2015 Summer vacation in New England

2016 School Talent Show

Winter Holiday: Vienna, Austria

Grüße aus Wien, Österreich!! Sorry for the late follow up on our last trip to Europe.  As the little guy gets older, his schedule of activities increase, giving Daddy less time to blog.  Anyhow,
we arrived in Vienna on New Years Eve at 5:30pm local time.
 
We stayed at the beautiful Park Hyatt Vienna which, like SFO's Centurion Lounge, opened it's doors in June 2014.  

 The building began construction in 1913 and was originally the Lower Austrian Escompte Bank.  It remained a bank for many years before closing its doors in 2008.  

The luscious interiors is described as contemporary art nouveau inspired.  The rooms and public areas are beautifully appointed with all the amenities that hotel aficionados come to expect in a 5 star hotel.

We're off to explore the city.

Taking the ringstrasse (ring road) streetcar for a quick tour around the Innere Stadt (old city center).

The Austrian Parliament Building.

Rathaus(Town Hall)

Back at the hotel after a morning of sightseeing.  Looking through vault doors that lead into the buildings safe which is now the hotel's indoor pool.

Time for a late afternoon swim before dinner.

Our first dinner out was at the famous Zum Schwarzen Kameel which is about 3 doors down from the hotel.  Aside from the delicious menu, the restaurant/bar and delicatessen has  a rich history which dates back to 1618 when the original owner, Johan Baptist Cameel, acquired the building.

Daniel loved his first ever chicken schnitzel.   After dinner, we retired back to the hotel to catch up on our sleep and get ready for the next day's journey.  Gute Nacht.

2015 Winter Holiday Travel Day

Travel day to Vienna,Austria.  We took the 2:50 pm Air France flight 87 from San Francisco International  to Charles De Gaulle.  Yes, Sheepie came along.

Air France Lounge SFO

This will be Sheepie's 3rd trip to Europe.  We arrived a couple hours early to ensure no problems with check in.  To our surprise, check-in was a breeze.  All the check-in counters were open with no lines.

Image from Boardingarea.com

  With a little more time than expected, we decided to visit the new American Express Centurion lounge which just opened it's doors in June 2014.  The lounge offers gourmet foods and top shelf drinks to its card members.  The vertical garden in the lobby is cool.

 The decor is very sleek and modern.  It was very busy.  We had to wait a few minutes for a table in the dining area.  However, the wait was worth it.  The small bites were delicious and plentiful.

Images from Boardingarea.com

  Our only disappointment is its location  in the domestic terminal.  This required a bit of a walk from the international terminal.  But, with the prospect of 11 hours on a plane, we embraced the stroll.    After trying the offerings, we headed back to the international terminal to the Air France lounge to enjoy its noshes and gather our carry on luggage which we had left with the concierge.

Finally, we board and are off to Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to catch our connecting flight to Vienna, Austria. Wir sheen ins in Wien!

The Little American's 2013 Summer Vacation

Yesterday was Daniel's first day back to school. His was excited to start the first grade and seeing his classmates from Kindergarten. These are the photos of his Summer break vacation to New York City and Bermuda.

Busy Bee's Graduating Class of 2012

Today was our pre-school graduation day ceremony at Busy Bee which I attended for 2 years.

 There were 25 in our graduating class which our teachers said was the biggest class yet.

This was the moment of the ceremony where I stood up to declare what I wanted to be when I grow up which was a singing police and fireman.

A picture with my 2 teachers Deanna(L) and Jessica.  I will miss them so much.  Next is a two week vacation in Europe than a short summer school session before starting Kindergarten in the fall.

The Little American's 1st Swimming Lesson

Yesterday was my very first swim lesson at the local YMCA.  There were 7 of us in class that day.  As you can see, I left everyone behind....next!

Coming Soon...The Little American's First Roman Holiday

Ciao a tutti!

    I'm very excited about my first trip to Italy this June with my parents.  We will be staying in Rome but will take a few day trips via express trains to nearby cities and towns such as Napoli and Firenze.  I hope you will join us here as I hope to share photos of my daily excursions at the end of everyday while visiting this wonderful country with its rich history.  Please stay tuned.  Arrivederci!!

My 2011 Christmas Concert At Busy Bee

THE LITTLE AMERICAN TURNS 4

Hello everyone! On August 6th, I turned 4 years old. My Dads surprised me with a wonderful outdoor party at the Mushroom pool with all of my Tiny Tots classmates in attendance.

My party theme was inspired by my very favorite show the Little Einsteins. The beautiful and delicious cupcakes were made by my good friend Paisley's mom. I love the colors and musical notes on the icing.

The primary color theme is also the colors from Little Einstein.

Although my Dads thought I seemed ungrateful for all their efforts, I had a great time and loved all the attention.

I even had a wonderful magician which my friends and I thought was very entertaining. Well, thank you for visiting me and please come back again.

Curious Daniel

Curious Daniel from Julio on Vimeo.

My First Class Photo

A photo of me with my pre-school classmates. Diane(standing left)is my teacher. In the middle is Nancy who runs the school. On the right of Nancy is Lupe who is responsible for our healthy snacks and meals. To my right is my best friend Logan.

Chapter 1-The Little American Goes To Paris

Bonjour! I am the little American. I am currently 2 years old(born 8/6/07).
My parents thought since this is my first trip to Paris, it is appropriate that I share my experience on my Dad's blog. I begin with my excitement getting on the overnight hotel's park 'n fly shuttle service to the San Francisco International Airport. You'll notice throughout my trip, I'm dressed almost exclusively in black. My Dads are so obsessed about blending in with the locals so they are convinced that our entire wardrobe of black clothing would help do the trick. My only carry on responsibility was my backpack on wheels containing my favorite bedtime story books and some Thomas trains with one of my 2 travel companions George the monkey. That's George, the one I'm choke holding.

After arriving at the airport and passing through security, I had over an hour before my flight took off, so I decided to unwind with Dad's laptop to watch one of my favorite PBS show, Caillou. I can watch that kid all day if parents let me.

Okay, I just learned our flight is delayed by an hour. There aren't enough snacks and sandwiches in the waiting lounge to contain my impatience if I hear about any further delays.....

This was taken about 4 hours into our flight. As you can see, I was not too thrilled about retiring so soon. However, I was out voted 2 to 1 so I begrudgingly capitulated. There was also cheering with a round of a applause in the cabin as I laid my head down. I'm not sure what that was about.

Finally... five hours into the flight, I gave in and decided perhaps a beauty nap would be best before my arrival in Paris...so, Sheep, my closest traveling companion, and I doze off.

"Garcon! I just arrived in Paris after a 15 hour travel day and I want my hot chocolate now!..si vous plait"

Before we retired to our apartment, I perused the scrumptious looking baked goods at a nearby Boulangerie Patisserie to find a treat to satiate my sweet tooth after dinner.

Alas, we arrive at our beautiful Paris Perfect's Cotes Du Rhone apartment, which is even more beautiful then the images on the website. My Dad promises more images and details on this lovely apartment to follow.

That's me on the sofa with Sheep, unwinding from a little jetlag, enjoying a French cartoon in the apartment while my Dads fight in the other room about whose fault it was for not predicting there would be a flight delay which created chaos in their scripted travel plans.

Here is the view from one of our living room windows, which all look out to beautiful buildings. From this one, we can see Princess Caroline's apartment with the Eiffel Tower behind it. Hopefully, the Princess will look over one evening and raise a toast in welcoming me to Paris. Stay tuned for more photos and interesting observations on my trip to the city of lights.

Au revoir,
The Little American