Orange Picking

Tommy is supposed to be working on a video for my London post, so here is a little something to hold you over until he finishes.

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to go to an agriturismo with some friends where we first picked oranges, and then got to eat a fabulous breakfast.

                     

Giant oranges that are sweet and juicy with very few seeds.  It only takes about 1 orange to make a cup of orange juice.  Yummy!

And  here is what we have done with many of the oranges....

Delish!

December 2012

December was a relatively busy month.  We started it out with the Christmas concert, which was so nicely done.  The band, the strings class, and the chorus all performed.  We have a small school, and a very small music program, so community members filled in and helped, at least in the band or chorus part.

Sam is next to the boy playing cello.  Most of the kids in strings were beginners, so the teacher had the 4 who had more experience shine in a quartet.

Sam was so excited when we moved here to find out they had a strings program.  She hadn't had an orchestra experience for 2 years, and nothing with school for 4.  Unfortunately, the strings/band teacher was offered a job with the international school in Belgium and has left us.  The school was unable to find a certified substitute, or a sub with any kind of strings experience, so the class has been dissolved.  The kids had to be moved into a different class in the same period, and with a small school, there isn't a lot of options. Sam was smart enough to be sure that she got into another music class since this was to be her fine arts credit.  Hopefully they will be able to find someone for next year.

I was lucky enough to chaperone Sam's Italian class on a field trip to Caltigerone.  We started the day at an Italian Catholic school where we picked up their 10th graders.  Then we headed into town and had a nice tour from their English teacher and the students.  Fortunately, their English teacher was from England, so there were no problems with communication breakdowns.

After a tour around the town.  We went back to the school where the kids who didn't come with us had made and set up food for a social.

The Italian kids were much more social than ours.  I think we had a bout 10 kids and there were a lot of Italian kids.  Ours got food, sat down on the chairs around the room and then were surrounded by Italians practicing their English.  It was a little overwhelming for our kiddos, but a good experience.  I believe the kids we met will be coming to our school sometime in the next couple of months.  We don't really have a tour for them, so it will be mostly social and then spending some time in classes to see what school is like for Americans.

Finally, Christmas.  We decided to head out for Christmas this year, and flew to London on Christmas Eve. That meant that Santa had to make an early stop at our house.

This is the first time we haven't had a fire place to put up our stockings, but we found a way!

Tommy was very excited to be able to set up his Christmas village.  He loves every piece and we didn't really have a spot to set it up for the past 2 years.  He takes a lot of time thinking about where each piece will go.

And our tree.  I hadn't set it up for the past 2 years either.  Again, we didn't really have a good spot, and we had a tree in NY waiting for us.  Since we weren't going home, I took the time to set it all up, but it was down the day we opened presents.  I had no desire to come home from vacation and have to clean up Christmas decorations.

Just a couple of photos of the kids opening presents.

So that was our semi-traditional Christmas.  Next up will be Christmas in London.

Belgium, part 3

Monday, after all the swimming was done, we left Antwerp and took the train to Brussels.  As we got off the train and walked up into the station, Sam's first observation was that Brussels smelled GOOD!  I am not sure if we were smelling chocolate or waffles or both, but it did smell good!  We only had Monday and a little bit of Tuesday to explore Brussels, so we quickly got to our hotel and were able to check in early.  We dropped our stuff and headed to walk around the city.

All of the museums were closed on Monday, so we were limited in what we could do.  First we headed out to find waffles.  And along the way we searched out what is the most famous statue in Brussels.  It is called Manneken-Pis.  It is this little statue of a boy peeing in a fountain. It is supposed to represent the irreverent humor of the people of Brussels.  My understanding is that he has several different costumes, but he was not wearing any the day we were there.

Along the way, we walked through a main square with some beautiful buildings.  They were setting up the Christmas Markets all over Brussels.  However, they don't open in Brussels until December.

Finally, the Manneken-Pis.  We thought he would be a bigger statue, but not so much.  After I forced my kids to get their picture here, we walked around the corner to find.....

What Tommy would probably describe as heaven!  A waffle stand, or actually, several!  So many choices!

The gummy on top of our waffles is the Manneken-Pis.  He showed up all over Brussels.  Tommy couldn't bring himself to eat the gummy, but had no problem with the waffle!

What we learned is that waffles in Belgium are nothing like Belgian waffles in the US.  They are sweeter and chewier, and oh-so much better.  I did find a recipe and have done a fairly good job and recreating them since we have been home.

A war memorial, if I remember, it was kind of like our tomb of the unknown soldier (however, I could be wrong)

Since Mike shot down the idea that the building in Bruges was my ancestral home, then this one must be.  It's the royal palace, and I think the flag flying on top indicates that the royals are present.  I wanted to knock on the door and introduce myself to my long, long lost family, but Mike and the kids, as well as the guard, didn't think it was a good idea =)

Before the day was over, we had to get some more fries!  So we searched out a shop...

YUM!

So that is a brief overview of our time in Belgium.  We were there for about 5 days, but I could have stayed there so much longer.  Tommy and I both felt like it was home.  Tommy said the first day we were there he was checking out what the people look like in Belgium, and he felt like he looks like the Belgians.  If we have time and the desire repeat some of our trips while we are in Europe, Belgium would be top on my list!  For now, we will continue to explore other parts of Europe.  It is early in our time here, and there still might be someplace that will top this trip.

Belgium, part 2

As I said in the previous post, we were in Belgium for a swim meet, and the meet was in Antwerp.  The meet was long distance champs, and the 3 events the kids competed in were the 800 free, the 400 IM and the 1500 free.  The first two were on Saturday and the last was on Sunday.  The pool was a 50 meter pool and there were a lot of kids swimming so our entire day was at the pool.  So other than the pool, this is what we saw of Antwerp.......

Yup, the train station!  We did get out to eat mussels one night, because I guess other than chocolate and fries, the thing to eat in Belgium is mussels, and they were delicious!

Now for the pool shots.  I couldn't really get any good swim shots because I was in the bleachers and it was an indoor pool.  The pool was across the street from the hotel, so the team met in the lobby and walked over together.

Here are the kids getting in the zone, or just trying to wake up before heading over to the pool.

The meet was a NATO meet and included DODDs schools as well as international schools across Europe.  So we had the US flag, the NATO flag and the Belgian flag.

Above the flag there were these really strange murals that, if you looked at them long enough, you could figure out they depicted swim strokes.  I am pretty sure my artistic abilities come from my Belgian side!

All the kids gathering for warm-ups

Getting in the zone, again.  For some reason, my kids were both really impressed with this picture.  I guess one good one out of 500+ isn't bad =)

Team meeting, getting everyone pumped up and ready for the long day ahead!

The kids both bought themselves tech suits for this meet.  Sam is in the middle with her kneeskin.  The suits are ridiculously expensive.  I told them if they made a national level meet in the US I would buy one, but I wasn't going to for this meet.  

Pleased after her swim.

Tommy stretching out for his 800.  The suit he has on took him about 20 minutes to put it on, at least the first time.  After the swim, he was so excited to tell us how much lighter his legs felt.  I guess they do make a difference.

Tommy gave his all for this swim and was rewarded with a fist pump from the coach

Still feeling the joy and pain from his 800.

This is how we spent most of our days, sitting in the stands waiting!

Tommy took 3rd place for his 800 free swim

After a long morning of 800s, getting warmed up for the 400 IM

Tommy is not a fan of the IM, and he really didn't want to swim it.  Here he is convincing his coach that his strong 800 free put a strain on his bad shoulder so he should really not swim the 400 IM so he can give his all to the 1500 free the next day.  You can see the disappointment on Tommy's face as he realizes that the coach is going to allow him to scratch.

Here is Sam prepping for her 400 IM.

Mike and Tommy (with his head down) late in the afternoon.  Swim meets are exciting for about 30 second intervals when your kids are swimming.  Even the long events don't really get exciting until the end.

Review of her swim with the coach.

On to day 2.  Tommy, having rested his shoulder and kept it safe from the 400 IM, had a great swim in the 1500 free.  I love how the kids shake hands and congratulate the each other after a swim.

That expression is one of amazement and pain!

The few left waiting around for the awards ceremony.  If I remember correctly, Tommy got 2nd place for his 1500 free.  It was a great meet for both kids and even though it was a long 2 days, it was fun.

On a side note, back at the hotel one night, I did something that made Sam mad.  So, to punish me she locked herself in the bathroom.  When her friends came by to get her, she tried to get out only to find the door would not open (can you say karma).  So Mike went downstairs to tell the guy at the front desk.  He came up and tried the door, like he would have the magic touch.  Then he stood there staring at the door with his finger on his temple trying to figure out how to get her out.  The door opened in, and the hinges were on the inside, so you couldn't exactly take the door off the hinges. I guess on the weekends in Belgium, the maintenance people don't work.  So the guy at the front desk got the bartender to come up and help him out.  I am not kidding when I say it took about a half hour for them to break the door and get her out.  It was hilarious!  Then we had to spend the next 2 nights with a bathroom door that didn't really close, and had a towel stuffed into the hole where the doorknob once was. 

That is all for Antwerp.  Next up, Brussels!