London!

On February 21 Ashley and I headed to London with our good friends Megan and Greg Trifilo. Our equally good friends Ben and Charlotte Crandall watched the giblets for the weekend. Ashley had found a great deal on an apartment in Soho, right smack dab in the theatre district on the north bank wedged between the financial district on the east and the tourist landmarks on the west. Everything was fantastic, including the neighborhood and the apartment.

Here is Ashley relaxing in a Dr. Evil egg chair.

We went exploring as soon as we arrived. Here are Ashley and in the shopping/theatre district. We love our kids, but boy was it wonderful to be unfettered for a few days in a major European city. Right in this area are the discount theatre tickets. We were able to find four seats for "We Will Rock You", the show based on the music of Queen, for a reasonable price.

Obligatory phone both picture.

One of the main reasons we went to London was for food! Right out of the tube station we found an organic vegan fusion restaurant that we could not pass up. Then late that afternoon we stumbled upon a Spanish tapas bar and again could not resist.

I indulged in real Spanish chorizo, which I haven't had in years. It was heavenly.

Here I am at the Dominion Theatre where we saw the Queen show. This is a replica of the Brian May Special, the guitar that created all of those classic riffs. Brian May was an engineering & physics wizard as well as a guitarist. He and his father built the original guitar themselves, which is why Queen has such a distinct sound. The show was great. The plot was weak, but the music more than made up for it. After over 30 songs had been played the show ended, but without "Bohemian Rhapsody". The anxiety was palpable. Suddenly, a message flashed on the screen asking, "Do you want Bohemian Rhapsody?" The crowd went crazy, and they closed the show with it. Incredible. Then Brian May's voice came on over the PA asking the audience to donate their spare change to the Freddie Mercury Foundation which funds AIDS research. Freddie was a closeted homosexual and died of AIDS in 1992. It was perfect marketing, to hit us up while we were on the post-show high, and I was happy to empty my pockets of loose pounds and pence.

Here we are on that post-show high outside the Dominion Theatre with a golden statue of Freddie Mercury over the marquee. Ashley grew up listening to Queen thanks to Bryant's influence. I remember my parents introducing me to "Another One Bites the Dust" as a child, but I really got into the deep catalogue in high school.

The next morning we ate a traditional English breakfast at the bakery right under our apartment. The food was fantastic. Greg and I shared a "love bench" on one side of the table.

Not to be outdone, Megan laid a fat one on Ashley.

That morning we headed to the Portobello Road market, a smorgasbord of English antiques and international food and cheap Chinese crap. This is one of the lovely streets that T's into the market road.

Ashley and I then rented bikes and did a quick one hour tour of the major tourist sites. Riding a bike on the left side of the road in an extremely busy city that you have never been to before is hazardous at best.

Here I am with my ride at Trafalgar Square.

Ashley at Westminster Abbey.

Ashley in front of Big Ben and Westminster Palace. It chimed four o'clock while we were sitting there so we got the chance to hear the famous bells.

Here we are at Buckingham Palace.

That night we met up with our friends from RAF Mildenhall, Tim and Morgan Kuehne, and ate some excellent Indian food. Our time with them was unfortunately short because we had tickets for the 7:00 showing of...

The creators of "South Park", that politically incorrect cartoon about foul-mouthed fourth graders, created a Broadway musical called "The Book of Mormon." They grew up around a lot of Mormons in Littleton, Colorado, and have an enduring fascination with the church and its people. They had previously made a movie and a few episodes of South Park about Mormons. While they do not give credence to the doctrinal or historical aspects, they love the people. And that really comes through in the show. What they say about Mormon doctrine and history could be said about all organized religions. But their sincere admiration for Mormon people shines through this production. And you could not escape the advertisements for the play in London. Every double decker bus and tube station was plastered with the words "The Book of Mormon." Talk about publicity. Anyone who sees this is going to come out with a more favorable view of Mormons than they had going in, including me!

Look at how happy we are! Talk about a post-show high! We are imitating the missionaries in the opening number "Hello!", which is totally safe to listen to on YouTube. Also safe and hilarious are "Two By Two", "But Mostly Me", and "Turn It Off". While poking fun at the often exuberant naivete and excessive self-importance in Mormonism, it also highlights how sincerely missionaries want to do good and help change the world. All set to catchy music and lyrics with fantastic insights into the culture of our formative years. I don't think anyone else in that theatre enjoyed it as much as we did!

The next morning we went to the Sunday market on Brick Lane. Once again, it was all about the food.

This is the Ethiopian stall where we got our main course.

A veritable Olympic Rings variety of colorful vegan fare.

We also stuffed our faces with Malaysian pancakes, such as the one above, filled with peanut sauce or coconut. Delicious. The weekend came to an end all too soon. The kids were great for Ben and Charlotte, fortunately, and we were that much more in love with them after having had a quick 48 hour break in Jolly Old England.

Bad Kleinkircheim with the Kuehnes & Joneses

When the Kuehnes were down in Italy for Halloween, Ashley, Angela, and Morgan were busy figuring out the next time our three families could get together. It was decided that we would spend MLK weekend skiing in Austria. Our family had scoped out Bad Kleinkircheim in December to make sure it would be the perfect destination. And it would have been, had it not been for the unseasonably warm weather. Temps in the 30s-40s and either rain or, rarely, wet snow all weekend. No matter. We had a few goals of teaching Juliet how to ski, helping the older Kuehne girls learn to ski, relaxing in thermal pools, playing the envelope game, and eating unhealthy amounts of Austrian food. Mission accomplished.

Juliet getting suited up for her first day. In typical Juliet fashion, she was very excited to go skiing, jumping up and down and being overly exuberent. Then, also in typical Juliet fashion, once we hit the slopes, she wanted nothing to do with it.

Feeling a little timid.

Here I am trying to pump her up.

Yet, despite her best effort, Juliet actually learned how to ski that weekend. It was the last run of the day, and she was crying almost the entire time, but she did it. Way to go, Jubie!

Georgie and Samantha are ready to go. Isaac is in the orange pants and Angela is kneeling helping Landon get ready. Georgie is the fearless one in our family. She is still working on transitioning away from the snowplow, but she just points those skis downhill and goes.

Isaac had a bit of a rough start, claiming he couldn't remember how to ski, but soon got back on horse and did great the rest of the day.

Here are Angela and Landon. For as much as Landon can struggle with enjoying some of our other European activities, he is a superstar when it comes to skiing.

With as much territory as we had to cover, at some point it was just more convenient to carry Juliet rather than ski with her between my legs. The rest of the group includes Samantha, Payton, Tann, and Isaac. After the initial bumps we ended up having a great skiing group and a great day. All of the kids did very well.

That night we descended upon the number one TripAdvisor-rated restaurant in Bad Kleinkircheim. The nine bigger kids sat at this large round table while the adults sat at another table next to them. Clockwise from the left are Landon, Payton, Isaac, Juliet, Georgie, Adayla, Tally, Samantha, and Ryann. The food was great and the staff were very accommodating, but I am sure that they were glad to see us leave.

Georgie and Adayla were getting along great that night. The next night they got into a bit of a scrape, but they made up and ended up having a great time together.

The boys and Juliet. 

At various points during this meal we had children biting and breaking water glasses with their teeth, knocking over lit candles, and climbing all over the benches and dividing wall between our tables. And we didn't leave a tip. I think we are banned for life. Here are Morgan, Jacquelyn, Juliet, and Ashley.

But we thoroughly enjoyed ourself. Tim and Tann a little too much it appears.

Tann is surprised to see you there.

The next day we skiied again and took the Kuehne girls with us. They had been in ski school the day before and really picked it up quickly. Ryann was a natural and fearless. Adayla was cautious and very dedicated to improving. Tally was giving us all a heart attack with her reckless speed and using falling as a means of stopping. But by lunch that day all three were completely independent on the easy runs and ready to conquer new challenges.

Ashley and I decided to take the tram up to some more challenging territory with Isaac, Georgie, Adayla, Tally, and Ryann. Although the weather was warm and raining lightly down below, at the top of the tram it was a white-out, wet snow blizzard. Ash & I were outnumbered 5 to 2 and almost overwhelmed. Two kids fell off of the rope tow and then Tally lost her ski in the wet powder at the top of the run while Ash and I were both dealing with the fallen. At that point the rope tow broke down. Someone skiied down to me to tell me that Tally was crying, so I took my skis off and started hiking up to her. She had taken her other ski off and was hiking down the run, crying the whole way. I got her taken care of and started working our way down when I came across Georgie stuck in the snow and crying. What a mess. It was one of those parenting moments when you are in crisis management mode and don't have any time to think about how cold or wet or miserable you are. Even though it was a skiing failure, I felt that it was a parenting success and I was very proud of all the kids and how brave they were. 

Of course, we weren't done yet. Ryann left her gloves at the top of the tram and Ashley had to go back up to get them. Meanwhile, I was trying to get the five kids and all of their ski gear down two flights of icy, metal stairs when both Isaac and Tally tumbled and yard-saled in front of a waiting line of European skiiers. They must have thought I was insane.

We went out again that night and caused similar ruckus at another restaurant. I wanted to get the kids back and to bed as quickly as possible, but Ashley had promised them Kaiserschmarrn for dessert, an eggy pancake cut into pieces sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with fruit preserves. When the dish arrived Ashley began digging into it and got mad at me for taking it away from her and giving it to the kids. Not our best moment.

That night after putting the kids to bed we stayed up playing the envelope & newlywed games, during which we learned some very interesting facts about Morgan pre-Tim and some eerie commonalities among all three couples when it comes to ice cream flavors.

Our last day the Joneses went with us to the thermal pools while the Kuehnes took their girls skiing one last time. We went back to the same terme we had scouted out in December and everyone really enjoyed it, especially the natural massages under the waterfall and the outside pool. We had warned the Joneses about the co-ed locker room so they were mentally prepared. Afterward, while everyone was drying off and changing clothes, Juliet got into Ashley's make up.

She actually did get some around her eyes as well. I think she looks great.

Don't you?

The weekend went by far too quickly, so what did we do on the drive back to home and the airport? Arranged to have Morgan and the girls fly out again in February during their winter break to ski again.

Una Ricetta: Vegetarian Bechamel Lasagna

Vegetarian Bechamel Lasagna

una ricetta

So far, all of the Lasagnas I have had in Italy have been made with a Bechamel sauce.  At least in this region, lasagna's aren't thick and hearty like they are in the states.  They are more sparse in the in-between layers, more noodley (like 5-6 layers of noodles), creamy and yummy!

I concocted this Vegetarian Bechamel Lasagna last week and was happy with how it turned out.  The Bechamel adds such a nice extra creaminess without a lot of extra fat (you won't need as much cheese).  I still want to work on the acidity of the tomato sauce (I'm not a huge tomato sauce fan anyway) but I think I'm the only one that noticed that.  The leeks and shallot make a really nice addition and the mushrooms make it taste really meaty.  I will come back to the blog with any improvements.  

10 -12 sheets of fresh Lasagna noodles

 (no Boil ones would probably work fine)

Olive Oil

1 onion

1 shallot

4-6 cloves garlic

2 carrots, chopped

2 zucchini, chopped

3 portobello mushrooms

1 lg leek, white and light green parts only

Generously swirl the olive oil in a warming stock pot.  Saute the vegetables until sweating and tender, about 5 minutes.  Add:

1/2 c red wine, and stir until evaporated, then add:

1/2 c water

a generous splash of Worcestershire sauce

1 28 oz can of tomato sauce (if in Italy, 1 700g jar of passata pomodoro)

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you add them to the pot

2 T brown sugar

Let simmer, covered, for 30-60 minutes.

While simmering make the bechamel sauce:

4 cups of milk (whole is of course better but you can hardly tell if you use 1%)

6 T unsalted butter

5 1/2 T flour

1 t salt

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  When it is foamy, whisk in the flour until it is smooth.  Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat.  Add several T of milk and whisk vigorously.  Continue adding milk in small increments, whisking until it is incorporated.  Add the salt and cook over medium low heat, stirring often, until the sauce thickens to the consistency of heavy cream, 3-6 minutes.  It will continue to thicken as it cools. 

Have 3 cups of your favorite Italian cheese grated.   I mixed Montasio and parmesan but Mozzarella and parmesan would be nice too.  

In a 9X13 or lasagna pan add a generous scoop of the tomato sauce.  Then layer the noodles.  Smooth the top of the noodles with bechamel, then layer more sauce, finished with cheese.  Repeat until all ingredients are gone!   

It's Working!

travel+travel+travel+travel+travel

travel+travel+travel+travel+travel

People comment to Joey and I all the time how good this life is that we're living right now, mostly for the kids.  We've experienced this first hand as we watch them soak up history lessons at the Vatican with cousins or ski in the alps with close friends.  It's really exciting sometimes to think about all they're experiencing at such a young age. But I often wonder if THEY know how cool it is or if are REALLY absorbing what we're serving them.

It wasn't all that big of a deal but I felt a little payback a few times over the last couple of weeks, a little restitution, and maybe even a little gratitude from the kids themselves.

For starters, when Juliet and I stopped by the kids school during recess the other day (we do this almost every day because I pick up Juliet from her school across the street at 1pm, just as Georgie and Isaac are coming out for recess )I spied Georgie and a small group of girls in a tiny huddle, engrossed in a very serious conversation, one that Georgie seemed to be in charge of.  When they saw me coming a few of them very somberly announced us to Georgie.  They were very dramatic about their seriousness;)  When Georgie arrived to meet me at the gate she was quite sullen.  "Today is the anniversary of World War II."  I was confused?  What anniversary?  But there was no time for the questions, she cut to the chase.  "You know, the one with the concentration camps.  We're learning about that today and Jenifer ( a girl in her class) started laughing.  I got really mad at her and told her that she shouldn't laugh because it is VERY sad.  I am telling all the girls about Dachau..you know, how we went in the real room where they...you know, the burning."  She went on to telling me more about all that she told them.  As we talked all the other girls stood at the gate with drawn looks on their faces.  It was kind of funny, actually, all the drama they were getting off of it. But as I drove home and thought about what had just happened I realized that this traveling was paying off.  She remembers places like Dachau and they mean something to her. It's working!

This week we've been working on Thank you notes.  IN Isaacs note to Gaga and Papa he wrote goodbye in 5 different languages, completely of his own accord.  On a smaller scale, that was pretty cool.  ANd when I took him out to lunch for his half birthday the chef, a sort of friend of ours, came out with a "mystery" puree as an appetizer.  He wanted us to guess what it was.  I was completely perplexed...I had no idea but I was thoroughly enjoying it.  It had a mysterious savoriness but a familiar bite that I couldn't quite put my fingers on.  After several seconds of mulling it around on his tongue, Isaac announced, "It's fennel."  Darned if it wasn't!  I was so proud!  

Anyway, with all this money we're throwing down, all the things we're NOT doing so that we CAN live here and travel, sometimes I wonder if we're just telling ourselves its good for them because Joey and I like it so much.  In the end, I feel pretty confident, this is the peak of our lives (mine and Joeys:)  But hopefully not theres!  Not to end cheesily or anything, but in all seriousness, I hope this is just the beginning of their international lives!  

xoxo

Ash

Christmas in Park City

Christmas at "Home"

We were fortunate enough to spend Christmas at "home" this year!  

HOME

Our favorite place on earth.

Our journey started with a departure from Venice on a Wednesday morning.  We had happy faces and sad hearts at leaving Joey.   Here the kids are sending him some encouragement for the battle with loneliness that lay ahead.

From Venice we landed in Frankfurt and began our long journey to Denver.  Here's what we looked like after 15 hours of flying:

Georgie and Juliet slept a total of 1 hour throughout the whole journey and Isaac didn't sleep at all.  Needless to say there was some crying going on as I drug them through customs, to pick up our luggage (to take IT through customs),  and through security again to re board yet another plane.  I was reminded of the times, as a child, when I fell asleep in the car on the way home and my parents had to wake me up to trudge my way up to my room so that I could go back to sleep.  I remember so vividly how absolutely painful that walk was...how much my body was telling me to lay itself down already!  I know that was what Juliet was feeling!  Poor girl balled her eyes out, each step taken like she was carrying anchor, as we crossed the Denver airport and back again!  But she earned us some very useful pity that took us to the front of more than a few lines!  Isaac and Georgie, all things considered, were super troopers.  

There was comfort in knowing that we had this to look forward to!    

We spent a few beautiful days with just Gaga, then Papa and then Bryant, the cabin quiet and peaceful and the snow falling down continually.  We baked sugar cookies and layer bars and cooked chili and soup for all the family that was coming over the next couple of weeks.  And, of course, we played in the snow.

Here are Juliet and Arie Lou.  Juliet never lasted very long out there;)  But Georgie, Isaac, Arie and Liam could have stayed all day.

We spent a couple of days at Cary and Kreggs house, cousins I have always wanted Georgie to be able to spend time with...a house full of cute, sweet girls (and their accompanying American Girl Dolls!)

She loved them!  And was sad to have to say goodbye:

Jake, Ashlee and the boys came and hung out a couple of times for dinner 

and to spend some time playing in the snow. 

But of course, good things come to an end and we had to say goodbye again:

Isaac and Tanner are on the couch over there, in tears and silence at the thought of saying goodbye again.  It was especially hard on them and poor sweet Luke!!!:(  We had such a rejuvenating time hanging out with Mimi and Poppop, Jenny and Brandon, Walt, Paula and Marissa and even Ruth!  We were so lucky to get to see so much family while we were there. 

By this time, it's Christmas Eve!  Mimi and I did our darndest despite a few odds, to get us back to the cabin in time for the holiday dinner!

Christmas Eve Gift!

Juliets favorite Person!  Papa!!

Aly slaving away at her dairy glazed, gluten filled rolls;)  So worth every melting bite!

It was so cool to have McCall, Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary there with us for almost a week!  They were such good sports to crash on floors, the couch and between sleeping grandmothers!

Yay!!  Frosty came...delivering Christmas Pajamas!

Here's Juliet with her new favorite little person, Lyla.  

It was our first time meeting this sweet little thing who was always dressed in Reindeers and Snowmen or leopards (and who exists on a Paleo diet;(...crossfitting parents!!)  She is always perfectly behaved and ADORABLE!

Can you see her heart shaped birthmark on her tummy?  It is so cute!

We went bowling twice while we were there!  

These photos are from our first visit to the local lanes!

I was reminded of how awesome of a coach my father is.  He gave me some tips at the beginning and when he was secure that his help was welcomed it became a team effort to up my score;)  By the end of the trip I was bowling a 120 something, consistently.  My best games ever;)  I love my dad for more reasons than just excellent coaching skills, but that was certainly fun to learn from him.

This was the awesomest air hockey table I have ever seen (that costs $4 to play!!)  A four way game with four players and four pucks.

I felt so grateful to see soooo much family while we were there.  Lindsey and her family came up a couple of times (here she is at Cafe Rio)

Cameron and his wife Alyssa spent 4 nights with us!

And Juliet is loving Papa...again...on our 3rd Christmas morning, celebrated when Adam, Kirsten and family arrived.

Here gaga is helping Reese open her Ukelele!

This year we discovered the awesome sledding hill just around the mountain from our house.  It's a long run, requiring a long walk but worth every step if you have a good sled.  I'm looking forward to going back there every year from now on.  It requires excercise from the kids and best of all, its free!!

Cameron, Alyssa and I celebrated too much Christmas food one day with a snowshoeing trek and then a crossfit work out afterward...Burpees, dips, push ups, squat here we are!

Random cute pictures:

Bowling again!!:

Juliet and Papa again!

Favorite Cousins!:

And Chebbith (Chels), on New Years Eve!:

Speaking of New Years Eve, we played games, this one is called Head Bands, the adult version and is very fun!  

The titles here on Mom and Dad were the funniest/most ironic ones of the night:

After we lost Dad, Adam, and the kids the rest of us rang in the new Year with dancing and bubbly!

....and kissing from Newlyweds;)  If Joey had been here I would have layed one on him as well, even though we've been married for 10 years;)

New Years Day calls for kissing as well!

After lots of requests from the kids, on New Years Day we finally took them ice skating.

The girls and Corden especially loved it!

Even though this is my last photo this was not the end of our trip, no, there was the 12 person sledding run, all of us holding on to each other and barreling down the mountain at Soldier Hollow, th goodbye photos with the kids, good bying to Uncle Bryant, the time spent with the McCanns, the few days we had left with Mom and Dad, my visit with college friends, and terrible goodbyes with Papa and Gaga.  If I can steal photos from someone who actually took some I will add them here later.  It was a great time, so much owed to my parents.  My Mom was a trooper, hosting 30+ people at times, feeding them casually, tolerating messes and kids and grumpy people and happy people and hoards and hoards of more people.  Thanks Mom!  You're a real trooper!

So begins our long arduous journey home.  56 hours to be exact.  I could make a big sob story out of it but, all in all, we ended up having a pretty good time.  

Our flight out of SLC was late getting out, so we missed our connection fight in Chicago by 20 minutes.  We were able to get a flight to Munich the following night leaving at 9pm which left us with over 24 hours in Chicago...fun!  The airlines provided us with a hotel and food vouchers, which we were quite grateful for.  We had no luggage, no change of clothing and no coats or gloves which proved a little tough since it was FREEZING in Chicago!  So cold!  Our great friend Megan, here in Italy, is from Chicago and via imessage told me to take the kids to the Field Museum.  We caught the L from the airport on Thursday morning and spent the day roaming through dinosaur bones and stuffed animal carcasses from all over the world.  

I was struck by the genuine kindness and thoughtfulness of the people of Chicago.  Folks really were so warm and friendly, concerned and helpful.  We made friends with the shuttle bus driver who took us to and from the airport to our hotel.  He was a very young 20 something who migrated to Chicago from Poland with his parents.  He entered High School at the age of 16 not knowing a stitch of English.  Isaac and Georgie told him they knew how that felt!  We commiserated about the beauties of Europe, what he misses about it and what he appreciates about the US.  It turns out, he and I agree on quite a lot!  ( Sigh...no perfect place! but lots of awesome ones!)  I left our one rolling luggage piece in the back of the taxi cab we took from the L to the museum (a real "Ashley" move) and I had the entire front entrance staff of the museum on my team tracking the taxi cab down.  One man let me use his phone and offered to wait after his shift as long as it took until I got a return call confirming my luggage.  The lady with the taxi company was AWESOME and showed real concern and the ladies at the museum ticket counter were clapping and grinning from ear to ear when I came back in with my luggage...in hindsight, it was fun!   

To continue our journey with the delightful people of Chicago I'll tell you one more story.  From the airport to the field museum is a 45 minute ride on the L.  We were tired and dirty and ragged looking from lack of showering or face wash or changes of clothes.  About 1/3 of the way into our journey a very large woman (350# +) boarded the train.  We exchanged smiles as she took a seat close to us.  The kids were behaving themselves, playing nicely together and we exchanged more smiles with her.  20 minutes later she hands $20 to Georgie.  Georgie then gives it to me and motions toward the woman.  "Buy them something," she tells me with an accent I couldn't pick up on.  "They are so good, buy them something."  Mind you this woman looked quite poor herself.  I was complimented, flattered, shocked, and extremely humbled but mostly I felt very inappropriate taking it from her.  But I also knew it would be rude and awkward of me to try and give it back.  So I smiled and thanked her and the kids thanked her and I sat back and marveled and wondered at the fact that we might have just received the widows mite.  I chatted with her for a few minutes a little while later but I didn't get a great feel for her story.  I know she was coming home from work and that she lived way outside of the city, near the airport, not the best area, I am sure.  She was carrying some things she had purchased for her sister that evening after work.  I told her that she was a very generous person.    I didn't get the feeling she was fishing for any compliments.  It was a good experience for the kids and I hope it affected them a little.  We still have the $20.00 and need to talk again about how we want to spend it or donate it.  It is a special $20.00 bill that we won't give out lightly.  

We boarded our plane in Chicago and were all quite excited about it.  Juliet had been asking for the "movie airplane" since our journey began!  Movies to our hearts content! I stressed a little as Georgie was never able to fall asleep but felt grateful that Isaac and Juliet slept a decent amount.  Like Georgie, I didn't sleep at all.  We landed in Munich after 12 hours and crashed again on the seats outside of a random gate.  We had 8 hours to kill!!   Juliet was wide awake so she and I killed time reading books, going to the bathroom, and hanging out quietly.  Isaac was cute when he took his few remaining Euro and escorted Juliet to the toy store and bought her her own little set of Duplo legos.  Because he didn't want to leave Georgie out he bought her a little gift too.  He was so cute and thoughtful about it.  Love that boy!  So we came and went and ate and sat and played for 8 hours.  We treated our little corner of the airport like it was our home, coming and going and sprawling as we wanted!  I feel confident they were ready for us to go when the 8 hours were up.  We had de-gentrifying there schmancy airport for too long!

The Munich airport is NICE:

Just in the area where we were sprawling there was this airplane playground, 3 really nice restaurants, a complimentary tea and coffee bar, a toy store, a whole bunch of designer shops whos' names I can't remember and luckily, a United Colors of Benetton store.  I thank heaven for that Benetton shop that happened to be having a January sale because I had to buy Juliet 3 pairs of pants while we were in that airport.  She poo'ed in her pants 4 times!  Yes, that's right, you heard me, she poo'ed in her pants 4 times during our lovely 8 hour layover in Munich.  You bet they were ready to get rid of us! 

Love that girl:

Love this trip:

Love our family!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!  And much love and thanks to all those involved!

xoxo