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.