The Biasi Family

Disney Report #7 - Ride photos

2012-01-28T13:59:00.001+01:00

You can double click on all these photos to make them bigger.

The Yeti Roller Coaster at Animal Kingdom is great.

Tower of Terror at Disney MGM is not Jennifer's favorite.

Even I got excited on this ride.

As we got off Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, all the riders passed by the photos to see how they looked in their picture. As we were standing there, a stranger said, "Look at that guy!!" and pointed to Bob's reaction in the photo above. Bob looked right at him and proclaimed, "THAT'S ME!!!!"

New Year's Eve at Epcot's Test Track. Bob has on everybody's hat.

Disney Report #6 Just pics of us

2012-01-27T23:04:00.000+01:00

Leah and Maria

Bob and Leah

Maria in the mist

Jenn Leah and Maria getting ready for A Bug's Life 3D movie

Bob Julie Jenn Leah and Maria at Epcot

Disney Report #5 - We have to go back

2012-01-27T22:56:00.000+01:00

This picture of the castle at Disney should be on the front of a postcard or a travel magazine. It is a pretty place. Below is the contruction going on in the Fantasyland section of Magic Kingdom. Knowing something wonderful is coming soon, we really want to go back and see the new stuff completed.

Disney Report #4 - Only at Disney

2012-01-27T10:16:00.000+01:00

While at Disney, I kept telling everyone we had to go to Disney MGM to see the lights. The family kept saying ok but didn't pay too much attention to me. Once I finally drug them over to the area you see in pictures and in the video, we were impressed and completely entertained. How cool!

Disney Report #3 A water ride in December? Are you crazy?

2012-01-25T16:46:00.000+01:00

I already mentioned our goal of riding 50 rides while we were at Disney. One of those rides was a water ride. Now, normally, I wouldn't even consider a water ride in the summer. You know, my hair would get messed up and my clothes would get wet. Blah blah blah. All good excuses but when you live with 4 other fearless roller coaster riders you just have to give in and ride the wave. We rode Splash Mountain and got soaked!

Bob after the big plunge. He is still smiling!

Maria at the end of the ride

Bob, hands in the air, no wonder he got so wet. Leah is making the thumbs up with Jenn doing the same. Maria is in the green jacket somewhat covered. Me? I am the one in tan hood bending down in hopes of avoiding the big splash. It didn't work.

Disney Report #2 The Weather

2012-01-24T21:57:00.001+01:00

The weather was beautiful at the end of December in Disney World. We actually swam on 3 afternoons and only needed jackets in the evenings.

The sun was shining on Santa!

This picture was taken while riding a roller coaster at 8am in the morning. Maria needed her gloves to keep warm! Once the sun popped out we put the gloves away.

Great picture on the Test Track ride at Epcot. Look at that hair! Again it was sunny and bright.

Overall we had high temps in the 80s and lows in the 40s. On our last day in the parks we actually got a little cold but it obviously didn't stop us!

Disney Report #1

2012-01-24T10:49:00.000+01:00

With over 500 pictures from our trip to Disney World, it might take me a while to get all of the best pictures posted on the blog!

Our first day, and for that matter all the days, were well planned in advance. I really did my homework. I didn't make everyone stay on a schedule or anything crazy like that but I did know which park at Disney would be the least crowded on each day and I made meal reservations in advance. I also had an app on my phone telling which ride had the shortest wait time.

We arrived in time on the first day to see the Candlelight Christmas Show at Epcot. During the Christmas season this beautiful performance is narrated by different celebrities. Our show was narrated by Marlee Matlin and an interpreter. She signed the entire thing. It was quite moving.

We had great seats right in the front.

The stage was awesome.

Bob took these videos. At the end you can hear him clapping first before anyone else. He loves a good show. Leah and Jenn enjoyed sitting so close to the orchestra. Maria took tons of pictures. I just sat back and enjoyed our first evening at Disney.

Happy New Year from the Happiest Place on Earth

2012-01-22T14:56:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year from Julie Bob Jennifer Leah and Maria!

On Dec. 27 we flew to Florida to spend a week at DisneyWorld. Don't roll your eyes and say we could have gone anywhere, we know that. But we love Disney and this trip was flawless. Flight was good, weather was great and our kids were unbelievably fun. We had a very special goal on our trip. When Bob turned 50 in October, the girls promised him that they would ride 50 rides at Disney. It was a lofty goal but it was really fun trying to reach it. They kept track of each ride on Maria's phone averaging about 6-7 rides per day. With crowds so huge during the Christmas holiday, we had to be good planners with our time. Things like the Monorail in the picture above did not count. We had originally said we wouldn't ride on the Tea Cups (too much spinning) or Winnie the Pooh (too many preschoolers) but if there wasn't a line we rode on the those rides anyway. We had never ridden the Indy Cars but that ride turned out to be so much fun. Bob has road rage even on a Disney ride if he is behind the wheel of car! 3-D movies like the Muppets or A Bug's Life didn't count as rides. Yes we had to wait in line but I just couldn't convince anyone that they were rides. (Those attractions turned out to be the ideal place to take a 10 minute nap!!!) Our favorite rides were Rockin Roller Coaster, Yeti, Midway Mania and Space Mountain. We rode each of those at least 6 times.

Below are pictures from a few of the rides. At Disney they take your picture while riding in hopes that you will buy the photo as a souvenir. We do buy the pictures every once in a while, but in the cases below we just took a picture of the picture. Take a look at Bob. He is having so much fun! We had 8 days of hands in the air, great big smiles and true joy. Priceless.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-15T10:52:00.000+01:00

Christmas 2011 was absolutely wonderful, the best one yet. ( I know I said this about my 2011 summer too. Life is good! ) I just wish we had taken more pictures of the family stuff. The pics above and below were taken on Dec. 22 and then I have no account of anything after until Dec. 27. So I have no pictures of Bob's parents or Uncle Jim and Aunt Cindy or the homemade ravioli. I have no pictures of my parents or all our present opening or Bob and my Dad playing golf on Christmas day or my Mom's beautiful Santa centerpiece and tree. I know we took pictures of all these things but they are nowhere to be found. It is sad. The best picture I took was of Bob opening a gift from my brother and his wife. The gift was the biography of Obama. Bob's facial expressions of disgust were priceless and I caught all of them on film. You will just have to use your imagination.

Leah, Jennifer and I were supposed to leave for the United States on Dec. 22 but there was a rumor that all of Belgium would be crippled by a huge transportation strike on that day so we left a day early. The strike turned out to be nothing but we got to start our celebrating a little early. We took the train from Grandma and Grandpa's house and went to State Street and Michigan Ave in Chicago to see the beautiful decorations and have lunch at the Walnut Room in Marshall Fields (oops Macy's). The pictures are of the girls in front of the giant tree in the restaurant. It was a banner day celebrating our 1st day back in the US with Starbucks, Macy's, Frango Mints, the Salvation Army bells and popcorn munched while walking down the cold streets of Chicago. It was good to be home!
We had wonderful food in Chicago with a trip to Frank's restaurant where we always eat too much. Then we had our Christmas celebration with homemade ravioli made by Mary and Primo. Bob and I had a chance to try out my new Nike+GPS app and walked/ran all over his old neighborhood. The weather was beautiful.

After getting our fill of Chicago, we drove to Jerseyville to spend Christmas with Nana and Papa. The weather was so nice Bob got to play golf on Christmas day and try out his new putter. My dad and I used my Nike app again and walked 5 miles all over town! He is in great shape. Mom made her famous pork roast for Christmas dinner with Maria's favorite pumpkin pie for dessert.
The girls got some fun gifts. Leah loves her Kindle, Jenn made something right away with her sewing machine and Maria took pictures with her new camera. Thank you notes are on their way Nana.
From Jerseyville we went back to Indiana to regroup and check out the remodel project on the house. We had to finalize kitchen cabinets and appliances. This project has taken a long time to complete but it will be beautiful when it is done.
Then on Dec. 27 we flew to . . . Hmmm Where would the Biasi Family go while in the US???

2011-12-17T04:43:00.000+01:00

Jenn and Leah take ballet in Brussels.
We have been through MANY teachers at our dance school but our newest one is truly our favorite. Her name is Joanna and she is just fantastic. She welcomes the girls with big hugs, encourages them to work hard and pushes them to be better. In the video Leah is the first one on the right and Jenn is the 4th person behind her.

2011-12-08T23:14:00.000+01:00

Tonight was the 6-12th grade Orchestra Concert at ISB. Bob and I enjoyed the music but since the girls play with the High School, we had to sit through a lot of songs before we got to hear our own kids play!
If you want to watch it follow the steps below. Feel free to jump ahead in the video so you don't have to watch the entire show. You will hear a duet by Leah and Aiden at minute 28:28. They have been playing together for 4 years and we have watched the two of them get taller and taller. Since they are a boy and a girl they barely speak to each other, but they still communicate well. After their duet you can jump ahead to the Advanced Middle School and High School combined group at minute 56:43. Jenn is hard to find but is in the 2nd row somewhat in the the middle. She sits in between the other two middle school violas, both boys, and puts her leadership skills to good use. In other words, she claims they are hopeless and rely on her for their every move. Enjoy the show!

1. go to this link http://www.isb.be/page.cfm?p=2624
2. click on the words "Go to ISB live streaming page
3. type in this password 1170bxl
4. look for the small picture showing Dec. 8 concert and click on it.
5. Enjoy!

2011-12-07T22:13:00.000+01:00

I love this quote!

Cooking Class

2011-12-06T22:37:00.000+01:00

On Monday I wrote that I live a regular normal life and only get to eat cake with friends on special days...I lied or misrepresented a little :)

My life is spectacular in Europe!!!

Ok now that I have admitted it, I feel a little guilty. I do all the stuff I should like trying to find matches to lost socks and sorting my recycling for the picky Belgian garbage collectors but I also go out to lunch (a lot) and plan outings with my friends. Today we took a cooking class at the home of a very talented Italian cook. This old dog (ME) learned some new tricks! That is me in the picture below working on my creme brulee.

2011-12-06T09:55:00.000+01:00

On our flight from Belgium to the US at Thanksgiving, we had this can of Sprite served to us. No English, French, Flemish or any other language we are familiar with could be found on that can. What language is it??

2011-12-05T23:19:00.000+01:00

Some days are normal - laundry, dry cleaner, grocery store, post office, pick up kids, take kids places, gym. (Yes, I am actually a regular now at the gym in Overijse. Surprisingly, I love it. I am not sure if it is the fact that I go with great people or the fact that I am actually shaping up, but it is lots of fun.) Anyway, some days are just regular, not boring at all, just regular.
Then there are the days where I get to have coffee and a treat with friends.

This is my friend's cappuccino and chocolate cake.

And this is my cherry tart and coffee.

Belgium may not have a Starbucks on every corner or a Target in every town, but they do know how to stop and enjoy life!

Saturday...

2011-12-03T23:07:00.000+01:00

Today we went to Grande Place. We had to go to the Dance store to pick up point shoes for the twins. The store just happens to be down the street from this beautiful and historic place. I love Grande Place especially when its crowded and ready for the holidays!

We bought Speculos cookies which are like a spice cookie. The one on the right is the size of a 1st grader! We didn't buy that one! We also bought nuts and the girls had a hot chocolate. Lots of small stands are set up for the Plaisers d'Hiver or WinterWonders. Many European cities celebrate Christmas with Markets selling gifts, hot wine, cheese, etc. It's fun to go to the markets and see the items for sale and eat the delicious food.

I also bought some lace. I am not sure why the stuffed turkey is part of this window display. Belgians don't celebrate Thanksgiving but they do like to hunt so maybe the turkey is paying respect to the hunters of the season??

Christmas Blog

2011-12-01T07:59:00.000+01:00

I really enjoy working on this blog. I usually don't spend too much time with it but I post when I want and try to keep the family updated. I have noticed that all I ever write about or post pictures of are the kids so I have vowed to spice things up a little. Christmas in Europe is magical (if you know where to go!) so I will have some great opportunities to share new things on the blog.

This new Christmas layout was so much work! I started out at 10pm thinking I would just get rid of the turkeys and put on some santas. Easy and usually a 5 minute task. I always use The Cutest Blog on the Block for my blog backgrounds and for some reason I just couldn't get rid of the turkey background and put up a new one. I tried and tried and wasted way too much time. Finally I realized there were probably other sources for backgrounds and I switched to another and another and another. Then I called my brother, not for help with my blog but just for a distraction. He doesn't read my blog anyway so asking him would not have helped. Sometime in there I also called my mother, did a load of laundry, made a cup of decaf, forced the girls to go to bed, sent an email to the tax guy and eventually changed the background. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was now 12:30am and I could have been sleeping!!!
The new Christmas look is very cute but it has many flaws. Did you notice them? My pictures on the side are not on the right anymore and they are in reverse order. I could fix the order problem but it would take up too much time. Our name appears at the top of the blog twice. I really worked hard on removing the extra label and it was impossible. The type is hard to read now but I am stuck with that until I change the background again and that won't happen until after Christmas. We are just stuck with mistakes and will enjoy the holly and candy canes until after the holidays.
Happy December 1!

We spent Thanksgiving in the country that invented it!

2011-11-30T16:59:00.000+01:00

We were lucky enough to take a quick trip to the USA for Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time and got to spend it all with Maria. Here are just a few of our activities...
Wed. - arrive and eat Mexican food
Thurs. - 9am watch Macy's parade
              12pm eat Thanksgiving meal at Weber Grill restaurant. (Look in the background of the picture above and you can see that our kitchen in the US in under major construction and we have NO appliances!)
               2pm Realize that although our meal was good, nothing beats Thanksgiving dinner at your own house. We vowed to eat at home next year!
               3pm Read the paper and all the sale adds and planned our attack for Black Friday shopping
               5pm Realize that Old Navy and Meijer are already open with big sales and rush to start shopping
Friday - 1am Wake up and START SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
               5am Rest
                1pm The girls went shopping again and Bob and I finalized our kitchen cabinets.

Not much else happened except a lot more shopping and quite a bit of house clean up and work. We had a blast!!!

A poem by Leah

2011-11-21T21:50:00.000+01:00

Where I’m From

by Leah

I am from homemade blankets
From lost Barbie shoes clogging up the vacuum cleaner
And secret agent spies.
I am from the worn souls of ballet shoes
And “MOM! COME KILL THIS BUG!”

I am from running through the sprinklers,
Bare foot in the muddy grass
From bikes and chalk littered on the driveway
The stump of an old tree
And bee hives

I am from streets lined with trees
Dancing cornfields
And friendly neighbors
I am from cicadas singing in the fall
The auburn hue of leaf piles
And the sound of shovels scraping ice off of sidewalks

I am from Primo and Don
“When I was a kid”
“WE’RE GONNA BE LATE”
And Chinese food on Christmas
I am from putting ‘secret’ sauce on every vegetable
Stains from Homemade ravioli permanently etched into clothes
And the glorious scents of Beef Strogonoff

I am from shoe boxes filled with old photos
forgotten on shelves, covered in dust
From my very own ‘Memento’ box
Piled high with artwork and prized possessions

I am from these moments
Which have shaped who I am
And taught me to appreciate life

A poem by Jennifer

2011-11-21T21:45:00.002+01:00

I’m From
by Jennifer

I’m from swaying cornfields
And our friendly neighborhood,
That frightening forest in our backyard
And all those small hostas that had grown into monstrous plants.

I’m from “Love your sisters”
the twin speech,
and the “Let’s Go” song.

I’m from homegrown wild strawberries
And rollie pollies crawling in my hands,
Those pesky bunnies eating petunias
And our wasp infested swing set.

I’m from sharing a room with my twin
And looking up to my older sister.
I’m from Zelda, Mario, and SALLY,
From Life, Clue, and Careers.

I’m from a camper with a porta-potty
And marshmallows on a stick.
I’m from those Smokey Mountains
And miniature golf.

I’m from rhinestones and black stretchy leotards,
Tap shoes, and pink tights.
I’m from playing with Barbies in the cold basement
And Polly Pocket shoes lost around the house.

I’m from all these memories that have shaped my life
to where it is now.

2011-11-20T07:28:00.000+01:00

I just had to add this picture too because it was so much better than the other one I posted before. I should say that Bob was with us in Paris too but he was the one taking the photos. After the games Beccy and Stu went tree shopping and we went on a hunt to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Beccy and Stu found 2 trees for their front yard and we found the KFC with wonderful greasy chicken. Paris has everything.

This Picture is a surprise for Aunt Ruth, Uncle Jim, Mardi and Don!

2011-11-19T19:34:00.001+01:00

Julie, Leah, Stu, Jennifer and Beccy

This weekend Leah and Jenn played in their last volleyball tournament with their ISB team. The games took place at the American School of Paris. We were lucky enough to have my cousin Beccy and her husband Stu stop by to watch some of the exciting matches. Beccy and Stu have lived in Paris for 23 years!!!! Stu was great at cheering and Beccy and I got to catch up on family happenings. Beccy has always been that cool cousin who traveled around the world and lived in a foreign country. She is still cool and now we both live in foreign countries!
(Note about the title of this post...We didn't tell our moms that we were meeting so the picture of us all together in Paris might be a little surprising!)

Yams

2011-11-16T20:27:00.001+01:00

Belgians do not celebrate Thanksgiving, obviously. It is always hard to find the items we need to cook our feast for the special holiday. I found this lonesome box of Yams/Sweet Potatoes hidden at the grocery store on a bottom shelf. There were only 6 of them left which means all of us Americans have bought them all! While I was taking a picture of the box a lady told me, in French, that I was crazy. I don't speak French but I do know when someone is telling me I am crazy for taking a picture. The box says the potatoes were imported from Oak Grove, LA.

Llama Parade at the Zoo

2011-11-14T20:06:00.000+01:00

The Zurich Zoo is famous for their animal parades. On nice days they just take the tamest animals out for a walk. We got to touch the llamas. On very cold days the penguins go out for a walk!

2011-11-11T17:02:00.000+01:00

I thought I had nothing to write about today, but I changed my mind. Today is November 11 and here in Belgium that means it is Armistice Day or in the US, Veteren's Day. I am very thankful for my father in law who faught in WWII. Because of him and many other US and European veterens, we have the freedom we enjoy everyday.

And because I am so thankful, I have declared that today is Thanksgiving. On the real Thanksgiving we will be back in the US. This means that we will enjoy great TV with my favorite parades and Bob's favorite football. Unfortunately, we have no kitchen at our house in the US to cook our Thanksgiving dinner. It is in the process of being remodeled so I have a crock pot, an outdoor grill and a microwave. Some of you crafty people might say you could whip up a fabulous Thanksgiving feast with less appliances that those, but I am not that confident in my creative cooking abilities. So, the kids don't have school and Bob doesn't have to work because of Armistice Day. We will feast on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, fresh bread and pumpkin spice muffins. Sounds like Thanksgiving to me!

Zoo photo

2011-11-11T16:31:00.000+01:00

Another great zoo photo

Please give Leah and Jenn a big round of applause!

2011-11-09T23:06:00.001+01:00

Today we learned that Leah and Jenn have been accepted into the Junior Honor Orchestra which will take place in Berlin, Germany, in February 2012!! We are so proud of them both! They started practicing last May and finally auditioned at the end of October. The honor orchestra is made of kids from international schools all over Europe and brings them together to rehearse and perform with a guest conductor. The honor goes even further because Leah is ranked as the #1 bass and Jenn is ranked as the #1 viola. Wow!!! I am a very proud mom right now.

Below are pictures from last year's honor orchestra trip which took place in Vienna, Austria.

Jennifer practicing with the Junior Honor Orchestra

Leah practicing with the Junior Honor Orchestra

The kids from ISB traveled together by plane to Vienna. Their chaperone was Mrs. DuToi, one of their orchestra teachers. She is sweet and very easy going. These kids are generally very well behaved and don't need too much direction.

Not only do the participants play and perfrom, they also get to take a few excursions to see the city. In this photo they all wore their JHO t-shirts and went out to learn more about Mozart.

Jenn

Leah

Explain

2011-11-08T14:15:00.000+01:00

I understand this sign. It means the store is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Right? Isn't that what 24/7 means?

If I am right about 24/7, then this sign is confusing to me. Does it mean that this store is open 7 hours a day 7 days a week? That's what it should mean right? In English the sign says "Open 7/7 days without appointment". The actual posted hours are on the other door and it states that they are open 10-20 which is really 10am to 8pm. That is clearly more than 7 hours a day. This isn't the only place that has a sign saying Open 7/7. The DeliTraitor, our version of a convenience store, also has a sign that says "Open 7/7 from 7:30 to 22:00". Maybe it means they are only open on July 7. I hope everyone writes in to explain this to me. Maybe it is as clear as can be and I just don't understand!

2011-11-07T19:56:00.000+01:00

Last week the girls had the week off of school. We have always gone back to the US for Fall Break but this year we stayed in Europe because we are going back for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. We took a trip to Zurich but also had a little time to lounge around the house and do fun activities. Leah (above) learned how to use the bread machine. She made ricotta bread and french bread. Jennifer (below) didn't want to have her picture taken but she was really multitasking. She was making friendship bracelets for all her friends, chatting on Facebook and playing the piano on her iPad.

2011-11-07T08:44:00.000+01:00

Instead of writing an entire post about the Zurich Zoo, I thought I would just put up a few of Leah's great photos on days when there isn't much else to write. She is a very good photographer!

Der Nussknacker (The Nutcracker)

2011-11-06T11:46:00.000+01:00

What is Christmas without The Nutcracker? While in Zurich, I really wanted to see the ballet but online it said that the show was completely sold out. The Nutcracker in Zurich is performed at the Opera House, a beautiful building situated right on the lakefront. It is quite a clever place with their costuming and design department placed right on the side of the building near a walking path so everyone can see what the designers are working on. When we first arrived in town we accidentally got off on the wrong train and ended up in front of the Opera House! We went right to the ticket office and inquired about seats for the following night. The ticket agent said there would be no chance for seats but we could stop by 90 minutes before the show to see if anything opened up. Rejection. :( The next day the girls and I stopped by early in the afternoon to check out the seating status. The same guy was working the ticket booth and recognized us from the day before. He said we should come back in an hour and he might have something for us...below are the seats we got! Jennifer is sitting in the best seat in the house. Our seats were in the center of the floor section with a perfect view of the stage. I sat with Jenn and Leah sat in the row in front of us. At intermission Leah joined us since the seat next to me ended up being empty.

We also could have had seats in one of these very cool boxes but our view of the stage would have been obstructed.

This was my favorite scene from the show. The soldiers swung Claira like a swing and threw her into the air. They did it twice and it was unforgetable.

The show was beautiful with a wonderful orchestra and tallented ballerinas. The one thing that really surprised me was that there wasn't anything to buy like Nutcracker trinkets, posters or dolls. In the US, I could have bought everything from a wooden nutcracker to signed point shoes. I wanted to spend money, I really did, but I just didn't get the chance! After the show we had a hot chocolate from Starbucks and a pretzel from the train station!!

Pretzels - Breakfast Lunch and Dinner

2011-11-04T11:02:00.000+01:00

We just got back from Zurich and had so much fun. We have been there many times so we had to really search for new things to do. We went to the zoo (excellent) and The Nutcracker (even more excellent). I will post about both of those activities later but first I have to write about the pretzels. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE IN ZURICH! The picture above is from one of the many pretzel stands at the train station. At first the lady was excited to have her picture taken but then she just got annoyed with me and waved me off. Fresh pretzels are sold from sun up until sun down with a conveyer type pretzel oven in every stand. Most places serve them plain and then sliced throught the middle like a roll and filled with meat. Jennifer and I are drawn toward the one with butter spread between the two slices and Leah prefers the one with salami in between. They even make a hero type sandwich out of pretzel dough. One day the girls had a fried chicken patty in between the pretzel and said it was delicious. At some point during our trip we had pretzels for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Lucky us!

Single Socks

2011-10-30T16:03:00.000+01:00

I have this continuing problem with missing socks. Maybe I am not the only person who suffers from this problem. Where do the socks go? I really don't think the washer or the dryer eats them and I don't think our laundry lady (me) is slacking in her job and losing them when she folds the wash. After laying out all our single socks on the counter in the laundry room, I made a horrific discovery...

None of the missing socks belong to me. They belong to people in my family who are older than 49 and younger than 47. Interesting.

Addicted to Caffeine

2011-10-29T14:21:00.000+02:00

I have never thought I was addicted to caffeine. Oh I know everyone else says it is highly addictive but I just never bought into the idea. Bob? Oh yes, he is addicted to caffeine. He MUST have coffee to get up and go. If he doesn't get enough caffeine, he knows to take two Excedrin because that will equal the caffeine amount he needs. Me? You can guess where I am going with this essay. I can drink coffee all day and sleep most of the night. (My sleep habits aren't normal at all anyway.) I never really thought caffeine mattered. I was immune! I do have one or two other addictions-
Polish Pottery
eBay
shoes
scarves
anything Coach
bargain hunting
spending money
Starbucks
my family
travel
My list is quite long but looks really indulgent and enjoyable, nothing like being addicted to Caffeine.
Anyway, I have been sick for the past 4 days with food poisoning. This was horrible and I am blaming it on a BLT (minus the L and the T) that I ate on Tuesday at 11am. By 5pm I was dizzy and aching all over. I thought I was getting a cold. I fed the girls their dinner but didn't eat. At about 8pm I decided I just had to go to bed but first, I ate another BLT (minus the L and the T) because I thought I was hungry. BIG MISTAKE!!! By 11pm it was clear that I was ill. I didn't get really bad until Wednesday around 11am and then I just couldn't do anything at all.
I am sure this is more than you need to know but I am getting back around to the caffeine addiction topic. Bob came home from a week in Prague on Friday morning. He made me some soup and left me alone. My head was killing me along with everything else. It was the worst headache I have ever had...ok I am exaggerating because if you know me, you understand that I actually had the worst headache in 2007 and I wrote all about that in June of 2008 on this blog. You can read about it if you want but that is an old story. Finally this morning after lots of complaining on my part, Bob told me to get up and drink 2 cups of coffee, take a shower and eat some toast. He claimed I hadn't had coffee in 4 days and needed to feed my caffeine addiction. I said I was not addicted to caffeine but followed his directions. Within 10 minutes I felt better, not great, but definitely better.
OK I will admit it. I get to add "addicted to caffeine" to my list of addictions. When you look at that list it should go right in between Starbucks and my family because those are the three things on the list I think I enjoy the most!

Disney From the Backside

2011-10-22T21:58:00.000+02:00

Last weekend Leah and Jenn went to Disneyland Paris to play with the ISB orchestra. They took the same trip last year. This time around Bob and I went along to chaperone. We got to stay in a very unique 2-star hotel. Please remember Bob stays at 5-star hotels all week long and even gets upgraded more times than not. We had the job of making sure kids went to sleep at a decent hour and got up in time to travel to the park to play in their concerts. We were there for 2 nights. Below is a picture of the hotel...actually it would be classified as a motel since the doors of each room open directly to the outside. At least it was clean but it was very tiny and Bob and I had twin beds..We were each in charge of groups of kids while we were at the park and had to check in with them frequently. Bob had all girls to look after which means I think his job was easy. I had mostly boys to keep up with. One time during the first day my group of 4 7th grade boys called to say they lost their money and couldn't eat. Here is that phone conversation...
7th grader: Hi Mrs. B
Me: Hi
7th grader: We lost all our money and now we can't eat.
Me: Were you robbed?
7th grader: No
Me: Did you drop your wallet somewhere?
7th grader: No
Me: Then where did your money go?
7th grader: Into the video arcade.
Me: You spent all your money in the arcade? All of it?
7th grader: Well we still have 3 euros.
Me: You have a problem.
Needless to say I gave them money to eat and a huge lecture. Then I made them swear that they wouldn't set foot in the arcade again. Their problems were not over though. The next day one of those squirrelly kids lost his ticket and couldn't get back in the park when they went from Disney Studios to the Magic Kingdom. One of the girls in Bob's group lost her ticket too. He had to sprint to the front gate from the back of the park to give her another ticket so she could make it in time to perform.
We have seen Disneyland Paris many many times. In fact, this visit was our 12th! But traveling with performers meant that we entered the park from the back. We saw the Christmas decorations ready to put out in a few weeks and the old Halloween decorations rotting in a holding area. We were told by our guide, Isabelle, that we were not allowed to take pictures or the magic would be ruined. She had a good point because now that I have seen the backside of all the hoopla, I am not as excited as I was before. We didn't see anything horrible like Mickey without his head but we did see Darth Vador readying himself to go out into the crowd. Yes it was a lot of work topped off with a bus ride that took double the time it would take in a car, but we had fun and would probably chaperone again.

Our tiny hotel room circa 1971. It was very clean so I guess it could have been a lot worse!

Post Game Recap

2011-10-21T08:12:00.001+02:00

I am not sure how many people actually watched the live streaming of the volleyball game, but I understand the video actually stays on the website for quite some time and you can view it over and over and over and over... My dad watched and yelled at he screen and coached the girls through cyberspace!

The first half of the video is actually our U12 team. They are in blue. The coach is dynamite and was Leah and Jenn's 5th grade teacher. He came to ISB that same year so we were new together. Bob and I have watched his progress as a well respected and totally effective educator since then. He empowered our girls to make their own decisions and grow as international citizens. He really had a very positive effect on them. International citizen seems like such a lofty phrase that only a politician or a salesman might use but really the girls have become exactly what that label describes. They live in Belgium but they go to school with kids from all over the world. Their first assignment in that 5th grade class was to study cultures and religions all over the world. Back home in Indiana they would have been memorizing the capitals of the 50 United States. Granted they still don't know the capitals but hey, they can learn that anytime!

Anyway, the first game on the video is U12 and they are in blue uniforms. The 2nd half of the video is the U14 team. Leah and Jenn did not play in the first game. You can see them in the 2nd and 4th games playing next to eachother, numbers 6 and 10, with their hair in a ponytail. Honestly it is pretty hard to see who is who. They both had some great sets at the net and equally good serves. At the very end of the entire video, Jenn and then Leah are the last servers.

This weekend the team plays at Luxemburg on Friday and Saturday. Bob and I will make the short drive on Saturday morning to catch their game.

Watch Leah and Jenn Play Volleyball LIVE!!

2011-10-19T07:17:00.000+02:00

That's right all you volleyball fans...If you really want to see 14 year old girls play volleyball you will have your chance today at 5:15 my time. Just follow the direction below. Our team will be wearing white shirts. Leah is number 10 and Jenn is number 6.

1. Go to this website http://www.isb.be/page.cfm?p=2624
2. Click on the words Go to ISB Live Streaming Page
3. Enter the password 1170bxl
4. There will be choices for older videos but you will be able to watch the volleyball game sometime around 5:15 our time which is 11:15 in Indiana and 10:15 in Chicago/St. Louis.

Enjoy!!! (Just let me know if it doesn't work. You will still be able to see the game for the next week or so.)

Ahhh... I miss this...

2011-10-17T23:10:00.000+02:00

Maria took this picture of the trees in our backyard in Indiana.

BOB IS 50!

2011-10-12T22:15:00.000+02:00

That's right, Bob is 50 years old. I think his exact words were, "It's just another day." He got to celebrate with Maria on Saturday and his parents on Sunday. Then he flew home Monday morning (his actual birthday) to Belgium and celebrated with Leah, Jenn and me. And then he flew that same evening to Zurich and celebrated all over again with his team and coworkers on Tuesday. The cake just never ended for him! He got a very nice watch, some beautiful clothes, promises of future fun from the kids and a chance to drive in a race car. Nice. I will secretly take a few pictures of him this weekend so we can see what a 50 year old really looks like. But truthfully, I think Bob has never been better. He is a great dad and a great husband which are quite wonderful accomplishments for someone of any age!

Dear Bob and Maria,

2011-10-11T14:07:00.000+02:00

Dear Bob and Maria,
Thank you so much for shopping for birthday presents for the twins. I am only the slightest bit jealous that the two of you got to be together in the US yet again just a month after we were there in Sept. And the items you picked out were so cute. I am sure Leah and Jenn would love them, if only they fit. You both lovingly picked out size adult extra small. Maybe in your memory Leah and Jenn are still young and short. But alas, they are 14 years old and tall!!! Leah is 5'7" and Jenn if 5'6". They wear adult size medium! At least the watches you bought fit them ok.
Love,
Julie/Mom

2011-10-11T07:49:00.000+02:00

Parents Weekend at Purdue was a blast! We got the see Maria do her thing on the football field as a trainer for the Purdue Big Ten Football Team. She was great! None of the players got hurt so she didn't have to administer CPR or carry that big stretcher out onto the field.

It was a quick trip for Bob and me but it was so nice to be there. I am sure it is hard for Maria having her parents so far away. We can't just stop by for the weekend without it being a major event with international flights and tons of planning.

Bob and I actually flew from different locations. He traveled from Zurich and I came from Brussels. Bob's travel was flawless, mine was not. My flight took a detour to Canada so I ended up landing in Montreal, Toronto and finally Indianapolis. My luggage was lost somewhere between Brussels and Montreal so every time I went through customs I was questioned because I had traveled across an ocean without anything but a purse...very suspicious. While in Canada trying to arrange to find a way to Indy, I made a few phone calls on my US phone not knowing that I racked up $900 in roaming charges! AT&T thought my phone was stolen and alerted me. When we figured out what had happened, AT&T charged me $30 for the error and wiped out the $900 fee. I can't say enough about their kindness.

And in a blink, our weekend was over. Bob and I traveled back to Brussels together and landed all in one piece. The twins had a great weekend too being "babysat" by their old teacher, Mr. A. He took them to volleyball games, taught them how to make Carbonara and introduced them to a TV channel called MTV. :) Now they can cook and listen to music at the same time. (To clarify, I think it is actually a video channel and not MTV because it is just music and not reality TV.) I think they had just as much fun as we did!

What I did on my summer vacation

2011-09-10T13:16:00.000+02:00

I can honestly say this has been the very best summer in a long time. Somehow the fact that I totaled my car doesn't make a difference in how the events of the summer really went. I got to spend 7 weeks in the United States visiting every single family member. Both sets of parents went with us to Las Vegas and then they all came to Greenwood too. Bob started the kitchen remodel project which is really going to be beautiful. He has unbelievable building skills. I flew to Denver to see my brother and his family and Bob's brother came to us to be our electrical contractor. Maria was at Purdue all summer studying Anatomy and had exellent results. We saw her just about every week. Leah and Jenn had success at volleyball and orchestra camps and were completely addicted to the iPhone app, Craftgawker. I shopped til I dropped taking only 3 suitcases to the US but returning with 7.
Come to think of it, last summer was pretty great too. It looks like I am on a roll. I wonder what exciting things we will do in the summer of 2012!

Colorado Cousins

2011-09-04T09:17:00.002+02:00

While Bob was in Greece, Maria was at Purdue and the Leah and Jenn were at Nana and Papa's, I flew to Denver to see my brother and sister-in-law and their cute kids.

Kirstian, and unbelievable mom, with Valerie, Tom and Joe

Joe

Tom

Valerie

These kids are so much fun!

This picture describes my entire stay with my niece and nephews; action packed and loads of fun! Our plans were up in the air but we had the best time!!!

Cute!

2011-09-02T08:13:00.000+02:00

Jennifer and Leah are in their dresses from Las Vegas. They bought them from a street vendor. You can wear them in many many different ways. Jennifer is wearing the bracelet she made from directions she found on the iPhone app, Craftgawker. The two of them were so addicted to to that site all summer. They made so many crafty things out of string and duct tape. They look so grown up!

Vegas Celebration

2011-09-01T10:31:00.000+02:00

The family at the Balagio in Las Vegas. Mary and Primo are at the front with their cake.

We toasted everyone especially Primo and Mary on 60 years of wedded bliss!

Mary toasting 60 years of marriage and many more!

The cake was yummy!

In mid July we went to Vegas with both sets of grandparents. Before I write about the celebration, I have to say Bob and I are so lucky to be able to spend time with our parents and our girls are so lucky to be able to enjoy 2 sets of grandparents!

We all went to Vegas to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Bob's parents. 60 YEARS!!!! That is a very long time. Mary and Primo toasted their years together at the Balagio during a lovely dinner right in front of the fountains. We ate wedding cake and drank lots of celebratory wine and champagne. After the celebration we enjoyed a nice week of gambling and swimming. We shopped a little, ate a lot and generally just relaxed. My parents, Bob's parents and the 4 of us (Maria was at Purdue) all stayed at different hotels. This might seem inconvenient but really just enabled us to eat at different places and swim at different pools. My parents were celebrating 49 years of marriage which is pretty impressive too. Next summer will be their year to really live it up!

July 4

2011-08-20T23:57:00.003+02:00

It was nice to be in the USA for the 4th of July! We went to Victory Field in Indianapolis and watched the Indians play a great baseball game. After the game we stayed in our seats and watched the fireworks display from downtown.Not the best picture we have ever taken of fireworks...

Lots of action at this game!

Leah, Maria and Evan.

...and Jenn.

Butler Music Camp

2011-08-20T23:25:00.001+02:00

About 24 hours after landing in the US back in June, Leah and Jenn were off to Butler University for Strings Camp. We had no idea what to expect but from everything I had read, it seemed like it would be fun. The girls had a great time right from the start. There was no audition required to get into the camp, but there was one to determine where they would be placed in the orchestra. Leah was 2nd bass and Jenn was 2nd viola! Cool!! They made new friends, traded emails and friended many on Facebook. Jenn right after the final concert. She sat in the front and was very proud.

Leah, always watching, played 2nd bass to a HS senior who was a great mentor.

New friends! The girls vowed to return to the same camp next summer.

The conductor was so fun! He was a lot like Jack Black in School of Rock.

We got the summer off to a great start. The girls also went to volleyball camp (twice!) and spent a week at Nana and Papa's. We all went to Vegas, remodelled the kitchen, flew to Colorado, hosted a lemonade stand, visited with lots of friends, swam, ate out too much, wrecked the car and moved Maria into 3 different locations at Purdue but I will save that for another post!

Expats come and go

2011-08-07T03:40:00.003+02:00

Being an expat means that the people around you move frequently. Most expats are on a contract to work in a foreign country for 2-3 years. When we moved to Belgium we really thought we would only be there for 2 years. Of course we are now heading into our 4th, but lots of our friends have moved on. For example, during the first year of our expat adventure, I made friends with 3 wonderful people. By the end of the school year all of them were selling off their European electric appliances and planning for moves to other countries. It was sad but it reminded us that we are now able to expand our friendship base to wonderful people living all over the world.
Leah and Jenn are very lucky middle schoolers. Almost all their good friends are returning this fall for 8th grade. But sadly, their friend Rachel moved this summer back to her native country of Korea. Before the end of the school year, she made all of her friends an oragami crane with a goodbye message written inside. Jenn's was green and Leah's was blue. In the picture at the top you can see she even wrote each girl's name on the wing of the crane.

Jenn made the larger crane out of their shared orchestra music and Leah took the pictures.

June

2011-08-07T03:07:00.005+02:00

Maria was visiting us in Belgium for most of May but right after she left we had 2 of the the loveliest guests from Marquette University.

Rachel and Katie had just graduated from MU and were making a big tour of Europe! We were so happy to have them at our house. We have known Katie since she was born and are happy to say she has grown into a lovely woman. Her wonderful friend Rachel was a great traveler and guest. They made me laugh so hard I cried! They met cute boys in every town they visited and helped us see Europe from a completely different angle. They saw things in Ghent, London and Venice that I didn't even know about and I have been to those places numerous times.

Rachel celebrated her 23 birthday while she was at our house. We ate fajitas and chocolate cake. Yum. The picture at the top of this post is of Leah, Jenn and Rachel ready to sing the Bday song. Leah took the picture of the cake. It tasted even better than it looks!

Katie and Rachel are heading off to graduate school in the next few weeks. We wish them the best of luck and many fun adventures on their newest journey.

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

2011-08-05T03:45:00.006+02:00

In November my wonderful friends, Jennifer and Eileen, came to Belgium to visit! We had lots of fun in Amsterdam, Ghent, Grande Place, Paris (remember the train robbery?!!) and so many other places. We even took a short plane ride to Venis, Italy. It was a rainy day but we pushed on and saw everything we could. To describe Jennifer and Eileen, is somewhat hard. "Thelma and Louise" is probably a good comparison! They finish sentences for eachother, laugh and listen. They are wonderful to me and make me smile.

In Venice we walked through the mazes of streets, drank coffee with pigeons and bought Murano glass. Our final destination was the Basilica of St. Mark's in St. Mark's Square.

Inside the Basilica, there are beautiful mosaics, alters, scenes from the bible and the famous lifesize bronze horses. But I couldn't get Jennifer and Eileen to look up. They spent the entire tour looking at the floor! They are quilters and were enamored with the designs and patterns all made from different colored marbled tiles.Walking on these beautiful floors almost seemed sinful!

Then tonight I received a surprise I did not expect...

Jennifer and Eileen handcrafted this beautiful quilt using marble-like fabric. The quilt looks just like the floor at St. Mark's!!! This must have taken months to make and the fact that they did it together makes every stitch very meaningful.

Jennifer and Eileen, I can never thank you enought for your kindness and hard work. I LOVE THE VENICE QUILT!!! Now you must come to visit again...We could go to London...drive on the wrong side of the road, eat fish and chips, heckle at the gaurds at Buckingham Palace...

Wrapping up Spain with lots of pictures

2011-08-05T02:18:00.004+02:00

Alter in the cathedral at Burgos
Can you tell Bob was in charge of the camera for most of the trip? We have lots of pictures of us girls.

In Burgos there is an old castle. To see the great tunnels underground below to castle, we had to wear these beautiful hardhats.

We also went to Bilboa and toured the famous Guggenheim Museum.

The permanent exhibits were fabulous, but the other pieces were not ones that we were too interested in. At times we were walking through exhibit rooms with our eyes closed!! It was a mixture between Ripley's Believe It or Not and trash.

This is the famouse flower dog in front of the Guggenheim.

It's been a long time!

2011-07-20T11:57:00.002+02:00

Boy it sure has been a while since I posted! I still have to finish blogging about our trip to Spain but then I will get caught up on all our summer activities. There is tons to write about...

Biarritz, France and a hike

2011-06-21T07:40:00.005+02:00

Just a short drive from San Sebastian is Biarritz, France. Another beach city, Biarritz was a nice place to eat lunch and visit a casino.

We only spent a few hours in Biarritz but it was very relaxing and quiet. Although packed with tourists, it was still a nice destination for the afternoon. It smelled like flowers and the sea!

Back in San Sebastain we took a VERY long hike up the hill in this picture. If you look very closely you can see a statue of Jesus at the very top. That was our goal. I know there must be a direct rout with signs and a paved path, but of course the Biasi family took the back way. We always do. It seams like that is a metaphore for our entire life. We always get where we need to go but somehow we take the path you would least expect!

Halfway up the mountain/hill we found this tombstone. It was such a steep path that I think this fellow just didn't make it. I felt like there might need to be a place for me right next to him! It was a hard climb!

Resting along the way...

I knew we were taking the back way up to the top when we walked through this passage way. We woke up a sleeping homeless man as we cut through his resting place!!!!

We finally reached the top and it was beautiful. (and so is Maria) The new picture at the top of the blog is also from this location.

A few pictures from Spain

2011-06-20T21:47:00.000+02:00

Jamon and Rioja

2011-06-19T22:03:00.002+02:00

More on Spain...Bob has been to Spain so many times and talked it up so much. We knew that our trip would be filled with all kinds of wonderful foods. Jamon, or Spanish ham, is everywhere. We ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you click on the picture you can see how much it is per kilogram. In restaurants you see the entire leg/shank part of the pig.

This lady is carving off very thin slices of Jamon Iberico, considered one of the very best. This pig was fed only acorns. I know it sounds weird, but it is one of our favorite foods.

Each evening around 7 all the bars open up for tapas or pintxos. They cover the bar with bite size portions of delicious foods, including that jamon we love. You just get whatever you want, pay the bartender, eat and go to the next bar. Even the kids were welcome in the bars.

This restaurant was excellent. If you are in San Sebastian, eat there. Make a reservation first. It isn't very big.

Ahhhhh. Spanish wine. Rioja is Bob's favorite and mine too.

San Sebastian, Spain

2011-06-19T21:09:00.002+02:00

While Maria was still visiting us in Belgium and the twins had a long weekend, we took a mini vacation to beautiful Spain. I have to say that Spain could possibly be my most favorite place in the world to visit. It was perfect! Our first stop was San Sebastian with its white beach and sunny days. Leah and Jenn on the beach. They look so grown up. They are so lucky to always travel with their best friend. As a bonus on this trip, they also got to hang out with Maria.

The inside of this church was just as beautiful as the outside. It is the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus and located on 31 August Street. This street commemorates the day this 1000 year old city burned to the ground leaving only that avenue untouched.

Us girls after a long hike above the city.

San Sebastian is a very beautiful city and much bigger than you would think. It is in the heart of the Basque country which means the people are kind and they really know how to eat!

We walked through this square many times. It was originally a bull fight ring!

These numbered doors were the seats where people sat for the bull fight. Imagine the spectators watching from those colorful seats.

At night it was very pretty. We would walk from one end to the other on our way to eat tapas.

Our hotel might have been one of the reasons why we loved San Sebastian so much. The Maria Cristina made us feel like Spanish royalty.

Concert

2011-06-16T21:23:00.002+02:00

Did you get to see it? Did it work? If you haven't watched it yet, it is still available to see. Just go through the same directions as below. Leah and Jenn play at the very end of the show around the 38 minute mark. Leah's duet is the 2nd to last song of the show.

Strings Concert on Thursday!

2011-06-15T21:58:00.004+02:00

I will give this blog a full update on Friday...I promise. But until then, you might enjoy watching Leah and Jennifer perform at their strings concert on Thursday night. The link below will give you a live stream of the show in real time.

1. click on the link.

www.livestream.com/private/isbdirect

2. type in the password

1170bxl

Then you will be directed to the screen where the show will play.

The concert starts at 7:00pm Brussels time which is 12:00pm in Chicago, 1:00pm in Indiana and Georgia, 10:00am in Arizona and 11:00am in Colorado. Did I miss anyone? :)

If you can't watch it live, you will be able to see the concert anytime you want after the actual performance. Leah is in the back on the right and will play a duet. (It is great!) And Jenn has earned her way to the front row, first chair to the right of the conductor.

Enjoy!

May - Amended

2011-05-30T08:31:00.010+02:00

May was REALLY busy! We started off the month in the USA and flew back to Belgium on May 1 from our 2 week Spring Break in Chicago and Indy.

May 3 - The day after we arrived back home in Belgium, my mom and dad arrived for a 2 week visit.

May 5 - We all went to the Math Banquet for Leah and Jennifer

May 6 - My Mom and I took a cooking class at the Cordon Bleu in Paris! It was really fun and we learned a lot about asparagus, hollandaise sauce, fish and strawberries. Dad came along and strolled around Paris.

Mom and me at the Cordon Bleu. We really enjoyed ourselves!

Dad and me eating al fresco in Paris.

May 7 - The twins went camping and kayaking in Durbuy. There is another post about that activity.

May 8 - We celebrated Mother's Day.

May 9 - Maria arrived in Brussels for a month of vacation before heading back to Purdue for the summer.

May 10 - My mom and dad left us to visit Ireland. While they were gone, we took little trips with Maria. We shopped for chocolate, clothes and sports equipment.

May 15 - Mom and Dad returned from Ireland.

May 16 - Another trip to the chocolate factory. Leah and Jenn also left for their week trip in the Alsace region of France which includes Strassburg.

May 17 - Mom and Dad returned to the US. Bob, Maria and I went to Zurich, Switzerland.
This is the yummiest store in Zurich. They only sell macaroons.

One of the many shopping streets in Zurich.

May 18 - Maria and I spent a few days in Bad Zurzach at a spa. With many pools and saunas, we were almost too relaxed!

This is what the Alsace region looks like.

May 20- After the twins returned from there, we threw their stuff in the garage and headed to Disneyland Paris,

May 25- We hosted 3 high school track athletes from the American School of London. They were at ISB to compete in the ISST Track Tournament.
May 29- We found a new store that had something for all the girls. May 31 - We celebrated Thanksgiving because we missed that holiday together while Maria was at college. Yes, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and all the trimming!

And how will June ever compete with the excitement of May? Well, it will start our with a trip to San Sebastian on June 1!

Alsace, France - Zurich, Switzerland - Black Forest,Germany

2011-05-18T07:43:00.003+02:00

Right now, our family is in three different countries but we are really not that far apart.

Leah and Jenn are on their week long school field trip to the Alsace region of France. 125 7th graders with a week of only speaking French.

Bob is in Zurich working. Poor guy. We will meet back up with him tonight in Switzerland.

Maria and I are at a Spa right between Germany and Switzerland. Thermal baths and saunas!

Today is a good day.

Better than an alarm clock...

2011-05-15T09:48:00.002+02:00

For some reason, no one in this family would wake up this weekend. I found the perfect way to roll them out of bed. Bacon and pancakes!

A nice day in Durbuy

2011-05-14T21:42:00.002+02:00

In the last post I wrote that the twins went camping in Durbuy. They talked so highly of it that Bob, Maria and I took the short drive there on Friday while Leah and Jennifer were at school. We weren't disappointed. It was the cutest town and claims to be the smallest in all of Europe. It was small but not that small! We had our choice of at least 15 restaurants all with outdoor seating to enjoy the Belgian sun. (We have had more sun than normal in Belgium!!)

The streets were small and filled with little shops selling very unique items.

There were also plenty of statues throughout the town.

Maria and Bob at lunch. The weather was cool but the sun was warm!

We had a very nice day. The water behind us is the river where the twins kayaked. We saw others doing the same. That water moved quickly!

Camping in Durbuy

2011-05-13T22:04:00.002+02:00

Last weekend Leah and Jennifer went camping and kayaking in Durbuy, Belgium. They went with 22 other 7th and 8th graders and 3 teachers from ISB. They came home exhausted, dirty and full of exciting stories from their active weekend.

Jennifer is on the far left putting a marshmallow on her stick and Leah is in the back of the photo in a yellow shirt. They ended up roasting everything from apples to granola bars. After the campfire they slept in teepees!This is all 8 of the 7th grade girls. Doesn't it look fun? Bob, Maria and I were so curious about the area where they kayaked that we took a ride to the same town today. We had a nice lunch and saw this weekend's guests already paddling away. Durbuy is said to be the smallest town in Europe. It is also the prettiest, cleanest and quaintest!
Jenn and Leah are in the kayak on the left. They said it was hard to work together to paddle down the river. Eventually they got into a "grove" and it was easy.

Mom and Dad are visiting.

2011-05-07T19:30:00.002+02:00

Every single person who visits us has to go to Grande Place. I know we have tons of pictures of us at this place but who can resist going to this beautiful square? My dad and Bob are readying themselves to drink a nice cold beer at an outdoor cafe.

The weather was beautiful today in Brussels. Right after this picture we had ice cream!

Easter in the US!

2011-05-07T19:25:00.003+02:00

12 hours after we got home from Vienna, we left for Chicago and Indianapolis. We had a wonderful Easter in Chicago with Bob's mom and dad. The girls look so old in this picture!

Vienna...unfinished

2011-04-29T22:22:00.002+02:00

For now, this is the only picture I can find of the girls playing with the orchestra in Vienna, Austria! Somewhere in that crowd are my daughters! I will search and load more pictures soon.

AMIS Jr Honor Orchestra 2011 - Vienna - Brandenburg Concerto #3

2011-04-20T12:23:00.002+02:00

This link is a good one of the girls in Vienna. The other link was full of ads and time wasting stuff that got in the way of the performance. Sorry, but that was the link we were told would be available after the show. This one is a YouTube video and you can't see the girls but you can hear the beautiful music. Bob was sitting next to the guy who took it. Sit back and enjoy Brandenburg Concerto #3.

Try this link to watch the concert in Vienna at 10:30am Chicago time! http://digijolt.webplus.net/digijoltoriginal.html

2011-04-16T14:38:00.002+02:00

(Sorry but this link is not easy to obtain. Go to the post above this one and watch that video.)

AMIS Jr Honor Orchestra Vienna, Austria 2011 - Ben Zander makes guest ap...

2011-04-14T21:57:00.001+02:00

Leah and Jennifer are in Vienna, Austria, for Junior Honor Orchestra. Their trip started back in May when they received audition music. They practiced all summer and auditioned in September. By late October, we heard that they had both made the orchestra and would be traveling to Vienna to play with other students from all over the world who also made the orchestra. They have practiced so hard to be prepared for this experience. Leah and Jenn, along with 5 other ISB students, flew to Vienna yesterday and began practicing as a real orchestra. The video above is a sample of what they are doing. Bob and I are flying tomorrow so we can see the real performance on Saturday.

Brussels and Bluebells with Bill and Pam

2011-04-14T20:49:00.005+02:00

This week Pam and Bill are visiting from Chicago. As a couple, we have known them since we met and Bob has known Bill for about 45 years! When you come to Brussels, you have to eat chocolate. With Easter right around the corner, there is chocolate everywhere. This giant egg was in the window of the Neuhaus Chocolate store in Galleries St. Hubert.

Galleries St. Hubert

Restaurant ally in Grand Place

The celebrated Mannekin Pis

Leah is explaining what the buildings used to be in Grand Place

Pam and me at the bluebells covering the forest floor.

Bob and Bill

It was absolutely beautiful!

Pam and Bill left our house and drove to Amsterdam, Keukenhoff and Brugge. We will see them again on Saturday.

Escher Museum

2011-04-02T15:03:00.002+02:00

Jenn (left) and Leah (right) are at the Escher Museum in The Haug, Netherlands. Traveling by train, they went with two of their favorite teachers and their friends from the Math Club. They just emailed this photo to me. It looks like Jenn and Leah are having fun!

Hair, Ugly Hair

2011-03-27T19:13:00.006+02:00

I have wanted to write something about this subject for 3 years. People in Europe have ugly hair. I know that is a general statement and I might make someone very angry, but I just have to speak out. If you live in Europe and your hair is orange or maroon, please don't read this because you just might get mad. Where ever I go, I always always always see someone who had obviously colored their hair themselves and the outcome wasn't good. First their color choice is weird with lots of odd reds and maroons. It seems like many people are picking bright and offputting colors that just don't look like real hair . Their heads of hair look more like the colors you find on those off brand Barbies sold only at the Dollar Store.

For years I have been trying to collect pictures of some of these heads. While we were in Disney, Bob and I got down to it and really took some great shots of these ugly heads. After a while it was like a game and everyone got into it. Some of the people with bad hair were captured from behind but other were taken from the front while Bob was taking shots of the girls too. Bob took the photo of this lady with Maria in the shot too. This gal's hair was REALLY bright and VERY red/orange. She had the entire matching thing really going on with the rust colored scarf and lipstick to match her unnatural hair. This was an entire family with everyone sporting different die jobs.

This crazy group even died the kids' heads. It was horrible! What color is that anyway?

In person this gal had really dark hair under the white. It looked grey, not blond.

These heads looked just as bad from the front as they did from behind.Wow this color was bright. I would have to get out the huge box of crayolas to find a color name to match this one.

I just had to put this guy on here too. He doesn't care what anyone thinks about his hair!

This doesn't look natural at all and it was very BIG.

This girl's hair was very shiney and matched the curtains.

I have no comment about this girl because I think it is her real color.

Th flower makes all the difference on this one.

Look at #89 behind Leah. I wish you could have seen her up close.

No comment. The front wasn't too bad but we couldn't get a picture of her from that angle. She was too fast.

This one was the same color as the Little Mermaid's hair.

2011-03-24T21:12:00.000+01:00

Translation: No dancing on the roller coaster.

Acting silly at Disney

2011-03-24T12:51:00.005+01:00

This new section of the Disney park is all toys. Bob had these Hot Wheels when he was little. This is the entrance to the ride, RC Racers, which I posted about earlier. It is a super ride and very hair raising - literally!
This is how Bob reacted then his new favorite ride that honors his boyhood toy was closed for repairs.

This picture was taken while on Crush's Coaster. This ride looks tame but feels like a school bus ride gone bad. It inspires motion sickness, yet none of us are ever too badly effected. It travels throughout the ocean. See the shark on the right?

Look for Maria and Jennifer waiting for their turn on the Army Man Drop. This ride is new too and has that very smart single rider option. While everyone else waited 90 minutes, we waited just 5 minutes and rode in shifts. Bob took this picture from the top of the ride and he also took the picture of Leah below on the ride. She is on the right but you can click on the picture to make it bigger.

Just what is Leah pointing at?

We had fun!

1st One to Ride

2011-03-24T08:27:00.002+01:00

You can't tell it in the picture, but we are panting and out of breath. We ran to be the first ones on Big Thunder Mountain! For some reason, the other four members of my family think this is the coolest thing in the world. "Let's run and be first!"
Mohamed, in the rust colored coat, talked to us while we waited at the gait and then escorted us all the way to the roller coaster trains. He even let us sit in any seat we wanted. The ride enthusiests (not me!) picked the back seats of course.

This is not the ride we were first in line to but a brand new ride called RC Racer. It is like a huge Hot Wheels track. I think my brother had one like this when he was little. Bob, Maria and Leah are on the left of the back three rows. Jennifer and I rode it too but we stayed behind on this round to take pictures.

Not a ride for everyone!!!

Here they are speeding through the track to the other side. We rode this ride a lot and loved it. They have a single ride lane where you don't have to wait at all if you don't mind riding at the end of a row that wasn't filled by another group. We never waited longer than 5 minutes while the regular line was a 40 minute wait.

St. Patrick's Day at Disney

2011-03-23T21:58:00.003+01:00

St. Patrick's Day was fun but cold! The girls were nice enough to stop riding roller coasters for a while and watch the special parade with me. I love the parade but the rest of the family thinks it is a little silly to waste our time watching it. This one had Irish dancers, bag pipes and the characters dressed in Irish costumes.
Cute.

Chip all decked out for the day.

Chip is shaking hands with Leah.

At the end of the night there were huge fireworks in green and yellow.

The Difference Between Disneys

2011-03-23T21:43:00.002+01:00

Before I show all our pictures from last week's trip to Disney, I thought I would address a question asked by my blog friend, Ted. He wanted to know what the difference was between Disney in Paris and Disney in the US. (Ted - I wrote you a longer note under your comment on my last post!)
There are quite a few differences:

all the songs are in French and English
people smoke all over the park
it's cold more often than it's hot

There are quite a few similarities:

the food is generally poor
the rollar coasters are fabulous
you will not be bored
it makes you smile no matter how old you are

Now there is one thing that only Disneyland Paris has that I don't think any other Disneyland Resort can claim...

Yes those are armed guards patrolling the entrance area of the parking lot and the main gates.

It's nice to have Maria visiting!

2011-03-19T23:39:00.002+01:00

Maria spent her college spring break back with us in Belgium. We spent lots of family time together including a long weekend at Disneyland Paris! We had so much fun and took lots of pictures. I will have plenty of material to write about over the next week!

"Epic"

2011-03-06T08:30:00.003+01:00

For some reason, I never was a mom who enjoyed sleepovers. The thought of hosting one for Maria was a little daunting. I had baby/toddler twins too and just couldn't handle the idea of having more children in my house. Maria had one or two friends over but never the big "sleepover". She attended them at other homes but we never had one of our own. Somehow something has changed. For the third time this year, the twins are hosting an "epic" sleepover. 7 girls spent the night eating pizza, watching movies, eating icecream, watching more movies and eventually sleeping. I hardly knew they were here because they were way up on the top floor of the house. The conversations I did hear were fun and easygoing, mostly about teachers, fashion, movies, music and facebook. One word I heard over and over was "epic". It was a little overused and described practically everything. That teacher is epic. This food is epic. The house is epic. That movie is epic. Their lives are epic! I think I counted hearing the word 32 times.

It was an epic party!

Happy Birthday MOM!

2011-03-03T07:51:00.004+01:00

Today is my mom's birthday. I am not sure if I am allowed to say how old she is. But she is...

15 years younger than Bob's dad

2 years younger than my dad

11 years younger than Clint Eastwood

10 years younger than Mikhail Gorbachev

16 years younger than both Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush

15 years younger than Barbera Bush

And below is where Mom and I will celebrate her birthday. In May we are taking cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu in Paris!

Have a wonderful birthday MOM!!

Pictures of Zermatt and Grindelwald, Switzerland

2011-03-02T20:37:00.003+01:00

For Winter Break, the family spent the week in Zurich (again!) since Bob had to work. We also went to Zermatt (the Matterhorn) and Grindelwald (super sledding). The pictures tell it all. We had a blast!

2011-02-22T18:58:00.002+01:00

Happy 85th Birthday Grandpa!!! You don't look a day over 50!( Bob's dad turns 85 tomorrow on February 23. We wish we could be there in person to wish him a happy birthday.)

Have a great one Primo/Grandpa/Dad! Bob and Maria will see you in March and Julie, Leah and Jennifer will see you April.

We are in Switzerland!

2011-02-22T18:54:00.000+01:00

Packing for a trip to...

2011-02-20T17:48:00.004+01:00

We leave tomorrow morning for a little trip. Leah and Jenn have a week off of school. Guess where we are going...

We can drive to most of our destinations.
We will work and play.
We love the food in this country, but it isn't Italy.
Bob has been to all the places we are going.
It is somewhat close to Belgium on the map but it is still a long drive.
Cows and castles, cheese and chocolate.
These clues are really easy!

2011-02-20T06:23:00.001+01:00

The water was crystal clear at the Rhine Falls.

The Rhine Falls of Switzerland

2011-02-19T10:33:00.003+01:00

We viewed the falls of the Rhine River from two locations. (There is a map further down.) From here you can see the water straight on as we stood near a small hotel that Bob swears he stayed at 25 years ago! The castle structure on the top right is wear we went next.

You can really see how big the falls are in comparison to the little bridge at the lower right hand corner of the picture.

We went to both viewing locations on either side of the river.

This is view is from right on top of the falls.

See the rainbow? Too bad it wasn't a double one! (Only Maria will get that inside joke. I hope you are reading this honey!)

Bob takes great pictures! This was a spectacular day. On the way home we stopped for pretzels and wiener schnitzel in Germany.

Video of the Rhinefalls in Switzerland

2011-02-19T09:39:00.003+01:00

Bob took this little movie last Sunday of the rushing water at the Rhine Falls. We were very close to the falls and standing right on top of them.

Pictures from Zurich

2011-02-15T06:36:00.005+01:00

Our weekend in Zurich was just perfect. From the weather to the sites to the food, we had a great time! Above and below are views from our hotel room. Our hotel was fabulous! The breakfast was unbelievable and they just kept bringing us more and more food...Swiss muesli, fruit cups, eggs, bacon, juice, coffee, cheese, breads, muffins, homemade jams and chocolate spreads, salami, ham, nuts, yogurt. Wow!
Bob and the girls skated on a rink right by our hotel. While they skated there was also an outdoor hockey game and private lessons on both sides of the public skating rink. Inside was curling. When they finished skating they were worn out!
We took the train everywhere. It was so easy. Our hotel even had a train that led right up the mountain to its back door and just steps away from the ice rink.

The shopping on Bahnhofstrasse was really exciting. They even have the famous French bakery Laduree. We found a fun toy store very similar to FAO Swartz in NYC with floor after floor of toys for all ages (even Bob!)
The window displays were very special for Valentine's Day. You can see Leah and Jennifer inside the chocolate shop.
We have found that some of the best places to eat are inside the train stations in many European towns. We had a really tasty sausage lunch covered in onion gravy and rosti potatoes. Served with a Swiss bear for Bob and me and sparkling apple juice for the girls, the meal was delicious.

We finished our trip with a drive through Germany so there are lots more pictures to show!

Weekend in Zurich

2011-02-13T22:02:00.003+01:00

We just got back from spending a very wonderful weekend in Zurich, Switzerland. As you can see from the picture, the weather was perfect. Leah, Bob and Jennifer skated in the afternoon on Saturday wearing just their sweaters at an outdoor rink. We did so much that it will take me a couple of posts to get it all on the blog. Check back tomorrow!

Yesterday I complained but today I will not!

2011-02-07T20:50:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I complained about corn but my blog friend, Ted, had a great comment that made me think about the things the Belgians do like. So what if the Belgians don't know much about corn?

And what do they know well? BREAD

They have great bread, I mean REALLY REALLY great bread from real bakeries. Remember those? I can't even think of a bakery anywhere near my house in Indiana. There is a chain of bagel stores, fresh bread at the grocery store and treats at Starbucks but there aren't many true bakeries that bake their own bread and sell out of the popular stuff by 3pm. Going to the bakery is fun for me. The one located close to my house has a very mysterious woman who works behind the counter. She has a tatoo on her forearm that I just can't decipher and barely says anything to me but she always has a smile on her face. I buy a regular loaf of white bread on Tuesday mornings. When she sees me park my car, she starts slicing the loaf and putting it into the bag! The busy bakery up the road has multiple employees. If you go early enough in the morning, you can see the bakers still slaving away and making their famous pie shaped coffee cakes. The bakery on the way to school has the most spectacular eclairs that make your mouth water before you even turn off the car engine. And what do you do late at night when you realize your out of bread and all the stores are closed? Well you just go to the bread vending machine of course!!!

Those Belgians really know their bread. If that machine also dispensed gallons of milk and bags of Doritos, my life would be complete!

Corn

2011-02-06T10:42:00.002+01:00

I am getting a little tired of driving to far off locations to find the one item I need for a recipe. Why don't the Belgians like creamed corn? Why don't they like corn at all? Why don't they sell corn on the cob? What do they have against corn? And why don't they crave pop corn? At the movies it is coated in sugar instead of butter. What a waste! In my opinion the Belgians are really missing out on something good no matter how you cook it.

Way back in November, my friends came to visit!

2011-01-31T21:37:00.008+01:00

Jennifer and me.

Eileen and me

Way back in November, my friends, Jennifer and Eileen, came to Belgium for a visit. We had so much fun! I realized three things...(1) I have very few pictures from their visit. (2) We had a really good time. (3) Good friends cannot be replaced! We did so many fun things. Our biggest adventure was a day trip to Venice! It is hard to believe, but you really can visit that beautiful island all in one day. Granted, we started the day at 5am and didn't get home until after 11pm, but who cares? WE WENT TO VENICE, ITALY!!!

I never put myself on the blog, but I really like this picture. The background really shows Venice and a glimpse of Europe in general. Jennifer and Eileen had a great visit. They saw Paris (remember the post about getting robbed?), Ghent, Amsterdam, Venice and all the little stops along the way in Brussels.

Eggs for Breakfast

2011-01-27T08:24:00.002+01:00

This morning I made eggs for breakfast. Please don't be too impressed. I don't always go to a lot of trouble in the morning but once or twice a week I do make something more than cereal, toast or fruit. If Bob is home the breakfast is even more exciting because he cooks. Egg in Basket or French Toast are his specialties. I stay more in the egg category so today we had hash browns and a fried egg. Doesn't that sound good? The hash browns were easy and made the house smell like good food which made Leah yell down from the upstairs, "Something smells good!" When I got ready to cook the eggs, I couldn't quite get the egg in the picture below to come out of the carton. It broke as I pulled it out making a mess. You can see in the picture below that the egg broke but look what else you can see on the egg...

Yes.
That is chicken poop and is probably why that part of the egg was stuck in the carton. Here in Belgium we have learned a few things about
eggs:
1. All eggs are brown.
2. White eggs can only be found at random times in random places at
random high prices.
3. No eggs are washed or cleaned before they are boxed.
4. You can buy eggs at the grocery or from the market.
5. At my favorite Sunday market there is a man who only sells
eggs. If you get there too late the eggs are gone. You have to bring your own container to take home your eggs. He sells eggs from all types of birds and in all sizes. His eggs are the dirtiest I have ever seen, covered in feathers and chicken poop. His eggs are also the freshest and tastiest.We usually wash our eggs after we buy them. I was a slacker and didn't wash this batch. What a mistake!

Game Day at Purdue

2011-01-25T20:54:00.009+01:00

Saturday was ESPN Game Day at Purdue.

The red bus in the picture below brings the well known ESPN announcers right to the University. The basketball game actually started at 9:00pm but the Game Day festivities began at 10:00am. Maria and her friends went to Mackey Arena on the Purdue campus to take part. It was like a huge pep rally pre game. She said it was lots of fun and at the end, she and her friends stayed behind to get some of the free hats, signs and maybe even meet the announcers (see the pick above).

As the crowd thinned out, an official from ESPN asked Maria and her friends if they wanted to tour the Game Day bus. Of course they said yes and got a tour of the place where much of the ESPN activity takes placeThe items on the table above were the souvenirs the kids got. And here is the crew of kids. I know the picture is really bad but it was taken with Maria's phone. This is a really really bad picture. Everyone has glowing eyes and they look possessed but you get the idea. They got to go into the bus and it was cool!

Oh no. How did that great picture get in there? Shhh I don't think I had pre approval to use this one. Don't tell Maria!

Some Stats

2011-01-22T15:02:00.006+01:00

After 3 years of blogging, it's time to take some stock. First of all, looking at the pictures, the girlw have grown so much! Take a look at some of my beginning posts from 2008. The girls look so young!

My blog also has a nifty button that show me the stats for usage. For example, since the beginning, 18,341 people have stopped by to view my blog. That is an average of 20 hits per day. Some days there are just 2 hits (my mom and Bob's mom of course!!!) But other days, like yesterday, 57 people read my blog! Of that 57, only some were from readers who actually landed on the blog on purpose. Those are people who know us and check in frequently to see what is happening. Most of them are friends, family or other people who are expats too and want to know more about life in Belgium. I can't tell exactly who stops by just numbers of general readers from different areas. The other readers are accidental ones. For example, if you Google "moving to Overijse" you will be given the option to go to my blog entry where I mentioned those actual words. If you Google the words "goat market Sicily" in images, the 4th picture you see is the girls and there isn't even a goat in the picture!

Sometimes it is hard to come up with things to write about. I promise to write more this year. That goal along with about 49 other things are all part of my huge New Year's Resolution. My plan is to get a lot done this year!

What we eat and how we get it

2011-01-20T16:30:00.000+01:00

Today I went to the grocery to pick up a few things. Our store in Overijse isn't the worst place to shop but it definitely has it's flaws. The picture below shows it in all its uncrowded glory. Believe me it is never empty unless it is closed. And speaking of closing, they shut down every day at 8 and open again at 8 in the morning and they are closed on Sunday along with every other business and store. No cleaning or restocking takes place during the night so all of that is done while us shoppers are trying to fill our carts. I would love to pull the manager aside and explain that by doing the dirty work during non opening hours, the shoppers would be much happier and could move those blasted shopping carts around much easier.

The cool thing is that you can park on top of the building and take an elevator down to the entrance.

Below is a picture showing you that we eat pretty good and have great fruits and vegatables. You can even get free samples of wine at 8 in the morning! I never do that. (wink wink)

My true complaint starts when I need something that is foreign to Belgium but not so foreign to our family. Today I bought pancake syrup in the "American" section of the store. The picture below is not from my store but it shows you a few of the choices I have when I shop. The Swiss Miss is around 5€ which is around$7 and the cookie mix can be as high as 6€ which is $8.
Knowing how much those other items cost, can you guess how much the Golden Griddle set me back?

It was 9.20€ or $12!!!!!!!! You have to really crave pancakes to buy syrup at that price!

But the best part of my shopping experience today was the music playing while I shopped. You can hear it in the link in the post below. I will have to admit, I quietly sang along!

Bee Gees- Jive Talkin'

2011-01-20T15:50:00.000+01:00

One night in Sicily

2011-01-19T15:52:00.005+01:00

One night in Sicily, we just had a long dinner. I think it was Christmas Eve so we must have just been to Mt. Etna. We were tired and worn out but we had to eat. We were in Taormina which was my favorite stop during the entire trip. Christmas Eve is more of a family night in all of Italy and our hotel told us there might not be anything open. I think they just wanted us to eat their overpriced 90€ per person meal. We found a gem of a restaurant run by an entire family - Grandma cooked, Daughter was hostess, Momma was waitress, Young son ran in and out of the restaurant with his friends and Father sat at a table reading the paper and texting on his iPhone. The food was delicious and we ate and drank at a leisurely pace. While we were there locals came in bringing the family gifts. Each of the groups shared a glass of wine, a laugh and lots of European kisses. We just soaked it all up and played with our camera.

So from all of us, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you were here with us we could share a glass of wine, a laugh and lots of Eurpean kisses.

Sicily-Mt. Etna

2011-01-16T13:38:00.004+01:00

Mt. Etna IS Sicily. For us it was the landmark we drove around, up to and viewed from every direction. On Christmas Eve we set off to drive up to the mouth of the crator. We left beautiful weather and the coastline in the picture above.

We drove to the part of the Volcano that had erupted in 1986. Our plan was to take a tram higher up to the actual top of Mt. Etna.

Before we could even begin to start our hike, the weather changed to what you see below.

Then the hail came...fast and furious! It was so bad we couldn't even drive down the volcano to escape. We were forced to visit the only souvenir shop and restaurant to wait out the storm.

We saw and learned a lot. Active volcanos like Mt. Etna are a little creepy and scary and on the day we were there, it was cold and wet!

Sicily-more photos

2011-01-13T13:45:00.006+01:00

After rereading my last post, I realized all the pictures looked the same! So here are some more pictures. I still have to create one more blog entry about Sicily. Hopefully I will get that done tonight!Stairs to an Art Studio Shopping Leah and Bob

We drove on unpaved roads to get to this spot.

Jenn

We loved this spot

WowFriends

Leah

Maria

A convent

Jenn