Sicily-Syracusa

65 degrees is always something wonderful when back home there is snow and ice! We had a week of wonderful weather and beautiful surroundings. In our previous trips we have seen big ticket items like the Great Wall of China, The Vatican, Disney, Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, etc etc. But Sicily was packed full of little surprises like spectacular churches, an active volcano and super food. Here are the first few pictures from the trip. I will post more each day until I run out of pictures or you all get bored!Greek theaterThe girls at the beachMariaJennLeahThis church is built around the original pillars of a Greek temple.Here is the pillar below and the girls by the pillars on the inside of the church

A Merry Christmas Vacation!

We had a very nice vacation in Sicily for the Christmas holiday! I promise to post lots of pictures tomorrow, but for now I am desperately trying to figure out my new computer! It is VERY fast! I was so used to my antiquated model...I could wash a load of laundry, scramble some eggs and shovel the snow off the driveway while I waited for it boot up each day. Now this new computer has an odd keyboard and none of my normal shortcuts are visible. I will get the hang of it but it will take time.

We were one of the few flights to actaully get out of Brussels on the 21st of Dec due to snow delays and lack of deicer for the planes. Sicily was a great distraction to all the snow. (more later...promise) When we returned to Brussels on the 28th, we saw that again we were lucky to get back into the country. Flights were cancelled and delayed all over Europe, but especially coming out of London and the US. Unfortunately for all the people who didn't make their flights or connections, their luggage was stuck in Brussels and the baggage claim area looked like something similar to this...Shocking!! I hope all those people got their luggage eventually!

Snow again and again!

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the weather in Brussels. Play close attention to the last sentence and then look at the pictures!

"Under the Köppen climate classification Brussels experiences an oceanic climate (Cfb). Brussels' proximity to coastal areas influences the area's climate by sending marine air masses from the Atlantic Ocean. Nearby wetlands also ensure a maritime temperate climate. On average (based on measurements the last 100 years), there are approximately 200 days of rain per year in the Brussels-Capital Region.[24] Snowfall is rare, generally occurring once or twice a year."These big trees are across the street just beyond our hedge fence.The view from the driveway looking at the neighbor"s beautiful trees.The driveway entrance.Check out those power lines.

The front gate.

The GPS

This story may only be funny and interesting to us. In fact, if you don't have or use a GPS, you simply won't understand.



Yesterday the twins and I were going to Grande Place. Yes, we have lived here for almost 3 years and I still use the GPS to go into Brussels. I am not sure why because I have been there a million times and I really do know where I am going. But more often than not, there are roads or barricades right on the path I want to travel. So the GPS comes in handy. We go the Grande Place to shop, eat, site see with our visiting guests and generally get the feel of Brussels. Our purpose for driving into town yesterday was to shop at this new store that the kids love. We also ate linner (lunch and dinner) at Anata where they serve the very BEST Japanese food. Of course we also walked through the fabulous Grande Place and saw the big tree.

In all truth the decorations were really bad this year. The live nativity scene located in a custom made thatched hut, had 2 sheep and four mannequins dressed in weird clothes that looked like they might have come from Macy's. Baby Jesus was wrapped in brightly colored baby blankets and looked oddly like an American Girl Bitty Baby! We laughed all the way home.

We were still a little giddy about the sights we had witnessed and Jennifer came up with the best idea. As our GPS was telling us to turn right, turn left and make an illegal u-turn, Jennifer said our GPS should have music to with the directions. For example, if we were going in the wrong directions the music could be fast and unpleasant, like what you hear at the bad part of a movie. If we were entering lots of traffic and congestion the music could be ominous like anything from the Harry Potter soundtrack. If we were entering the tunnel in Tervuren which Bob has comically named "The Magic Tunnel" because cars always slow down and sometimes stop for no reason, the music could be like the soundtrack from Jaws. Just traveling along with no problems could have elevator music in the background. And if we were doing everything right and headed home the music could be a family favorite.

Clever? Yes! Someone out there invent this if it hasn't already been done. We had a great drive home. It was fun with great conversation.

Right now Bob and Maria are in Chicago Christmas shopping and getting ready to return to Belgium. The soundtrack playing with their GPS has to be Holiday by Green Day, their favorite group. Hurry up and follow that GPS home so we can all be together again!

Merry Christmas!!

Maria made this of our family. I think she used this form of creativity to avoid studying for finals!

Watch the Concert Live!

If you would like to watch the ISB Orchestra Concert tonight, you can log onto the sites below and watch Leah and Jennifer perform live. If you miss it, I think you can still see it after the performance. The performance starts at 7pm Brussels time. (That will be 12 noon for Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa!) The girls will be performing with a visiting orchestra so the show should be good. Both the girls play in the Advanced Strings group which is the High School orchestra.



www.livestream.com/ISBDirect

channel password 1170bxl

click on the bottom of the screen in the library section - icon for the Strings Concert and then go full screen

:(

That is my foot. I slipped and fell on the ice. Bummer.

Having Twins

Having twins has always for me been exhilarating and special. We just did everything twice! Although in the beginning Leah and Jennifer looked so much alike, now they are starting to look less identical and more like just sisters. There is a 3 inch difference in their height but the true difference is in the way they enjoy life. Both Leah and Jennifer play volleyball and they are really good!! Jennifer, above, is accurate in her serving and knows the rules forward and backward. Leah goes after the ball with spunk and uses unconventional hits to get the ball over the net.

Leah, above, poses for pictures and Jennifer takes them. Jennifer plans and Leah executes. Leah wants to be a Lawyer so she can argue her point and Jennifer wants to be an architect so she can organize and plan.

Leah, above, reads like mad and so does Jennifer, below. They share books, read 2-3 at a time and like reading an entire series.

The biggest difference came today when they both made their Christmas lists. Jennifer's was long and she emailed it to me. It had links to websites and pictures. Leah's list was on a piece of scrap paper and said, "I'll take whatever Jennifer put on her list." I love those girls!

December

The tree is up.

The snowman(woman) already melted.

Maria is beginning her exams.

Bob is traveling to America soon to escort Maria back home. (Not that she can't fly on a plane by herself...He just happened to have a meeting in Chicago.)

Leah and Jennifer are hosting a Harry Potter marathon party next weekend.

Julie is planning our big holiday trip(s). We will go to Sicily for a week to climb Mt. Etna, ski down Mt. Etna, eat wonderful fish, shop in the Christmas markets and attend Midnight Mass in Taormina or Enna. Then we will take our regular trip to Disneyland in the rain sleet snow or hail!! We will go to Disney in any weather. Bob and I know where all the good coffee stops are located to warm up!

This display was at my grocery store. It was made of soda cans and I thought it was very clever. They only kept it up for 3 days because the Belgian shoppers were afraid it would fall over onto them. :)

Snow in Belgium!

ISB Performs at Disneyland Paris October 2010

Watch the video and look for the girls 49 seconds into it.

Leah and Jennifer go to the coolest school. Their orchestra performed at Disneyland! You can't see them in the video when the entire orchestra is playing but you can see them at the 0:49 mark. Jennifer is wearing a white hat and scarf and Leah is right behind her.

Your opinion please, Martha...

If Martha Stewart reads my blog, then I am sure she would be proud of my Thanksgiving table. Since she probably doesn't (there is always hope!) then my mother will have to weigh in with her opinion. Her name is Martha too and her stamp of approval is much more important!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, it was nothing, really nothing. I just got robbed, ran after the thief and got my wallet back!

I am serius! Last weekend my Indiana friends, Jennifer and Eileen(pictures coming soon) traveled to Paris. We had a great time seeing all the major and minor attractions. While riding the Metro, we were approached by 3 teens who wanted us to sign a pettition. They kept pushing the paper in our laps . We just kept saying "no". Finally they left. Within seconds I realized my wallet was missing from my purse.
I jumped up and started to run after them. Fast.
I opened train doors and ran through 3 cars knocking down a woman on my way.
In the third car I saw them ready to exit the train at the next stop.
I screamed, "Stop him! He has my wallet!!!"
A man grabbed two of the guys by the back of the coat.
The robber threw my wallet over his shoulder. It landed at my feet!
The train doors opened and they escaped.
I had my wallet with everything still inside!

That was the most exhausting 10 seconds of my enter life. I GOT ROBBED BUT I GOT MY WALLET BACK! Amazing.

This story is so much better in person because I have great hand motions to go with it. Just ask me. I would be happy to tell the story again!

Finally an update!

I have a really good excuse for not blogging. WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!!!!! Right after my last post about German bread, we left Belgium and traveled to

While we were there we got to seeand Nana and Grandpa and Grandma too! Leah and Jenn even trick-or-treated with their pals from the neighborhood. But our real purpose was to see and all of her wonderful new friends. We missed her so much! She was very gracious and let us get a good picture of what college life is really like. She even hosted
in her college dorm room and showed them what it is really like to be a college freshman. They loved the cafeteria food. We spent almost all our time at

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see many of our friends like

But we did a LOT of

and we ate all the wonderful things we can't get in Belgium like

We all made a trip to the

with Leah spending the most time with the excellent Dr. Wilson. It was a great trip!

Souvenirs from Germany

Bob just returned from a business trip to Germany. He travels so much we rarely get souvenirs from his travels, but this time he brought us some really tasty treats! On the back row are cheese covered giant pretzels and regular German pretzels. On the bottom row are sesame and sunflower seed honey pastries, seed topped pretzels, wheat bread and heavy rye bread. Thanks Bob for lugging all this stuff through the train station!

Homemade Cookie Cakes

In the US you can buy a cookie cake practically everywhere...Target, Kroger, Marsh, Meijer. We made our own since this fad hasn't quite reached Belgium yet, nor will it ever if I can guess correctly. Leah and Jenn took the big cookies to their respective Homeroom (Advisory) classes to celebrate their 13 birthday. They were quite a hit since most of the kids had never seen one of these before. A life without an enormous chocolate chip cookie just isn't complete!

Leah and Jenn are Teenagers!

This has been a big month for birthdays in our house. Bob's birthday was the 10th, the twins were the 15th, Uncle Brad is the 19th, Grandma is the 23rd and cousin Tommy is the 29th.
I cannot believe the twins are 13. I can vividly remember the day we found out we were having twins. Bob told his mom that she had prayed too hard and there were two babies. My own mom immediately felt attached because she too is a twin. After Leah and Jennifer were born my grandmother and I now had an even stronger bond because we were both the mothers of twins. We shared stories that were sometimes completely the same and other times worlds (and years) apart. I am so thankful that she was able to visit with the girls as babies and as toddlers before she passed away.

We had to plan the opening of presents so that Maria could watch via Skype. Leah and Jenn would be traveling to Luxembourg to play volleyball on the 15th so we let them open their gifts on the evening before their 13th birthday.Above is Maria sitting right at the table with us and below are all of us around the dining room table. Nana and Papa sent cards (filled with good old US dollars!) and Aunt Kirstian, Uncle Brad, Valerie, Joe and Tom sent cards written in French! They are very cool.

In order to include Maria, we did all of this partying at 10:30 at night. Bob had just got off a flight from Zurich and Maria had just returned from a class at Purdue.

The week before all this, Bob had been in the US. I sent him on some errands to buy birthday gifts. He was to buy converse tennis shoes, Hollister t-shirts and jeans from American Eagle. Does it look like any of those things were in the packages you saw above??? You guessed right I am sure. He brought back fruit roll-ups, Oreo cookies and 2 very special gifts. Watch the pictures below to see what our two wonderful 13 year olds got for their birthday.


They got iPads!!!!!!!!