our house was also nicely decorated with Cloe's Thanksgiving art

this one was my favorite

Thanksgiving (2 days late)

Ryan and the kids had school on Thursday, so we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday. (FYI, Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, I've been asked by some Americans if they do.) I got the Turkey on~ Friday from the butcher and had to finish plucking the feathers, kinda gross. And that night I stayed up making pies and cinnamon rolls. But like I said before, I love making things from scratch, so this was fun for me.Then Saturday morning we continued our little family tradition of running the Turkey Trot.

My kids were the only participants this year and it didn't quite go as I thought it would. Which means none of my friends showed up that were going to run with me. But it's all good, the kids had fun. Then we came home and Ryan and I just kinda stared at the turkey waiting for it to speak to us and give us instructions on how to cook it. This was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We finally seasoned it, lubed it up and popped it in. Much easier than I thought it would be.
At about 4 our company started to arrive and it felt like the holidays. A full house, people chatting and the woman making last minute preparations on their dishes :) When we all sat down, I was so happy that everyone was there. It was great company, the food was delicious and my wonderful Italian neighbors came over for their first Thanksgiving feast. I made everyone sign the Thanksgiving tablecloth, we filled our bellies and hung out and chatted. Now I'm excited for Christmas, to have another big get together with our "Florence family".
Justin, Tiffany, Costanza, Jordan, Hillary, Emily, Crystal, Loridonna, Francesco, and Tiffany

Our company consisted of mostly students and their families from Ryans school

The kids sat at the Indian table because we ran out of seats

Nikki and Israel

why not ramble?

Since moving to Italy I have grown accustom to making things from scratch. Sure people do it in America, but why bother when a cake mix is $1.50? Here, I just don't have that luxury and I have loved the challenge. I love to cook and have found that it is now one of my talents. I'll read a recipe and use it as a suggestion and alter the recipe to my liking. Last Saturday I had to teach Enrichment. Yes, me. Miss pocco Italiano. When my mom was here she told the now Relief Society president that she would teach her how to make cinnamon rolls. Well, my mom left about 6 months ago and Letizia still wants to know how to make cinnamon rolls. So they assumed the next of kin would be the perfect candidate to teach the entire Relief Society with recipe's translated to Italian, how to bake cinnamon rolls. Last week I made a batch to practice, yes just one. Not too bad for the first time. I was nervous about the dough rising because I can never quite get my pizza dough to rise in Utah, but it was great. I HAD my moms recipe, but couldn't find it so I found 3 online that I liked and changed them up. The ladies went crazy! And now my husband always wants a batch on hand for breakfast. I'm too impatient, I don't really like making them, too much waiting for dough to rise. But the cream cheese frosting that I put on top? I'll drink that at every meal please. Oh, and at Enrichment, they saved me one cinnamon roll. How thoughtful, they saved me one. They were taking platefuls home with them. I'll take that as compliment to the chef.
My next challenge: stuffing. Have you ever made it from scratch? any suggestions? I'm so excited to try it out. My friend told me there is a little market in town that sells cranberries and yams, so hopefully they have them and we just may have a thanksgiving spread. of course we will be celebrating on Saturday because Ryan and the kids have school on Thursday. And hopefully I can order a whole turkey from the meat shop correctly!!!!


It is so cold here now and windy. And when your walking or riding a bike, it seems intensified. Today while walking home, I asked the kids if they wanted something warm for lunch.
"soup?"
"maybe"
"hot chocolate?"
"YEAH!"
"grilled cheese sandwiches?"
Cloe "yes."
Abbey "yes."
Brody " I want a boy cheese sandwich"
Abbey "I don't want a boy one, I want a girl cheese sandwich"
I never thought it sounded that way but I guess they are right, it does.


I already mourned on my blog about my good friend Annie moving but you know the saying "one man's trash is another mans treasure". Perfect example, my gift from Annie when she moved

now I can do 3 loads of laundry in one day!

when dads on duty

i came home to these pictures. Ryan said the kids came in to show him their make-up, "we're witches!"
"but dad, I couldn't find the washable markers" Cloe added.
He said it was one of those moments when it was too cute to get mad. Cloe did most of the art and she actually made some pretty good witch faces. notice the eyelashes she drew in?

a moment of silence for the last disney blog.

This one is about the Buzz Lightyear ride. I hope the creators of this ride got a huge bonus. It is so fun for all ages! Our family doesn't see anything wrong with a little friendly competition and that is what this ride turned into. It took me a couple times on the ride to figure it out. I didn't understand why Abbey kept beating me. (I was holding the trigger, rather than constantly shooting) Pathetic but true, I was watching Abbey and that is what it looked like she was doing. Thanks again to the hotel early entry because we were able to ride this ride twice w/o any line!! hotel boo-yaw! Ryan' high score was 200,000 and something. What's your high score?
The looks of concentration crack me up.



I finally got Cloe to look at me. This is her look of concentration, Cheeks sucked in.

stolen pictures

Did Mickey really think we would pay an arm and a leg for these?



Big Thunder Mountain (we are in the front, no wise cracks)

Buzz Lightyear

Deep Concentration. It's an intense ride.

Pirates of the Carribbean. The screen had been touched one too many times with oily fingers so there is a glare

Disney Studios

is the second park at EroDisney. They didn't have too many rides, but the ones they did have, were pretty freakin cool.

"Crush's Coaster" was so fun!!! aka, the Nemo ride. Abbey was too short for this one so we did the "baby switch" and the kids got to ride twice in a row. It was a fast, swirly ride on the EAC.
and then,
"the Rockin Rollercoaster" which was accompanied by Aerosmith. so fun, couldn't help but come out smiling when I exited. "baby switch, boo-yaw". Kids were too short.
last but not least
the Cars ride, can't remember the name but the kids loved it.
Throw it up for Disney Studios.







We saw Minnie Mouse as we were entering Disney Studios and the kids waited for their turn (way too long) for a photo. "kids, we're in Europe, be aggressive and push your way up"
Abbey was STOKED to see minnie mouse as you can tell by her after shots.

"Brody, look at Dad! Abbey take your thumb out."

Crush's Coaster (you have to click on it to get the kids expression!)

Halloween and the day after that.

Entering the park at 8 am when everyone else has to wait until 10 am. Fabulous idea! Thanks Walt, I know your smiling down on us. We went on 6 rides in 2 hours! And you better believe that included the carousel cause there is no way in hell we were going to wait in a line to ride a carousel. Remember, we're the type of parents that laugh when our kids are scared on Snow White.


The kids leaving the hotel at the butt crack of dawn for our continental breakfast and then off to the park. Brody was Captain Hook, Cloe, Snow White and Abbey was Bell.

and into the park, look how empty the place is!

The Carousel. I was the embarrassing mom that sings off key (mainly because I'm laughing at myself) and loud to the songs playing on the carousel. But also because the park was empty! Did I mention we got to enter 2 hours early?




Ryan loved the tea cups because he loved to spin it as fast as possible and watch the kids faces. Again, great parenting.





Gotta do Small World, which was a nice break from the dark scary rides. At first the kids kept waiting for it to get dark and scary until we reassured them that this was a fun not scary ride.


One of the early morning rides that we rode a couple times was the rocket ships. On this particular round, Cloe and Abbey fought the entire time over who controlled the lever. I'm describing the ride in a nut shell with my actions.

and of course we had to take turns riding with mom or dad. After lubing Ryan up, he slipped right into the ride with 2 kids.




Pirates



Abbey kept her arms up for the unexpected drops. It has a different effect when the pirates are speaking French. As does the Haunted Mansion. The elevator isn't as scary when you can't understand that "there are no doors and no windows!"


The kids waiting for the "once upon a dream" parade to start





Brody's favorite float!

But my absolute favorite ride was Big Thunder Mtn. The ride is on a little "island" so to get there you go under the water and it's pitch dark and super fast. But I loved it because of Brody's reaction. He kept his arms up the whole ride and was cracking up and yelling "yeah! this is awesome!" It's one of those moments as a parent that makes parenting great!
I have to give ole' Walt props on his design of EuroDisney. Was he even alive when it was created? The roller coasters here are awesome. They all loop. It's been a long time since I have been on an upside down roller coaster. STILL, more to come ;)

My new niece!!!

Corine had her baby on the 6th at 9:48 am. I haven't gotten all the detail from Corine yet, thanks to an 8hour time difference but she did have it at home and both mom and baby are healthy. She is still nameless but weighed in at 7 lbs and 21 inches long. Cloe was the exact same and is excited that the new baby is just like her. Congratulations Corine and Tim, wish I could be there to give her kisses and smell her sweet baby smell! Love you!!!

boo-yaw

have you seen the movie "Ant Bully"? One day Brody started saying "ladder boo-yaw" and we thought it was funny but had no clue what it meant. Then one of us caught it on the movie. They say "ladder, boo-yaw" and "sling shot, boo-yaw". So now it's a joke between Ryan and I when something boo-yawish happens. So to highlight some of the awesome things that happened at D-land, I decided to make a boo-yaw list.
1. our first stop on the drive up was at a gas station in France and Ryan bought some flan. "Flan, boo-yaw" (yes gas station flan was a boo-yaw!)

2. Pizza Hut in France, boo-yaw!

3. short line at hotel registration, boo-yaw. After I registered, the line tripled!

4. because we were at a Disney hotel, we got into the park at 8 am, 2 hours before it opened. "hotel privileges, BOO-YAW!!" we rode 6 rides in 2 hours!

5. fast pass, boo-yaw!

6. baby switch, boo-yaw. Abbey couldn't ride all the rides, so I stood at the exit and when Ryan, Cloe and Brody came off, I walked up to the front with Cloe and Brody.

7. Cloe and Brody riding a ride twice in a row w/o waiting in line, boo-yaw!

8. perfect timing, boo-yaw! There were so many times when we got in a 10 minute line and when we came out, the wait time was 60-75 minutes. And twice a ride closed for a parade and we happened to be right at the rope when they re-opened it, totally unplanned!

9. hot chocolate in the hotel, boo-yaw.

10. main street was packed for the parade and then a gleam of sunlight shown down on an open spot on the curb in the front and mom planted her fat butt down. perfect timing and good parade seats, boo-yaw!

11. Carrefore, boo-yaw!! It is a huge Target on steroids store all over France and we stocked up. pickles, golden grahams, dijon mustard, all the necessities.

Paris

love this city. I only briefly saw it and it was at night but it was so pretty and unique. We met up with our friend Khoune and went to dinner at Hippopotamus. Which was a nice change from eating out in Florence. The only French food we ate was the creme brule. (sp? haven't a clue) It was kind of a TGIFridays and the water was free. such a concept. Then we drove around and saw some sites and stopped at the Eiffel tower for photos. I feel so connected to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes now!

abbey looking cute and being a good girl at dinner

Ryan and Khoune.

There are some things you just have to see in person and the Eiffel Tower is one of them. It is huge and pictures don't do it justice.

unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to see the Notre Dame or Jim Morrison's grave among the art museums of course

First day at the Park

and yes this will be a play by play. I've got Grandma's and aunts I have to keep updated!


Tuesday we checked into the hotel at about 11 am and then took the shuttle over to Disneyland. The kids and I skipped the whole way from the bus to the mickey bush. The only reason we stopped was to take a photo.


The whole park was decorated for Halloween with "Jack" the jack-o-lantern, which made the whole trip even more exciting because the Italians don't really celebrate Halloween.

"mom, he's smelling my butt!"



This is main street at lunch time and the sleeping beauty castle

Ryan thought it would be fun to eat lunch at Disney and I didn't realize he didn't know the rip off we were in store for. We ate at a fun baseball themed hot dog place on main street. I guess you gotta get ripped off once and buy a meal in the park.

It's been quite a few years since Ryan or I have gone to D-land, so this whole fast pass was new to us. On the first day we didn't use them and only made it on 3 rides. Since we got there late and we had to leave at 4 to meet Ryan's friend in Paris. The first ride was Snow White and all the kids sat in front and Ryan and I sat behind them. We are such great parents because we thought it was hilarious that they were getting scared of the darkness and the witch. Abbey turned her head away every time the witch appeared and Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing. Next was Dumbo. We accepted the fact that we were at Disneyland and got in the 60 minute line to fly on Dumbo.



Then we went over to Buzz Lightyear. One of my personal favorite rides. I guess it's my competitive side, but I had to keep beating my score. The Buzz ride is going to get it's own post because I think the look on our faces of concentration is funny.
We left the park early because we were meeting Ryan's friend and going into the city for the evening.
As we were leaving we caught the end of the parade and the kids were thrilled/stunned to see their favorite characters in real life. Love their responses, makes the trip that much more fun to see them so happy and excited.