European Vacation, continued...

Day 2:
The real trip begins. We drove to Strasbourg, France, for some window shopping and walking around. We saw General Jean-Baptiste Kléber, and ate lunch near the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady at Maison Kammerzell. The house wine was excellent!

Kleber

The very Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady

But France was not our final destination on Friday--we must power on to Zurich! Some have called the Swiss people gnomes, but everyone we saw looked to be of average height and attractiveness.

Our arrival at the first hotel of our trip.

The largest clock face in Europe.

Dennis and I had a lovely dinner at a lovely restaurant in an old guildhall while Grandmom and Henry chilled at the hotel.
Zurich was a little confusing because they don’t really use Euros; they have swiss francs (although most places do take Euros, but the exchange rate is crummy).

Day 3:
Really long drive to Firenze aka Florence.

Henry was happy to be out of the car!

The view from our hotel rooms.

We didn’t do much on this evening except walk around a bit. We checked out the outdoor market at San Lorenzo. Dennis and I had dinner out and more excellent house wine (are you sensing a pattern here?)

Chatham Tour '09 Part 1: flying, then Mainz, Germany

I know I'm a few days behind, but I'll update a bit at a time.

Day 0:
Catch the red-eye from Cincy to Frankfort. Glad we brought the Benadryl fast-melts and the SpongeBob videos!

Day 1:
Grandmom was waiting for us at the airport. We drove back to the house to shower and eat. Then the sightseeing began! We drove around (and around) Mainz, then parked and walked around the city center. Dennis and I ventured into 2 different yarn shops, where I proceeded to embarrass myself. And we will never mention that again.
We all made a brief stop in the Gutenberg Museum to sneak a peek at the Gutenberg Bibles on display. Then back to the house to eat and pass out, finally.

Remember this stroller? It was our best buddy on our last European vacation, and it survives still!

Hallo from Deutschland!

...for the moment. We're back in Europe for another Chatham family adventure, woohoo! Over the next week or so, we'll be driving down through Italy and back. Our internet access will be spotty, at best, once we leave the comforts of the household. I'll try to update with a couple of pictures here and there, but no promises of anything until we return.
Danke schoen!

A chilly Valentine's afternoon

Well, it looked a lot nicer outside than it felt. With the wind blowing, it turned out to be a pretty chilly day. Henry, however, barely seemed bothered a bit. In fact, he attempted to refuse putting on his coat. Good thing we're still stronger than him!

It's amazing what a big boy he is suddenly!

Doesn't he look so grown up?

He had to prove how big he was by climbing up the "ladder" over and over unassisted. Well, you can imagine that I didn't stand too far away.

Just in case anyone has never experienced an ice storm, I thought I'd throw out a picture of the aftermath. It was certainly a new experience for us, and hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal.

Back in business!

Okay, not totally. The power is still off at the office, so it's another snow day.

So you know how as soon as you shell out for a $600 generator (plus accessories and fuel) and snuggle up in the basement for the long haul, the power comes back on? Yup. So we spent about $200 an hour for those 4 hours of not-quite-freezing-our-tails-off. 

But hey, who's in for some awesome tailgaters next season? I predict Guitar Hero becomes a new tradition.

And in case you're disappointed that you won't get to hear more tales of how we were roughing it after The Great Ice Storm of 2009, know that we still have a "boil water" advisory for the next 3-5 days. Don't want y'all to think we have it too easy. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite movie quotes:

"There is no charge for awesomeness...or attractiveness."

--Po, in Kung Fu Panda

Baby, it's cold outside!

And inside. 

We had the winter storm from hell this week--freezing rain for more than 24 hours, then 2-3 inches of snow on top of that. Most of our county and several of the surrounding counties are out of power. We lost power on Tuesday afternoon. The first night wasn't too bad. Yesterday we went to Jacob and Kelly's. Tonight I'm on call, so we're back. 

Still no power, and still about 24 degrees outside. Thus about 40 degrees inside. 

How am I blogging? you might ask. We bought a generator at Home Depot in Lexington, and we're snuggled up in the basement. We've got the essentials: an electric heater, blankets, TV and internet! 

Not sure when the power will be back--last night it was said they hoped to get it 80% restored in 3 days. So in two more days, if we're lucky. 

Here's to a long weekend...

Sorry, no pictures--the battery needs charging. Maybe that will make the list eventually!

A snowy Tuesday afternoon

Everyone's wearing their mama-made hats!

Gipper had to disrupt the snow angel-making.

Henry had so much fun, we literally had to drag him inside kicking and screaming. Some of us don't like cold, wet feet after a while, you know!

E-A-G-L-E-S!

Go Eagles!

Henry is 2!

Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

The Birthday Hat fits much better this year than last.

Henry also likes it a lot more now.

Chocolate SpongeBob cake courtesy of Daddy, approved.

Wooden rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpop, also approved.

If you're wondering what Dennis and I gave him, well, it's a potty chair. He definitely likes to sit on it, but nothing more exciting than that yet. We'll keep you posted, ew.

Christmas morning!

We had a pretty quiet Christmas this year, just the three (okay, four, with Gipper) of us. Even though we don't think Henry knew what was going on, he managed to wake up at 4:45 a.m.! I never realized before how exhausting Christmas can be for parents.

The big reveal of the tricycle--

thanks, Mere and Doodah!

Henry loves all of his gifts, but this ball from Grandmom and Grandpop is a favorite. He definitely loves to say "bwall!"

Henry's gift from Daddy was Dennis, the lazy diesel engine.

You didn't think Santa forgot the Gipper, did you?

Henry still isn't quite sure enough about Elmo Live to touch him, but he will watch him, mesmerized, from a few feet away. He also is learning to dance along.

Didja miss us?

Hey, we've been busy!

New PJs!

Mere, Doodah, Uncle Michael, and Aunt Marie all came to visit last month.

The Gipper and his new cousin Theo made friends...sort of.

"I'll wash. You dry."

'Sup?

Fall is here!

Henry loves the leaves in fall.

Henry also loves chocolate.

I just love those eyes!

Here's Henry's Halloween getup. As you can tell, he did NOT love the hood. Special thanks to Mere, who helped sew the costume during her last visit!

If you've happened to check out my links and have read my friend Jenn's blog, Notes to self, consider voting for her in the blogger's choice awards. She's a great writer and an awesome chick!

Also, you may have notice my new little button in the sidebar. Just a warning, you'll likely get something handmade this Christmas!

Comings and goings

We recently visited the Louisville Zoo. Apparently it was a bit disappointing. 

Have you figured out what Henry's gonna wear for Halloween yet?

Parain Jacob has some new doggy neighbors. Henry immediately befriended them. He speaks fluent doggy.

Fall is lots of fun!

Not a happy day.

We love you, Ma.

Halloween is coming!

Time to brainstorm for our costumes!

Missed us?

Yup, we've been busy. 

We're just a couple of slave-drivers, forcing Henry to help with the housework.

We've had to do some serious thinking.

But there's been time for some fun, too.

And Gipper's working hard at training all of the Little People to sit still in their spots.

The Answer: Two Days.

The Question: How long does it take for Henry to get sick after starting Mom's Morning Out (part-time daycare M/T/T/F mornings)?

Yep, exactly 2 days. More like 6 total hours, to be precise. Henry began MMO this week (well, for us it's technically DMO) so that Dennis can start working part-time at the office. Today at lunch I noticed he was super hot and trying to get a head start on his nap. Temp=101.2. Dr. R. took a look at him and ordered a rapid strep test--bingo! So now he has to miss tomorrow for sure (contagious for 24 hrs after starting antibiotics). And daddy has to call in on his second day of work. Hopefully his boss will cut him some slack!

What I find hilarious is that this child walked/crawled/slid around my office every day for over a year, put every nasty thing he could find in his mouth (including my stethoscope when he can get it), practically licked the floor, and not once has he been really sick. 2 days with other kids his age and bam, he's down for the count. 

Hats off!

Or on, really. Henry really loves to run around wearing my old baseball cap. As in, once he has the hat perched on his head, he runs back and forth across the living room giggling his butt off like it's the most hilarious thing he's done all year. It is pretty funny actually.