Firenze

The weekend before Maisie's birthday we road-tripped it to Florence (6 hours).

I had just finished reading Brunelleschi's Dome (a non-fiction account of the building of the Duomo) and The Agony and the Ecstasy (a biographical novel about Michelangelo) so I was really excited to see the real life version of all the things I'd been reading.

Here it is, Il Duomo.

Our first afternoon (Thursday) was great.  We visited dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David (no cameras allowed) and then we saw these guys hanging around the baptistry (hello bronze doors by Ghiberti, sorry no photo) of the duomo,

 

Next we went to l'Uffizi to buy tickets for the next day,

Michael and Maisie at the Uffizi

 

and finally, we had a delicious dinner of steak Florentine

Yes, she ate this (OK we helped a little):

We went to our hotel after dinner and went to bed but the night didn't go well, in the middle of the night, Maisie came down with the stomach flu.  We spent the entire next day in the hotel.  Michael went to the Uffizi by himself and then when he got back I walked around the City for a while.  

On Saturday she was feeling better so we visited Santa Maria Novella before heading to Siena.

Here we are on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence

When we got to Siena, the weather was awful but we only had one day so we visited the Piazza del Campo and tried to climb the Torre del Mangia but it was closed because of the rain.  You can see below that we had fun anyway.

Here is a photo of Maisie feeling better at the Palazzo Pubblico.

After this we packed it up and drove home with a stop in the lovely town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore for some lunch.  Our losing streak continued though with some yucky food but amazing weather and a beautiful little town.  I hope to go back someday.

So overall, it was great to get back to Tuscany after 15 years but it wasn't an ideal vacation (I'm sure you all feel terribly sorry for us).    Maisie has 4 more weeks of school and then we'll be making up for lost sunshine in ARIZONA!

Stay tuned for photos from International Day coming up on Saturday.

Guess who is ELEVEN?!

MAISIE

I made another batch of these (minus the coconut)

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

and she got this http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

plus she got to hang out with this guy who made her a cheeseburger for dinner

What more could a girl ask for?  

How about another trip to Europa Park 

http://www.europapark.de/lang-en/Vorschaltseite/c1548.html

with the Edmonds?

OK

Let's Go!

View from the ride Atlantica. 

Michael, Sam, Maisie and Noah after a harrowing ride on the Silver Star coaster

Maisie and Noah on Atlantica

As you can see Michael came with us this time so he was the designated Coaster Chaperone since he likes them and I don't!  Of all the rides at the park, it turns out Michael's favorite was the short stint on the German Autobahn that we had on the drive up.  

We have a year to recover before it's time to celebrate her 12th birthday.  Thanks to everyone for the birthday cards and wishes.

Happy Mother's Day!

I come from a long line of very excellent mothers.  I'm just lucky that way, I guess. 

4 generations

My Mom has been there through it all...

The Good (New York, NY May 1999)

The Bath (Mesa, AZ August 1999)

And everything in between

(Strawberry, AZ April 2000)

(Mesa, AZ 2002)

She's the best Mom in the world and I hope she has the best Mother's Day!

Anyone who can raise this crew deserves a good day once in a while!

(Cubs vs. Diamondbacks Mesa, AZ 2010)

I love you Funny!!!

"This Month is Such a Special One..."

It's official, I'm no longer young but at least I have this super cutie around to help keep me feeling like I am.

Happy Birthday to me

We made these yummy chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting to celebrate.   

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes, everyone!

Spring Break

While Auntie Kristen and Uncle Woody are galavanting around Paris, Maisie and I went to Labyrinth Aventure Parc!  We drive past this place every time we go to Michael's house and so we finally had to give it a try.

It has these crazy slides, a giant shrubbery maze, and tons of other death traps and splinter-makers which would never be allowed in the USA.

Maisie and Nina jousting

barfin' saucer (and butt splinter maker)

and my favorite, the chicken slide.  We can't wait to go back.

Oh, and in other news, my neighbors gave us this beautiful light fixture.  I can't wait for Michael to wire it up for us so we can have something more than a bare lightbulb in the living room.

Harp Recital

Maisie had her first harp recital yesterday.  She played beautifully.  Here are links to a couple of clips I uploaded on youtube.  Sorry for the terrible quality.  I didn't realize that you can't edit "rotate" the video clips on my camera so my apologies for any kinked necks after watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZzL_E-DhE

and 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQS1rFQnYI

Enjoy!

My first "Quilt"

Maisie's school had a special "Language Day" where the kids are split up into their native languages and the parents come in and tell them a story.  The American Moms decided to tell the story of Betsy Ross and how she helped make the first American Flag.  The story we read them tells of all the quilts Betsy made and so the day before our presentation I decided that for our activity to go along with the story, we needed to make a quilt.  Why do I have my best (worst) ideas at the last minute!?!  I've never made one before but I've seen it done by my mother, my sister and my grandmother hundreds of times so I figured it was in my blood.  This would be easy, right?  

Turns out I wasn't exactly right but I think it turned out pretty cute (as long as you don't inspect the stitching; cheap sewing machine).  The kids decorated their quilt blocks and I took them home and sewed them all together and had the quilt back to the school the next morning for display.

I'm looking forward to making a real quilt someday.