This is what happens when you try to talk to your brother on Skype and he does not answer.

You start messing with the camera. It was a lot of fun though.

A Saturday at the park

On Saturday I got a message from Tj saying that it was snowing! I talked to my mom and she said the same thing, I couldn't beleive it! Here's the proof >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My friend Shantelle and her family made a snowman and sent me a picture to show us how much snow they got. It's so Crazy!!!!!

This is what it looked like here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sunny, warm (77 degrees) and a great day to be out side.

So that's what we did, we went to the park. The girls spent a good hour or more playing in the sand then we found a tree that had tons and tons of lady bugs on it.

They spent the rest of the time swinging and going down the slide. It was a great day!

Areya's field trip

Areya had her first field trip and it was to the pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride, got lost in the hay maze, fed the animals, went in the tee pee, and of course picked out a pumpkin.

Areya's first day of Preschool

School started while we were in Poland so Areya missed the first month of school. She misses the birthday deadline by 22 day so she gets to have another year of preschool. Which works out great because she did not get to attend the full year last due to our move.

When she came everyone so so excited because there is only one other girl in that class. I guess I taught her to think boys are "Ca ca" a bit to well because she won't play with any of them she only wants to play with the little girl.
Because we were in Poland on her birthday they let her celebrate it on her first day. She was so excited and loves going to school.

Poland 9

The last thing Damian, Areya and I did before we left Swinoujsice to go back to Szczecin was take a small trip into Germany. We drove to the village of Ahlbeck and walked the promenade and the pier.

They have some very old buildings which were built way before WWII. Damian was telling me that you won't find building that old in Swinoujsice because before the Germans left (Poland won Swinoujsice back from Germany) they burned the whole village.

There was this great boat docked right on the beach.

Our our way back home we stopped at the border and took pictures Damian on the Polish side of the boarder and me on the German side. They are about 10 feet from each other. Here is a small fact about Germany that I did not know: Germany is called Deutschland.

It was a long day and Areya could not last any longer, on the way home she fell asleep. We thought the way she was sleeping was funny so we took a picture.
The next day we packed up and drove the 2 hours back to Szczecin to Adrian's house where we spent the night and got up extremely early the next morning to drive 2 hours to the Berlin airport. We waited in line just to find out that we were to early to check in, so after waiting another half hour we finally got to wait in line again to check in. After we finally got checked in we said our goodbyes and headed to our gate. We got pretty lucky because the plane was only half full and they let us move to seats where we could all have a seat. (Aniela was a lap rider) The plane trip felt so much longer this time, lucky for me both the girls took a 1 or 2 hour nap. (not at the same time)

At the Paris airport we were unloaded outside and had to board a bus which took us to the terminal. Then we had to get off that bus and load another one which took us to our terminal. After we got to our terminal it was up and down several sets of stairs and a walk half way across the airport to security where we found out that Aniela was not allowed through. The agent in Berlin did not print her a boarding pass and even though she was a lap rider they said she needed one, so Areya and I took all the carry on bags and went through security while Damian took Aniela and their passports to look for someone to print Aniela's boarding pass. Luck for us someone helped him out and he did not end up having to go all the way to the ticket counter. They finally made it through security and found us just in time to get on the plane. We were so close to missing our flight. We finally made it back to Chicago where we had to go through customs (we were not given the necessary forms in Paris so we had to fill them out there while waiting in line) and get our bag. I'm so glad that Ida was waiting for us just outside.

I think we're all happy to be back. (Yes even Damian) Now the hard part will be adjusting to the 7 hour time difference.

Poland 8 - Happy Birthday Areya

While we were there Areya had her 5th birthday. In the morning we went to the grand opening festivities of the train that connects Poland and Germany. We rode to the end of the line and back, then on our way home we went on a birthday horse and carriage ride. Areya has been asking the whole trip to go horse back riding, but we were not able to take her, so this was the next best thing.

The girls on the train.

That evening we had her birthday party. Here is her cake and her opening her presents. She got a doctor kit, a Tinker Bell back pack and a princess with a pony. She was so excited to open her presents that she wouldn't even eat her cake. Oh well, more cake for me.

Happy Birthday Monster We Love You!

Poland 7

Damian's dad had to leave for work (he works in Brazil) just after Aniela got out of the hospital so he was not there for the rest of our trip.

Our next adventure was to some land that his parents own in the village of Wiselka . It is about a 2 minute walk to the lake from the property.


Then we went to the village of Miedzyzdroje (the village where Ta ta was born) to visit Damian's aunt and uncle. (his fathers brother) We stopped at the pier and park to let the kids play before our visit.

The park was a lot of fun and again the beach was awesome. While at the pier I needed to use the restroom so I followed the signs and found out that I needed to pay to use them. Can you believe that? Pay to use the restroom! It was 2 zloty which is about $1 US, after I got back Areya announced that she needed to go too, but we made her hold it until we got to his uncles house.

Poland 6

On the first day full day in Swinoujsice we went to the beach and like always we weren't prepared for the kids to play in the water so they played in their clothes. (Damian never tells me where we're going so I don't know what to take) We had so much fun, I love the beach! We were able to walk pretty far out before it started to get deep.

After a few days of rain it finally dried up enough for us to go the Ma ma & Ta ta's garden. They live in a flat which does not include a yard so they have a little land a few miles away where they grow tomatoes, berries, flowers and grapes. They also have a sand box which kept the girls busy. I loved the fresh raspberries and beautiful flowers.

The next few weeks were not as much fun. Aniela got really sick and had to be admitted to the hospital. For the whole story (just in case you missed that one) see Update on Aniela in my older posts. Here are a few pictures of the hospital room and her doing the breathing treatment.

They ended up letting her out 2 days later even though she was not completely better. We had to have a nurse come twice a day and give her a shot of antibiotics in the bum and continue the breathing treatments at home. She got a total of 8 more shots after coming home, but after they were finished she was feeling great.

Poland 5

For the rest of our trip we stayed in Damian's home town of Swinoujscie about 2 hours from Szczecin. It is an island, part belonging to Poland and the other part to Germany, so we had to take a ferry to get there. The boarder of Germany was within 5 minutes walking distance of Damian's parents house.

Here is a picture of the town as we were crossing the river.

This town is a very big tourist town so there is lots to see and do. They have tons of little shops up and down the street with all sorts of stuff to sell. It was fun to walk it and see every thing they had, by the end Areya was begging us to go home. I guess all that walk was to much for her little legs. They also have tons of horse and carriages that would take you around to see the sights.

The other great thing about this town is the fabulous beach. It has fine white sand with shallow waters for miles.

This is the Baltic Sea, you can board a ship to Denmark, Sweden or Norway and be there in no time at all. If it weren't for the cold weather and lack of my Polish I might be willing to live there.

Poland 4

Sunday we were scheduled to be in Slupsk for Julia's baptism and we needed to stop in Szczecin to do a little laundry and get our stuff needed for the next few days. From Szczecin it is about a three hour drive to Slupsk. (this is the town where Agnieszka's parents live)
We were to meet at Agnieszka's parents house for dinner but on our way there Damian's dads car broke down. Here's what happened.

We were traveling in two cars because there was so many of us. Adrian, Damian, myself and my girls were in one car and in the other car was Damian's parents, Agnieszka and Julia. We were almost there when the water pump on his dad's car stopped work and caused the car to over heat. We were a little bit ahead of them and had to turn around and go back. They decided to have Agnieszka and Julia get in the car with the girls and I while Damian, Adrian and his parents stayed with the car and waited for help. We drove the rest of the way there stopping only to feed Julia. Agnieszka's cousin made it to the car and towed it and the people to the rest of the way. After eating dinner we went to the hotel to settle in for the night. The room was so small and there was a wedding party going on down stairs with extremely loud music until 3 a.m. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep.
The next morning we got up early, ate breakfast, got ready, and headed out in the rain to the church. After the two hour church service they baptised Julia and made Damian her god father.

Afterward we all went to Agnieszka's sisters cafe for dinner, conversation and drinks. The dinner was awesome! The food just keep coming, then cake and ice cream and then more food. The girls had a great time running around and playing in the rain.

Damian and I all dressed up in our new suits.

After several hours of stuffing our faces we drove the 3 hour trip back to Szczecin. Still being 1 car short Damian's parents rode the train back.