Lake Como, Part 1

I'm going to break this up into several bits. Partly because Lake Como is such a magnificent locale that it deserves lots of photos and narrative, but also partly because I can't find the time to sit at the computer long enough to do it all in one go.

Lake Como is not an easy destination to reach. We had to take a car, a plane, a bus, a train, and a boat. And then walk up the side of a town carved into a mountain with a suitcase, a stroller and a very, very tired 4 year old. This all added up to quite a long day. But it was all worth it because I can honestly say that it is the most beautiful place I have ever laid eyes upon.



Our flight left at 7:30am, which meant we had to leave our house at 4:30. This is prior to public transportation running, so we had to take a car service to the airport. This is also awesome, because the car service screwed up somehow and came to our house the morning before. At 4:30. Waking up the whole house. Awesome!

I should I have known that the trip was going to get off to an auspicious start when I was already wide awake at 2 am when Kate came bounding up the stairs to our bedroom telling us "I was all alone in my bedroom". We tried coaxing her back to sleep for some time, and she finally fell back asleep somewhere around 3:30. She re-awoke in a great, chipper mood and was very pleasant for the car ride and check-in at the airport. Riding in a car is a big novelty around here, since I can count the number of times in the last year we have done so on one hand.

We have always been proud of what a great little traveler Kate has been. She doesn't even need the bribe of DVDs or those little game consoles to keep her entertained on flights. She is usually content to read, color or just ask 4,589,321 questions about inane things. Apparently, the Gods of the Travel Universe wanted to shake things up a bit for us. There were lots of tears, kicking the seat back in front of us. & even a few ear-piercing shrieks on board our British Airways flight. Michael, who is usually Drama #1, was easy-peasy, and just looked on with surprise. It was horrid and we were humiliated.

The day culminated in Kate not getting any Gelato, and a stressful early dinner/lunch that looked something like this:



Not amused.


Everybody look at me 'cuz I'm standing on a boat! Even Kate knows this is Danny's favorite song. Every time we got onto a boat she asked him to sing it.

Wordless Wednesday

You guys know me, I can't be truly wordless.
But, I'm busy busy packing & cleaning house for our trip to Italy tomorrow! Am I the only one who is compulsive about cleaning the house thoroughly before a trip? I can not stand coming home to a dirty house. Plus if,God-Forbid, something should happen to us, I don't want people who have to go through our personal effects afterward to think we lived like slobs.

Here is a sign we encountered on a recent outing. It made us laugh:


And two other things us that never fail to make us laugh:




He is clearly taking notes on posing from his big sister:




Ciao! I'm off to test the limits of Gelato consumption.

Kate Turns 4

This post is a bit late in coming, but our darling little Kate turned 4 on the 9th of May.
There was a big difference between her 3rd and 4th birthday. Last year, she was excited about the idea of her birthday, but really only cared about the cake. She wasn't bothered that we didn't have a party, did not ask about presents, and didn't really talk about it too much.
This year, the countdown has been on for several months. She would ask several times a week "How much longer till my birthday?". I gave her the option of having a party with all her school friends, or going to Disney Paris with the family. She initially tried to choose both, but ultimately decided on a party ("so that I get lots of cake").

We held her party at a local leisure center, which is sort of similar to a really nice YMCA. There was the biggest bounce-house I have ever seen. It was the size of a full basketball court, and the dads had just as much fun in there as the kids did.

Before her party:



Going down the slide:


Michael had so much fun in the bounce house too. He was not the least bit intimidated by the other kids. He is definitely much more toddler than baby these days.



Kate wanted her face painted like a pig.


Funny story: The other mums were all so charmed by Kate's hair bow. Girls here don't wear bows in their hair, and I got so many questions about it. I was asked if I had made it (no), if I had one for all of her outfits (just about), if girls wear them all the way through adolescence (only if they are cheerleaders-at least for my kid), etc.
I was laughing, telling them they have no idea how seriously some people in the US take hair bows, especially in the South. I told them some of them are literally bigger than the child's head, and that some people stick bows on babies heads when they don't have hair, and tried to explain those headband-bow things that some babies wear to them too. They didn't believe me.
Her piggie cupcakes.



Four Candles!

Like Father, Like Son

..or how I found Michael sitting on the couch this afternoon, staring at the the tv. Which was not even on. The really amazing thing is that he went over to the fridge, grabbed the beer and popped it open himself before settling down on the couch.



Mom, I'm only kidding. Of course it was empty.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

We went to Amsterdam over the Easter break.
We got so very lucky with our timing, as the tulips were in bloom while we were there. There is only a 2 week window that they bloom every year, and no one knows when it will be. It could be anytime March-May, so we were so thankful that we could see them in all their splendor. We took a trip to Keukenhof, the royal flower garden about an hour outside the city. All around Keukenhof are the commercial growers, and the tulips, hyanciths, and daffodils were literally just like a carpet of vibrant color.



Kate is really into making these funny faces for pictures lately.

We took a ride in the canal boats:



We also did a bike tour out into the countryside, which was really fun.
We stopped to learn about windmills, the national symbol of the Netherlands. This particular one is well known because it used to be sketched by Rembrandt.


We also went to a Clog Factory, where they made the clogs. The clogs were traditionally worn because the city is below sea level, and made up of dikes that get very swampy when it rains. The clogs enable one to walk on top of the mud, instead of sinking into it. Now, rubber wellington boots are used instead. However, clogs are still worn by farmers as a means of protecting their foot from an errant foot stomping by the odd cow or horse.







There was also a cheese factory, which we really enjoyed too. They had the cows they use for the milk on site, and both of the kids really liked them. There was this small calf who liked to eat bread right from your hand.







Michael did his usual trick of falling asleep on the bike.



At Keukenhof, they had a small petting zoo that my animal crazy kids loved. There was this little 2 week old lamb:



the Easter Bunny:




and a turkey:


Michael thought the turkey was really funny, until it gobbled. Then he didn't think it was quite so funny.




We also passed this Hilton Hotel.


It is kind of hard to see in the photo, but on the third window down on the left side is some writing.
This is the room that John Lennon & Yoko Ono held their famous "Bed-In" after their marriage to promote world peace. The writing they did is still there, and you too can stay in this room for the low price of 1800 Euros per night!


But Kate's favorite thing about the whole trip? Getting to use her new suitcase.

Hoppy Easter

Rice Krispies are to your pantry what a white button down is to your wardrobe. Every time I make Rice Krispie treats, I think to myself, "Self, you should make these more often. They are so yummy". And I love thinking of new things to do with them.

A few weeks ago, I made mock sushi for a small get together we had, and those were really fun. The kids seemed to really like them.



Today, we made bird nests for Easter. Aren't they cute?




The bird eggs are Cadbury Mini Eggs. They would probably be even more authentic looking if you made them with Cocoa Krispies, but I'm not quite ready to introduce my kids to that deliciousness yet.


We also made these little bunny boxes to put Easter cookies in. You can see that Kate did a very thorough job with her painting. She didn't want to cover up Peter Rabbit on the box, since "he is a bunny too".

Coram's Fields

There are some things that the the US definitely does better than the UK (iced tea, Mexican Food, replenishment at grocery stores), but there are of course some things that the Brits do better than us (looking after the environment, chocolate, putting extra letters in words like 'favourite').

One such thing is Children's Parks/Playgrounds. This is somewhat surprising, given that the climate here is so disagreeable to being outside 10 months of the year (to a cold-natured Texan like myself, anyway). But when the stars align and the weather is right, you will always find the numerous parks busy beyond belief.

The playscapes are much more intricate and involved than ones I have seen at home. I believe there are liability issues at play, as many of the ones here feature tall, open areas that would make an American lawyer's eyes gleam. There are also often adventure items like zip lines, climbing walls, etc.

Last Friday was one of those rare days when it was possible to leave the house without a coat, and so we headed to a favorite park of ours, Coram's Fields. This park is especially wonderful because it is not only close to home, but also is a closed park, which means that adults are not allowed unless they are accompanying children.





They have goats, ducks, sheep & chickens wandering around. They have a paddle pool in the unlikely event that it breaks 80 degrees. They have a sand pit.


They have a tall huge shooter slide. They have open grass for ball games.



They have these cool log see-saw things.

They have a water fountain, that you can splash in if you are wearing your wellies. Kate & Michael were not, so they had to settle for just sitting on the side for a photo.



On Friday, it even had her "favourite friend in the whole world", Luke:


It has sheep statues that you can pose on.

Alone...



...or with Luke, while he smells your hair: