3 DOWN, 1 TO GO...The boys are ALL in School!

Yesterday was the end of Week 2 into the 2014-2015 school year and so far, everyone is doing really well!

Connor is loving kindergarten. Amazingly enough, no tears were shed by either of us on his first day (yay!) and every day he excitedly bounds out of the school doors to tell me all about lunch. Lunch is his favorite part of the day. What can I say, he loves to eat! And apparently, he really loves to eat the ''vegetarian'' options. He's had salad, salad with pasta noodles, a special tray that had cracker chips, yogurt, cheeses, celery and carrots. He usually tells me all about lunch, then all about PE or Recess and then something completely random and off the wall.

We did have a little hiccup when on Wednesday when I received a call from the school nurse. Connor had puked while skipping in PE but felt ''much better'' and had wanted to continue to play. Unfortunately for him, I had to pick him up. A quick doctor visit confirmed that all that running, got him to coughing and that the cough combined with a slight 'crackle' sound in his lungs earned him a preventative inhaler for the next two weeks. As bummed as I was, I have to say to go an entire year without an inhaler was a huge milestone for my little peanut. 

And the other boys? They are loving third grade and second grade.

Logan was actually assigned the same 2nd grade teacher that Ryan had and while he likes Mrs. G, he usually tells me all about how she called him ''Ryan" x amount of times today. His patience is a little thin but I explained how when she sees our last name, she naturally wants to say Ryan when calling attendance. And how they do look a little alike, so to give her some time. His best friend from first grade is in his class, so the two always choose to sit by each other (oh and he loves the ''open seating'' option that his teacher has). So far he hasn't had any homework but he is concerned because he remembers how much Ryan had last year. (Not a lot at all but Logan has never had a teacher who assigned much!).

Ryan was a little anxious about starting 3rd grade. When the class lists were posted, he realized that he didn't have any friends in his class (he did recognize a few names).  But now at the end of week two he is much more at ease. Apparently he is mostly in his class with his teacher, but for language arts they swap with another class so he has a different teacher. Then for block/specials (PE, Art, Music, Computers) they are the ''rainbow'' group so the entire class splits up and goes with other classes on different days so he is getting the opportunity to meet a lot of kids from other classes. I'm hoping that Ry might come out of his shell a little bit this year.  I know at home he is much more verbal and opinionated! The attitude of an 8 year old can be shocking some days.

And little Sis? She's loving all that time to herself. The first few days were a little rough; she missed her brothers. She would ask if it was time to pick them up. She would talk non-stop. But by this week, she was loving that alone time. Last Friday Ron had off so we took just Maggie and headed down to Galveston. She loved it. She got to walk on the beach and pick up shells, she got hold our hands and do the 1,2,3 swing. We went out  for seafood at lunch and she got her own steam-pot of crab, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. And she behaved so well and helped clean the table at lunch, so the waitress gave her a plastic shark toy...her day was totally made. She was telling people ''I'm just one kid today!". Totally adorable and such a different dynamic.

Overall, it's been a really smooth transition. They all wake and get ready pretty easily. Connor has had a few mornings where he really wanted to just stay home with me (not because he dislikes school but because he ''just loves me so much''). Those mornings are rough because of course I want to say, "okay you can stay home and snuggle" but I don't, I walk him to school and he does great. His teacher actually approached me after school yesterday and wanted to let me know that she is so impressed at how well he is doing, both academically and socially.In fact, they earn tickets each day but can lose the tickets for bad behavior/not listening...Connor had the most tickets out of anyone in the class; he has never lost a ticket. He got to "shop" the prize wall on Friday and gets to bring a stuffed animal to school on Monday. He was elated to hear that!

Time for School! Time for School! Time for School!

The boys had their very first day of school today and they were so excited! After we picked them up they told us all about their new classrooms, who they sat by and how you could buy chips at lunch. All it all, a pretty stellar day for my First Grader and Second grader!

Home Sweet Home?

When I posted about moving back to the states, I wrote about settling down, buying a house and putting down roots. Back in June, we got in contact with a realtor. By the end of July we were pre-approved by a mortgage lender and had started looking at homes online. We were fortunate enough to have a few friends and acquaintances who were familiar with the area and could help make recommendations. We knew towns and specific school districts and schools that we wanted to be zoned into.

However, the area we are looking in is in high demand. Several of the houses we bookmarked and "favorited" were already sold by the time we arrived in Texas. So we met with our realtor ASAP. We got here Friday and saw houses on Monday.

As it turns out, online listings can be deceiving! Shocker I know. But when you have a "favorite" online and it still available when you arrive, its exciting. Then you see it in person and it turns out to be filthy, has stained carpets, broken counter tops and power lines running in the backyard...it's a disappointment (all one house!). Or is on a busy street. Or the neighborhood is all people over the age of 70. It's a let down. As a first time buyer I expected a "House Hunters" experience. Three houses and BAM! dream home. So not real life.

That first night we saw four homes, all busts (for the above reasons). Tuesday Ron went to work, the kids and I went with the realtor and saw seven more homes! We really liked one, but more of the neighborhood that the particular house. Tuesday evening I showed Ron the house and neighborhood and we agreed he would want to see the inside. We saw a handful of homes for sale and wanted info on those too. When I went to email the realtor, I saw an unread email from him. He found a listing that fit EVERY requirement/wish on our list in that neighborhood. We were really excited after seeing the area and I set up a time to see the house Wednesday morning.

So on Wednesday morning, the kids and I set off once more to view a house and I loved it. They loved it! Damn near everything about it. And I mean everything. (Only complaint is the wallpaper in the master bath). So I was thrilled to call Ron and say "you NEED to see the inside of this house". 

Ron saw it after work and long story a little shorter, we submitted an offer. On the 12th house we walked through, we found "the one". After a bit of negotiating, they accepted our counter offer and we had a deal! If all goes as planned we will close on September 20th.

Today we had the home inspection and that went pretty well. A couple minor issues (corrosion on a pipe from the water heater means the pipe needs replaced & previous termite damage around the door) were found and our agent is working those out with the sellers agent. This could seriously...SERIOUSLY...be our "Home Sweet Home". While I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason (and I know this will work out the way it is suppose to) but man do I hope we get this house!

Michelle + Cinque Terre + Mother's Day = One of the best days ever!

Okay, so on Sunday we headed up the coast from Pisa to Cinque Terre. What a wonderful place to spend Mother's Day! 

Cinque Terre was on my ''must do'' list when I found out we were going to Italy. In fact, I pinned it on Pinterest before we even got here.

So clearly I was excited to see it with my own eyes. And we were not disappointed at all. I will say the above photo is severely enhanced...It's beautiful and the buildings are really colorful but unless this photo was taken on the day the buildings were painted, they are not that vivid.

So we drove from our hotel to the town of La Spezia, where we parked at the train station. We then took the train to Cinque Terre (which is actually 5 cities).

You start in this bustling train station/city and the train goes through these dark tunnels, until suddenly you get peeks of the sea like this:

It really is gorgeous (this pic was taken from the train, through a window). We rode the train to the 5th city, Monterosso, first. There we ate lunch and took LOTS of photos.

 

 It is really so, so colorful and just goregous. Like nowhere else that I have ever been. We ate lunch then waded into the water because the kids wanted to be on that beach like nobody's business. The water was cold, I was shocked to see swimmers actually in the waves but there were definitely a lot of people enjoying it!

*Best Mother's Day* (at least thus far!)

So funny story...we took the photos of the kids loving the water and then let them search for shells and sea glass while we (the adults) took more photos. 

 So I'm standing with my back to the sea, Sissy is in front of me, Bubba and Pooks are beside me and Peanut is caddy corner to my left. We're in water no deeper than six inches. B is up on the beach, not in the water at all and Michelle is nearest Sissy, still in the water though and she was on the sand. All of the sudden this wave comes up and I say ''Move guys, wave is coming''and look back at Peanut as he is in the deepest water. The wave crashes his legs, he wavers but doesn't fall. Bubba and Pooks are fine. Poor Sissy, who wasn't even in the water, got caught completely off guard and fell face first into a small amount of water and a whole lot of sand. She was fine! No drowning scare or anything. She immeidately got up...and bawled. Everyone on the beach was laughing, because it was funny and she was fine but she was not happy. Her pants were soaked, her shirt was soaked, she had sand in her ears. She was a mess. So we had no choice but to strip her down to her undies (also wet but not coming off) and have her stay like that while we found a clothing shop or souvenior shop that sold a dress or swimsuit cover in her size.

And the really funny part? She LOVED being over1/2 naked. Strutting her stuff in her converse shoes up the walkway in nothing but her Minnie Mouse undies. So hence the family photo with her naked...

We managed to find a dress for her in the 3rd shop we stopped at. It was hideous and too big, but better than naked. We had no way of airing out her other clothes (I tried a hand dryer in a bathroom...no dice).

 I'm really not sure which is worse. The dress is tied in the back with a hair tie so her tiny boobies wouldn't show, it's bedazzled on the front with dolphins and reads 'Cinque Terre'. The worse part? She LOVED it. 

So after the water fiasco, we were running short on time. We had to be back at 7:30pm to pick the dogs up from the sitter, so we had to leave CT by 4pm at the very latest. It was evident we weren't going to see all 5 towns. Add in that the forecast was calling for storms and we didn't really have a moment to waste. We opted to ride the train back to Manarola and had planned on walking the Via Dell'Amore (Love Walk) from Manarola to the first town of Riomaggiore. Well we got to Manarola and the walk was closed due to too much rainfall. But, Manarola was so gorgeous, I don't feel like we missed anything!

 And the views were breath-taking...like a picture from a book or travel magazine!

Don't fret, I took a ton!

 

 After taking in the views, we made our way back down, then up the hill in town and back to the train station.

 

 It was a wonderful experience! While we didn't make it to all 5 towns, I feel extremely fortunate to visit the two that we did spend time in. And we left in the nick of time. As soon as we left La Spezia, it started down-pouring. Thunder, lightning, the works.

SNOW DAY!!

Yesterday it snowed. And snowed and continued to snow all afternoon, evening and into this morning. The kids had an absolute blast playing outside in it! In fact, this was Sissy's first time ever playing in snow and probably the only snow Peanut remembers playing in. This much snow, isn't very common for Northern Italy.  Having said that, I was quite impressed at how quickly they cleared the roads, then salted/sanded them after (at least in our tiny town).

I was impressed, they lasted almost an hour and a half before they were too cold/hungry. We came inside, changed into warm fleece pajamas and enjoyed some hot cocoa and a movie.

Nanaw and Papa's vist Day 11: The Zugspitze!

On our 3rd day in Germany it was decided that no matter how rainy and overcast it was, we were going to the top of the Zugspitze. This is ''the thing to do'' so to speak, while in Garmisch. It's the tallest point in Germany and you get to the top via cogwheel train or cable car. It's 2,962 meters high...definitely a big deal for my mom who is scared of heights and myself, who has a fear of bridges and pretty much anything that requires me to be suspended in the air. So we drove to the little train station and waited (for a very delayed) train.

It was a crowded station:

 Once on this cog-wheel train, it was so crowded, we didn't have seats. The kids sat on the floor and the grown ups stood...

 It stops half way up to let off the yahoo's that want to hike to the top...or those that want to take pictures. I did NOT get out as it was a very steep dropoff right after that gravel. Papa did though and he hustled to get back on. There was one poor guy who got left behind (and I'm not kidding...train totally left his ass on the side of the moutain, he had gone to pee somewhere).

 The cog wheel train stops at the glacier. In the winter time, this is full of skiers and sledders...in August it was full of tourists and a little bit of snow.

 From the Glacier to the actual Summit, you have to take one of these cable cars....

 Yeah, it's freaky. I took a dramimine as I knew I would get motion sick when it was time to ride that!

 In the above picture you can see that silver/grey metal near B's head that is jutting over the side of the mountain ..here we are on that overlook.

 After a few pics (slightly terrifying to be hanging of the side of a mountain...literally...on a metal thing that you could see through the bottom of on a windy day) it was time to ride the cable car. Here goes nothing!

 

 We made it!

 These are the people that went to the literal peak...I was not about to trek out there...1/2 our group was in in flip flops!

 It was obviously, extremely overcast out. We were in a cloud and could see absolutely nothing below. In all honesty, it was probably better for Nanaw as you really couldn't tell how high up you were.

 On a clear day you can see into Germany, Italy, Austria and I think Switzerland. We had to take the postcards word for it though...

So after all this, we ate lunch and then prepared to take the really BIG cable car all the way back down to where we parked. Took the cog-wheel up, take the cable car down and experience both...except a storm rolled in complete with lightning. They prohibited anyone from using the Cable Car and just about pushed us down in a cog-wheel train. After all of this, we decided we would just head home. We were leaving early enough in the day that we could stop and see things if we wanted to. Good thing we did that because by the time we reached Austria, the rain had stopped and Austria is GORGEOUS!

 We kinda got temporary lost and found this adorable cemetery!

 These tiny cabin/sheds were everywhere. Nanaw and I loved how they stacked the wood 'just so' around each window.

 Looking down at the city of Telfs...

 We decided to stop in Innsbruck Austria for dinner. Such a cute, cute town!

 I felt like I was walking around on a movie set!

The picture above, with us in front of the Golden Roof...funny story. We're standing there and see this family all taking turns of taking pictures of 2 in their group since the 3rd had to hold the camera...I offered to take their photo and it ended up being the SAME family who took our photo when we were on the Glacier of the Zugspitze, in Germany earlier that morning. They were on vacation from Korea. Such a small world when you run into the same family, on the same day, in TWO different countries!

After walking around the pedestrian area, we ate dinner and headed home.  See ya next time Innsbruck!

ciao!