Christmas Activites

Austin and Sydney had their school Christmas concert.  It was so nice for them to have a Christmas concert.  Last year the kids were in the spring concert instead.  It wasn't the same.  The Christmas is special at this age.  Austin was not into as much as he was 2 years ago but nevertheless it was great to see them sign Christmas songs.

We went to Lock 3 for breakfast with Santa.  This was the first time we did it.  It was neat.  The breakfast was good.  Then the kids played in the children's museum for a while.  Then we took the kids ice skating.  Austin and Sydney love ice skating.  Sydney had forgotten how to skate fast but she did get better with some time.  The skates hurt a bit so I am hoping to buy them skates at a play again sports store.

We have been going to some Cavs games.  The kids have enjoyed them.  It's sad that they are the worst team in the league though.

At the fundraiser at the kid's school in the fall, we bought morning anchors on their school TV.  So Austin and Sydney had a day they each did the morning announcements with an 8th grader.  They did a good job.

The school also had a field trip to the movies to see The Grinch.  Brian and I both volunteered to be drivers.  The kids had a lot of fun.

We ended all of our Christmas activities this year with the kids favorite with Breakfast with Santa at Lake Farm park.   They enjoy the breakfast.  Their favorite is making the wooden toy at Santa's workshop.  This year, Austin made a Minion and Sydney made a reindeer.  They turned out nicely.  They really took their time this year with painting them.  Austin looked at Brian's phone to make sure he painted the Minion exactly right.

Brian has been working on the downstairs bathroom.  He's putting in a shower so he's had to dig up the floor for the drain.  It's been working so much on it.  It will be great when it's done but it's so much work.  And messy!  Plus I didn't have a washing machine for a week.  That is never fun but we made it.

It was a fun busy Christmas season!

Start of Christmas Activites

December is always one of our busiest months of the year.  We love doing all the fun Santa holiday stuff.  We started our going to Brian's work Christmas party for the kids.  The turn work into the North Pole.  It's a lot of fun.  They have a magic show, balloon guys, and of course Santa.  Santa even lets them get a present.

For several years, now we get a live Christmas tree.  We go as a family to pick out the tree. Austin and Sydney always cut it now.  They work together to cut it down.  This year it was warm day when we did it.  It's always a fun time getting our tree. 

We also went on a ride on the Polar Express.  It was not magical for Austin.  In fact, I think he was bored most of the time.  However Sydney loved it.  It was totally worth it for Sydney.  She enjoyed singing Christmas carols, she loved the North Pole, and hot chocolate and cookie. 

We went to one of our favorite activities downtown which is Mr. Kringle's Inventionasium.   It's so fun going though all the different stations.  Austin loved drawing smiley faces on all the pictures with water.  Sydney enjoyed making a candy cane out of form things that stick together with water.  They also made snow and some toys.  Santa there is the best.  He knew all about Austin and Sydney.  And spent at least 5 minutes with us.  They also got a stuffed dragon from Santa.  It was magical.

While downtown, they talked to the talking tree which is always a lot of fun.  We went to the Cavs game.  We even got an upgrade on our tickets that night.  It was cool to sit behind the Cavs bench.

We did something new this year and saw Tuba Christmas at EJ Thomas Hall.  People who play tuba family instruments go and decorate themselves and instruments to play Christmas Carols.  They play the song and then we sing it back.  It was neat.  The kids enjoyed that.  We went to a family Christmas party that night.

We have also went to the Q for Breakfast with Santa.  There the kids had donuts and juice.  They played basketball on the court.  They made some crafts and even saw Santa.  Another fun adventure.

Our school had a gingerbread house contest that the kids went to.  It was fun for them to decorate a house with their friends.  I like them doing the gingerbread houses somewhere other than my house.  They also had their Christmas concert at school.  Sydney loved singing.  Austin was not as excited as in year's past but it was still fun for him.

Brian also got an early Christmas present.  His Tesla Model 3 finally arrived and we picked it up.  The car is awesome!  I was never one to be that excited about it but it is really cool!

Thanksgiving

In November, Sydney had 4 birthday parties to attend.  She was very busy.  Austin was home a lot helping Brian setting up our Christmas lights.  Brian decided that they were going back up this year.  It has been 2 years since they were set up.  Last year with our house and death of my dad, we didn't set them up.  Sydney doesn't ever remember our Christmas lights.  However Austin does and he was very excited to have them back up again!  He worked hard with Brian to get them set up.

Brian is coaching basketball for Austin and Sydney.  It's on Friday nights so it works out.  Brian feels bad since he can't spend too much time with on group but all and all it's going fine.  Next year, Austin will be playing games for basketball.  That should be fun!

I had Thanksgiving here again this year.  My mom and grandpa came over.  Brian is working on our downstairs bathroom so he kept the kids busy helping with that.  I am getting better at cooking a turkey.  Dinner turned out nicely.  It was a lot of work but worth it. Austin loves Thanksgiving dinner.  Sydney did not want to eat turkey because it's an animal however after she tried it. She liked it as well.  She only ate turkey and rolls.  Austin ate all other foods.

My mom and grandpa did not stay long.  Austin wanted to go out and see the Black Friday experience so we took them to Best Buy and we stood in a line (they were just opening when we arrived) but only letting certain number of people in at a time.  It was very cold.  After about 15-20 minutes we got in.  We just walked around the store and the kids played the switch.  That is what Austin wants for Christmas.  Then we went home and watched a movie.

On Friday, Brian took the kids to the Science Center while I worked.  They loved that.  Then when they got home we worked on Christmas lights and then basketball.  After basketball we went out with friends for pizza.

On Saturday, we went downtown Cleveland for their Winterfest.  The weather was nice in the 40's.  We saw them turn on the lights and for Santa to arrive.  Then we went to the Cavs game.  The game was good and they actually won.  It's been a rough season without LeBron.  It was a nice evening.

On Sunday, Brian took out annual Christmas card picture.  Brian always comes up with great ideas for our Christmas card.  This year, the kids are on the roof and have a runway for Santa to land.  It's very cute!

We are getting ready for a busy Christmas season!

Halloween

We went to our favorite Halloween activities Boo at the Zoo with our friends.  The weather was very nice for it.  This year, Austin was an airplane pilot and Sydney was an unicorn princess.

We also went trick or treating down at my mom's house.  It was raining that night.  Since my mom can't move around that well, I basically stayed there to hand out candy.  Brian took the kids everywhere.  They were very wet and tired but had so much fun.  And got so much candy.

We went down to the Q for a Trick or Treat event there.  They had different stations.  The kids decorated a pumpkin.  They got some candy and pizza.  We also got a lot of empty shoe boxes to give to all the basketball players Brian is coaching.  Brian is coaching the 2nd grade boys team and the 1st grade girls team.  Luckily it's at the same time each week.

On Halloween, I was planning on doing trunk or treat at the kids school. Unfortunately it was raining so it was moved indoors which was fine.  I was also in charge of Sydney's class party so I had to help with that.  We played games and read stories.  It was fun!

Brian also took the kids trick or treating at our house.  It was also raining that night.  But once again the kids had fun and got a lot of candy.  I hung out at my neighbors driveway which was fun too.

Austin's football team was in a tournament and they went to the finals.  Unfortunately they lost however it was fun to watch them get there.  Because of all the rain, everything was so muddy.  I had never seen so much mud before!  I had Sydney wear snowsuit just because if she fell in the mud, her clothes would still be clean.  It was a very good idea!

October Fun

The first week back from Europe was a little rough.  The kids got up at 2:30am on Monday morning.  And they didn't go back to sleep.  The rest of the week, the slept in a little later but still up by 6am.  Austin got a lot of homework done in the mornings.  It was nice when they were finally caught up with their homework.

Homework has been an adjustment this year.  Austin has anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes of homework a night.  He has spelling test each week and timed math test every week.  Plus reading homework.  Sydney has spelling test every two weeks and homework projects every two weeks as well.  I have been copying Austin's homework so she has something to work on in the evenings.  She loves homework.  Austin does not.  It is a struggle every night for him to do it.

Sydney finished up soccer this month.  She really enjoyed it.  She was good at it too.  I am hoping to convince her to do indoor soccer this winter.  Austin has been doing flag football.  He likes being with is friends.  There has been some cold and raining games.  Austin became a complete mud ball during one of the games.

We went to the home opener of the Cavs game.   It's a little sad this year since we no longer have Lebron.  However it's still a fun family activity to do.  With school, the kids usually don't get their hair painted or tattoos anymore since they are not allowed to have them at school.  Unfortunately the Cavs lost and it looks like it's not going to be a good season for them.

Austin had his annual hearing test.  We got busy over the summer and we couldn't get an appointment before school started.  So we went in October.  We got the best news ever, he finally passed a hearing test.  And we no longer have to follow up unless something happens.  We are all very happy!

Trip to Europe

We got the kids out of school at 12:30pm on Friday.  We had to drive 5 hours to Toronto for our flight to Barcelona.  On Friday, I was thinking what in the world have we done.  Why are we traveling all the way to Europe with a 6 and 7 year old.  But it was too late now.  Everything was paid for and booked so time to make the best of it. 

The drive to Toronto was uneventful.  Since we drove past Niagara Falls, we stopped briefly to allow the kids to see it.  I didn’t even get out of the car since I was driving and we didn’t have much time and didn’t want to pay $20 for parking. 

When we arrived to the car parking place in Toronto the lot was full. They had us to go another one.  Then we waited a while for a shuttle bus.  I was starting to get nervous.  The last time we wanted to do was miss our flight.  When we finally got to the airport, we didn’t have to wait too long to check in.  Then the security line was reasonable too.  We waited at the gate for about an hour. 

Brian and Sydney sat in the two seats by the window.  Austin and I were in the middle row and I had a women next to me which was fine.  Our flight didn’t take off until 11:00pm so we were all tired once on board.  We got dinner.  Sydney fell asleep before dinner was served so she didn’t eat.  Austin had mac and cheese.  He liked it.  This was his first time eating airplane food.  We have never flown this far with them to get a meal.  Austin was impressed.  After eating, we all tried to sleep.  Sleeping on a plane is a real challenge but we were able to get some sleep.  Austin and I watched some movies on our Kindles.  Brian worked on his computer.  Sydney basically slept the entire time.  Then we got bread for breakfast.  Austin liked it. 

When are plane finally landed we waited a while in customs.  Then we had to get our luggage.  Then off to find a taxi quickly to get to our hotel before 2pm.  They close at 2pm to 4pm for lunch.  Sometime we are not used to back home.  Luckily we arrived to the hotel at 1:55pm so we were able to be checked in.  We went up to our apartment.  It was nice.  It had a kitchen and a bedroom, bathroom,, and living room area.  Then we figured out what to do.  I had ideas on what to do but didn’t really think when to do what. 

We decided we would take a taxi to Park Gual.  Once there we walked up several steps to the top and we could over look Barcelona.  It was a beautiful view.  Then we walked down and the kids found a playground along the way that they loved. 

Then we took a taxi to La Sagrada Familia.  I was planning on going inside however it was sold out for Saturday and Sunday.  We were bummed.  I feel bad because I feel like I should have planned better.  I didn’t realize it could be sold out for days.  We got some pictures outside and then grabbed dinner at Burger King.  We took our sandwiches to the park near by at ate.  Then the kids played at that playground. 

After playing, we tried the subway (Metro).  Austin and Sydney had never been on a subway before.  They were excited.  It was interesting to see the tracks right there with no gates or anything.  The kids got an important safety lesson.  We board the subway to La Rambla.  Once there, we walked around.  We found a fresh market, and we showed them around there.  They got a juice smoothie to try.  It didn’t have sugar so they weren’t big fans.  Then they got some gelato.  They loved that!  Later Austin got a slushie and Sydney got a sucker.  It was a fun evening out. 

We found a plaza where a street performer was blowing big bubbles.  He took a break soon after we got there.  There was a big wall like thing that kids were trying to climb up.  Austin and Sydney played there.  Brian helped them to the top.  However on one of the times, Brian turned his head for a second and Sydney was already slid down landing on her ankle funny.  For a while, Brian and I thought she broke her ankle.  It was terrible. 

Then the bubble guy started doing bubbles again. The bubbles were able to distract Sydney and she was able to walk again. Luckily her ankle was not swollen or bruised either.  Then we decided to walk back to our apartment for the night.  We are all very tired and ready for a good nights sleep. 

We all slept very well.  We went to bed around 10:30pm and we got up at 8:45am.  Brian and I were the first ones up.  That never happens at our house.  We had to wake the kids up so they started getting on this time zone. 

We decided to take a taxi to Montjuic.  We took the cable car over which I thought was to a castle but we believe the taxi took us to the wrong spot.  Because it wasn’t where we wanted to go.  We started walking up the hill.  After a while the kids were very tired.  Then we found another cable car.  Unfortunately our tickets didn’t work for this one.  We brought more tickets (they are pricey).  However we did enjoy the nice ride in the cable car.  Sydney was being difficult for pictures but that isn’t anything new.  Sydney likes to do only what Sydney wants. 

At the top was the castle.  We were going inside however the line for tickets was long and we didn’t have much time.  So we just walked around the outside of the castle.  The kids had fun climbing on cannons.  Then we walked down the mountain.  We were going to take our first cable car back but the line was too long.  So we had to take a taxi from half way up the mountain.  The taxi took us back to our hotel and we picked up our stuff.  Then we took a taxi to the cruise terminal.  We were getting on the NCL EPIC.   Austin and Sydney were very excited for the cruise. 

We board the cruise without any difficulties.  Once on board, we were able to go straight to our room.  Usually we board the ship much earlier than 3pm.  We dropped our stuff off and went to lunch.  We were all very hungry.  Then we had the muster drill.  The kids are very familiar with that these days.  Then we went swimming.  After all the walking around, swimming was nice.  The pool water was even heated.  That was a nice surprise.  Austin and Sydney then played water mini golf and chess.  Then it was time for dinner.   We eat dinner in the restaurant then go to the buffet for dessert.  Then it was bedtime. 

Our first day, was a sea day.  Again we slept until 9:30am.  We had a ship tour at 9:45 so Austin and Brian had to move quickly to get there.  They went to the ship tour and Sydney and I went to breakfast.  It was very crowded but finally found somewhere to sit and eat.  Then we came back to the room.  Brian and Austin came back and  we went up for a family dodge-ball game.   The kids had a lot of fun with that.  Austin even got to be the doctor where he would tap people who were out.  He liked that.  Austin and Sydney also did the spider slide.  Then we went swimming again.  The weather was cooler and the pool didn’t seem as warm.  Austin and Brian did some water slides.  Sydney and I swam for a bit.  Then we went to lunch.  After lunch, we did some homework.  Austin was not a fan of homework but after some arguing he got some done.   Sydney got to go back on the spider slide for 45 minutes before Austin was done with his homework. 

Then we got ready for formal night pictures.  We went around the ship and got pictures taken.  Austin and Sydney are getting better at doing that too.  Then we finally got to go to dinner.  We had dinner and back up to the buffet for dessert.  We have had busy few days and we still have 5 more stops to go. 

Our first port of call was Naples where we took the cruise transportation to Pompeii.  We had to get up early for the bus ride to Pompeii.  The forecast showed some rain so I packed ponchos for the day.  The bus ride took about 20 minutes.  When we arrived we were told where to buy tickets although I am not sure it saved us much time.  We got the tickets and went in.  Brian brought headsets from home with an app that we were hoping to use.  However the battery was dead and they didn’t work.  That was a bummer.  So we just starting walking around looking at things. We walked a lot that day.  We saw lots of interesting things.  Brian took lots of pictures. With about 30 minutes left of our time there, it started to rain. I was so happy we had ponchos.  However our feet still got soaked.  The kids even got a few souvenirs. Austin got a patch and Sydney got a lava bracelet.  Then we took the bus back to our ship.  We had lunch on board.  

After lunch, we left the ship again and walked to a castle near the port in Naples.  We went inside and brought a audio/video guide.  The kids enjoyed that.  On the way back from the castle, there was a street vendor selling toys that turned into a blop when you threw it down.  We got the kids one and they were so excited. 

Once back into the hotel room, Sydney’s little toy got a hole in it and broke.  She was so sad and would not stop crying. Austin convinced Brian to get off the ship and run back to get her a new one.  They thought they would be quick however the line to get back on the ship was really long so they waited a while to do get back on.  Meanwhile Sydney was on the top deck, doing the bounce and jump trampoline.  She did it for 30 minutes because there was no wait.  It was nice going to Europe this time of year, there were not many kids on board. 

Wednesday was our very busy day to Rome.  The port is an hour away from Rome.  We got up at 5:30am and got off the ship at 6:30am to take a train into Rome.  It was a 20 minute walk from the ship to the train station.  We got the train tickets with no issues and was on the train to Rome.  Once we arrived we took a Metro near the Colosseum.  It’s amazing getting off the Metro and seeing the Colosseum.  We knew where to buy tickets with a shorter line so we went there.  Then we entered the Colosseum.  There were a lot of people.  We walked around the main level first.  Then we walked upstairs.  It’s unbelievable how big it is.  And to think it was made all those years ago.  It was a sight to take in.  The weather was perfect.  It wasn’t too hot but warm and sunny. 

After the Colosseum we went to Palatine Hill.  We walked around just for a bit.  Then we got back on the Metro to head to the Vatican.  The Metro was very crowded.  Too crowded for my comfort.  A little over half way to the Vatican, they made us all get off the Metro. We believe that it broke down or something.  We were not sure what to do but there was a taxi stand right outside the Metro station so we just got a taxi over to the Vatican. 

We didn’t have much time for lunch so we stopped at a shop near the Vatican.  They didn’t have any food that kids would eat so we just got them ice cream.   The only issue was we didn’t want them to get messy.  Somehow they decided they didn’t like their ice cream and they were trying to switch when they dropped it into Austin’s shirt.  We were not too happy however it did was washed up nicely.  Then we met our guide right outside of Vatican Museum. 

Our guide was awesome.  It was a kid friendly tour of the Vatican.  We started off in the museums.  There were long hallways of sculptures.  It was very large area of museums.   Then there was areas of fabric hanging telling the story of Jesus.  There were also several mosaics.   Then we went into the Sistine Chapel.  There were no pictures in the Sistine Chapel.  The outside of the Sistine Chapel looking like a simple square building however the inside was amazing.  The painting everywhere including the ceiling are amazing.  Then we went into St. Peter’s Basilica.   That was truly amazing.  The size and beauty are unbelievable.  We even got to touch St. Peter’s toes that have been worn off from everyone touching them.  It was very special experience.  We saw the guards outside of the Vatican near St. Peter’s Basilica.  We enjoyed our day in Rome.  We took the train back to the port and got on the ship.  We were exhausted. 

The next day we were in Livornio.  We took the cruise bus to the train station.  It was like a 20 minute ride.  Then we took the train into Pisa.  Once in Pisa we walked to the leaning tower.  When the kids first saw the leaning tower, they didn’t think it was leaning enough.  Once we got closer, they agreed with really was leaning.  We took lots of pictures with the leaning tower.  Then we went into the Baptistery and the Church.  Going up into the Baptistery was cool.  A gentlemen even sang and the echo was breathtaking.  We did a little shopping before taking a taxi to the train station. 

We took the train to Lucca.  Once we arrived, we rented a family bike.  We biked the walked city for a few hours.  Biking up the hill was a challenge.  But then it was a nice bike ride around the city.  We stopped for the kids to play on a playground.  The kids also got an ice cream treat with a pop.  It was cool to see the walled city of Lucca. 

We took the train back to Pisa.  In Pisa, we need to change trains back to Livernio.  We didn’t have much time.  We checked the board inside the train station.  We went to that platform.  While looking, I realized it didn’t say Livernio anywhere.  They were making announcements however in Italian so not sure what they were saying. Over on another platform, it did say Liverno. We asked someone and they said they changed it.  We ran over to the other platform and got on the correct train just in time. 

The next port was Cannes.  We didn’t have any plans.  It was a tender port and even though we could get priority tender tickets we decided just to chill on board until it was time to get off.  We got off the ship around 10am.  We walked up to the Castle near the dock.  It was a nice walk.  We even paid for the castle so we could go all the way to the top for the view.  It was worth it.  Then we walked down the hill and did some shopping.  Sydney found a unicorn bag and Austin got Pokemon cards in French.  They both were very happy. 

We headed back to the ship.  Once on board, the kids did some swimming.  It was nice the pool was heated even though the weather was nice.  Austin and Sydney also did the spider mountain climb play thing as well.  It was a nice evening on board. 

Our last port of call was Palma Spain.  We did not arrive there until 1pm.  I found this amusement park (Katmandu park) that looked cool that was only 20 minutes from the port.  We decided we would take a taxi there.  It worked out great.  We got off the ship, fairly quickly and walked to the taxi stand.  We got a taxi right away.  The driver took us right there.  We got tickets and we did all the attractions.  We started first in the house.  It was a trick house.  The elevator looked like we were going down but actually we were going up.  It was a cool fun house.  There was even games for the kids to play.  We did some 4D movies and Austin and Sydney even played in the waterpark.  We also played putt putt golf.   Austin and Sydney rode on some small go karts as well.  They had a great time.  We took a taxi back to the port.  

We had separated dinner reservations with each child.  I had dinner with Sydney and Brian had dinner with Austin.  It worked out nicely.  However we were all very tired. 

On Sunday morning, we woke up early to get off the ship.  We took a taxi to the airport.  We waited in line for a while for the airline check in to open.  Then we had to go though security and customs.  It seemed like we waited in a lot of lines. Then we were on the plane back to Tortono.  We did a lot of homework with the kids on the plane.  Then we watch some movies.  Even though, it was a 9 hour flight the kids did great.  Sydney refused to eat the airplane food but Austin ate it. 

Once in Toronto, we had to go though customs and get our luggage.  Then get on the car park shuttle.  It seemed like it too forever however it really didn’t.  We were just ready to get home.  The kids fell asleep around 6pm our time.  We stopped at McDonalds to try and fed them and keep them awake but that didn’t really help. It was foggy on the drive home.  Brian and I were very happy when we got home at 9pm (3am from what we were used to)! 

Labor Day and Brian's Birthday

Labor Day weekend was different than in year's past.  We usually always go to the Air Show.  However it was so hot that we did not.  We had some friends invite us over for swim parties so we did that instead.  It was fun hanging out with friends.  On Monday, we did go up to Cleveland to watch the Blue Angels.  We didn't go into the Air Show just watched from downtown.  Afterwards, we let the kids play in the splash pad area of Public Square.  It was so hot.  They enjoyed that!

Austin played flag football this fall.  He likes it.  He practices twice a week with games on Saturday.  He likes being with all of his friends.  Sydney is playing soccer for her school this fall.  She loves it.  She only practices once a week with games on Saturdays.  Luckily the games, haven't conflicted much so we have been able to see both football and soccer games.

Brian's birthday was during the week this year.  We celebrated on Sunday.  Austin had a birthday party that Brian took him to.  It was a swim party that was outside.  It has been unseasonably warm this fall.  They stayed a while since Austin was having fun.  We were going to go out to dinner but Brian didn't want to since he had just ate at the party.  So Brian just picked up Wendy's for everyone.  Then we had pie and ice cream.  Austin and Sydney had a great time celebrating Brian's birthday!