We spent Thanksgiving in the country that invented it!

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

 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!

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

Another great zoo photo

Please give Leah and Jenn a big round of applause!

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

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!

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.

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)

 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

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!