Miss 'Thang' heads back to PreK

Sophie started the day after Cole and Liv.  She technically could have started Kindergarten here because they have way different cut-offs here.  She will not be 5 until December, but she could have gone to Kindergarten.  Ummm....nope!  I will keep her little for another year!  How crazy is it that she could have gone from going to Preschool 3 days a week for 2 and a half hours a day to....BAM...Kindergartner.  Not for this girl...why...because her Mommy said so!

They offer a dual-language program in two of the 3 PreK classes where for part of the day one of the teachers speaks English and for the other part of the day the other teacher speaks French.  That is the class we had planned on putting Sophie in, but she had other ideas.  She wanted to be back with her teachers from last year.  So...she is back in the Oak Class and goes to French class instead.  (On a side note...she counted to 10 the other day for me in French and told me that she learned everything there was to learn about French and therefore will not have any more....I don't think so!)

She is having FUN picking out her outfits, but I must say most of them are not "weather appropriate" here in Belgium.  She doesn't understand why she has to wear boots, not flip-flops...and leggings with all of her dresses.  I wish she wore a uniform too!  Mornings would be such a breeze in this house!!

Time to hit the books

It's hard to believe, but on August 30th I became the Mom to a 4th grade boy and a bright and shiny 1st Grader!  For anyone that is keeping track...Cole is in 4th grade and this would be his 3rd Elementary School.  Liv is in 1st and this is her second.  We are VERY fortunate to have 4 wonderful kiddo's who have made transition, after transition so smoothly!  It certainly helped me moving here knowing that they are thriving!  It makes me a VERY PROUD MAMA!

 Liv decided to give Cole a 'good luck kiss'...WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!

Can't forget Dad...

...and Mom!

Flower Carpet 2012

Here is a drawing of what the carpet would look like

Every 2 years, since 1971, The Grand-Place in Brussels is covered with a flower carpet of begonias.  The carpet measures 77 m X 24 m and is worked on by about 120 volunteers that use nearly one million begonias.  

The begonia was chosen above all for its qualities of robustness, resistance to bad weather and strong sunshine.  By using the begonia it guarantees the long life and freshness of the carpet.  It also gives a very rich range of colors.  "From very vivid colors to the delicate pastel shades, they all reflect the light so well."

Each year it has a theme.  This year the Flower Carpet was dedicated to Africa.  It consisted of drawings of people from Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Botswana.

The day that we went down was VERY HOT.  Brussels was having "unseasonably" warm weather.  It was that way pretty much the entire time the Flower Carpet was going on.  We went on the last day. The kids were tired, as we had just gotten back from Disneyland Paris the day before after spending a week there.  Before that...we were in the US.  We didn't really "feel" like going out, but this was one of those things that Jason and I didn't want to pass up.  It only comes around every other year and you never know, right?!

Disneyland Paris

After a sad "see you later" we were back in Waterloo.  Since Jason barely saw us during the previous 5  weeks, he decided to take a week off and we set off, jet-lag and all, for Disneyland Paris.

We stayed at Disneyland Resort.  It is somewhat comparable to The Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World.  It was a great spot for us because it is connected to the parks and if we needed a break we were back at the hotel in no time at all.  Disneyland Paris is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.  

They had some great rides.  Since the park is newer, there are a lot of rides focused on the newer movies like Toy Story and Cars.  It is not uncommon to see Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, floating around.  

The major differences that I took notice of...

1.  Line?!  What is a line?!  When you see a character and you wish to have your picture taken...just rush them and pose.  Don't worry about if someone is already posing.  Also, feel free to have RANDOM people in your picture because they don't seem to move when you are trying to capture your shot!

2.  All of the Princesses have hoop skirts...and so do the dresses that can be purchased for the kids.  (We bought Ariel's Wedding Dress for Sophie...she was LOVING it!)

3.  You know at Walt Disney World when you might decide you want a better shot of something and decide to step on the grass...soon after there is an employee telling you to GET OFF THAT GRASS?  Nope...NOT HERE...as I like to say..."The Euros are fond of their "pop up picnics".  That certainly can be seen throughout the parks!!  If there is a patch of grass, there is someone sitting on it!

4.  NO SMOKING...yep...not here!  Don't be surprised if you are standing in line and the person in front of you is smoking like a chimney all while blowing it in your 2-year-olds face!!

5.  Feel free to send someone from your party to "hold your place in line".  When you get up close...the rest of your 50 person entourage will arrive to promptly CUT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!

All-in-all, we had a good time and I was happy to add it to our list of places visited.  I will say though...once you have been to the "original" it is hard to wipe it from your mind!!

Disneyland Paris - slideshow maker

Waldameer Park...here we come...

Another place we always try to hit up when we are home is Waldameer Park.  We picked a great day and set off for the park.  Piper loved the rides just as much as everyone else!  They have such a nice "kiddie" area, so she feels like a "big girl" when she can ride by herself.  Miss Independent was LOVING that!  We were excited that our cousins came too and so did Addison and Alexis!

Waldameer - Summer 2012 - slideshow dvd

It's a date!

ALL SET...YOU BET!

Cole LOVES the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and has read all of them...several times.  We didn't even know that the third installment of the films was set to be released this Summer.  How lucky were we that it just happened to open while we were home.  We called up our cousins, and off we went on a movie/lunch date!  I corralled my Sister, on her day off, to be my helper just in case.  Good thing!!  By the time we dropped Braeden and Dillon off...WE WERE EXHAUSTED!  The kid's loved the movie...Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days...two thumbs up and Cole was excited to introduce his cousin's.

A trip for a dip in Lake Erie

Sweet Sophie

Liv participated in a Beach Glass Jewelry Class at the Tom Ridge Center.  While she was there Mom, Dad, and I took Cole, Sophie and Piper to the beach!  Here are a couple of shots from the day!

PIPER JANE

Miss Piper is 2!

Piper's actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year.  Unfortunately, the Zoo was already booked so her party was the next day.  In this picture she is celebrating, at Great Nana's, with a little cake...you can never have enough cake!  She is wearing her nightgown that Aunt Gigi got her.  It has a monkey on it. What is the monkey's name?  Joe, of course!  Every monkey is Joe, named after her favorite one at The Erie Zoo!

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!

It is so HARD to believe that our little Piper turned 2 this Summer!  We knew we would be home in Erie, so what better place for the festivities...THE ERIE ZOO!  Piper is OBSESSED!  We try to go often when we are home.  They put on a great party!  A lot of the adults that were there had not been to the Zoo in years, so they were really excited to come.  Everyone turned in to their 5-year-old selves...riding the train, the carousel, eating popcorn, etc.  It's a great place and we had a great time!  A friend of mine from High School is an AWESOME baker.  She made SUPER CUTE animal cupcakes for the event.  They were a HUGE HIT!  One was cuter than the next!!

Piper's 2nd Birthday - slideshows

Stretching with Nana

Mom re-injured her back right before we arrived in Buffalo.  Sharon gave her some daily exercises to do to help her out.  She religiously did them every morning.  One morning I came out into the living room to this...looks like Piper and Liv decided to join in on the hard work...I wonder how many calories were burned?!

Presenting....Her Royal Highness, Queen Great Nana

The new Disney movie Brave was at the movie theater.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it there but...of course...we hit up the Brave isle at Target!  Sophie decided to get the Merida crown, earrings, and necklace set.  She came up with a brilliant idea while sitting on Great Nana's front porch...LET'S TRY IT ON GREAT NANA!  Sophie told her that she made a BEAUTIFUL QUEEN!

Happy REAL Birthday to Cole!

Cole's birthday fell on a Monday this year.  He had a full day.  He started Lego MindStorm Camp in Erie, went to lunch at The Plymouth, and ended it with dinner at Great Nana's.  Jason had left for Florence the day before so when it came time to sing Happy Birthday to the new 10 year old, Jason called on FaceTime.

Cole with Dad on FaceTime from Italy

Everyone singing, including Jason on the phone

Feeding the ducks at the dock with Papa and Gigi

GIGI AND THE GIRLIES

PAPA AND PIPER

While Cole was at camp,  it was such a nice day we decided to go down to the Erie Dock and feed the ducks.  Nana defrosted some hot dog buns that were in the freezer and off we went.

The best part of the day...Piper decided she was going to feast on the bun and not fork it over to the ducks.  When all of the buns were gone...

THANK YOU GIGI AND PAPA FOR A GREAT DAY!

Cole, Mindstorm Master...

Although he loves any kind of Lego, Cole seems to be intrigued by Lego Mindstorms.  They have been out for a while, but he has just kind of started getting in to them.  That was his big request this year for his birthday.  We lucked out because while we were in Erie there was a week-long Lego Mindstorms Camp at The Erie Art Museum.  He really enjoyed himself and it kept him busy!  

Here are just a couple of quick shots I took before I picked him up one day...

Go, Braeden, Go!

We miss a lot because we live away from home so we were really excited that our nephew/cousins last Soccer game of the season just happened to fall on the first Saturday that we were in town.  We were there to see Braeden's team, coached by Uncle Jeff, win and get their trophies!

Happy 10th Birthday, Lego Boy!

While we were in Erie for our "holiday", Cole celebrated his 10th birthday.  It is hard to believe that that boy is a DECADE old!  We have come a long way from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was born!  We decided to throw the birthday boy his bash a couple of days before his birthday so that Jason could be there before he had to leave to fly to Florence on business.  Complete with a Lego cake, thank you, Nikki, this party was a success!  As an added bonus...we had the party at Nana and Papa's clubhouse so we got to use the pool!

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got. I'm just Katie from the block...

Liv and Dina try the balloon toss

My family and I lived at 922 West 25th Street until the Summer before I went into 4th grade and Gina went into 7th.  There were so many great neighbors.  Everyone knew everyone and those were some of the best years.  

Piper holds tight to her balloon

Each Summer, right around July 4th we always had a block party.  Everyone would bring their favorite dish to share or dish they were made famous for and we would all have a great time.  The day would be capped off by the famous or infamous water balloon toss.  Kids first...then the adults.

Even though most of the gang has moved away from 25th Street, the "originals" still get together once a month.  During July they thought that it would be a great idea to have a 25th Street Block Party at the Salvatore's.  This time around their children, and grandchildren, for some, were included.