The Aviano Mets

 

Brian's t-ball team has been practicing twice a week for about a month now and just had their first game this last Saturday. Brian loves to play and it shows. He's hitting and throwing great and is always encouraging his teammates. We think this might be his game. Steve is assistant coaching, although he would have loved to volunteer as head coach, he was worried his schedule wouldn't allow him to make all the games and practices. But now that sequestration is in full-swing, he's barely flying anyways and has managed to make every practice and game so far. Emily is having fun cheering Brian on. She really does yell things like "Good job Brian!" Her cheering ends when she is distracted by a nearby park though. 

Spring in Grizzo

Spring has finally arrived here in our part of Italy. Before we left for our spring break trip at the beginning of April, the weather had been nasty and cold almost nonstop. We returned home mid-April to sunny and 70 degrees. And it’s more or less stayed that way. It rains a lot but it is staying warm and the rain brings all the green out. Our landlady has a gorgeous yard that she works in everyday. Her and her son maintain a large orchard and garden as well as some beautiful flower beds. We’ve gotten into the spirit by putting up our flowerboxes on the second floor balcony and adding some flowers in pots on our outdoor table and in some hanging pots. We are playing outside every chance we get, enjoying the sun and warmth before it’s too sunny and too warm!



Brian’s Recyclebot

Brian’s kindergarten class celebrated Earth Day in April by bringing in a Recyclebot, a robot they had to build using recyclables. I was in charge of the hoarding and cleaning of the recyclables, and once I laid the materials before them, Brian and Steve brainstormed for a short time and spent about an hour assembling this guy. Notice the matching feet, hands, and hat? And the arms that lift up and down? They were both really proud of their creation. So proud that I’m not sure how I’m going to sneak this one outside into the trash recycle bin. It might be PCSing with us in 2-1/2 years! 

Emily turns 3!

Our baby girl turned 3 years old on April 12th, while we were in Zermatt. Fancy, right? Whadya do on your 3rd birthday? McDonald’s playplace birthday party? Bowling alley? Nothing? Well, before you nominate us for parents of the year, let me give you the rundown of the day. We forced her to ride around Zermatt sightseeing in her stroller for several hours before heading back to the apartment for a PB&J lunch. And then comes the highlight of her day: a dip in the super-boring, not designed for kids at all swimming pool in the apartment complex. Then we got ready for dinner and dropped her off at the R family’s apartment where their oldest daughter babysat while we went out for an adults-only dinner. But not before we quickly threw a number 3 candle on a store-bought ice cream cake and sang Happy Birthday to her and the R family’s son, E, who was turning 8 the next day. We didn’t even stay to watch her eat it! No party. No presents. She had many presents waiting for her at home a few days later, we just didn’t have the room to bring any with us. Luckily for us, she is easy to please and didn’t ask once about gifts. She was just tickled pink to swim in the pool and have a number 3 candle on her cake, she thought her birthday was awesome! Maybe she’s not as spoiled as we think. Next year baby girl, I promise you a party with a homemade cake and lots of wrapped presents and a bouncy castle and a pony and a visit from your favorite Disney Princess, just name your price so this Mommy guilt will go away!!!! (just kidding, I have very little Mommy guilt, she got to spend her birthday week with friends and family, skiing in a beautiful place most people can only dream of seeing! That’s way better than a stupid princess!)

Emily at 3-years-old is quite the sassy, little thing! She is wicked smart and combine that with the sass and this girl is one little manipulator. She gets away with so much with her Daddy, she owns him. Luckily she has a kind heart and is caring, so she has a sweet side to temper the strong-willed independent side. And honestly, I wouldn’t want a little pushover daughter. She’s never going to let anyone get away with anything and I like that. She’s fierce and hilarious. She loves a good cuddle and a good tickle. She doesn’t sit still very long and is high energy, very curious, and extremely talkative.

 

She’s both a Mommy’s girl and a Daddy’s girl and needs us both equally, which is nice. She idolizes her big brother and misses him during his days away at school and squeals with excitement every day on his return. She loves playing with him but only if it suits her tastes and she’s all about keeping up with the big kids at the park and elsewhere.

 

Emily starts Italian Preschool, Asilo, in the fall and is soooooooo excited about it. One day in January she came with me to pick up the registration papers and she thought that meant she could start school. I told her she couldn’t start until she stopped using diapers. A few days later, she potty trained herself. And I mean, she did it herself. No nagging or suggesting from me. Very few accidents. She just decided she was going to be a big girl and bam, she was! A few days after that, she said to me, “I go peepee in the potty Mom, so I can start Asilo now!” I felt bad explaining to her that she has to wait all the way until September for school! 

 

Emily loves visiting with our landlady, Rina, and is always running over to her in the yard to get a hug and a piece of candy or an apple. Rina’s son, Claudio, is her buddy too. He teaches her Italian and takes her around the yard showing her the birds and flowers and trees.

 

She goes to her sitter, Miss Bea’s house, a couple mornings a week so I can get in a workout or run errands. Bea is a French-Australian-Italian, but speaks mostly English to Emily. Emily has caught on to a few funny phrases at Bea’s though, my favorite being the time she said to me, “Mommy, I want an orange, capito?” In Italian, Capito is like asking ‘got it?’ It’s a short, informal way of saying ‘do you understand?’ Perfect for Emily’s demanding 3-year-old style. I was laughing the whole time I was peeling that orange!

 

We are so thankful for this sassy and sweet little girl!!

{Spring Break Trip} Swiss Nummies

The food in Switzerland deserves it’s own post. They are most well known for their chocolate and cheese. And we tried plenty of chocolate and a little cheese too. It all started about an hour after we crossed the Swiss border, we stopped at an autobahn rest stop*. The kids were restless from the long drive and so we hopped out for a little snack. We ended up with cappuccinos, hot chocolate, and ice cream. It was my first look at the Swiss chocolate selection but I held off on buying until we found a grocery store in Zermatt, because grocery stores are cheaper for the same items. I found a bag of crackers called “Goldfish” and was curious how close they were to our beloved American cheddar fish. I was pleasantly surprised to open them up and find soup crackers (like oyster crackers) in the shape of fish. Which was perfect because Darla and I planned ahead and brought frozen meals to cover dinner every night, one of which would be Beef Barley Soup. We did make it out to dinner one night, the R family’s oldest daughter is babysitting age and bravely watched 5 little ones so us adults could go out for some fondue. Darla and I shared fondue and the men ordered meat and potatoes and beer. The fondue was just okay, I guess I’m not a big fan after all. I think it’s because I don’t like alcohol in my food? Alcohol? Yes. Food? Yes. Together? No. 

 

*Side note: European rest stops along the major highways are awesome. They are laid out almost exactly the same every where you go. You pull off the autobahn/autostrada but not completely, so that you aren’t actually exiting and don’t need to pay your toll yet. You park and walk into the building. There is always a café and at least a small restaurant, but usually a good size restaurant. You walk to the back or downstairs for the pay toilets. You want to pay for the toilet, it means it will be clean and TP stocked. Now it’s time to eat. Back into the cafeteria-style food area where you make your selections, including from an area where hot food is made to order for you. There is almost always some sort of kids meal that comes with some toy or coloring book for the kids. You wait in line to check out and then secure a table, drag over a high chair for the wiggly one and dig in. The food we’ve had (in too many rest stops to count over a 4-country area) has ranged from pretty good to amazing! There is one brand of rest stop in Italy that has the most delicious focaccia bread. When you are finished eating, you take your tray to the tray stacking shelves and then play a fun game called ‘where’s the exit?’ I’m not kidding either, you have to wind through a sort of high-end convenience store stocked with all sorts of snacks, drinks, fruits, meats, cheeses, books, toys, candy, roadside supplies, etc. At the end of the impulse buy maze is the checkout counter where you pay, since during the maze you inevitably wound up with an armful of items: gummies, a cola light, a hot wheels Ferrari, soup crackers, a cookbook written in Italian, and windshield wiper fluid. Then you are back in your car, time to gas up and then back onto the road. American marketing firms should study these rest stops and get a chain going in the states. It’s seriously so awesome. The only thing comparable in the states is a grimy shell station with one of those nasty looking Wendys inside. You know the kind. You say a little prayer for your safety when you enter, and then another one for the cleanliness of your food, and then another one for the cleanliness of the toilet you’re hovering over. Back to Switzerland…

{Spring Break Trip} Switzerland

Our next and final stop of Spring Break 2013 was Zermatt, Switzerland. Steve and I have been to Switzerland before, we went to Lauterbrunnen on our very first trip when we were stationed at Spang in 2002. We’d love to go back but we didn’t get around to it on this trip, so it’s on our dream list still. We’ve never been to Zermatt before and we wanted to see the Matterhorn and prove to Brian it’s not just a ride at Disneyland. We met up with our friends, the {R} family and stayed 4 nights in Tasch, just a few miles outside of Zermatt. We were in an apartment complex right next to a train stop, so we could easily go into and out of Zermatt, which is car-free anyways. 

 

It took us about 7 hours of drive time to get from Spang down to Zermatt, including a train ferry! The pictures below are from driving the car onto and off of the train ferry, which takes about 15 minutes and goes 14 kilometers under a giant mountain.

The ski resort in Zermatt is massive and actually spreads into Italy on the back side of the Matterhorn. There are many lifts and lots of cable cars and a few giant gondolas, like the one below that holds 150 people, which we took to the top of one of the mountains across from the Matterhorn for the view.

The day we were on the mountain was absolutely beautiful. It was a little cloudy in the morning but just as we got up to the view point, the clouds cleared from the valley and we had warmth and sunshine and amazing views the entire day. And some mild sunburns the next morning. The Matterhorn is just spectacular in real life. I tried skiing that day, but stuck to the kiddy area because I just wasn’t feeling it, my rental boots were killing me. But just helping the kids ski and staring out at that view all day was perfect. We stayed in the kiddy area for a good 4-5 hours and then schlepped all the way down the mountain via cog train, then boarded a bus to take us to the train station, took the train to Tasch, and then walked to our room. All of this with 4 sets of skis, 3 helmets, 2 sets of poles, a bag to hold all the gloves and such, wearing our ski boots and with 2 exhausted children who weren’t interested in helping carry anything. Skiing with kids is not enjoyable in any way. But one day they will be able to actually ski and carry their own equipment and it will be a fun family activity. I’m just glad ski season is over for now! Next year, I plan on really learning to ski and trying to go as often as possible so I can get comfortable and start to enjoy it. But regardless of skiing/equipment schlepping that day, the view was worth all of it!

 

On Day two, the kids and I explored the town of Zermatt with Darla and the R kids, while Steve and Casey skied the entire mountain and into Italy and back. They were gone all day and came back sore and telling of many adventures. (Brian and Emily: one day ask your Daddy about the time he accidently skied backwards down a black and didn’t fall. Keep in mind that fighter pilot stories only have to be 10% true.)

The picture below are of the old buildings in Zermatt. They all have slate roofs and are balanced on slate rocks. Most of them seemed to be used for storage now but a few were turned into cute little houses. The kids enjoyed kicking around in the snow piled up in the streets.

Above: Just before this picture was taken, we watched an avalanche come over the side of the cliff above town. It was a small one and didn’t do any harm but we didn’t know that when it started and it was quite a thing to watch! Below: All the kid having fun on the trains and a mountain goat in town. All the kids are here, except E, who was tearing up the slopes with his mom that day.

{Spring Break Trip} Burg Cochem

On our only full day at Spangdahlem, we took the kids to see Cochem Castle. Cochem is a charming little town on the Mosel River, with gingerbread-front houses and a castle set atop a hill overlooking the town and river. We spent the afternoon hiking up through town to the castle and then stopped for a drink inside the castle. Many of the storefronts and houses were still decorated with bunnies and eggs for Easter. Brian ended up with a wooden sword as his souvenir and I have about 30 pictures of him in various fighting and guarding poses all over the castle and the walk back down. He is all boy and loves that sword! Even his sister will pick it up and turn into a pirate princess every now and then. After our walk (and Brian successfully beating back the Huns) we enjoyed a nice dinner at one of the riverfront cafes. And then off we went the next morning to the land of chocolate and cow bells and giant mountains………Switzerland!