W47 of Y2

You will see no pictures of any of the kids in this post!!!

That's because Jeremy and I escaped to Rome for our 11th wedding anniversary - without the kids. It was everything we imagined it would be.... and more!

The snow covered Alps looked so cool from the plane

First sight of Rome! You can see St. Peters square and the Colosseum from the plane.



Jeremy was soooo smart and arranged for a private driver to pick us up from the airport to take us to our apartment.

Our apartment wasn't ready yet so the owner asked us to come back in a few hours. This was fine with us though - we couldn't wait to get out and explore the city!

Our first meal. Pizza, of course, and this other thing.... I can't remember the name. The crust tasted like a donut though.


Burlusconi's house (Italian Prime Minister). There were a lot of people there with camera's so we waited for a minute to see if something interesting was going to happen.... but it didn't.

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument at the Piazza Venezia

Foro Romano

The Via Sacra with the Arch of Constantine in the background

The Colosseum

A very expensive cannolli. 15 euro for this and a bottle of water.
We quickly learned to never sit at any tables inside of cafes!!


Trevi Fountain - if you leave money the legend says you will return to Rome.
I left money and Jeremy didn't. hmmm...
Outside the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Which way next?

Nuns and Priests everywhere. At first I kept wanting to take pictures of them, but soon I realized they were everywhere!!

Fountain of Neptune at the Piazza Novona


The bakery by our apartment that we went to every day.

walking down the alley to our apartment to get settled in

The outside of our apartment

Our little midget door

Room #1

Room #2

Cozy kitchen
Bathroom(s?)

We loved our apartment. The owner told us it is over 400 years old! We felt a little like we were in a cave though and our clothes, blankets, and towels always felt wet. It was the weirdest thing. The location was perfect though. We were in the middle of everything!

After getting settled we went back out for dinner. This time we went to a square close to our apartment Campo de' Fiori which was known for being the site of public executions. This guy in the statue was burned alive on this spot in 1600 for believing that the earth was round. They built this statue, after they realized he was right, as a way of saying sorry.

We decided to eat at Sloppy Sams and outside too! The weather was so nice.

All of that just on the first day!! Whew!


The next morning we started out at the farmers market at Campo di'Fiori again. It was just around the corner from our apartment.

Breakfast is served!

We also picked up lots of little goodies to snack on during the day and everything we needed to make an authentic Italian dinner in our apartment for that night.

Stopping along the river to look at the map. Castel Sant'Angelo in the background, also known as Hadrians Tomb and is known for the tortures that took place there.

Can you believe we found a USO on the way to Vatican City? We stopped in for a few minutes... just because we could.

The cutest dog walking around looking for someone to play with.

We took a 3-hour tour of the Vatican Museums. While I wanted to take pictures of everything... I didn't. I am only posting my favorite pieces in the museum. Of course, they wouldn't let us take any pictures at all in the Sistine Chapel.

A well-deserved lunch after the long tour

We were so tired after lunch and the sun was so hot we just sat in St. Peter's square and vegged. I think Jeremy was sleeping, actually. Here is the Obelisk that is said to have the remnants of Christs actual cross in the ball on the very top.

Sunglasses were a MUST on this trip!

Gelato!!

After a while a young choir marched onto the square and sang


Ok... time to move on. I swear, I think we could have sat there ALL DAY!

Back to our apartment to cook the yummy food we got from the farmers market that morning. SO GOOD! I am determined to find an Italian market somewhere here in Germany now. We had wonderful pasta cooked with garlic-infused olive oil with pesto sauce and a tomato/chili sauce.

Somehow we found the energy to go back out after dinner to see some of the sights at night. You can see St. Peters Basilica in the background.

We walked by an Irish Pub, that used to be a theater in the early 1900's, that was playing the Steelers vs. Ravens game and stopped in for just a "minute" to watch the game...

...Well, that "minute" turn about 3 hours. Shortly after we got there the place got so packed full of Americans that we couldn't have gotten out if we wanted to. It was fun though. They were all either English teachers or University students. We felt a little like chaperons at the high school prom but it was fun.

Our friends from that night.

The next morning Jeremy wanted bacon and eggs. So, being the good wife that I am, I ran right out to the supermarket just around the corner from our apartment to gather supplies.

I loved these little cafes all over the city. They don't look that nice and the tables are in the middle of the bumpy "street" but for some reason they just looked so charming. It must have been the red and white checkered table clothes.

Someone told us about this church (aka Capuchin Crypt) that houses the skulls and bones of 4000+ Cappuccini Monks. It was on the way to the Spanish Steps so we thought we would check it out. We couldn't take photo's though - it was pretty impressive to see all the different arrangements of bones. A little eerie... but interesting.


Right next to the Crypt we saw a Hard Rock Cafe. Looking at all of those bones sure worked up an appetite!

YUM!!!


The top of the Spanish Steps. We learned that Sundays, in Italy, are for going out to be seen and to see the city. Everyone was out! It helped that the weather was so nice too.

Jeremy insisted that this guy take my portrait. I didn't realize how awkward it was going to be to stare at someone in the eyes for 30 minutes!

Then to make matters worse a crowd quickly developed and would look at the picture and then look at me and make a little face. I was dying to see what they were looking at!

At the bottom of the Spanish Steps

Piazza del Popolo with the Pincio Gardens in the background.



Rome was full of many different types of street performers. This one was one of my favorites!

One last walk across the bridge with a great view of St. Peters Basilica one last time.

11 years of marital bliss to my best friend. I love you!

The night before we could barely walk down this little alley because people were packed outside the Ristorante waiting for a table. We thought it must be good, and it was so close to our apartment. So we decided to have our last Italian dinner here.

Mixed Frieds. Not really sure what everything was, but they were all soooo good!!!

Rissoto and Roman Pizza

Tiramisu for dessert

Waiting to board our plane Jeremy had to translate Italian into German for this couple.
During this trip he was speaking Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English!

Good ol'Ryanair. We had a great weekend. None of this would have been possible if we didn't have the best au pair ever! We are so grateful for her.

We felt like we saw everything we wanted to see and were ready to get back home to our babies.

However, Rome will not be forgotten anytime soon.

W46 of Y2

We decided that, even though the holidays were over, that we would go to one last Christmas Market that stayed open a little later in Speyer. I was so disappointed that we only went to one other one this year. Plus Lindsay, our aupair, didn't make it to any this year so this was her first ever!!


It was small but had everything you need to enjoy a good Christmas market.

Crepes with nutella!!

The bad part about this week is that we found out that Aiden was infested with head lice!!! We freaked out and probably over reacted and shaved his head. We spent 3 days washing, cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, throwing tons of stuff away, sanitizing, etc... Poor Aiden was crying while Jeremy shaved his head. But even after shampooing everyone's hair with the lice shampoo we just didn't want to take any chances on it coming back. I NEVER want to go through that again!!!!


The kids are soooooo ready to go back to school. They all had a full 3 weeks out and have their first day back tomorrow. Even they can't wait to go back! It's been a wonderful holiday break, but we're all anxious to be back on a normal schedule again.

W45 of Y2

This week we had fun playing with all our Christmas toys!

Connor got this 'put-it-together-yourself' roller coaster from Grandma Sheri. It came in a million pieces with terrible directions. It took "us" 3 days to put the thing together!

I caught Whitney having a tea party with her new Cinderella doll one morning.

Connor's Birthday!!

As soon as Christmas is over it is time to start planning Connor's birthday party each year. This year he wanted to do a swimming party again (since he got sick last year and didn't make it).

I can't believe my baby is already 9 years old!! This is the last year of single digits for him. :(

Waiting for their friends to arrive





Jeremy was having so much fun playing with the 4 boys while me and Whitney hung out in the shallow pool.



After swimming all day we took all the kids and Grandma and Grandpa to pizza hut for dinner


Connor asked me to make him a carrot cake for his birthday. It was painfully obvious that he was disappointed that I made cupcakes instead of a big cake. I was worried about taking a big cake with candles inside Pizza Hut. Oh well... they were still good!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!

New Year's Eve

After last years huge New Year's Eve party we started the night out with big expectations!
We even told the boys they could stay up this year to see all the fireworks.
However.... this is how the night went:

11:30 the streets were empty. You could hear a whisper! Brad and Sheri went to bed and Aiden had fallen asleep on the couch.
11:45 we put Connor to bed and started getting ready for bed too.
11:58 took one last look outside hoping to catch a glimpse of a firework and saw people walking around.
12:00 FIREWORKS!!

Once again tons of fireworks right in the middle of the street outside our house, in between all the cars! However, you could tell the real party was one block down. I think last year the big party was on our street and this year we had a more toned-down version. It was still fun to watch!


The fireworks got Brad back out of bed and Connor wasn't asleep yet so the 4 of us watched through our bedroom window. Aiden tried so hard to stay awake and was really disappointed he missed them.


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

W44 of Y2

This week started out getting ready for Grandma and Grandpa Cates. They were supposed to get here on Wednesday but their flight was canceled due to the weather and the next available flight wouldn't get here until Christmas Day! We were so disappointed (and so were they!).



The boys wanted to make a popcorn garland after seeing one in a book we read, so we did. It started out not so great until I found some thimbles and the boys learned how to stop poking themselves. Whitney just ate the popcorn! :)

Christmas Eve

It started snowing that morning and didn't stop all day.
We were so surprised at how big the snowflakes were!


Jeremy's parents were so lucky and were able to get a flight that arrived on Christmas Eve.
We were so happy!!

Aiden immediately put Grandma to work and they put this puzzle together within her first 30 minutes of being in our home. I was pretty impressed! After flying all day/night and with jetlag. She's amazing!!

Finally.... Christmas can get here now! We are all safe and warm and together!!!

Christmas Eve dinner: Prime Rib (with horseradish), Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli, Tomato/Mozzarella Salad, Brotchen, Green Salad, Fruit Salad. Not pictured: Pecan Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, Banana Cream Pie

Brand new Christmas Eve PJ's!!!! (Thanks Mammaw!)

Waiting for Santa

The calm before the storm

Traditional picture on the stairs before the kids are allowed to see what Santa brought. Can you see the anticipation in their eyes???

Let it begin....

Everyone got what they wanted

Aiden's bucket of money

Connor's massaging chair

Whitney got the chocolate she wanted - plus some other things




Aiden was soooo excited to give this shirt to Jeremy!

A racoon hat with tail from my parents. Just what Connor asked for.



TWINS!!

The rest of the day we played lots of games, ate lots of food, stayed in our PJs all day and watched movies. We stayed inside where it was warm and watched the snow as it kept coming down outside. It was the perfect Christmas Day!

The whole gang at church on Sunday. We were so happy to have Brad and Sheri there with us!