. We wondered along Canal St in and out of the various tourist shops then headed to Jackson square and listened to a jazz band for a b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-384914.html With Robert busy at school again we decided to head off to another antebellum home. However this one was different. It was a Creole Plantation called ldquoLaurardquo. A historic sugar plantation built in 1805 where the Guided Tour transports you into Louisiana's Creole culture. Named by Lonely Planet Travel as the Best History Tour in the U.S. the onehour guided visit is based upon 500 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-379471.html Chapter 13. Antebellum Homes New OrleansWe had been told a few days ago at breakfast to go and visit two Antebellum homes Oak Alley and Nottoway Plantations. Since they were only an hours drive out of town we decided we would go and have a look. True to fashion it took us over 2 hours to get to Nottoway and of course we had missed the tour. So we went outside for a bit of a look around the outsid http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-377508.html Chapter 11. Lundi Gras New OrleansAfter a full day of driving we got home in time for the second last day of Mardi Gras and some of the bigger parades. A lot of fun was had by all hellip see pictures. We did meet a lovely family that had been coming to the corner we were standing on for 35 years They had an amazing set up. ldquoCookierdquo an older guy in his 60rsquos seemingly spent his http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-377391.html Chapter 10. Walking in Memphis TENNESSEEBefore we left today was what I was looking forward to most besides surprising Robert of course going to GRACELAND We woke up early thanks to our walking alarm clockhellipNoah had breakfast and walked out the door for the 3 hour drive to Memphis. Arriving at Graceland around 11.30 we bought our tickets and loaded onto the shuttle to go across t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Tennessee/Memphis/blog-376495.html Chapter 9. Mardi Gras in the Big Easy LOUISIANNAWe met Jan and Charles for an early breakfast at IHOP before they left to go back to Texas. After breakfast we met their new little ldquodogrdquo Kisses a black Chichaqua. Very cute but not a dog Since it was such a lovely day and there had been talk of rain later in the week we decided to hit the Mardi Gras Parades. Mum and Dad had seen a th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-376492.html Chapter 6. Road Trip Continues Shreveport LOUISIANNAWe left Natchez after breakfast for the remainder of our road trip up to Shreveport for Robertrsquos next game. It was a nice drive that only took a few hours. We stopped for lunch at another of Fikolsquos favorite restaurants hellip Applebeersquos. In Fikorsquos honor I ordered the fajitas hellip yes Fiko they were great That ni http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-374924.html Chapter 5. Road Trip Continues Natchez MISSISSIPPIWe left Mobile after breakfast in no rush to get going as we knew that Dr Carey would be at school all day Delicia was Robertrsquos mom while he was in high school in Natchez. We managed to turn the 4 hour drive from Mobile to Natchez into an all day drive wersquore not entirely sure how but we did. Arriving fairly late in the afternoon at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Mississippi/Natchez/blog-373919.html