Italian Vacation--Part I

We're still here. Everyone is alive and well.  We lost one tooth but grew three.  We've driven over 6,000 miles in 4 weeks, climbed mountains, played at the beach, seen grandmas and grandpas and great friends too.  It has been a busy summer for us and it's not over yet. 

Updates will be forth coming, I hope. 

Here's the first one.  Let's go back in time to May. 

Hyrum had a conference in Florence, Italy and after a lot of hemming and hawing, pondering and debating, I decided I would go with him a week early and enjoy Florence.  Life has been really crazy around here since about October so we hadn't really sat down and figured out what we were going to do.  Until April we were planning on taking Ben with us and then decided it would be better to leave him here.  That turned out to be a really great decision. 

Colosseum just outside the Subway stop

It turns out it is hard to fly into Florence.  So we flew into Rome and spent the first couple days of our trip in Rome.  I wish we had spent at least one more day there.  It was really neat.  We walked out of a subways station and there was the Colosseum.  Larger than I had ever imagined, in all of it's ancient glory.  It was really amazing.  We walked around the ruins there and the Palantine hill with a tour guide we'd picked up.  It was crazy because there were all sorts of people offering tours and we were just going to wait in line because we didn't want to be scammed.  Then, we saw the line.  We would have been there for hours.  We paid our fee, hoping we hadn't just made a terrible mistake.  The tour guide was ok but I think it was well worth the price since we were able to skip the line and see what we wanted to that day. 

Inside, looking at the room and compartments that would have been below the floor.

The other amazing thing to think about was the people that walked in these places.  To think of the Roman Emperors, early Christian apostles, it was amazing.   These buildings are thousands of years old.  Crazy!!

Looking from an upper level.  The floor is a reconstruction of what would have covered the lower compartments and comprised of the floor of the Colosseum.

Palantine Hill, the place where the powerful and wealthy lived.

We visited the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, walked to Vatican City and enjoyed our first of many gelatos.  Rome was fabulous.  A word of warning though, if you go to the Spanish steps don't take the roses from the guy.   He'll give you some, walk away and then follow you and hound you for a few Euros. 

Dome and oculus in the Pantheon

St. Peter's Basilica

View from the top of the Spanish steps at sunset.

Cinque Terre

Manarola

I've no doubt that Heather will follow up with a more complete report of our recent visit to Italy, but I just wanted to post a few pictures here while the experiences are fresh and the feelings more so.

Riomaggiore

After spending a week in Florence, we wanted to get out for a bit, so yesterday we went on a day trip to the Cinque Terre region.  These "five lands" are little fishing villages perched over the Italian Riviera, connected by hiking trails and trains.  Quite picturesque, they can also be full of other tourists at times.  For our adventure, we opted for a tour that would have us spending time in each town, including a 2.4-mile hike along the trail between two of them.

Looking up the coast from Corniglia

In short, the experience was awesome.  We got a little bit of rain, but not enough to matter (though the clouds were welcomed).  We had some great food and met some new friends.  It was a full and fun day, and given another opprotunity, the Cinque Terre region is somewhere we'd go back to for a more extended stay.  Ciao!

Heather and I above Vernazza

Three years

We recently celebrated Spencer's birthday. 

About two and a half weeks ago we received a package from grandma, containing his birthday presents.  For several days,  every time I turned around he asked it he could open his presents.  I finally put them in my closet, out of sight.  He was so happy when the day finally arrived with more presents coming out of the closet than he remembered going in.  He's been talking about monster trucks for days so, he received a monster truck, a homemade car from Hyrum and I, some clothes, balls and a shape puzzle game.  He also had a monster truck cake.  I think the big wheels made it.
His day finished up with an all-expense paid trip to the ER for three stitches on his third birthday.  

Spencer brings such joy to our lives.  He is silly and oh so cute.  He has stolen all of our hearts and though as his body grows, so does the stubborn streak,  we love him.  He insists on giving everyone a hug and kiss before he can take a nap or go to bed.  He still cries a lot if I leave home without him.  Spencer loves his Nutbrown Hare, named Bunny-man.  He and Charlotte are best friends.

Sewing projects

Lately I've been doing a lot of applique.  I wish it was on some really cute quilt or wall hanging but it's not.  My efforts have been in efforts to keep my kids in their pants until the end of this winter.  It's been fun to create these patches. 

Just because I like them!

Our Violinist

This year Hannah started playing the violin.  She loves pulling out her violin and playing it a few times a week.  She is working hard and improving at this and the piano.  I am proud of her efforts to follow through. 

A few weeks ago she had a concert.  I wasn't able to go but Hyrum said her concentration was amazing.   Between her piano and violin, Hannah is shaping up to be a pretty good musician.