Slacker!! Part 3

Ahhh...then we come to May. The time of field trips and class parties...

Here is Kaitlin rock climbing with her Girl Scout troop.

And A.J. at the zoo.

Slacker!! Part 2

Then, we went on a little trip...

***blogger is not letting me upload the slideshows of my trips to Berlin and Prague. I will try again another day (or month)***

There was Berlin:

Then there was shopping in Poland for pottery. Here is my loot:

We also did some sightseeing, but were soon on our way to the next stop.

Prague!!!

Slacker!! Part 1

So, since I last posted we've had Easter. Of course, my kids looked super cute! There were also a lot of Easter markets to be visited-because I "needed" the hand painted Easter eggs that Germany has.

Horseback Riding

This past week the kids started on a new adventure-horseback riding! We're going to a horse stable not too far from us. Before they ride the horses they have to brush them, clean their hooves and then help saddle and harness them. Then they go to the arena to practice riding. Right now, it's one on one lessons for them-which is really awesome. They practice riding, and afterwards they help unsaddle the horses and then feed them. It's a great opportunity for them to learn riding AND how to take care of the horses.

Disney Paris

This last month we took a little trip to EuroDisney. It was everything I expected and MORE! We had so much fun! We stayed at one of the Disney hotels so we were in walking distance of the park. We rode rides, drank hot chocolate, and just had a complete blast for three FULL days! And we were introduced to a whole new world-pin trading! The kids had so much fun trading and collecting the pins.

Christmas!

Just a few pictures from Christmas.

Kaitlin's Birthday

Soooo...it's been awhile since I've updated this. Anyway, back to the subject of Kaitlin's birthday. On her birthday we had cupcakes and she opened her presents from us. She was so excited to get a camera from us!

We celebrated a few days afterwards this year. There was a big snow storm that day, but it didn't keep anyone away. We did her party at the post movie theater. We watched The Princess and the Frog. The kids also were given a tour of the movie theater, and learned how the movies are shown on the big screen. Everyone had a good time, and there was no clean up for mom:)

Venice

Our final day in Italy we spent in Venice. The goal was to ride a gondola! The weather was a little chilly, but not too bad. We drove to Venice, and then wandered around looking for St. Mark's Square. We found it, and then found a gondola. We didn't know if they would even take us out, because the sea was really choppy, but they took us. We got in. I was a little nervous because we kept tipping from side to side, but once we got into the canals it was ok. We rode around on the tourist route, and our gondolier even sang to us! When we got back to the sea it was a little rocky again (I was hanging on for dear life, hoping we wouldn't tip) After that we went to Hard Rock Cafe, again. We walked around some more, did a little shopping and then headed back to our motel.

Rome

We headed over to Rome to spend Thanksgiving. My cousin Rachel joined us there. We arrived Thanksgiving Day and went for dinner that night. Jamie told the people that owned the resteraunt to "make us happy" I'm not completely sure if we were happy, but they sure were when we paid our bill. After we ate we walked back to our apartment, and had dessert at the Gelataria acroos the street.

The next day we got up and went to the Vatican. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel (which we did, after walking through A LOT of the Vatican) The guard there kept saying, "SHHHH! NO PHOTOS" in a really nasally voice. He was actually louder than all the people that were in there. After that we took the subway to see some Baths--we didn't get to see them because they were under construction. So, then we went to the Spanish Steps. After that we called it a night, and headed home. We took the two hour route from the subway, instead of the ten minute one...and stopped at the Gelataria.

On our final day in Rome we went to the Coloseum. First though, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. I like going to the Hard Rock in Europe because the bathrooms are always clean and the toliets have seats. After being in Europe for a few years, those are really important to me. After lunch we went to the Colloseum, then saw the Palantine Hill (ruins). After that we walked through the Jewish Ghetto (that is not a ghetto anymore, but it used to be a flooded area that they forced the Jews to live in) all the way to the Pantheon. And then we walked the ten minutes home....that changed to ten more minutes every ten minutes. Confused yet?

Italy!

We went to Italy for several days this past month. Since we went and saw so much, I will do several posts.

Our first stop was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We went and pretended to hold it up, and walked around Pisa some. We also had pizza in Pisa for lunch. After lunch we headed over to the medieval walled city of Lucca. We did some walking (on top of the wall) and just checking out the town.

The second day we went to Cinque de Terre, or The Five Villages. We hiked the paths between some of the villages, and rode the train the rest of them. There were gorgeous views of the ocean, and yummy Italian gelato!

The third day we went to Florence. The sole purpose of that trip was to see Michealangelo's David. We accomplished that, but unfortunately photos are not allowed in the museum. We also had lunch there and walked through the outdoor markets.

Party Party!

We celebrated A.J.'s birthday last weekend. He FINALLY had a birthday party that was more than just us. We invited a lot of friends over. We had around 30 people over. A.J. had a BLAST! He loved his Transformer cake, and opening presents. In fact, the next day he asked if we could have another birthday party next week. I said no, we only have birthday parties once a year. He said it doesn't have to be a birthday party-just a PRESENT party. I still said no-so let's not let him in on the idea of an unbirthday party.

Happy Birthday A.J.!!!

A.J. turned 6 this past week. We will be having a party for him later this month. I made cupcakes for his kindergarten class, and he FINALLY got the talking Optimus Prime he has been wanting!

A.J.'s First Day of Kindergarten

Awww....it went so fast. My baby is in kindergarten now! Today when I took A.J. to school he gave me a big wave and a big smile and walked in without a backward glance! When I picked him up I asked him how school went and he gave me a two thumbs up.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend we did a little trip to the Netherlands. We live pretty close-it's about a 4 1/2 drive to the town we like to stay in. On Sunday we headed over to Amsterdam. It's a beautiful city, pretty much built in circles around the canals. While we were there we went to the red light district (it was noon when we went-I'm pretty sure it's a completely different atmosphere at night than during the day) The kids were so enthralled with the swans in the canal that they completely missed the prostitutes in the windows. (Thank God!) We went on a boat ride around Amsterdam, too. The last thing we did was visit the Anne Frank House. Another sobering moment, a reminder of the atrocities that happened here. It was incredible to see the tiny space where the Frank family and another family hid.

On Monday we went to Kinderdijk on our way home. It's a cute little village of windmills. There are 19 windmills, and they have one that is working. When you go inside of it they show how the Dutch lived in their windmills. The rooms were so tiny-maybe my apartment isn't so bad after all...the kids had a blast climbing all the way to the top of the windmill, on the narrow steep steps. I wouldn't have wanted to go down them in the dark!

Kaitlin's First Day of School

How is it possible that my little girl is in 4th grade already????

Luxembourg and Bastogne

Last weekend we took a little drive through Luxembourg and Belgium. We visited the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg. It is very sobering walking through and seeing all the white crosses. Especially when you think about how young most of the men were, and the fact that they gave their lives that others would have freedom. After that we drove to Bastogne, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. The story of the battle was engraved on the walls of the memorial. It was a fascinating battle. The countryside of Belgium reminded me of the Midwest, too. Most of the time when you're driving through European villages they are just so cute and old fashioned. In Belgium I felt like I was back home in Iowa there for a little bit.

Summer is almost over...

and I haven't been posting updates. My mom and Aunt Marian were here at the beginning of the summer. Mom came before school let out, and Marian came at the end of the summer. We did A LOT of running and sightseeing while they were here. We went to Paris of the 4th of July and did a few day trips in between. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having company:)

Jamie had surgery last week to repair the damage to the nerves in his arm. He is on leave until next week. We go back on Tuesday for a follow up.

We probably won't have any exciting trips or pictures for the rest of the summer. Our excitement now consists of going to the Macaroni Grill (just opened last month!) and Chili's, and I know that's just not too exciting for those of you that live near yummy restaurants. But for us....ahhhh it is a treat to go there!

Graduation Day

It's finally happened. After years of hoping and praying A.J. has finally graduated PRE-SCHOOL! Ha ha! Yesterday was A.J.'s preschool graduation. His school went all out. They had an outer space theme, complete with planets and a rocket ship. They sang a song about blasting off to kindergarten, and were given diplomas. It was absolutely fantastic! We really enjoyed the whole program, and I only cried a little (at graduation anyway)

Opening Night!

Last night was the opening night for Kaitlin's current play, Our Town. Once again, the cast did amazing (especially Kaitlin, although I am a little biased) We're not allowed to video (copy write laws) or take pictures (theater rules) but I did get a photo of Kaitlin after the show with her flowers. Here she is:

So, I've been slacking...

I have a good reason (other than that I am a huge procrastinator!) We have been so busy, with soccer, theater, and just life!

Anyway, two weeks ago we had beautiful weather, and no extra activities so we did a little sightseeing over the weekend. On Saturday we headed over to Cologne. We went to the cathedral there, and the chocolate factory.

Then on Sunday we headed over to Ronnenburg Castle for a Medieval Festival. The kids were able to bake bread over an open fire, and watch some knights sword fighting, and even saw a peacock!