Moon, moon, moon

On the way home tonight Abby asked me where the moon was. This is one of her new things, she is obsessed with the moon. She wants to see it every night and she is very disappointed when we can't see it for one reason or another. Tonight was one of those nights. I don't know if the problem was there was no moon tonight, or it was too cloudy, or I just wasn't looking in the right part of the sky...but we were unable to find the moon. When I told Abby the bad news she just shrugged and told me the moon needs new batteries. Ah, how simple the world is when you are 2.....new batteries can fix just about anything!!! That little girl just makes my heart smile :)

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

Again, this post is a bit late. But, better late than never as they say! Andrew turned 29 this past Sunday and we went out to celebrate his last year in his 20's on Saturday night. We got a babysitter for Abby and then went to dinner at McGuire's with some friends and then hit up Howl at the Moon, which is a piano bar. Since it was a holiday weekend the piano bar wasn't very crowded, but that made it even more fun because they played all of our song requests and we had a blast singing along. Happy Birthday Andrew, I love you! I hope you enjoy your last year as 20-something guy because next year is the big 3-0 and its all down hill from there :)

Our friends Erica, Kylee, and Ryan. Kylee is Ryan's sister and she just turned 21 on Thanksgiving, so we did a little dual celebration for her and Andrew.

Andrew had to go up on stage since it was his birthday so that the whole place could sing Happy Birthday to him. Not only that, but the piano played serenaded him with a very inappropriate but hilarious song which I do have on video if anyone wants to see!!

Turkey Day

I know Thanksgiving was a few days ago, sorry I am just now getting around to posting this! I am a slacker!! Anyway, we had a very nice Thanksgiving with all of the fixin's and Sam and Nolan joined us as well. I was in charge of snacks for munching on before dinner, while Sam and Andrew did the rest! We had way too much yummy food, good company, and a lot of laughs....a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season!

The head Turkey Carver

We set a place on honor for Brian since he wasn't able to join us, maybe next year!

A huge hug from my little turkey!

Like I said, I was in charge of munchies and the kiddos did plenty of just that...munching. After all the snack food we couldn't really get them to sit down and eat much at dinner. Oh well, they thought it was pretty cool that they could reach the table and grab whatever their little hearts desired.

Abbyisms

Just wanted to share some of the funny/strange things that come out of Abby's mouth these days. She is a chatterbox and quite the little comedian!



Too orangy--Abby said this in Germany when we unknowingly bought her a carbonated apple juice in the airport. I couldn't figure out what too orangy meant but after tasting the apple juice, I understood why she didn't like it! She now uses the phrase when she doesn't like the way something tastes!

Whats wrong with your legs mommy, they are too scratchy--Abby said this to me one day after trying to sit on my leg for a "horsey ride". Apparently it was time to shave my legs!

Night, night Nolan--Abby said this one night as she was going to bed. I told her to say goodnight to her Daddy and she said night, night Nolan instead and she started cracking up. She thought it was the funniest thing she had ever said and proceeded to say it to Andrew all the way up the stairs.

Probably--Abby uses this word all the time and mostly in the wrong context. For example when she wants to watch a movie, instead of asking she says "Abby watches Little Einsteins probably."

Almost--Again another frequently used word. She usually says this when I ask her to do something she doesn't want to do.
Me: Abby its time for bed
Abby: Almost
Or, Me: Abby time to come inside and eat lunch.
Abby: Almost

Rainbows- She calls her hair bows or any of the bows on her clothes rainbows.

Chocolate- She calls her sidewalk chalk, chocolate.

Chi-Chicago--On the way to Germany I told her we had to stop in Atlanta first and get on another plane. She then informed me that she does not like Atlanta and instead we would be going to Chi-Chicago.

I cry in my crib all day long--As we were driving home one day Abby let me know that she wasn't going to take a nap and instead was going to cry in her crib all day long! How is that for honesty?

Cuz--Abby tries to justify all of her actions, especially the ones that I tell her not to do. A lot of times whatever comes after cuz doesn't make sense or is nonsense but I guess she feels like she telling me her reasoning for doing whatever it is she is doing.

Picnic lunch

A few weeks ago, we had a picnic lunch at the park with Sam and Nolan after gymnastics. It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed playing on the playground, looking at the ocean, and seeing the Christmas decorations that were being put up!

Nolans Birthday

Ok, I am going to take a break from the Germany pictures to catch up on what's been going on here at the home front. Abby's best friend Nolan turned 2 on November 16th and we had a wonderful time celebrating the big day with him. Abby and I joined Sam and Nolan for a birthday lunch at Applebee's on the day of his actual birthday and then went to his birthday bash the next night. Sam did a GREAT job with the party and the kids had a blast and I think the adults enjoyed themselves just as much, well at least I did!

Sam and the birthday boy enjoying his birthday dessert at Applebee's!

The birthday boy. The party was a firetruck theme, very cute!
Abby had to be right in the middle of the whole thing. I guess she didn't think Nolan was capable of opening his own presents. Every boy needs a girls help!!
MMMM, CAKE!!

Epernay/Verdun France

We had to make a stop at the Moet winery where Dom Perignon is made. I couldn't even believe how much a bottle of "Dom" costs!

As you can see, it is 6000 Euro, which works out to be $8,783.71! That is one expensive bottle of champagne!

This was taken on the avenue de Champagne which are lined with beautiful mansions.

One of the above mentioned mansions. Aren't the flowers gorgeous?

The "street construction" in Epernay. I think it is amazing that they lay the cobblestone like rocks down by hand. It wouldn't pass American quickness standards or expectations but they are a heck of a lot prettier than asphalt roads!

After eating my fair share of French food and ordering Abby chicken nuggets one night and getting something more resemebling goose nuggets, I insisted on some "American" food. Of course the first place we found that fit the bill was McDonalds. Abby was in heaven with her chicken nuggets, ranch, and fruit. And, I enjoyed my large diet coke with ice! Wes didn't seem to mind too much that he was still too young to enjoy Micky D's.....soon enough my little friend!!

This was taken overlooking the battlefield in Verdun. A quick history lesson: The Battle of Verdun was one of the most important battles fought during WWI. It was the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of WWI with the fighting lasting about 10 months and a quarter of a million deaths and nearly half a million wounded. It was eerie to look out across that field and imagine what had gone on there years before. History has always been interesting to me but I know some find it boring....seeing these things for yourself really gives you and appreciation for what went on.

Ok, this was one of the bathrooms we encountered in Verdun. Not up to Cheyna standards!!

This was the sight of one of the battlefields in Verdun but the name escapes me. These were underground tunnels that the soldiers used. It was amazing to see!

Random Pictures from France

Here are some random pictures from some our activities while we were in France. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back someday and see more of what the country has to offer.

Andrew got a kick out of the fact that this car had moss growing on it!

Abby was so tuckered out from all of the traveling and sight seeing she actually feel asleep in the stroller. If you know Abby at all.....this is totally not like her. I guess she was exhausted. She slept thru our entire dinner and didn't wake up till right as we were about to leave.

So peaceful!

Becca and John

Andrew's Mom and Dad were nice enough to take on the task of watching both Abigail and baby Wes so we could go out for a bit with John and Becca. We did a little bar hoping in downtown Reims. It was some nice down time for us and it was nice to be able to chat and hangout with John and Becca without the little ones. Everyone needs a break now and then :) Thanks Susan and Peter!!!

.


That is one BIG beer!

What's wrong with this picture??

Notre-Dame de Reims

While we were in France we stopped by an amazing Cathedral. It is called Notre-Dame de Reims and it is where the kings of France used to be crowned. It was beautiful inside and out. It has incredible Gothic architecture and the organ inside (which we didn't get a picture of) was beautiful.

We also visited the cathedral at night when it was all lit up.

A bit of Bubbly!

One of the benefits of Europe is that its easy to travel to the surrounding countries. We took a few days and headed to France, to the Champagne region. You know, the only place in the world where actual champagne is made. Anything that does not come from this part of France is actually sparkling wine, its not true champagne. Anyhow, while were there we toured the Taittinger winery. It was very interesting to see where and how the champagne is stored. During the tour you are lead to the underground chalk caves where the champagne is stored, there were upwards of a million bottles of champagne through out the caves. It was very intimidating having a toddler among such a large amount of very breakable bottles of champagne. Unfortunately I wasn't able to hear a lot of the tour because apparently champagne making and storage is not an interesting subject to a 2 year old. I guess I will have to go back someday!!! Abby was pretty funny while we were doing the tour, she kept asking me about the big, huge water bottles...referring to the bottles of champagne!!!

Can you believe those huge bottles? You could end up with a serious headache after drinking one of those :)

At a certain point in the production process the Champagne bottle is placed upside down in a holder at a 75° angle. Each day a person, called a riddler, comes through the cellar and turns the bottle 1/8th of a turn while keeping it upside down. This procedure forces the dead yeast cells into the neck of the bottle where they are subsequently removed. Here is Abby during her hands on interview to become one of the riddlers. Little did she know she was supposed to be on the other side of the structure so that she could turn the bottles. Needless to say, she was not hired and we are not bathing in champagne as we had hoped ;)

Ok, now we are making progress....atleast she is on the right side now!

Rows upon rows of champagne in the chalk cellars.

Its cold down in the caves and the temperature is the same all year round.
From R to L: Andrew, Becca, Baby Wes, John, Cheyna, and Abigail

John couldn't wait for the tasting after the tour!

This is one of the old staircases used by the Monks who originally "created" champagne. The ceiling was marked so that the Monks were able to feel their way down the stairs because there was no electricity.

Look at all of the "water bottles"