Dolcetti Scherzetti...

Trick or Treat! Today was a holiday at Sophia's school (3 day wknd for All Saints...which works out for us, because it falls on Halloween). We had a little party to celebrate my favorite holiday. But since yesterday Sophia was home due to a strike and i had to prepare and keep my eye on Pia, we kept the invitees to a minimum, but the activities to a maximum: there was pumpkin cutting,

Paolo prepares the patient.

Fra commences the operation.

Boo!
There was food.
(on the menu: pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread, and focaccia fingers)
Vampire Wilhelm.
We made masks.
Muhahahah! (The Sophia Streghe)
and we made frames.
(this picture keeps coming out the wrong direction sorry)

we had storytime.
and practiced the art of Black Magic.
(in case you are wondering...
crayon the heck outta paper then paint it with guache and let the kids scratch)

We Limbo'd.

And there was dancin' and singin and movin to the groove...

(We didnt even get thru all the activities...I had lots planned cuz I know in our small house if I just let the kids play, they fight. I mean they fought anyways but it was kept to a minimum).

I think all in all, the kid's had a great time. And now I'm POOPED!

Just Monkeying Around

It was time for the Cranes to go, the boys were being such sillies.
I made Ian do his famous monkey impression:
and of course monkey see, monkey do...lucas followed suit.ooohhh ooohoooh ahh ahh ahh!

And then Lucas started to be silly in front of Sleeping Sophia, so of course Ian followed suit.

They say misery loves company, but I think naughtiness likes it more!

it didnt matter, nothing they did work sophia up anyways.

The Best Falafels in the Jewish Quarter

I thought falafels were an arabic thing, but apparently you can find the best dang falafels in the Jewish part of Paris. It is actually a really lovely area, where the fancy schmancy boutiques are. There are old historical bakeries and loads of falafel places.
There is loads of hussle and bustle. There is a guy that shouts at you to get into his line cuz they're the best falafel around, but then line move quickly so you better know what you want

even before you read the menu (hmmm they must have learned that from my mom). The Crane kids munch a falafel, they all really liked it
....but shhhhh those arent meat balls, it's vegetarian!

Parks of Paris

after breakfast Laura took us to a nearby park. It was really beautiful, felt like we were hobnobbin with the elite. It was clean and lovely and no traffic (those dont exist in italy, it was a dream!). Not sure who had more fun, the kids or the big kids (i mean the dads).

Group foto in front of park statue (i think it is louis the 13th).

cranes horsin around on the see-saw

sophia stylin and profilin in her wet weather gear.

Max monkeying around.

ooooohhh she moved. the girlies touching holly's belly tryin to feel the baby kick.

Le Petit Dejuner

Got up, got ready and got packed and then it was downstairs to meet Miss Laura for breakfast. As if we didnt have enough fotos of us eating...

Miss Tyler's 'Bigger than your head hot chocolate'

The girl's table

The boy's table (and a Pia).

The Real Disneyland of Paris...

The ha! You thought there were pictures of EuroDisney didn't you? Altho I have visited ED yet, I've discovered you can have the same experience at the EyeFull Tower. The lines are always long and just when you think that it's ending, you turn a corner and another one starts. But what I do like about the ET is that there are bathrooms everywhere. There is one behind the SE leg and then one on every level (including the very very top). The kids were great they all stood in line without much complaining and because of that, it actually went pretty quickly (well that and it being off season, so the lines were half as long as what they are during the summer).

What is up with blogger? It wont let me upload all the horizontal pix in the right direction!!!

Well here are some Cranes tipping the ET on it's side.
(Get a load of Lucas, I think he just saw how long the line was!)

Chambon!
(that would be chandler+jambon (ham)).

The Parisis in Paris!
(look how thrilled Sophia is!)

The kids were great, they ALL walked down the stairs!
(tyler stayed back to help keep her mom company, what a great daughter!!)

la pluie

la pluie de pluie disparaissent loin venu encore un certain autre jour

...or at least that's what babelfish says if you translate 'rain rain go away come again some other day'. (Of course if you translate it back to english again it becomes 'the rain of rain disappear far come still certain an other day'.) Anyhoo, it rained today. I mean really rained! So we jumped onto a Car Rouges tour bus (using our 2 ticket) and took a ride over to Lafayette, the fancy schancy mall.

This is no Newpark!

2 crane hams!

But of course it rained some more, so we jumped back on the bus again. Of course since it was raining, everybody was on the bus and there were very few places to sit inside, so we sat on top where it was opened. When it started to rain hard we tried to put up the umbrella of course it turned inside out and we got even wetter. we laughed so hard i almost peed my pants...no one would have noticed, we were drenched anyways.

eventually some seats freed up and we sat downstairs for awhile.
and when we had made the rounds again, we jumped off and went to Monmartre.

There is a funicular that goes up and down to Sacre Couer (you can use your metro ticket, just as long as you are within the time limit 75 min?). It is the imigrant section of Paris, so things seem a bit seedy here. I liked it though, it was sort of hippy. I could have done with out the dog pooping in the middle of the street. We headed back to the Bastille area after to eat some dinner.And we saw one of those famous Perian models...