Sunday Funday.

February 27, 2011

Our friends Heather and Todd live just down the street from us in Sacile. I met Heather in our prenatal yoga class, and she had her son Daegan three days after the boys were born. We used to see each other in birthing classes and on base for our appointments, and now we see each other at playgroup on base. They arranged a Sunday playgroup at their apartment. It was a lot of fun for the kiddos and the adults!

Christy and Kwame were away for the weekend so a friend brought their daughter Sadie. She had her teeny hands full being surrounded by boys!
Todd is a chef and we reaped the benefits of his profession. He made all kinds of yummy treats and had prosecco/fruit drinks and coffee. I think I could show up every Sunday at their house!
Porter with one of Daegan's toys. It helps him use his upper body. He's getting stronger and stronger on that front daily.
Daegan's little corner play area has lots of fun toys.
Todd brought out the bubble machine and it was all over from there. The kids were entranced.
Eli slowly kept creeping closer and closer towards the source. Porter was giggling and laughing.
"Let me at it. I want to attack the machine!"
Almost there.
Daegan is trying to catch some in his mouth. They were very entertained, and it was just as fun to watch.

Whodunnit?

February 26, 2011

Laura and Tyler invited us over for a Murder Mystery dinner to celebrate Tyler's birthday a little early since he deploys right before his actual birthday. It was our first Murder Mystery and it was so much fun. We were asked to pick our characters and bring a side dish. I made "I Didn't Do It Misu".

Jessica and Brett Swiger were the other couple to make a full group of possible murderers. Didn't they know Evan is an attorney and investigates these things in his day job? Really, they were going to have a lot of work to do to convince us that they were not guilty!

We enjoyed Laura's family wine and Brett made his own wine labels. His character was a vineyard owner--Ralph Rottingrape.
Laura, Marilyn Merlot, went all out with candles and decorations on the table. Tyler, Otto Von Schnapps, was dressed in character as a German merchant. Jessica, Tiny Bubbles, was Ralph Rottingrape's new wife. I was Hedy Shablee, a competitor in the wine business. Well, who knew I should be so suspicious of my own husband. Evan, ended up being the murderer! Papa Vito did it with the knife in the wine cellar!
We thoroughly enjoyed the night with friends sans kiddos, but we all had babysitters waiting so we eventually called it a night.
Laura wrote a full description of the dinner.

Porter and Eli love Lake Bled.

Porter and Eli really enjoyed Lake Bled too! We had 2 mini-shoots with them: one at the restaurant and one in the hotel room when I was at the pool.

Once we got to Chillli's, we scoured the place for high chairs because we were ready to get the boys out of their carriers. Two high chairs in the place! They are a little different than what we're used to in the U.S. but I liked them a lot--even better, for their age.
Porter loved being in it and being able to turn around and sit like a big boy. He giggled and smiled and thought it was such a fun game to be free!
"Great! I think I'll chew on this for a while."
Eli was still sacked out from the walk down the hill. He was even out of the carrier and still snoozing away.
Okay, well he woke up with Porter laughing and decided he needed to join in on the fun. In fact, he'll just take the entire tablecloth off the table.
"Who? Me? I did not pull on the tablecloth. It was Porter."
It was fun to watch them in the chairs--something new and different!
Love those chubby cheeks and that little sparkle in his eyes when he smiles. They both did so good sitting in the chairs throughout lunch and allowing Evan and me to enjoy our meals.
After I left for the pool, Evan snapped some photos of the boys playing. The room had a main room (where they are now) and another small room next door with just the beds. This little bed was similar to a futon and PERfect for playtime.
There are numerous times I sit down to play with Porter and Eli and Eli's head is all wet and gooey. Porter finds any opportunity to drool and suck on Eli's head.
And Eli takes this opportunity to simply drool.
Eli is trying to get the camera and Porter is very occupied with his Giggle Wiggler.
"What? No, he said I could pull his ear." There must have been a miscommunication Porter because Eli is clearly not liking it.
Eli and his sweet little round face.
Porter with his full head of hair now-a-days.
Getting all bundled up to go to dinner.
My striped little guys.

Lake Bled: Take 2

February 19-February 21, 2011

Another three-day weekend came around, so we took another getaway to Lake Bled. The first time we visited Bled, we stayed at Lake Bohinj. This time we wanted a relaxing weekend and to be able to walk around the lake at our leisure, shop, have a coffee, and enjoy our time with the boys. We had a great weekend.

When we arrived we took a walk around the lake, looked at the ducks/swans, shopped a little, drank a little, and finally went back to the hotel to let the boys nap and feed them dinner. Our improvised high chairs, their car-seats, they were initially less than pleased until they realized food was involved.
Porter was not satisfied sitting in the stroller during dinner so I took him out. He worked his Porter charm on the people sitting behind us for at least 20 minutes. He just stood on my lap and bounced and laughed and smiled and bounced and laughed. It was really cute and it allowed us both to eat our dinner. Eli was happy getting pieces of bread in the stroller and playing with his green frog.
The boys slept in two pack-n-plays provided by the hotel and slept great! The next morning after breakfast, we loaded up the boys in the Ergos and started on our hike up to the castle. The boys enjoyed their ride sleeping and watching intermittently.

After our serious hike on the main road, the forest path was closed during winter, we reached the castle.
Porter woke up as we reached the top of the hill.
The spire of the castle.
Overlooking Lake Bled. The drop-off to the cliffs below is right on the other side of that concrete barrier by Porter--a little scary when I'm carrying him.
Family picture with the little island in the distance. The path we hiked the last time we were here was on the mountain behind the island.
Evan and Eli. Eli chewed on the strap of the Ergo for quite a while. It was really cold when we started out in the morning, and it was windy once we reached the castle.
Our hotel, Hotel Kompas, is right in the middle of the picture with the triangle roof (of the 2 triangles, it's the one towards the left middle).
The island with the sweet little church on it and the boat carrying passengers to visit.
The Castle: The Residence of the Lord. Writing about the castle.
Evan and Eli in the bathroom.
The upper courtyard.
We met an American family, stationed at Vicenza Army base in Italy, with four kids: 2 older single children and twins (1 boy, 1 girl). The little girl was very interested in us, and the mom told her they used to be carried around just like our boys. We took their picture and they took ours.
After our tour of the castle, and making our way back down to lake level, we ate some lunch at Chillli's. Slovenia is a where a lot of Americans go on the weekend or even day-trips, for Mexican food--or any other type of food non-Italian. We ate some delicious Mexican food at Chillli's. Evan had a spicy soup and then we both had enchiladas; his was chicken and mine beef. It had loads of vegetables inside that I would never associate with an enchilada and we both ate every bite. The boys did great and ate their first bites of tortilla.

After lunch, we hurried back to the hotel as it was nap-time and I mean for Evan and me too! We all passed out for about 2.5 hours. Evan took some time after his nap to go to the hotel pool/hot tub/sauna and I took my turn when he got back. It was heaven to sit in a hot tub and look out at this. All the hard work at hiking to the castle, and enjoying the reward of a nap and time alone to relax in a hot tub. I never wanted to leave!
I have to talk about the food at the hotel connected to ours where our breakfast and dinner were included in our stay. Dinner the first night was buffet-style with fresh, steamed cauliflower, 2 soups, scorpion fish (unaware this existed), fried chicken, and fresh fruit for dessert. The next night was off the menu: we shared beef carpaccio, I had pumpkin soup, Evan had a local soup and main entree of meat and potato dish, I had the best fried calamari, and then a local chocolate dessert. The assistant chef home makes bread daily, and that night was Rosemary bread, which we ate way too much of!

The next day, it was still snowing so we drove around the lake and headed home, but not before getting some pictures of the island. Everything was so beautiful with fresh snow.
We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Not a lot to do--just relax, eat, drink, walk a bit, and enjoy our family time.

Happy Valentine's Day

February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! Eli and Porter are decked out, a few days early, in their Valentine outfits. Eli has a Beatles "All You Need is Love" onesie and Porter's has Pebbles and Bam Bam on it with "Chicks Dig Me". Photo op before playgroup last Thursday.
They must have the same toy in their hands.
A laughing Eli and smiling Porter--could they be any cuter?
When I grew up, my parents put our cards and goodies on our breakfast place mat so I would like to continue that tradition with the boys. Nana and Grandpa sent them some Wiggle Giggles and cards to open and we had Snoopy chocolate for them.
"Could you please take these things out of it's package? I'm ready to play!"
And I personally like Valentine's Day candy better than Halloween. Mainly because most of the candy is chocolate! Our stash is from Ross and Janet, Evan to me, me to Evan, us to the boys, and the boys to me--love chocolate. But the Vitamin C in the oranges cancels out the calories I hear.