We Got A Snow Day

First things first...This is Vicenza Italy. So the amount of snow that fell wasn't much. BUT! It was enough for a SNOW DAY. Ollie says..."it was a lot of snow actually."

The snow did start falling until 6AM. Unfortunately, the kids bus came and picked them up. Just in time for them to ride in traffic for two-hours and then turn around and come home. I was concerned the night before. People probably thought I was crazy because I was asking what the procedures were for Snow Days. Well, I guess the last laugh is on me... or is it them? Who cares. WE HAD A SNOW DAY! And the kids loved it. ENJOY! PS...THERE IS A VIDEO ON THE BOTTOM!

Geo-Caching...Romeo and Juliette Style!

Our friends invited us out to go geocaching with them. Basically, this is where you type in coordinates into your GPS and you try to find hidden treasures. This paticular geocache was near Romeo and Juliette's Castles. Our friends Randy and Jolanta are serious Geocachers. We...well, we like to spend time with friends, explore, and then eat good food. Randy and Jolanta are real fun people to be around. Easy-going, free-spirited friends. They did an excellent job explaining to Maddy, Shelly, and me the how's and why's of geocaching.



The weather around here has started to turn for the winter, but on the day we set out...it was fantastic. Perfect weather for geo-caching. The geocache we set out to find had significant meaning for Randy and Jolanta...They named it "star crossed lovers," after Romeo and Juliette...and their one-year anniversarry. They use geocaching.com to set and find all of their geocacaches. If you go to that page and type in "star crossed lovers" this is what you will read. (You don't need an account, but why not sign up...it is FREE!)

This cache helps to discover the story of 2 lovers who could never be. You can hike to it from a variety of nearby roads, or park close by in the parking lot.If you want to see a movie you could even wait until 2130 to see new movies in a national landmark. The cache is a short drive from Vicenza or Verona and is even near a popular site for weddings and parties. The plastic container is clear with a blue lid. After you find it please share a story of love or romance that you have experienced. My wife and I placed this for our 1 year anniversary and hope to hear for years to come stories from all who find it.



Here are a few pics of the four of us checking out Romeo's castle before we set off on the hunt. The castle in the background is Juliette's.

The girls strike a pose to prove they are indeed ready to actually walk on a none paved surface.

After Randy typed in the exact location into his GPS, it was off to the hunt.

Maddy took the GPS and was a real pro. I think she had the most fun of all of us.Maddy saw this rock and thought it had to be the rock...she was right!

Maddy found the geocache!

Halloween Fun...Italian Style!

This was our first year "trick-or-treating" in Italy. Italy celebrates Halloween...only a little differently. There were no decorated homes and very few had pumpkins. Our neighbors invited us to walk the neighborhood with them, but we wanted to enjoy some good-ole American style Halloween. So, we packed up the kids for the military housing area. The military instalation ran shuttles to the housing area, so I had Shelly and the kids meet me at work so we could catch the bus over. The best part about "trick-or-treating" on a military housing area is you can hit 100 houses in 30-minutes. It had been raining all day...but it did clear up in time for an awesome night out.

We're trying something different on Do This! The kids are going to blog a little. First up...Maddy.

For Halloween I was a Dark Empress. This was the first year I wasn't a princess or a fairy. It was a very fun and different Halloween. It was weird going on a bus to go "trick-or-treating". When we were on the bus they stopped and then started to go backwards until we got there. At first, I was really scared but after a while it wasn't so scary. I had a lot of fun going"trick-or-treating", but it was really cold outside. I got at least a bucket-full of candy. By the time we got home it was about eight forty-five. That is how I spent my Halloween.

OK! Well Ollie didn't want to add anything. So...here is the scoop. Ollie went as Dash for the second time. He is both Eco and money smart. We told him we'd pay him $10 if he was Dash again. He said yes, then asked if he'd get $20 next year. I like the way he thinks. It was a long day for the kids. The bus ride didn't make things easier. Ollie was out cold two minutes into the bus ride back to base.

It was a real nice night. A large organization on base set up several booths and handed out candy. Plus, they gave each homeowner two bags of candy to help off-set the cost of candy. The housing area opened it's gates to the Italian community. There were tons of kids everywhere. Nigel stayed home to pass out candy to the Italian kids. He said all of the kids came in large groups...and they all had hand guns as part of thier costumes.

Disneyland Paris

This seems to be an Eder Family tradition. We all love Disneyland. This trip was the fourth time Shelly and the kids went, the third for me. The weather was perfect for three of the four days. Even on the last day, the weather wasn't so bad. Not like the first time we went when it was FREEZING COLD! That trip was one I will always remember. Shelly found a fantastic place for us to stay. The Marriott Village d'Ile-de-France is a time-share resort, but you don't have to buy a time-share to stay. The townhome was well appointed and huge. But...that isn't what this blog post is about. So enjoy the pics.

This year is the 15th year Disneyland Paris has been around. Not too sure how many more we'll make. For sure we'll be going back. It was cheaper to buy an annual pass, than a three day pass. Combine that with the fact Ryan Air tickets are like $40 round trip...and it is a no-brainer!

Lazy Blogger Update

A rare family photo...complete with Nigel!

I had such high hopes and good intentions about blogging once we were settled here in Italy. Time seems to always escape me. I received an e-mail from a lovely friend last week that reminded me how much I wanted to keep in touch with everyone while we were here. So, on that note this is the official, unofficial Do This! blog re-launch!

We don't own the whole thing!

So, here is a short recap of the last nine months. We live in a great house in a suburb outside of Vicenza. It is a circle of newer houses with a playground in the center. It is the only house we looked at, but we knew right away it was a good choice for us. The winter went by not in a flurry of activity but rather a slow trickle of things getting done on "italian" time. I have to say that Chris' co-workers were so welcoming and we have had many wonderful evenings with them.

The school year seemed to zip by, especially knowing it was Nigel's last year. I think we all just went along with the flow trying to adjust. Nigel graduated in the historic Teatro Olimpico. We sat directly behind Italian and American Generals and I cried like a baby. Nigel is turning 18 in October and plans to do a little traveling then.

We have visited many cities that are close by to us. Venice, Verona and Ikea...oh, wait, Ikea's not a city. Oh well, it's in Padova (Padua) and that IS a great place to visit. We went on two week-long vacations. In spring we went to Florence, Pisa and Lucca. It was drizzly and Ollie was not too excited about the crowds. I had been to those places before but it was still a nice trip. Early this summer we drove to Germany to stay with our great friend Sharon, who was also our neighbor when we lived there. We had the best time, and none of us wanted that vacation to end. Since then we have only managed a few visits to the local beaches here. There are three that are all about 2 hours away and we tried each of them. We plan to go back to our favorite one more time before fall.
So, that's it for now. I hope to post some more in depth details about my favorite places and hopefully lots of new things too. Check out Chris' Taste This! blog for our first venture into an Enoteca! Yeah, I didn't know what that was either. Talk soon!

Build A Pizza

Every member of the family will be posting to this blog. Each of us will have something to add about all of the trips we take. Shelly and I found this today as we were cruising the internet. I hope you enjoy.


Pizza Station by ~smokinjoeevil on deviantART

Coming Soon!

As soon as I get settled in Italy!