Off to Ireland!

The colorful doors of Dublin...

Last weekend, we went to Dublin, Ireland! I have wanted to go there since forever! It's been on my list of "top 10 things I want to do in life" and now I can cross it off! It is a great city and we had a blast. I definitely want to go back again.

The Dublin we saw perhaps wasn't the Dublin I would've seen 10 years ago if I had gone with Denise, Mike, and Jake when they went, but someone did throw up! This time, it wasn't from too much Guiness-poor Lainey (and poor bus driver) got sick on the bus tour to Malahide Castle and Dublin Bay. Luckily, she got sick in the last 20 minutes of the trip and it was a pretty empty bus.

Aside from that incident, we had fun. We certainly had the "luck of the Irish" with us the first day! When we got to our hotel, our room wasn't ready so they upgraded us to a penthouse suite-not bad! We now know why this type of room is called a "suite"-it was SWEET! It had 2 bedrooms and a living room/kitchen complete with washer which came in handy when Lainey got sick. It was in a great location, right off St. Stephen's Green, which is like their version of Central Park. The tulips were already blooming there! We had fun at the playground and wandering over the bridges and running around on the green grass-no snow there!

We got lucky again that day when we went into our first real Irish pub. We ordered our lunch, and the waitress brought out a free pint of some cider they were promoting for each of us! Yipee again!

The rest of the weekend was great too. We did a double-decker bus tour, which pleased our kids to no end. They love double-decker transportation of any kind! We toured the Guiness Storehouse, visited the historic gaol (jail), saw the Molly Malone statue, sipped a Jameson's at the whisky factory, and learned some Irish dancing! The kids really enjoyed the Irish music and dancing. They were so funny trying to keep up with the steps.

We took a guest on the trip with us. Flat Stanley. He's a character from a book that my friend Michelle's daughter sent us to take pictures with as part of a school project. We had fun taking pictures with him, but I'm sure others thought we were crazy! Hopefully, her daughter will be happy with how far her Stanley went!

Here are some pics from the trip:

Jason and the kids with Molly Malone-my kids can sing most of the song now thanks to the music and dance show we went to.

My personal favorite picture of Flat Stanley. Somehow, I don't think this one is a good one for the class project though!

Fun times in the souvenir store.

Atop of the Guiness Storehouse where you get your "free" pint (after paying 14 euros to take the tour). We had an awesome 360 degree view of the city and some extremely fresh pints of Guiness (the kids had Sprite:)

Slainte! Tasting room at Guiness (we probably won't win any parenting awards for taking our kids to the Guiness factory, but there were many other kids there, too! Besides, our last big trip was to Disneyland Paris-one for the kids, one for the parents:)

Blame it on Asthma

In the past year, both kids were diagnosed with asthma. Then, the doctor wanted me to be tested, too since there is a strong connection between maternal/child asthma. So, I got tested and found out I also have asthma, and not just a mild version like the kids! To use one of my favorite BBC words- I was gobsmacked! (I just love British expressions! I'm going to start using them in everyday speech just to humor myself)

How did I not realize I had asthma all these years? Then it occured to me that I've never had much endurance in sports and I do cough a lot. So I guess that's asthma-not the wheezing and inability to breathe that I once thought it was. The doctor gave the kids and I daily inhalers which should help over time. Wait and see if you feel better and cough less he said.

I have NEVER liked running. I've always said it's pointless unless someone was chasing me with a knife. I've made all sorts of excuses to avoid running. But, I know it's one of the best forms of exercise. Last year, I forced myself to run a 5K. I trained for weeks to do this silly little race and hated every stinking minute of it. I finished it (barely and painfully), then refused to run again because I hated it so much. But today, at the gym, I ran on the treadmill because I was late for the class I wanted to do.

I thought to myself "I'll just do 20 minutes and see how much of it I can jog". At the 17 minute mark, I realized I wasn't even breathing hard. I kept running because I could. After a bit longer, I realized I could make it 5 K's, so I kept going. I wasn't breathless or miserable or tired at all! In fact, I actually thought the machine might be broken-it wasn't possible I'd been on that long! But sure enough, I ran the entire 5K! I could've even kept going, but decided that was enough for the first time running in almost a year. I am so proud of myself! I think the medication has really improved my endurance!

Maybe all these years I wasn't just lazy and/or out of shape...I just had asthma!

Maybe I'll end up liking running now. (Or, at least not hate it with every ounce of my being!)

Childish Humor

Lately, it has been a constant battle in our house against "potty talk". I guess that's what happens when you have a 5 year old boy. Poop is hilarious, and don't even get the kids started on "toots". So, on a daily basis, I'm preaching about being polite and how talking of bodily functions is inappropriate.

Then, today in the car I'm listening to the radio (I can finally understand some of the German announcers). It's a traffic report, I can tell that much. At the end of the report, the announcer says "Gute Fahrt" (meaning have a good trip), but it sounds like "Good Fart".

Then I, the one who preaches against potty humor, busted out laughing. Uncontrollably. The kids, who are in the back seat, have no idea why I'm laughing. It just struck me as hilarious to hear "fart" on the radio.

I guess potty humor is just funny sometimes. Either that, or I'm spending way too much time with my kids and my mentality is beginning to match theirs.

Fun in Germany with Friends

Yesterday, we drove up by Stuttgart, Germany to visit my friends Cassie and Marianne and their families. Their kids, Noah and Lydia, were in Gymboree with Aidan as babies. Cassie's family moved to Germany about 2 years ago, and this is the first time we got to visit them. We went to a fun, but cold, park with lots of climbers and a really fun zip line.

After the park, we went to a much warmer funzone. This place was awesome. Think Jungle Java on steroids. It had climbers like JJ, but also had tons of ride-on toys, a roller slide, and best of all, trampolines. The trampolines reminded me of the ones at the mini-golf course my grandpa used to take Becky and me to, only these were much safer :). What was really cool is how they also cater to parents. They had big lounge chairs, a few massage chairs, and since it's Europe, they served beer and wine along with coffee! We had a blast-adults included!

Crawling through a caterpillar.

The big climbing maze-much bigger than any I've seen before!

Fun on the trampoline.

After the Funzone, Cassie took all the kids back to her house and her husband, Brent, Marianne, Jason and I went out to dinner (Thanks, Cassie!) Here are some of the kids just before crashing...

It was a great day! Brent even took Jason and I grocery shopping (weird vacation activity, I know). We have heard how much cheaper things are in Germany than in Switzerland, and it is SO true! I bought 2 huge roasts, some chicken, and shrimp that would've cost quadruple what I paid in Switzerland! We stocked up on pop, wine, canned goods, you name it and it was much cheaper! I now see why people are willing to drive 45 mins across the border for food, especially meat. I think this will be a regular occurance for us now, too!

Here is a hilarious clip of Jason playing with the kids at Funzone...

Art and Feelings Day at school

Last week parents were invited to come to the Kindergarten performance and art day. The kids had been learning about feelings and how to represent feelings through art in different mediums. Here we are painting with watercolors.

Aidan with his teacher

Aidan's clay representation of "bored"-sorry I can't turn it the right way. (Sometimes I hate this program!)

Aidan using clay.

His watercolor painting of "shy".

His "angry" picture-complete with blood oozing from the mouth and bullets shooting from his ears...nice. What are they teaching my kid at school???

Below is a clip from his dance performance. They were acting out feelings. Can you guess what feeling this is?

Ice Skating

I took the kids ice skating for the first time today. Lainey has been asking to go since sometime last year when she saw figure skaters on TV. All around where we live, they have really nice, kid-friendly, ice rinks. They all have some sort of thing for kids to hang on to while they are learning. Some have really cute penguins or polar bears, but where we went they just had these yellow things that looked like walkers for old people.

Both kids had skates with just one runner, in fact, Aidan's were hockey skates! It was pretty hard for them. I kind of figured they'd get frustrated and want to leave after a few minutes of spending most of the time on their bottoms instead of their feet. However, they surprised me! Both of them were real troopers, getting up and trying again and not getting frustrated. Lainey caught on pretty quickly how to push and skate, but it took Aidan a lot longer and with many more falls. He kept trying to pick up his feet, which is not a good idea.

However, after just an hour on skates, both kids were able to actually stand up and skate a bit! I was so proud of them, they just kept on trying until they could do it. We'll definitely keep going skating so that they can build confidence. We had a blast!

Scroll down for videos...

Sorry this video is sideways...I can't figure out how to turn it.

Lainey says...

Exhibits A and B...

Lainey has been saying some of the funniest things lately, so I think I just need to jot them down so I don't forget.

First of all she has the funniest little voice. Sometimes I still can't understand what she's saying, which frustrates her to no end. She growls at me and says "nevermind Mother" and huffs off.

She sounds like a valley girl sometimes too. Especially when she says "Oh my gosh!" and also when she's frustrated with me and calls me "Mother"

She's picked up a few words/phrases from Jason, Aidan and I too. From Aidan she's picked up trailing off a sentence with "blah, blah, blah", reminiscent of Elaine on Seinfeld's "yadda, yadda, yadda". From Jason and me, she's picked up on using the words "anyways" and "familiar". For example, at the Dinosaur Museum today she said "That dinosaur doesn't look familiar to me." She uses "anyways" in almost every sentence lately. As in "I got water on my shirt when I washed my hands anyways I have to change it now" (Her usage doesn't always make the most sense!)

She also talks with her hands a lot-it's those Italian genes running through her! (See above exhibits A and B!) She's just so expressive in her gestures and facial expressions. I really have a hard time not laughing at her, no matter what she's saying.

Basically, she uses a combination of "big" adult words with a valley girl accent and theatrical gestures and facial expressions. Overall, it's just funny. I really need to get her on video.

Girls' Night Out

Yesterday, I went out in the city with just the girls. I'm slowly but surely building up a good group of friends here. The newest addition is a new GM wife, Becky. She just moved here the beginning of January from the Detroit area. All in all, there were 7 of us who went out to dinner and to see Revolutionary Road. This was my first experience going to a movie in Zurich. It's quite different. You have to make reservations and get assigned a seat, like you would at a play in the States. The latest movie (even on the weekend) is 8:45pm. Plus, one ticket is 18chf! But, like at the Emagine, they sell beer wine and mixed drinks. Revolutionary Road was a downer though. Good acting, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone...way too depressing!

After the movie, we went to a few bars. One of the things that really irritates me here is that you can't find light beer. They have lots of different kinds, even American ones, but none are light. I don't really like regular beer, except for Guiness, but I don't want to always pay the crazy high prices for wine or (worse yet) mixed drinks. So, when we went to this one dive bar called Nelson's (think college bar scene, sticky floor, tiny dance area, etc) imagine my excitement when I found out they had Coors Light! It literally made my night! Now that I know this place has it, I know that you must be able to buy Coors Light somewhere else in Switzerland.

Now I have a new shopping mission! Me, Kirsten, Becky and Megan at Nelson's with our Coors Light

Sam, Jude, Becky, me, Kirsten, and Megan at the Australian bar/restaurant.