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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Sam's House & ANAIA - Week 7

Now we are at Sam's House.
I am loving spending time with Anaia! She is so fun to be around. She is talking and getting into everything. It's lots of fun!



I just love the view from my window...
Here are some of the other windows in the house...



We are loving exploring and this beautiful Country!
There will be more to come...

Romeo & Juliet - A Night At the OPERA - Week 6


This trip to Italy has DEFINATELY been a huge blessing!
I must say that I was blessed to be able to take Alyssa to her FIRST OPERA!!
We went to see ROMEO & JULIET in Verona, Italy!






I just love saying that! Isn't that cool?


 Our Pre-Opera Snack of Fruit!

We went with a group of Angela's friends and we had a BLAST!!
Verona in the summer is VERY HOT! The sun heats up the stone steps of the Arena and those are our Seats for the night! Have you ever notice how long a stone stays hot?? I have - it stays hot for HOURS!!
The Opera itself was beautiful! We bought the playbook in English so we could follow along and read what they were singing!
When you come into the opera they hand you a candle and everyone is supposed to light it right before the opera starts!


Dont the candles look cool?


 More Candle Pictures!



The cast was HUGE and the dancing was incredible!
This is the party scene!

These are the Montegues coming to the party.


Romeo's Ride!

Juliet being introduced to the partygoers.

Juliet in her room!


Romeo climbing up to her balcony for a kiss!


This is the scene where Romeo & Juliet meet with the Friar!

And then he marry's them!

The Wedding!


The fighting of the two families!


Romeo was banished because he killed Tybalt.

Juliet is told that she is going to marry Parris.

She fakes her death, but Romeo doesn't know its fake...

So he takes the poison and then she wakes up!

The End!
It was really a pretty version of Romeo & Juliet!
And, it was a perfect 1st Opera for Alyssa!
I am soooo glad that we went!

 

Sunday, August 28, 2011

My Date with Sophia

I am blessed to have such beautiful nieces and nephews. They are all so special and unique.
I consider it a privilege to spend time with them.

Background Story:
Last week, Addison and I had an impromptu "date"! We got taco's, walked around the PX, we went to the library and look at books together, and then we got GELATO!! Yippy!
I loved EVERY MINUTE of it! It is soooo special to spend one on one time with the kids in my life!
So... this made me want to take Sophia on a date as well! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me when Addison and I went out, but I was sure to bring it along for my date with Sophia!

Planning:
First, we Planned - Sophia talked about our "GIRLY TIME" for several days. We planned what we gonna wear, how our hair would be, Sophia picked her accessories, what we would EAT, where we would go, and of course what we would do!
Second, We came up with a "GIRLY TIME" handshake - Now as most of my nieces know, I already have a girly time handshake, but Sophia wanted an original handshake!
Lastly, We asked her Mom - We really had most of it planned out when we realized that we had not included Angela in on our planning. She was a very important part of making this happen!

Execution:
Sophia decided that she really wanted to go to the mall and get McDonald's french fry's and yogurt. Yes, you read it correctly, she wanted McD's! Here in Italy there are not McD's on every corner or even in every town. They are few and far between and they are mostly IN THE MALL! I was shocked at how different they are. The menu is totally different than what WE are used to AND there was NO Dollar Menu or Euro Menu! Ugh!
So, we had Angela drop us off at the mall and we were off...


 This is McD's Italian Cappuccino! It is REALLY Yummy and Pretty! Do you notice anything strange about this picture??
How about the REAL CUP and the silverware?? Isnt that strange??
They dont serve it in a to-go cup!

This was what I ate!
I am a little adventurous, so I ordered this. I wasn't sure that it was, but it was really good.
It had cheese and veggies in it. Not sure what else!
Ordering at this McDonalds was very difficult, because it is all in Italian and unlike "Easy America" each item doesn't have an accompanying picture...
This is the McCafe' Side! YUMMY

Yes, those are oranges on the case! They were 2 Euro EACH!!


After we ate,
we went "Princess Window Shopping"! Now, for those of you non-royals, this is how it works - You find something that you would like to own or that you would like to get as a gift for someone. Then you just say "BLING, I OWN IT"! And, it is magically yours (for pretend as Sophia kept clarifying!) So we walked around the mall and "blinged" everything!
Sophia had to have her picture next to this bathing suit that she "blinged"!

This woman said Sophia looked like an "American Princess" and had to get a Royal Hug and Kiss!



Acting Silly!
During all of the exhausting shopping we stopped to ride a camel, well Sophia rode I just watched!


The camel riding let to playing, so that brought us back to McDonalds to play in the playplace!

That wore us out and so...
We went to try out the Bocca della Verita' - aka The Mouth Of Truth!
This is scary stuff...



to finish up our day with GELATO!!!
Thank you Sophia for a Wonderful date! I cant wait till our next one. You promised me we would have one when you come to Florida! I will start the planning as soon as I get home!