The Big Dipper...new and improved with more pekinese!

Year two of the Big Dipper..The free ice cream festival in Elm Park that benefits Children's Hospital. Here are Gia and Mike pre-ice cream...


And here's Mario. Nina wasn't sure how he climbed that huge bridge with such short legs. Come to think of it, she asked me how I made it up there too.

ah...so cute.

During and post-ice cream infusion.

and then there is the star of the day.

Not sure whose kid this is, or why she is sticking her finger up Mario's nose--that's really a bad idea. He was more popular than the kids and just as high maintenance (which is saying something).

Barcelona: the food post

Why am I so freaking happy?

Because every morsel of food in Barcelona was absolutely delicious. Tapas were the standard meal for lunch and dinner. Little plates of deliciousness. Yes, those are anchovies. Those were mine. The french fries are Bill's (that can't be a surprise...and he did ask for ketchup. I was mortified).

Did I mention it is impossible to get a bad cup of coffee? Unless you go to Starbucks, they do exist there, and they are filled with Americans.

An awesome farmer's market...those are shakes in the lower right, buried in ice with only the straw sticking out.

Yum--Shrimp! With eyes!

Also, everyone starts drinking at noon.

possibly another reason I was so happy. just saying.

at least one of us did not get locked up abroad

Since Bill is still in Barcelona while I write this, it is definitely possible that we may see him on the Discovery Channel (and honestly, if you've seen that show-he looks like a candidate).

I definitely belong somewhere in the mediterranean region. This would also mean that I would get to own a Vespa.

The architechture is like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

The Sauda Famiglia is a Cathedral designed by Gaudi. While it clearly has elements that make it look like a traditional cathedral, it is very modern as well.

The above is a view of the city from the Barcelona Art Museum.

But I did a fair amont of work too..see how tired I was?

Actually, that was in the art musuem...but I DID do work...seriously.

friends...and little brothers

Horseback lessons are going very well.
This is Penny. She likes alfalfa nuggets, head scratches and long walks on the beach.

Hannah and Gia are having a great time together at the lessons.

What a sweet picture, two great friends...

However, here is the whole picture.

Gotta love little brothers (seriously, is he is a little creepy in this picture or what?)

First Lesson!

Gia and Hannah had their first riding lesson today! They did fantastic--both were counting down the days, then the hours, then literally the MINUTES before the lesson. I think that it lived up to their expectations, that is, they are both thrilled to go back. For gia, the biggest challenge was not so much staying on the horse, but being quiet long enough to listen to the teacher.

One of the earliest and most important lessons that I learned through my years horseback riding was that if you demand respect, most often, you will get it. Horses do sense when you are not certain-not necessarily "fear" as the adage says--just that you are not sure what you want, and you probably are not going to follow through. Most of the horses that are used for schooling are very adept at figuring out if you are really going to make them go through their paces or if they can drag you over to the soft, sweet grass and spend the hour that you paid for eating while you sputter about on their back.

However, if you demand respect, even if you don't necessarily believe it totally, they will give it--despite the fact that they weigh hundreds of pounds more than you and are so much stronger, they will listen. This is a huge ego boost for a pre-teen. That something, anything, will listen to you and do your bidding--fantastically pleasing. Its's just a little cloying to say that if the horses respect you--than naturally it follows that you will demand respect from others, including your peers--but there is a lesson there.

So, while I expect Gia to swoon at how beautiful the horses are and fall in love with them, I hope she learns a little about her own power too.

Collections

we have a few collections in our house. Mike and I like to line them up, due to our OCD.

Iron Chef Pizza Challenge with special guest judge Danny W.!

Two puppies, two kids and Nina (let's be honest, she's a bit of a loose cannon). It's no wonder that we don't normally get guests to Sunday dinner. Sadly, we have to resort to cheap tricks like having Iron Chef challenges to get people to visit. The good news is it totally works!


The entries...




Nina's Tuscan Zucchini and Proscuitto Pizza












Mom went all rebel and did a Chicago Deep Dish Sausage Pizza.















Bill (bill? I know! I was so proud) did a Pepperoni-Surprise Thin Crust. It is way less naughty than it sounds.












Me. plain. (I prefer to call it classic) Someone always has to make something non-controversial at these challenges so that the kids have something to eat.


But what's this?? a dark horse...a COOKIE Pizza from team Danstin (or Judan?)
It looks like it has enough red dye #5 to send a small child into a seizure, but it is impossible to be immune to warm-chocolate chip cookie dough with frosting. Totally not fair. That's like putting crack in your pizza.


Gia makes the ballots--she does a great job. But, judging is hard work. Wine is necessary.

Of course the cookie won (actually they tied with Nina with 10 points).

Good job guys! (though I should warn you Bill is demanding a recount).

Mario says the next challege should be Purina-related.

Gingerbread House of Horror

Holiday baking! One of my favorite traditions! While the grown-ups were making chocolate dipped biscotti and limoncello, we set the kids to making gingerbread cookies for Santa.

Oh, how sweet! (now THIS would have made a good Christmas card!)

Hey look, Uncle Justin is here! Yay! He is just in time to decorate the cookies with the kids!

Oh, wait. Oh, my goodness. Well, when the kids can't fall asleep at night we'll know its not because they are excited for Santa...its because they can't get these images out of their heads...

Justin, I think its amazing that for your job, you catch dirtbags all day long and keep us safe from the bad guys. I am consistently impressed at how you maintain cheerful optimism when you get to see some of the nastiest people there are--but dude, my kids won't eat the gingerbread anymore. I think you may be a little sick...but, that's probably why I like you so much!

I can't wait to see what you do when its time to color easter eggs!

Sorry about the lame X-mas card...

But we are probably lucky that mike is in it at all.

He warned me as soon as I got the camera out.

"I no take picture with YOU."

I did not believe him. This kid is 2, I've got 32 years on him, so presumably I should be able to outsmart him.

He would not pose with Gianna, near Gianna, in the same room as the tree or anything that resembled a Christmas decoration.

Good girl G (She posed like this for about 30 minutes, can you see the strain in her eyes?)

Impressive G! but where is Mike?

There he is...can you spot him?

Near the end, I resorted to bribery--not a first, nor will it be the last time. But it didn't work!

He sobbed while he ate the chocolate which meant I was still left with no viable picture for the card. How can chocolate NOT work when you are 2?? Chocolate still works on me.

Next year I'm hiring Beth to do my X-mas cards.

Her X-men name could be "Mistress Mastercard"

It is Black Friday and I'm just sitting down to look at my purchases. We took in a good haul this year even though we are not the getting-up-at-4am type (of course, this means we are also not the trample-an-employee-for-cheap-walmart-crap type either, so I'm ok with it). If you need to get some shopping done--you need to go with Nina. To say that shopping is a sport for her does not give really give the experience justice--unless maybe the sport is speed skating backwards while jousting.

After going to IKEA to "look" at beds for Mike:

Note that NONE of these boxes contained a bed. Or anything for Mike.

and this really needs no explanation:

This was today:

I should mention that I never really regret the purchases. It's all good stuff, it just happens so fast, its kind of hard to remember how it started.

We love to think about what different family member's mutant power might be if we were superheros. At least I do. Yes, because I'm a big geek--I know this--no need to belabor the point. Anyhow, Nina's power would certainly be convincing people to purchase as much as they can, in as short of a time as possible. I think mine would be my really loud clapping.

Despite what you see here, my Dad's would totally have to be his ability to tell the same story over and over andoverandover again and NOT remember that he already told you about the time that his buddy Eddy ate his goldfish or that his dog finally had enough of fluffy the cat...Anyway, go to his NEW website and look around!

See, he's not always crying..

This week at teamworks didn't start out any better...

but it ended MUCH better!

Yay Mike! I'm so proud of you!