Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. December seemed to have flown by and I have lost days somewhere in there with all the hustle and bustle of events that seemed to get packed in.

Where Are You From?

So it seemed like all my friends on Facebook were linking up to this quiz on the New York Times web page. After over 11 years of moving around (Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, California, and now Illinois) I was wondering where I would land on the spectrum. I know a lot of people upon first meeting me wonder where I am originally from...well until I say something that has an "O" in it....then they have a handful of phrases they just can't wait to hear me say! Sure you betcha, I can do dat for youse guys...Is usually my response.

But I guess I am a MN girl at heart.

Even though I recognized a lot of the other answers to the questions I went with my gut, and apparently   22 years in Minnesota still hasn't been beat out of me these past 11 years. I have really enjoyed living all over the country and having friends from different regions that have distinct accents and learning all the different terms or slang for items different then what I grew up with. J may even joke that I must have spent a lot of time with certain friends during the day...suddenly I sound like I am from Mississippi and start "fixin'" to do something and calling everyone sweetie y'all.

Go ahead and see what you come up with. Come back and share. Is it different then what you expected?

Almost Christmas

 Seasons Greetings from the boys. Christmas is almost here and we have been busy with parties, shopping, decorating, and soon baking. Today just so happens to be the boys last day of school, Christmas break starts in 20 minutes or so. It was a great day for them. J is his classes student of the month and I was able to go and watch the presentation (and watch him gobble down two sugar coated donuts) while his two teachers rave about what a great student and fun boy to have in the classroom. M was super excited to have french toast sticks for lunch (yup the little things with him) and N didn't have to change out of his pj's since it was pajama day and movie day in prek and he was thrilled to show everyone his Yoda slippers.

MN Thanksgiving

In most squadrons that J has been in they do a lottery for the leave over the holiday season. In the past when we lived so far away from MN we never really put in for the holiday leave, 5-7 days just simply wasn't enough to drive to one set of parents and then to the other set and then drive back to where we were living. What kind of vacation is that anyway? Living much closer now we decided to sign up for the Thanksgiving break, and got 7 whole days for traveling and visiting family. We managed to see all of our immediate family members and had a wonderful time. On J's side we took the opportunity to spend some time with the matriarchs of the Detloffs and have also snap some pictures...they are a little blurry, my choice of lens and the timer option didn't work out they way I wanted.

Halloween Flashback

I just realized I never posted about our Halloween...you would be missing out if I didn't post about it! The older two boys decided they wanted to think a little outside the box (or bag you could say) this year and M wanted to be Legolas and J wanted to be Robin Hood. After doing some research I found that making their costumes would assure that the boys would be happy. Thankfully JoAnnes had an awesome sale going on for patterns and material so off I went with my ideas and came home with bags full of fun.

I got to work cutting out patterns and material...boy I wish I had a separate craft room!

Zipping Through the Fall Season

So this fall on one of those long 4 day weekends the boys had we decided to do something extra fun. Originally we were going to spend one day at Six Flags with friends, drive to a camp ground and camp, hit up one of the local caves and hike around, camp another night and then off to Zipline in another part of the state. However, with a monster head cold that I ended up with we decided to downsize the plan a bit...which was good because a pretty nasty storm came through and it would not have been very fun. So we streamlined it with a day at Six Flags, coming home, and then driving out to Zipline and Eco Zipline Tours in Missouri.

Race Day, Getting Dirty

 Back in September a group of the spouses in J's squadron decided it would be fun to put some of all our running to a challenge. So after a little research and discussion we decided to try out a 5K Dirty Girl sponsored race about an hour away.

 

First Day...3 Months Late

Ok, I know I am a little late getting these up, but posting all those from the Europe trip took longer then I originally intended. It was worth it though, remembering what we did and saw...it just took a lot of time sorting, posting and adding words.

So 3 months ago the boys had their first day of school, August 12 a little early...but this momma was ready for it! Love my boys, but I was done fighting them over keeping their brains active and it was time for more structured learning.

N-Prek, J-4th, and M-5th

Day 10, 11 and 12: The Final 3 days

After a quick trip on the train from Rome to Naples we were fortunate enough to meet up with our good friends from the past couple of assignments. They were kind enough to play tour guides and opened their house up to us. The boys may have been a little upset that we were staying with them and their wonderful kiddos...the kids that they miss dearly. They may have forgiven us a little when we were able to Face Time with them and also hooked them up with an instagram account to share photos and videos back and forth.

Day 9: All Roads Lead to Rome

So after a restful night sleep at the hotel, we woke up the next morning had our complimentary breakfast on the terrace top over looking the city and formed a game plan for the day. There was another American couple doing the same...using the Rick Steves' guide as well...everywhere you turn you see someone with that book!

We decided to start off with one of the walks on the Rick Steves' play lists (not sure which since in order to clear up space on the phone I deleted all the tours and we also gave our Italy book to our good friends who played host to us when we were in Naples). But I do know that we started at the Spanish Steps and walked past Palazzo Senatorio (Rome's City Hall), and various other parks and monuments to various leaders of Rome. 

Day 8: Vatican City

After spending the day in Florence, we woke up and once again found ourselves repacking the suitcases and making our way back to the train station. We bought two tickets, found some lunch and hopped onto the train to Roma, thats Rome to all of you non-Italian speakers. Over our trip we spent a lot of time on trains and spent the extra money to take the express trains over the local service trains that stop at almost every small town along the way, with limited time we decided that time out weighed the cost of a couple upgrades.

When traveling to Italy in particular you have to do a little research on what days and times the attractions are actually open to the public; some places close mid afternoon, some places are closed on Mondays. We knew we had to get to Rome as early as possible to drop off our bags and hike over to Vatican City, if we didn't get tickets before 4 we wouldn't get to go in at all while there since it was scheduled to be closed the following day.

Day 7: Lean on in to see Italy

So after moving to a hotel closer to the Paris Orly Airport, we slept for a couple of hours in a huge room with a nonfunctioning air conditioning unit....at least we got Hilton points I guess. At 4am we were hitting the shuttle (while others were checking in for the night), and making our way to check into  our Easy Jet flight to Pisa, Italy. For those that haven't traveled to Europe beware of their super stingy luggage restrictions, we planned ahead and had gotten smaller carry-ons (which you are only allowed ONE ITEM) and paid for one checked bag. After boarding and taking off it was a quick flight to our destination, we passed through customs quickly, swapped out our SIM card on the pay as you go phone we bought in London and flagged down a cabbie to take us on a quick tour.

For thirty quick minutes we had the taxi driver take us to the touristy part of town, he zipped around pointing and talking in broken English...mostly Italian...at buildings and other points of interest in Pisa.

Paris Day 6: Put on Your Walking Shoes Once More

On day six of our vacation we put on our walking shoes and took to the streets of Paris and saw as many sights as we could pack into the day. We checked out of the hotel, but as with many hotels you can store your luggage for the day so you can still tour the sights. Many of the museums and points of interest will have bag checks, but with all the metro rides and miles walking it was faster keeping our bags at our hotel. Since we were staying in the Bastille neighborhood we past by this tower many times a day marking the Place de la Bastille. The Colonne de Juillet (July Column) marks the spot of Bastille, a fortress (built to protect France from England during the Hundred Years' War) later turned prison. The Bastille was home to more then just the French, but also was a headquarters of sort for other conquering countries of the time including England and Burgundy. Originally other monuments were to be erected at this square as early as 1792, but with the constant changes and revolutions the final monument wasn't completed until 1840.

We turned to Rick Steves once more and his downloadable app for the iPhone and listened to the many city walks for Paris in order to see the sights on our last day. We started with doing the Marais Walk right at Place de la Bastille. We enjoyed the architecture of the buildings, the unique shops, and watching the people of the streets go about their daily lives. 

European Travels: Day 5 Eiffel Tower and Versailles

On day 5 we made big plans to knock out two big attractions, the Eiffel Tower and taking the train out to the town of Versailles and touring the sprawling Château that was home to the French Monarch. We may have worn our shoes out with all the miles we put on that day, but it was well worth the venture outside the city to see such a beautiful and historic landmark.

Once again we made sure to follow Rick Steves' suggestion in his book about getting to the Eiffel Tower early to avoid the long lines. I think regardless of what time you get to the park, there will be a line, just make sure to grab a coffee and a pastry while you wait.

A Little Distraction From the Real World: Continuing Our European Vacation Day 4

As the country faces struggles over the government shutdown and the uncertainty of whether those we elected can ever agree, I think it is time to get another post up about our wonderful trip we took this summer to Europe. It could be I just wish we were back on vacation, and not worrying what services will be closing and whether or not we will have money come pay day...I know military members will get paid come this pay day, but it is just a band aid for a much larger looming problem. So lets have some fun happy pictures and experiences from this summer.

So early in the morning we headed out of London leaving from Kings Crossing via the EuroStar (aka the Chunnel). It really wasn't a long trip, a little ear popping from time to time, and we were out of the Chunnel and cruising through the French countryside. Once arriving in Paris we swapped out our money, bought the Paris Museum Pass, and jumped onto the metro and quickly found our hotel (Hotel Bastille Speria, once again picked out of the Rick Steves' Travel Guide "Paris") in the Marais District. After dropping off our belongings at the very comfortable and ideally located hotel we ate lunch at one of the many cafes in the neighborhood. We tried risotto for the first time before heading for the metro once again for some time at the Louvre. Buckle your seat belt for another overload of pictures...almost all of it artwork.

London Photo Bomb Day 3

Sorry for the delay, going through pictures, souvenirs, and guide books is more time consuming then I thought. I really want to make sure to document this wonderful experience, but I really thought recapping would be easier then this...I really want to try to remember all the fun and unique experiences that we had.

We parted our friends house outside of London with all our luggage and made our way to the hotel for the night on day 3. We would be leaving early the 4th day on the Eurostar and stayed close to the terminal since we had pre-purchased our transportation to Paris. Most hotels in Europe allow you to check in and leave your baggage in a storage area until your room is vacant and cleaned so it made touring much easier. We relied on our Rick Steve's London handbook when picking out our hotels for most of the trip and he never failed in providing a comfortable, clean, and air conditioned room. This time we stayed at The Sumner Hotel, close to the Marble Arch and several tube stations.

We stayed in a district of London that is now predominately occupied with Middle Eastern Muslim families and businesses. We had been recommended a place for lunch, but we failed to realize that it was Ramadan and they were closed, however, the restaurant across the street was open and serving the tourists...I did feel bad about eating though, knowing that they weren't able to. The hotel was just a couple blocks from the Marble Arch, a ceremonial arch that originally was located by Buckingham Palace, but when the Palace needed to be expanded was relocated to this district of the city.

London Photo Bomb Day 1 and 2

So it has been almost a month since we left for our European vacation and I guess it is about time to share some of our pictures. First stop was London, we stayed with some good friends about a 45 minutes from downtown. The first night we stayed local and went to some local pubs for some nightlife. Sadly this is the only picture I got from that night....we had way too much fun!

Early the next morning we hopped on the commuter and navigated the tube to start seeing the sights.

Whirlwind Adventures to Normal Day Routine

We are back home trying to get back into our daily routine of life. Boy it's hard to come home and have to cook and clean after running all over Europe and having it done for you! The boys have kept me busy getting registered for school, having physicals done and getting some school shopping done before they start of the 12th of August. We also got to host my sister and her family this week, touring the Arch and also doing the local beer tour ;) I will get to posting pictures of the amazing trip the hubby and I went on, but some things need to get done around here first....maybe even a nap or two ;)

Jet Setter

On Sunday we leave, can't believe it is almost here

My head is spinning, vacation planning overseas is so overwhelming 

So much to read and research

Tickets to museums and attractions still need to be bought

Post it notes full of stuff that still needs to be taken care of

Hubby still working like crazy back home and ended up on an emergency mission to Canada

Farm Fresh in Photos