I lost track of which day I'm on during the big Christmas trip so......

Jenn and Leah touching the foot of a statue for luck.

The catacombs where St. Cecelia is buried.

On the road to the Coliseum

The Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Rome - We saw the POPE!!!

We were lucky enough to see the Pope in Rome!!!!! It was really momentous that we were at St. Peter's and Rome when the Pope came out of his study window to give a blessing and speak about the current events in Gaza. He actually gave the blessing in many different languages and is the first Pope to ever speak to the crowd in Icelandic. It was freezing, raining and we waited for a very long time. It was worth every ice filled minute to experience such an exciting day.

Maria has better pictures. She and the twins got much closer than Bob and I did. Rain meant nothing to the kids and they pushed their way up and out to the middle of the square.

We saw so many wonderful things in Rome. The city is full of history; ancient, old and well known. I think we saw it all! Thanks to Bill and Pam, we had a hotel that kept us right in the middle of all the action. There was no place to park, but once we got rid of the car, we could walk to every attraction.

In my next post I will show pictures of all the major sights.

Pictures of Days 4 and 5

A big SORRY goes out to Nana and Grandma! We know you were trying to follow our vacation, but we had very limited internet service everywhere we went. I will catch up over the next few days...

Here are the pictures from Milan that didn't post even though I tried over and over again to get them on here!

Christmas Trip Days 4 and 5

Milan was our next stop after Switzerland. We traveled through a tunnel over 10 miles long and made it to Milan in time to view the "Last Supper". Our picture is illegal. The Christmas market on the square of the Duomo was fantastic. We went to the Christmas Eve Illumination Mass and then had a great dinner. That picture is of Maria's soup!

Christmas Trip Day #3

Bob went to the top to ski down!

All three of the girls together.

Look at the Alps beyond the trees with the sun shining! (Bob gets credit for this amazing picture!)

Summary of Days #2 and #3

Skiing has been a blast! Everyone (except Julie!) took to the sport very quickly. We had lessons on Monday and Tuesday mornings then skied in the afternoon on our own. Bob didn't need lessons and went straight for a Black Diamond run on Tuesday morning. He is pointing at the spot where he skied in one of the pictures above. Leah and Jenn started slowly and then started to leave the instructor behind. They kept going higher and higher on the run until they got into the fog, skied out of it and came down the hill. I couldn't go as far up as the rest of the family, but I could get on and off the lift, ski down slowly and even stop before plowing into innocent bystanders. Maria was at the top of the run by the end of Monday morning. She was unbelievable. Then she and Bob spent all of Tuesday afternoon skiing on the other side of the mountain. When I asked Bob about the skill level of the area they were in, he said, "You wouldn't have approved and that's what made it even more fun!"

Obviously, we have had a great time. Tomorrow we leave for our next destination. If you don't already know where we are going, I will give you a clue. We enjoy eating out, but tomorrow won't be our "Last Supper".

Christmas Trip Day #2

Christmas Trip Day #1

Day #1 - Sunday

Today we left our house in Belgium to drive south all the way to Switzerland. Along the way, we stopped in Luxembourg and France. The drive to Engelberg, Switzerland was only 6 hours and a beautiful trip. Switzerland is indescribable. As I write this, I am sitting in the lobby of our hotel with a view of the ski jump off the Alps where they held a competition today. (A Swiss man won with lots of Swiss flags waving.) There is plenty of snow, ice, slush and everything needed to make great ski conditions.

We had a real Swiss meal of meat and cheese fondue. We are all smiles in the picture because the food was so good. We even made a reservation to go back again on Tuesday.

Tomorrow we will have ski lessons and get on the slopes. Bob is a good skier and can't wait. He is acting like a little kid on their way to Disney World! He is so excited. I promise to let him be in the picture tomorrow with an action shot hopefully.

Christmas Vacation

We leave today for our big Christmas trip.

Check back often to see where we are going! I will try to update the blog every day.

More of Leah and Jennifer

Pictures of Leah and Jennifer at their first orchestra performance called an "Informance".

I promise to put pictures of Maria on here too, but she is busy being a high school student who is ready for Christmas break!

Field Trip

Leah

Jennifer

As you read this, please remember I was a public school teacher in Indiana. When taking a field trip we were required to have a background check on all parent volunteers, permission slips signed in triplicate when we set one foot off campus and all field tripswere relegated to only places which were educational and worked within the state educational standards.

Today I accompanied Leah and Jennifer on a field trip to go ice skating in Brussels. This field trip takes the place of a 5th grade Christmas party. In a school where there are 13 different countries represented in 5 different 5th grade classes, you can almost bet that celebrating Christmas is not politically correct with about 40% of the kids. So, the kids go ice skating instead.
Here are some of the particulars. Each class has 22 kids and brought 1-3 extra parents. Remember there are 5 classes. Each class left at staggered times so we wouldn't bombard the ice rink. At my old school, 125 kids plus parents would need 3 buses. At the International School of Brussels, we do things a little differently. We took public transportation! I am not kidding. After leaving campus, we took a brisk 10 minute walk to the closest TramStop. After a wait of about 5 minutes, we hopped onto the Tram and traveled 4 stops. The entire class then walked 1 block to the Metro Train Station. Inside the station, we waited for the next train and got on, traveling through 5 stops. At that point, we all got off the train, went up an escalator, down another escalator and got on another train riding until we reached our final stop 3 stations later. When we finally saw daylight, we walked another block to reach the skating rink.

What a day! My girls had a great time and so did all the other kids. I was sure we would lose one, maybe two kids along the way, but everyone made it there and back in one piece.

I thought of all the field trips I have taken during my tenure of teaching. None of them were like today. My children grow each day more than I ever thought they would. They view themselves as being able to do anything. I like change, I like trying new things and I like sharing these new experiences. Stay tuned. I am sure there is plenty more change and excitement to come!

Our class on the Tram

Our class getting off the train and going up and out to the rink.

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

Sinterklaas Day Dec. 5/6

How should I explain this holiday? The Dutch people celebrate the giving nature of a character patterned after St. Nicholas. Sinterklaas and his helper Zwarte Piet arrive in the Netherlands sometime in November on a boat from Spain. Sinterklaas then travels around the countryside checking on the little children. If they have been bad, Zwarte Piet will capture them and take them to the coal mines. If they have been good, they will receive presents. All children are supposed to lay their shoes by the fireplace so Sinterklaas can fill them with goodies; chocolate letters, paper notes (I couldn't figure out what this is but its like a cookie) and oranges or clementines.

The picture are of a Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet in a chocolate store and other representations. SK always wears a tall bishops hat and ZP always is a Dutchman in black face. It seems so politically incorrect, but the Dutch are far from giving up their tradition! Pictures of the two of them are everywhere. We even saw a poorly dressed reprentation walk down our street! Where is the camera when you need it! They are on TV everyday so kids can follow their journey and escapades. If you want to see the TV show, watch this YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8_41dDnvic&NR=1

And here is the Wikipedia version of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet

All the new traditions are fun. Imagine Christmas shopping only Monday - Saturday. Absolutely no stores stay open on Sunday, even during the Christmas season. There are no "1 Day Sales " at Macy's and no "Extended Hours" at any store. Good or bad, that's the way it is. Our tree is up and we're getting in the holiday spirit. If I can convince the homebodies in the family to venture out on a quiet Sunday, we may drive to Germany to see a Christmas Market tomorrow.

Pics of Mom in Paris

First, let me just say my mom is the best house guest anyone could ever have. We had the best time even though I took her to a quilt store that closed 3 years ago and got us lost numerous times while driving us all over Brussels. She never complained. Even if we couldn't find the historical landmark we were looking for, we could always find a nice pub for a cup of coffee or a bakery for a great piece of cake.

Mom in front of the Pantheon

Bob, Jennifer, Leah and my mom

No explanation needed

Paris was fascinating. We stayed 2 days and Bob was our tour guide (or chauffeur). He took us all over the city and drove just like the Parisians! We saw everything but the Louvre. We just didn't have time for that enormous place. Christmas was in full swing in Paris and in Brussels. Christmas markets and decorations were everywhere and very festive.

Come back again Mom, but next time bring Dad along!