Happiest of birthdays to my youngest today!!

Yup, my Micah is officially a teenager. (And now I have three!) Here are the height progression pics:

(I didn't take pictures of all three boys because I don't figure any of them really grew that much since the start of the month when I took them for Asher's birthday, lol.)

As you can see, he's starting to sprout. :) Despite his own impatience and desire to be taller than me, he's still a smidge shorter but definitely on the way up. Before he gets all teenagery, though, here's a look back at a group of photos I put together on his fifth birthday (one photo from each year)...

And here's my boy yesterday:

Given our low key celebrations this year (and the fact that his birthday falls on a Monday when Nathan's at his Boulder office and Asher's off at a day camp), we did most of our celebrating yesterday...saw the new Mission Impossible movie and went out to lunch. Tonight there will be cookie cake and singing. :)

Yup, he's a little bit of an imp still...getting ready to start eighth grade (homeschooling still with me)...excited about the coming First Lego League season...still loving karate and demo team...anxious to be old enough for high school (he plans to attend CEC like his brothers)...sad that Noah's off to college soon...and just full of all the emotions involved in the growing up he's working on. 

Yesterday, we helped celebrate Karate West's 40th anniversary. They had classes and sparring and a kick-a-thon along with the promotion of 12 black belts...3 to second degree black belt, 3 to third degree black belt and 6 to fourth degree black belt. As part of the demo team, Asher and Micah were there to perform and help out. 

In addition to all that, plenty of past Karate West members and instructors and demo team members showed up to celebrate, too. 

And, that, friends, is what it was all about. :)

We love Karate West. In the eight years we've been going, Asher and Micah have learned plenty of martial arts techniques, forms, and self defense...and that's terrific. But, more importantly, they're learning to be better people...embracing the principles of the black belt as taught in every class: humility, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control, and indomitable spirit. I can't tell you how often over the years I've either caught one of them talking themselves through something in terms of karate (for example, Micah learning to ride his bike by telling himself that Mr Yee said perseverance was importance) or found myself using the principles as leverage (asking "what would Mrs Yee think?"). Often, I remind them of the Karate West motto: Attitude is everything! And the cool thing is...it works! It's not just words, and the boys take it to heart and know exactly what I mean. 

Beyond all of that (which is already awesomely a lot), being part of Karate West is being part of a family. Through karate, my boys have made fabulous friends. It's where they feel at home and comfortable enough to truly be themselves. It's where they've found confidants and role models.  

Given that, amid the MANY pictures I took yesterday, this is one of my absolute favorites:

This is Asher and MJ and Alex and Micah.

And this is Micah and MJ back in July of 2012. (Micah was almost 7 and had been at Karate West a little over two years.) MJ was one of the boys' favorite instructors when they started but left Karate West that summer to go to New York. (This water fight/picnic was actually a going away party.) He's now in Seattle but continues to keep in touch with Karate West and shows up when he can. 

And this is ten year old Asher on the shoulders of Mike and Alex back in October of 2012 (about half a year after Asher first joined the demo team, about two and a half years from when he'd started at Karate West). As best as I can remember, this was the last fall Alex was officially on the demo team full time before heading off to college and life, though he'd join back in when he could. 

And the reason I share these photos...the reason that first one is one of my favorites...is that it demonstrates just how strong this Karate West family is. MJ and Alex have been mostly away for six years but came back to help celebrate the anniversary. My guys haven't seen them in that long but very much remember them and were seriously stoked to have the chance to perform with them again. (Anyone who had been on the demo team in the past was invited to join in for the performances during the promotion. And my guys managed to talk them into doing a couple more routines after everything was over, just for fun.) And MJ & Alex were just as happy to see my boys and take this picture. 

Happy 40th Anniversary, Karate West! and THANK YOU!

And finally, some general travel thoughts...

• Given the length of our long travel days (10 hour flight across the Atlantic followed by a shorter flight from London to Rome), we wore our glasses so our contacts didn't dry out and/or so we didn't need to mess with taking them out on a plane.

• If at all possible, don’t check bags. It was so much more convenient to not waste time collecting luggage (or risk having it misplaced!) or paying bag fees. Each of us brought one backpack carry-on and one personal bag. That was it. 
• Note, I said “backpack carry-on” not wheeled carry-on. Streets and sidewalks in Europe are generally cobblestone of some sort…not ideal for wheels. Since we were walking from train stations to AirBNBs, being able to carry all our luggage easily and for extended periods was important. 

• In case you're curious, we also used compression packing bags for our clothes. We used a variety of these. They worked great and helped keep things separated and organized.
• If you’re flying within Europe, be sure to check the baggage rules for that airline. We flew from Venice to Paris (the overnight train ended up not being a good option due to maintenance and labor strike closures), and the airline we flew on only allowed ONE carry-on…not one carry-on plus a personal item. Most of the people ahead of us in line were being forced to stuff their personal items into their carry-ons. By some wondrous fluke, they didn’t stop us from carrying on both our carry-on backpacks and personal items…which was miraculous and fortunate. Because there was simply no way we could have fit our personal items into our carry-ons. And they weren’t doing gate checks…so we’d have needed to check the extra bag…and checking bags took place in a completely different part of the airport. We’d have missed our flight for sure. Whew.
• It’s probably not an issue for most people. But. When you have a seventeen year old and you’re trying to prove he’s not yet eighteen (for admission/ticket price purposes), remember that in the US we list dates in month/day/year order but in Europe it’s day/month/year. So, we constantly had to remind people of that…as his birthday is November 2 (so not yet 18), not February 11 (already 18). 
• A one quart sized bag of liquids in the US is highly variable. A one quart sized bag of liquids in London is one quart. Period. 
• If you have to dispose of some of your toiletries at the airport, definitely go for things like shampoo and soap. Those things were pretty easy to replace. Other items were definitely trickier to find. (For example, in France, I had the darndest time trying to find conditioner and lotion at grocery stores. I just kept buying hand soap that I thought was lotion, lol. I gave up on the conditioner.) 
• We found it interesting that places often didn't realize we were altogether...usually not realizing that Nathan was with the boys and me. (In one instance, someone asked a random Asian guy whether he'd forgotten Micah...who was with Nathan at the time, lol.) I honestly can't recall a time it's been an issue before this trip, but it happened often enough that it wasn't just a fluke. Don't we look like we all belong together? :) 

• I don’t know about you, but I rarely carry change these days. So I hardly ever have somewhere to carry coins; I generally add them to a tip jar or a change drawer in my car. In Europe, though, coins are worth something. So bring a coin purse or plan to buy one there. :) 
• The Citymapper app was invaluable. Seriously. We used it practically every day to figure out how to get from here to there and how long it would take using the different methods of transport available.
• We used the TrainlineEU app to get our train tickets for travel between cities and day trips. It worked great, but we should have purchased our first leg a bit sooner so that we could have gotten five seats altogether. (We were more on the ball after that.) If you’re traveling solo or as a couple, this probably isn’t an issue.
• We came to appreciate trains and planes, as they had reserved seats. All of the other public transport we used (bus, tram, metro/tube, vaporetto) definitely took the approach of cramming as many bodies in as possible, regardless of seats. :) (Given that, having less/smaller luggage proved quite helpful.) 

• Given that we were staying at AirBNBs, we deliberately chose locations within walking distance of train stations. For the most part, we were quite happy with our choices and the access to public transport. (If you’d like specifics, email me…I’d be happy to chat.) Also, very glad the boys are the ages they are...soooo much easier when they can all carry their own stuff and spend all day walking.

• Specifically, in Rome, we used our RomaPasses for public transportation. In Florence, we walked everywhere in town and bought individual train tickets to Pisa (via the TrainlineEU app). In Venice, we walked everywhere and purchased individual vaporetto tickets when we used the water buses. In Paris, we bought books (carnets) of tickets (a carnet of tickets is 10 tickets at a discount from individual tickets) for the metro and used Uber to and from Versailles. And, in London, we purchased Visitor Oyster cards in advance (had them mailed to us at home) for the Tube. (Note, with the Visitor Oyster cards, you buy them with preset amounts loaded (and can easily add more later). I got three with 30 pounds and two with 15 pounds. When we arrived in London, I went to one of the Visitor Centers (which I found easily upon exiting the Eurostar area) and had the Youth Discount added to the two cards with the lesser amounts. With the discount active, Asher and Micah’s fees were about half what adult fees were. So, we all ran out at about the same time and just added a bit more to get us through the last day.)
• We have a new appreciation for US roads and parking. Wow. Being passengers in those other countries was seriously scary, lol. Don’t get us wrong. It seemed to work…strangely so. But the proximity of other cars was crazy close. 
• Each of us carried a day pack every day, and it worked great. We each had a water bottle, wipes, a jacket and sometimes a snack. Usually, one of us also carried the guide book for that city (we loved the Rick Steves guides and had one for each city). 
• I had also put tissues in each person's bag, just in case...as I was prepared for at least some poor public toilet conditions. They weren't actually too bad, thank goodness. But, I was thankful I had the tissues at the Louvre. Neither of the toilets I used there had any toilet paper. (Also, note, if you ask for a restroom or bathroom in Europe, you'll get a confused look. You need to ask for a toilet or WC (water closet).) 
• Notably, the security for admission to attractions was different in Italy than in France and England. In Italy, we generally had to go through metal detectors and have our bags x-rayed. In France and England, security guards simply looked through people's bags as we entered...which was usually pretty lax or at least inconsistent. (Often, I just had to unzip my bag and the guard glanced in and waved me on. Asher got stopped a number of times, though, because he was carrying my rain jacket for me and it was packed up in a compression cube--so not very identifiable. At the British Museum, they just asked us if we had anything sharp and took our word for it. Simultaneously, another lady in line was stopped and detained so that they could remove a nail file from her bag and tag and log it.)

Okay. I think that's plenty from me, though I'm sure there's heaps that I've missed/forgotten. :) If you have questions, I'd be delighted to chat with you. In the meantime, I'm going to switch gears now and start getting ready for the coming school year...stay tuned... 

Continuing on...

PARIS

• We loved our location within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower! Would have enjoyed more time just to sit and stare at it during both day and night. 

• As in Venice, we definitely could have used more time in Paris. :) 
• If you have time, go to the Architecture Museum! It was practically empty but so very impressive and had a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower. 
• We entered through the south pillar/leg at the Eiffel Tower, as we were told it had the shortest lines. We found that to be true. There are ticket offices at the pillar bases. The one at the south entrance is for those wishing/willing to climb the steps rather than take the elevator. (Note: If you want to get to the very top, you can only do so by elevator and those tickets sell out online in advance fast. Once you know your itinerary, if possible, book your tickets online asap. If you don’t get them in advance, you might be able to buy them in person but the lines will be long. The lines for the stairs are shorter…but you can only climb to the second level. Normally, from there, you can get a ticket to the elevator to the summit. The day we happened to go, though, the elevators to the summit were closed just then due to possible incoming weather. Regardless, the view from the second level was pretty dang good…arguably better than from the summit since the city and attractions are more recognizable.)

• When we went to Versailles, we spent the morning in the gardens (and rented row boats in the Grand Canal (which was very affordable and fun!)). Right next to the Grand Canal was a easy place to grab lunch before we headed to the line to go inside the Chateau. 

• We took an Uber to and from Versailles. With five of us, the cost was about the same as the train and we were able to enjoy guaranteed seats and air conditioning and quiet, things potentially not found on the train. 
• The recommended restaurants around the Arc de Triomphe were VERY busy for dinner. We actually found it tricky to find places to eat throughout Paris and ended up within a couple blocks of our AirBNB most nights. 

• When you go to Notre Dame, don’t miss Point Zero (a small marked spot on the ground just out front of Notre Dame…apparently, Point Zero is the center of France, originally (2300 years ago) the center of Paris…it’s the point from which all distances there are measured) or the Archeological Crypt (literally under the square in front of Notre Dame and fascinating). If, while in that area, you go looking for a public toilet, try to avoid the one on the street just off to the left of Notre Dame (if looking at Notre Dame from the front). It’s not a pay toilet but it takes forever. (It insisted on single use and “disinfecting” itself between each user…all at its own—very slow—time table.) 
• Loved the Musee d’Orsay and could easily have spent a full day there. We all preferred that to the Louvre.
• We appreciated that tap water was both served and replenished at dinners in Paris. (In Italy, you had to order/buy bottles of still water with meals.) 

LONDON

• We had to laugh a bit when we boarded the Eurostar to take the Chunnel from Paris to London. The crew kept making announcements indicating that we could/would not depart until all of the baggage was properly stored and out of any aisles. On the water bus to the airport in Venice (and pretty much all public transport in Italy), the baggage was literally piled on top and into every spot available, without any regard for keeping aisles clear. ;)
• One of our Big Bus Tour guides told us that they release hawks in Trafalgar Square (and before Wimbledon) to chase off the pigeons. After the number of pigeons we saw throughout Italy and Paris, we found this fascinating. 

• We thoroughly enjoyed the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios tour and recommend leaving PLENTY of time for such an excursion. (And, get your tickets online well in advance to ensure you can get tickets early enough in the day for this to happen.) We were only able to get 5:30pm admission tickets and stayed until about 9:30pm…and could easily have spent more time. (They closed at 10 that night.)

• Apparently, pubs aren’t allowed to serve children after 9pm so will stop admitting families earlier than that (to make sure the kids are done and out in time). Good to know.
• The boats for rent on Regent’s Park boating lake weren’t as nice as the ones in Versailles but chasing the seagulls made up for that. 

• Heading out to Greenwich from central London was a great choice for us. Not only did the attractions there capture our interest, but we very much appreciated the quieter pace. We loved the Cutty Sark, the Greenwich Market, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory (and Prime Meridian) there. 

• Get the Fast Pass ticket for the London Eye. We got ours as part of our Big Bus Tour ticket. With it, we didn’t have to make any sorts of reservations…just showed up and traded in our bus ticket/receipt for the London Eye tickets…and got in the incredibly short Fast Pass line to board the Eye.
• We definitely would like to spend more time at the Borough Market…trying the many food stalls there. It looked delicious. 
• In retrospect, we wish we’d visited the National Gallery instead of the Tate Modern. Boys had been so over-museum’d at that point, especially over-Renaissance’d, that they’d requested the Tate Modern for a change of pace…but soon realized that modern art isn’t their cup of tea. ;) 
• When the guy at the door of the Churchill War Rooms warns you that you won’t have enough time before closing, he’s not exaggerating. The War Rooms have two parts…an audio tour of the actual war rooms and an extensive museum area. Just following the audio tour should take about 2 hours (maybe more). Considering that we popped in with only a little over an hour before closing, we had to skip some of the audio tour stops and weren’t able to spend much time in the fascinating museum.

Whew. Yeah. Lots of observations and thoughts. :) I've got one more post with general travel thoughts and then I'll be done posting about our Europe trip...

Okay. It's been just over a month since we got home from our lovely Europe trip. :) Suppose I'll actually post some more. (If you want a quick refresher on our itinerary, check here.)

I'm going to start with observations and thoughts about Italy...and a very small sampling of photos...

First, some general thoughts:

• People in Italy smoke. A lot. Coming from a community where there is very little smoking (and, particularly, very little public smoking), we’ve come to take fresh air for granted.
• In Italian, “pepperoni” means bell peppers. If you order a pepperoni pizza, expect bell peppers. ;) (Micah and Noah both ordered this our first night in Rome, lol.)
• When you order a pizza in Italy, it doesn't come sliced. Unless ordering just a slice (which seemed to only be available at very touristy fast food areas), we didn't eat at a single place where the pizza came already sliced. Slicing pizza with the knives provided at the table was tricky. We still have no idea how one was *supposed* to eat the pizza. ;) If we hadn't been traveling as much as we were, we'd have considered buying a pizza cutter to carry with us, lol.
• Even “bad” gelato is good. (Our food tour guide was awesome and instructed us to always look for food a bit further away from tourist attractions; and, specifically, to look for gelato that was not heaping (pumped full of air) or covered in toppings. We did our best, but sometimes you just want the nearest gelato, lol.)
• You can’t rush Italian meals at restaurants. Expect for them to be leisurely.
• Apparently, parking is allowed anywhere. ;)
• We decided Italians are so fit because they walk everywhere and have to be able to squeeze into their tiny cars, which are often parked very close to other tiny cars.
• Maybe so many of the statues are naked because it was easier to sculpt them naked. Sculpting the details of fabric in marble seems very tricky.
• Ice in drinks appeared limited to cocktails. We did adjust to not having ice in everything but also appreciated it when we got home. :) 
• At train stations, if you get there early (because of early check out times or a desire to get some food first or just because you prefer to be early), don’t expect to find out which platform you’ll be at until about 30 minutes before departure (or less). People tended to mill around the big display boards waiting for the information to be posted and then everyone would hurry to where they needed to be. It was a different experience from airports in the US where we tend to get to our assigned gate early and then venture out for food or to use the bathroom or to finish up some shopping or whatever.
• Remember to take humidity into account when doing laundry! None of the places we stayed at had a dryer (only a washing machine), and the boys’ laundry (cotton tees and jeans) took a long time to air dry. (I brought portable clotheslines, though, which helped.)

• If possible, on the buses in Rome, don’t stand at the back of the bus if it’s summer. The engine is back there and gets hot. Of course, most of the times we used the buses it was plenty crowded so there wasn’t much choice.
• Throughout Italy, if you sit down at a table, they expect to serve you like at a restaurant…which takes longer and generally costs more. If you just buy something from the counter or bar, don’t expect to be able to sit at one of the tables there; those are reserved for people who will sit and be served.
• Dress appropriately. At many of the churches throughout Italy, shoulders and knees must be covered to be admitted. When we went to the Vatican, for example, I made sure to wear one of my longer skirts and brought a scarf to cover my shoulders. 

And now some thoughts specific to each city we home-based from...

ROME

• Rome has plentiful public fountains. Beyond the fancy, famous ones, they have lovely little Nasoni fountains everywhere. (I believe “Nasoni” means something related to the nose? It’s descriptive of the spigot.) We were told that unless there was a sign saying otherwise to assume that you could drink from any of these fountains. (There’s even an app to find them, though we found the app slower than just looking around.) So glad we each carried a water bottle every day. We definitely used the fountains to stay hydrated.

• Highly recommend the Eating Italy food tours!! We were staying in Trastevere, so did the Trastevere for Foodies tour and absolutely loved it. We scheduled it for our first full day in Rome, figuring it would help us learn some of the local customs and cuisine right off the bat…and it did just that! We learned about local specialties, were instructed on how to order things and what to look for, and tasted so much deliciousness. 
• Our food tour guide (an Italian married to an American) also instructed us on being pedestrians in Rome…explaining that we needed to be confident and proactive, that if we waited to see if a car would stop for us, they wouldn’t. 
• Ostia Antica is a lovely alternative to day tripping from Rome to Pompeii. It’s closer and has more shade among the ruins.

• We bought the 48 hour Roma Passes for each of us. We didn’t utilize it as much as we could have but got our money’s worth using it to skip the line at the Colosseum and for public transportation during those 48 hours. (Note, we purchased these when in Rome, as you had to pick them up in person anyhow.)

• Definitely get your tickets to the Vatican Museums ahead of time! (The Vatican isn’t included in the Roma Passes since it’s not technically part of Rome.) Even if you’re not doing a guided tour, you can buy your tickets online. Having that printout means you get to use the WAY shorter line to get inside. This actually was true for most of the places we visited.
• Visiting the Vatican Museums usually ends with the Sistine Chapel. If you’re standing inside and facing away from the altar, exit through the rear RIGHT door if you’re heading to St Peter’s next (and you don’t have an audio guide that needs to be returned). Going through the right door will save you walking all the way around the outside and going through security again. (Note. From my reading, the rear right door is generally reserved for tour groups. Just join the crowd; no one will check. Also, apparently, they don’t always use both doors so cross your fingers.) We did this and were able to immediately get in the short line to climb St Peter’s dome.

FLORENCE

• Wake up early and enjoy the quiet. We started earlier in the day (before 9, so not crazy early) and the city was just waking up.
• We bought the Firenze Cards (just for Nathan and I…generally, kids under 18 were free, so it didn’t make sense to buy a card for the boys). We’re not sure if they actually paid off but were definitely more convenient. The card allows entrance to 72 attractions over 72 hours with priority access, meaning shorter or no lines. (Again, we bought these in Florence, as there was no option to have them shipped ahead of time. I think now, though, there is an option to get a digital pass, though that’s very recent.)
• Climbing the Duomo (dome) is one of the few things that still required a reservation even with the Firenze Card. A great alternative is climbing the Campanile (bell tower). The line is considerably shorter, no reservation is required, and you’ll have a great view of the Duomo.

• We were in love with the Mercato Centrale. The downstairs level had all sorts of booths with meats and cheeses and bread and other yumminess…basically a giant farmers market. The upstairs level had food and drink vendors. We went there for many of our meals in Florence, as we could each go to whichever booth we wanted and grab food then sit altogether at the tables in the middle. So convenient and delicious!

• Just outside the Mercato Centrale was a street lined with vendors selling scarves, leather goods, souvenirs, paper goods, and the like. Given how often we visited the market, we became rather familiar with the street vendors and noticed that you can definitely get a better bargain if you wait and go later in the day, just before they start packing up. 
• We loved visiting Pisa (easy day trip from Florence) and climbing the Leaning Tower! They’re very strict there…you must check all bags and be on time for your scheduled ticket. We rather appreciated that, though, as it meant things were running smoothly and were less crowded.  

• Get gelato at Venchi! Not only was it delicious and with flavors we didn’t find elsewhere, but the service there was terrific. (Asher accidentally dropped his cone just outside the shop. I went inside to buy him another and the staff gave it to me at a considerable discount.)
• I know people like the Palazzo Vecchio museum and the Uffizi Gallery. We didn’t find them to live up to the hype. I’m thinking, though, that may partly have been because we’d already been to the Vatican museum which was so packed full of similar era items. Just beyond the Uffizi, though, you can go to the Galileo Museum. My sciencey guys and I much preferred that and it was considerably less crowded.

VENICE

• Venice is full of free exhibits. We had no idea…just happened to chance upon them and absolutely loved the ones we visited. We particularly enjoyed the architecture and design ones we found. 
• It was lovely not having to watch for cars. Could have done with less humidity, though. :) (I’m guessing that’s just personal preference, as I’m so used to the dry climate at home. I wouldn’t say that it was overly humid…just more than I liked.)  
• Learning and adjusting to vaporettos (water taxis) took a bit but we managed. 
• Micah and I loved shopping at the many little shops on Murano before we visited the glass museum there. 
• The island of Burano also has a leaning tower, though you can’t really get to it and climb it. We mostly just enjoyed walking through the very colorful houses and shops, grabbed some gelato, and then headed out again. If you need to do some portraits, this would be a grand spot for it!

• We didn’t leave enough time to actually tour anything in Venice, though we’d intended to go to the Correr Museum and the Doge’s Palace. Given more time, we’d definitely enjoy more of Venice.

Okay, that's no where near everything but is a fair start. :) Paris and London will be up next...