Thanksgiving Trip

(note - - I’ll upload pics after we get home).

As usual, we are spending our Thanksgiving far away from home. The kids have the entire week off school so it is often a good time to travel. Also we’d had our eye on a cruise in Europe, and thanks to the tanking economy, the price just kept dropping, until it seemed silly to not go.

Scott had to go to San Francisco on business on Monday morning, so he got as much done as possible before he left. I still had time for my usual pre-trip freakout before the kids and I left Wednesday after school. There was a lot to pack and do! We met Scott at the airport, but before he got there I’d already spent 30 minutes in the bathroom drying Noah’s pants. What a relief to get on the plane!

We arrived in Frankfurt Thursday morning, and after showers and naps we ventured out into the city. There is a very interesting statue there, some kind of man smashing something (communism?) with a hammer. Not sure what the significance was. We visited the natural history museum - - dinosaurs, plants, and so many animals! (As Scott put it, like a zoo, but all the animals were stuffed). We had dinner in a little German restaurant - - we had wiener schnitzel. The older couple sitting next to us kept smiling and telling us what a great place we’d chosen to eat. They didn’t speak much English, but they radiated good will. We always meet such nice people when we travel.

The next morning we took a flight to Barcelona. Ethan and I were hoping to practice some Spanish, and we did see a lot of familiar words on the signs, but everything was also in Catalan, so it was a little confusing. And we spent our entire time stuck in traffic in a taxi - - we barely made it on the ship!

We’re on the Celebrity Century, nice ship, about 1800 passengers and 900 crew. Everyone is always so sweet to Noah, the waiters especially. We’ve been eating extremely well - - dinner at 6 every night. Our room is small, but with a large balcony and plenty of space to store our stuff.

Our first port was Marseilles, France. We got off the ship, felt the freezing weather and bitter cold wind, and decided that we’d have more fun on board. I got a massage, the kids played in the kids’ club, and we all got over our jet lag. It’s a good thing, too, because it’s been non-stop ever since!


Isn’t it Nice?

Our next stop (Sunday) was Villefranche, France, and we went to nearby Nice. We got off the ship and took a taxi to church. It was in a nice little building and everyone was very friendly. Even though they couldn’t understand anything, the kids were good. I was glad we were able to make there - - it’s always fun to go to church in a foreign country.

Afterwards we walked to the nearby Matisse museum. I hadn’t realized he was so prolific - - he kept creating into his eighties. Scott and I kind of took turns looking at the exhibits with Ethan - - Noah didn’t last too long.

Then we had a long walk to the Chagall museum. This was our favorite - - huge paintings and many many studies for each of them. Also some gorgeous stained glass. I love Chagall - - I think it’s time we visited the Chicago Art Institute and saw the stained glass there again. The kids were good, Ethan especially. Then we took the train back to Villefranche but missed our stop (still not sure why but one of the challenges when traveling with kids in foreign places is getting distracted). We weren’t that far from the ship so we started walking back to where we thought the ship was. After about 2 hours we realized that we were lost. I dusted off my bad college French and we asked a friendly couple which way to go. They took one look at our bedraggled selves and said they were going there, and would we like a ride. They were so sweet! We had a very nice conversation on the way back to the boat, and it left us with very happy memories of friendly people.


The Leaning Tower

After walking our legs off yesterday, we decided to take it easy today. We slept in and then finally ate and went to Pisa to see its famous mistake. How’d you like to be known for something like that? It was actually very impressive, although in bad repair. I read that they have a special cleaning method for removing all the chewing gum. How sad! I was also depressed to see the amount of graffiti everywhere - - I’ve never seen it so bad. It was a disturbing juxtaposition - - the beautiful art and architecture and the ugly scrawls everywhere. I’d also forgotten that almost everyone in Italy smokes! I think I’ve inhaled half a pack so far. It’s disgusting. Fortunately the people are so friendly it makes up for the stench. We took the obligatory “slanty” picture. Today we took a shuttle, a bus and a train today. Lots of transportation! It was chilly and a little wet, but better than the day before.


I Heart Roma

We got up early this morning and left the ship a little after 8:00. The port was Civitavecchia, not too far from Rome. We took a shuttle and then a train (Noah pulled the emergency cord on the train and made a big noise. We pretended not to know what had happened.) First we saw the coliseum and Noah fed the pigeons his fishy crackers. Then we took the subway to the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. Finally we went to Vatican City. It takes forever to get to the Sistine Chapel because there’s only one way to go and that is through the museum. It’s a great museum, but with Noah we sometimes need to rush a bit to keep him from getting bored and difficult. Ethan was pretty tired by the time we finally got to the chapel, but he liked it. In some ways I wish he were a little bit older so he could appreciate it more. But he (and Noah) had no problem appreciating the very authentic pizza we had for lunch or the gelato we had yesterday!

So that was Rome at a run. Ethan and I also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo. Both the kids were real troopers with all the walking we did and stairs we climbed. We hurried back to the train station and barely made it on the 4:00 train. So did everyone else, there wasn’t even room to sit down, so it was a less than comfortable hour-long ride. It was great to get back to the ship and enjoy our lovely dinner.



The Amalfi Coast

Today, Wednesday, we stopped in Naples. Scott and I went on our honeymoon to Naples (Florida) 15 years ago. This time we got to see the real thing! It was the warmest, most beautiful day so far, with sun almost the whole time. We shared a cab with a couple we met on the ship, Kim and Paul from Vancouver. It was so fun to spend the day with someone new - - we really enjoyed getting to know them. Our driver first took us to Ravello, a charming town on the Amalfi coast. Scott and I had fallen in love with it when we were here 4 years ago. The architecture and landscape was stunning. Even just driving and looking out of the car windows was lovely. We stopped and did some sightseeing in Amalfi and had gelato (a must). We also stopped in Positano and Sorrento. Our cab driver was very pleasant and friendly. We did some shopping and had pizza in Sorrento and then drove to Pompeii. We didn’t have a whole lot of time there, but it was close to closing and there were very few other tourists, which was nice.

New Fridge

This has been the year of dying appliances. Our sump pump and our dryer both broke in the spring (leading to a big wet mess and no way to dry it!) The dishwasher has been unsatisfactory for quite some time, the washing machine is leaking, and recently the refrigerator has been making a funny noise. We decided the fridge was a top priority - - we didn't want to come back from a 2 week vacation to a lot of spoiled food. So last week we bought a new one. We put the old one in the garage for now (Scott is planning on fixing it! But I'm not holding my breath!) and Ethan helped me transfer all the food. It's a beautiful fridge - - silver and smudgeproof. But somehow it just didn't look right. Then I figured out what was missing. Noah's magnet letters, our family calendar, school papers, coupons, receipts, etc. Now it's perfect!

Lang Lang

We went to a concert downtown at the CSO today. Lang Lang is a marvelous pianist - - we saw him once before, 5 years ago. He was just starting to become world famous, and Scott had recently read an article about him in Time or Newsweek. We were on our 10 year anniversary trip to Italy, and lo and behold, there he was on our airplane! We introduced ourselves and he said he was performing in Milan and Florence. We were lucky enough to get tickets to one of his concerts, and it was amazing. The performance today was for families, only about 80 minutes. First was a beautiful piece by Schubert for 4 hands, he played with a 14-year-old prodigy. She was great, so graceful! Then a few solo pieces, and then the last few were with 3 other musicians. One played the double bass (which is huge!) and the other 2 played the ehru and the pipa. I'd never heard of them before either. They're stringed instruments, from China, and with that distinctive Chinese sound. It was so fun to watch them all play together - - they were just so obviously having a great time!

It's always great to cram a little culture down the kids' throats.

Down Syndrome Halloween Party

Here are the pics from our Halloween party. The girls with Noah are his best buds in the world, Leah and Vanessa. They're in his class at school, and they are all like the 3 musketeers. I didn't have a good picture of Ethan, but he was a big help with setting up, cleaning up, and running the fog machine.

Finally, Some Pictures

Here are some pictures of the 11 year old scout camp-out. Ethan is with his buddies Luke, Kirk and Hyrum - - they had so much fun! And they got so muddy and stinky!

Crazy Busy

Yesterday was one of my busier days. The kids had no school (not sure why, maybe security since they use the schools as polling places) so that made it all the more hectic. I got up at 6, wen't to vote at 6:20, then to the gym. Back home, shower, and clean house until 10, when Ethan's friend Eric came over. Worked on projects until 12, then took Ethan and Eric to Eric's house. Then errands - - grocery store, office supply store and 2 craft stores. Got home, fed the kids, and took off for the church (Scott and the kids came too). I was in charge of getting supplies for the yw activity (making temple ornaments) so I helped get that set up, then went with the ym to give a presentation on disability awareness (one of their merit badges). Noah had pack meeting, although he didn't last long (there was a hair pulling incident and he had to be forcibly ejected - - I'll say no more). Scott is the new 11-year-old scout leader, so he worked on 1st aid kits with Ethan and his friends. Once we all finished we went home and helped Ethan with homework and got the kids to bed. Whew!

Blog Book

A friend sent me a link to this site - - you can make your blog into a book (blook?) and the prices aren't bad. For those of us whose scrapbook collections are collecting nothing but dust it's a viable alternative. The site is www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook. What do you think?

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all had a happy day. We had amazing weather, in the seventies. The kids were actually able to trick-or-treat without heavy coats! This morning I packed up Noah's pirate costume (including his batman cape, which is part of the costume) so he could take it to school. I had a red and white striped shirt for him to wear, would've looked great. But he wanted to wear a button down, tie, and his sport coat (which is way too big). Why argue? When I went to his little class party he was wearing his pirate vest and cape over the sport coat. Quite the look! His class is so cute, I enjoyed seeing the kids in their costumes and chatting with the parents (there are only 6 kids in the class, so it's nice and small).

I spent most of the day in the car, ran errands, had lunch with friends (fun!), shopped, went to Noah's school, went home and picked up Ethan, went to the other side of Crystal Lake to pick up Ethan's buddy Adam (who spent the night), and raced back home to get Noah off the bus (didn't make it, I had to call my neighbor Bob and ask him to watch Noah while I fought traffic.) Thank goodness for good neighbors!

Scott came home early and we all took turns handing out candy. I love the little kids the best, I'm not so crazy about the scary teenagers roaming in packs, demanding candy. I'd tell them to just go buy some, but I'm afraid I'd get egged! Actually they were all very polite and looked like they were having a lot of fun. And we have an 8:00 curfew, so we weren't up late answering the door. We had at least 150 people come. Noah did a little trick-or-treating, he doesn't care for candy so he wasn't too motivated. Adam and Ethan stayed out a little longer. Then they stayed up late playing the wii, and slept in sleeping bags in the basement. Scott is taking them golfing this morning.

So nice family day! I hope everyone else had a lot of fun!