the whole reason for going to Paris

was to go to Disneyland. yes, we went to EuroDisney and it was awesome!! We all loved it and had an amazing time! Some great family memories were made and of course we can't find our battery charger for our video camera. Ryan thinks it may be in UT somewhere.
I always thought it would be cool to go to Disneyland while we were here but wasn't quite sure if that would ever happen. Then one day while talking to a friend, she told me that it was their 15th Anniversary and so to celebrate, kids under 7 stayed in the hotels and got in the park for free!!! Can you imagine my excitement when I found that out! I looked into it and found that it really wasn't all that expensive. I called Disney to book our hotel and when the nice gal was telling me about our package deal for 2 nights in the Cheyenne Hotel she also told me it included all of our tickets for 3 days including the hopper ticket (which also gave us entry into Walt Disney Studios Park)! And we got into the park at 8 rather than 10 because we were staying at a Disney hotel. That was a much bigger hook-up than we realized. I was on cloud 9!!!! I kept doing the math in my head trying to figure how the price worked and was kind of expecting to get to the hotel and their would be a catch and we would have to pay more.
So the day finally arrived. After a long drive we stayed at a hotel just outside of Paris and checked into the Cheyenne on Tuesday morning. When we got to the hotel, Pluto was outside so the kids met him while I checked in. And this is after check in and I have our tickets and all other special privelage information in my chubby little hand

I couldn't help it, but I did contain the hop, skip and a jump that I wanted to do. I just couldn't wait to take the kids to D-land for their first time.

the drive

yes, this deserves it's own post. On your "list of things to do before I die" add "road trip through Europe". The ENTIRE drive was gorgeous! It took us 10 hours to get there and 12 to get home. It took us an hour to get out of Paris. not because of traffic, just confusing motorways. I loved France and would move there in a heartbeat. And Ryan is already looking into it.
We drove through Tuscany, then towards Genova, and then got to the most gorgeous area I have ever seen. A city in northern Italy in the alps call Aosta. So cool. Castles, old towers and the buildings had slate roofs. Not to mention the fall colors and mountains.





the roof tops were so unique. They look like they are made of slate. love love love this little town!


the kids in front of Mt Bianco on the France side. So I guess that would make it Mt. Blanc. They thought it was pretty cool to see snow.

and some random pictures of France

we're home

after a nice long road trip. we drove this beauty



and ended up here

Why do the best friends always leave?

It seems that all my good friends always move. Annie is my best friend in Florence and the coolest chick ever, and now she's moving next week. Last night we had our usual monthly moms nite out but this one was Annie's "farewell" dinner so it was also accompanied by a visit to the bar after dinner. We went to a yummy typical tuscan restaurant and mommy didn't get home until 1 am. oops, missed curfew. But I did clean the whole house and made Ryan the dinner he requested, so no guilt would follow ;) Annie, I love ya and it's gonna suck without having you around! Your a great friend and I look forward to hearing about how everything turns out in Wisconsin!!!

my english speaking friends. They all came to study or visit in Italy, met an Italian and here they are

annie and I

Biba, the gorgeous Pakistani British friend smoking her fag

Marie, Sonya and Melanie

"everybody wants you!"

were the lyrics by Billy Squier I was thinking this morning. At first I felt like a bit of an outcast at the kids school because of the language barrier but the tables have turned. They are thrilled to have english mother tongue kids in their kids class and they always want to practice their english with me. So now, when I pick them up and Brody is playing in the dirt rather than getting on the bike, I am no longer embaressed to yell at him in English. The school they attend is a private school, which are always a little bit more prestigious (which is a category we DO NOT fit into, it was the ONLY school that had an opening for both kids) so their are a lot of parents that know english but want to practice. I'm soooo desirable and people are just drawn to me! hahahaha, I'm just happy to not feel like the illegal immigrant who snuck over the border, doesn't know the language and is uneducated.

just another beautiful fall morning in florence

I got a little worried because the leaves weren't changing at the time I'm used to in Ut.

my gorgeous pregnant sister

Corine is due Nov 7th with a little girl and she looks amazing. She got her pictures taken by none other than Liz. great pix link
When I grow up I want to look just like her when I'm pregnant.

Today I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law of her recipe for sugar cookies. Within 3 hours, I had gone to the store, baked and frosted and was in a coma from all of the sugar. We made some halloween pumpkins and cats and took them to neighbors. It wasn't out of the kindness of my heart, it was to save my hips and to boost my ego. I love their reaction to my baked goods. They love em!


Cloe was so excited to make the cookies that she kept the recipe safe while I was at the store and then she wanted to tape it to the cupboard. Which was actually a very convenient place to have it. Notice Cloe's shirt? I like buying the kids shirts for the holidays (thank you target and old navy for you $5 tees) and this is the only Halloween shirt I have been able to find in Florence so far. But my sister has had the chance to see some very cute clothing stores.

1 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. (lemon, vanilla or almond extract)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
5 1/2 c. flour

Roll thick and bake at 350 for 9 minutes (we usually bake for 8 1/2 minutes)

Frosting:
1 cube butter softened
1 3oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. lemon extract (or whatever extract you used in the dough)
1 lbs. powder sugar

love hate relationship

I love pampered chef and always find fun new gadgets when I look through their catalogue (once a year) but I have to say, I kind of hate this whisk. Is that what it's considered?

I love it because I don't have an electric mixer and it's fine for pancakes but whenever I mix something that is thicker like cookie dough, I hate it. It all clumps up in the center because the whisk goes into a funky shape inside. It's just annoying to always try to scrape things out from the inside. Just thought I'd let ya know. This just shows how repetitive life is since school started, not much excitement here so I have to blog about a whisk.

repeat

If you viewed our blog while my mom was in town then these photos are repeats. Lately I've been showing my sister the city and riding my bike from here to there. Actually tonight on our way home, I hit a car. Abbey was in front and Brody in back so add about 50 lbs of extra weight that throws me off balance with sudden movement or a dismount. I thought the car was stopping for me to cross the street and no, she was turning left. If I didn't have the extra weight, I would have never touched her. But thanks fatties, all they ever do is sit around and not help ;) But we were all fine and no one touched the ground. I was 1) a little embarrassed at my spastic maneuver 2) embarrassed 3) worried she was going to pull over and yell at me in Italian, she kinda did.
Anyways, I took my sister up to Piazza Michelangelo and also up to Fiesole. It was just me and Abbey and Crystal. While Crystal went and saw the ruins, Abbey and I walked around the small little town, mostly up big hills. But eventually found a playground! Tonight we had to get a book for Ryan in the center, so we went and got a Doner Kabab and then sat on the steps of Santa Croce and finished it off with Gelato.



I love this city!

is it bad I let my kids scale the walls of a church?

piazza santa croce