Disneyland Paris

We took the kids to Disneyland Paris for a couple days in September. I turn into a little kid at Disneyland with all the excitement and characters. It really is a magical place. I want our kids to experience the same magic. And I think we achieved that goal!

One of our first stops was joining a Frozen sing-along. Since Hope was dressed in her Princess Anna costume, she and I got to sit in special "Princess" seating with cushions and a view of center stage.

Hope was focused the entire time, and had fun singing along. Between songs she looked quite serious as she listened to the characters talk. Then, when her favorite character Olaf came on stage, she lit up like a Christmas tree! "It Olaf! Mommy, it's OLAF"

We met a lot of characters. Gabriel often got curious about the costumes. Here he is testing how sharp Pluto's whiskers are.

The carousel was a big hit.

And  of course we had to say hello to Micky!

Then I had to get the kids some Mickey shaped lollipops, because I remember getting them as a kid.

We also paid a high price (didn't know it would be quite so pricey until we got there!) to have lunch at Cinderella's castle. As we ate, we had visits from many of the princesses. Bell, Ariel, Cinderella and Prince Charming, and then outside was Princess Aurora. The lady playing Ariel did a fantastic job engaging a very shy little 2-year-old Hope. Both kids loved her.

But is wasn't all girly stuff. Gabriel enjoyed meeting Buzz Lightyear, and learning how to shoot webs out of his wrist from Spiderman!

And we had several rides on Dumbo, as I was trying to re-create a picture I have with my dad on the very same ride.

Then, of course, is the tea cup ride...

And a big serving of cotton candy to add some more sugar to all the fun.

What a wonderful trip! Now Gabriel can't wait until he's big enough to ride on Thunder Mountain, and is asking when we can go again. Sounds like we will need a trip to Disney World when we move back to the States!

Our Apartment in Historic Downtown Milan

For those who have asked about our place in Milan, but never got a chance to come visit...

It was a beautiful apartment. The exterior and interior still have the charm and design from when it was built. Although the interior of the apartment has been remodeled, the owner kept the original windows, door knobs, etc. which give it a special feel.

This is the building our apartment was in. Located along the path of the historic tram line 1, and conveniently just one block away from the metro. I never drove while living in Milan. Metro, tram and walking were the best way to get around.

The setup for this building is very common in Italy. The big door you see in the middle is wide enough for a car to drive through. If you want to spend 500 Euros per month (yikes!) to park in the courtyard, you can drive through there. The ground floor has businesses, and the floors above that are either apartments or office space. Our apartment was on the fourth floor (counting the ground floor as zero, not one), so our windows are actually just above this picture.

Once inside the large main door, you'll find the doorman, who my kids always had to say "Buon Giorno!" at the top of their lungs to. Past the doorman is a large courtyard that is surrounded on all sides by the triangle shaped building. Fortunately, our building had a modern elevator which took us to our floor.

The entryway to our apartment had two doors. The outer door...

...and the inner door. Between these two doors is a ~1.5 foot space which is the width of the walls.

You can notice the thick walls throughout the interior or the apartment as well.

The window knobs, door knobs, etc were all kept as part of the original building. I love the charm they bring.

And anyone who visited us in Milan, probably got my tour of the windows. Yes, the windows are quite interesting! In this picture I closed the left shutter, but there is also one on the right. These would have been on the outside of the building, and they actually slide away into a hole in the wall that's just big enough for them to fit. Each time you slide them in and out, tiny bits of the wall crumble away (not enough to be worried about but you need to brush off your hands when you're done). Our windows have a newer/nicer sound proof window that was added on the outside of the shutters. On the inside of the shutters is what would have been the main window. It's not sound proof or water proof really. The two sides fit together and are locked closed when the vertical bar in the middle slides into a hole in the wall, keeping them secure.

Lastly, there are wooden panels which close over the interior window. These will almost black out a room, which is nice for a sleeping toddler! When folded up, they are conveniently stored into a groove in the window frame.

And I was intrigued by the locks and keys. Now that I have traveled more and live in a second location in Europe, I realize these aren't so cool, but rather just the norm. I now know they can be found in older American homes too. But when I first saw these key holes, it reminded me of the old Tom and Jerry cartoon looking through key holes to spy on each other. And that's just what my kids did when I tried to get some privacy.... even in the bathroom. Sigh... life of a mom with littles!

Even the keys are pretty!

That's my brief overview of the unique parts of our Italian apartment. The rest is somewhat typical. bedrooms and living room, etc. My favorite part was poking my head out the window to see the busy street of the city down below.

Moving to Antwerp

It's time to move again! Our short one-year stay in Italy has been wonderful, but we are also looking forward to living in Antwerp. We are planning to move the last week of July, and we will be moving into our new home on August 3.

I don't know too much about Antwerp yet, but here's what I do know. They are known for diamonds, chocolate, waffles and beer, they still have a King and Queen (I told Hope it was kind of like Elsa and Anna from Disney's Frozen), and our house will have a big backyard for the kids! Have I gotten anyone excited for a visit? I hope to see many of you while we are in Antwerp!

Father's Day 2015

This Father's Day I let Gabriel help decide what to do. He said he wanted to take Daddy to some of the shops near the Duomo and buy him a "boy gift". So off we went!

Gabriel ended up picking out some Superman underwear for the gift, and now asks Richard to wear it on days he's wearing his own superman underwear.

I also gave the kids a little survey to see what they thought about their Daddy.

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy!

Sicily in June

The first week of June we had an amazing 8 day trip to Sicily. The main theme of the trip was beach and relaxation, and it was wonderful! We spent the first half of the vacation in Giardini Naxos, near Taormina, and the second half near Syracusa.

In Giardini Naxos, the Hilton hotel upgraded us to a sea view room. From our balcony we could see the hotel's private beach.

The beach wasn't sandy, but instead it had tiny smooth pebbles. The boys were still able to run and play frisbee, while Hope dug in the pebbles near me.

Richard and the kids enjoyed throwing pebbles into the water.

This is the view from breakfast overlooking the pool and the sea.

In Taormina, there was a cute street that had plenty of shops and restaurants. I grabbed another Christmas ornament as a souvenir, matching my red/gold theme of course. I loved the popular Sicilian colors and designs, which included lemons and greenery in yellow, red and green.

Located at the top of the hill is an old amphitheater called Teatro Antico di Taormina (Ancient Theater of Taormina) which is still in use. From the top of the theater steps you have a great view of the sea and Mount Etna, which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Due to the frequency of its activity the soil around it is very rich, making it a great place for vineyards and orchards.

Part of our lunch in Taormina included this rainbow of mouth watering bruschette. This plate was just too pretty not to take a picture.

Our sea side view from dinner one night. We had the best table, which was right by the sand, and we watched an orange moon rise up once it got dark.

We had plenty of fun pool time!

In Siracusa we stayed at a resort, so most of our days were spent at the beach or the pool, but we took one day to go into the historic part of town called Isola di Ortigia. This is really like its own little island, and there is a castle at the very tip. Here we are at the Duomo di Siracusa.

Just a nice view of the green/blue water.

Back at the resort, the kids played pinball for the very first time.

The beach here was sandy so we had fun digging holes and putting kids in them.

And our little dirt baby enjoyed rolling around in the dirt.

The food at the resort was amazing. Fresh fish, octopus (Gabriel's favorite) and mussels. The mussels were so tasty I ended up getting three servings! Hey, don't judge me.

Overall an amazing trip. I highly recommend Sicily. I'm sure there are many more places to visit in Sicily that are just as nice as where we were. We had great food and plenty of sun and relaxation. A successful vacation indeed!