Birthday Wishes

For my birthday Jon sent me to London for the weekend with some girlfriends. Can you say BEST GIFT EVER!!!!! I had so much fun. The girls I went with are CRAZY just like me so you could only imagine the laughter. We visited a lot of sights and ate lots of great food. I think Cinnabon and Crispy Creme were some highlights! We also saw two shows, Mamma Mia! and Legally Blonde. Claire and I sang to every song during Mamma Mia! and danced liked we've never danced before at the end. It was GREAT! Legally Blonde was also excellant but after coming off the high of Mamma Mia! it just didn't compare. This trip was a well needed break time for me to rejuvinate myself. Thanks to a great husband who took the day off so I could leave Thursday night and take care of the family for the whole weekend.


P.s. To Claire, Angie and Laura: HEEELLLOOO (with a little wave), a little bit of fire, how many crispy cremes did we eat or how many cinnabons can a person buy?, stretch your legs, where is Kinsington anyway, cauliflower at what time, how big can your flower be on top of your head?! Angie's eyes, how tired is Laura?! Good times Gals, thanks for the laugh!!!!

Rome, Italy (Day 3)

Our last day in Rome was spent exploring ancient Rome. Ancient Rome is fabulous. So much history and the sights are amazing. Our first stop was the Coloseum. It is HUGE! So much bigger than the coloseum we saw in Tunisia. We then ventured over the roman ruins. AMAZING is the only word I can use to describe. While Jon and I enjoyed the scenery the kids enjoyed picking the flowers (dandelions). About half way through it started to rain. We took shelter under a tree thinking the rain wouldn't last very long. Well, it lasted a little longer than we planned and actually was a down pour. I don't think there was a spot on us that was dry. We loved Ancient Rome and was very impressed by how preserved the architect is and the beauty.
Over all we loved Rome and LOVED Italy! The food was to die for and the gelato was amazing. Enjoy the slideshow of our last day in Rome.

P.s. I know what you are thinking and I thought the same thing after I saw these pictures. Allison's hair is glowing! My hair is AWFUL! After seeing these pictures I made a quick appointment with the hair dresser and changed the color. No longer BRIGHT red, now a soft black with a little red highlight. Note to self: Don't EVER, EVER ask for red hair in Europe again!

Rome, Italy (Day 2)

Day two in Rome found us bright and early at the Vatican. We decided being early would be best instead of fight the crowds. Well, fight the crowds we didn't. Our tour through the Vatican was basically us and our friends the Harrells. It was awesome. We didn't feel rushed, no strangers in our pictures, just nice and relaxing. The Vatican is HUGE with lots and lots and lots (did I mention lots) of sculptures. Just like it mentions in the book Angels and Demons, the male sculptures have there ooh aahs chopped off. The end of the tour takes you right in to the Sistine Chapel. Thoughts on Sistine Chapel: A LOT smaller than I imagined, very dark inside, no seating, beautiful. The art work is amazing. We sat along the edge (because there was no seating) and admired the art work for over an hour. No photography was allowed but we could see everyone taking a picture. It was funny to see people sneaking to take a picture by just placing the camera in their lap and aiming it towards the ceiling. I actually gave up on looking at the art work and focused on watching people sneak pictures. On the way out Jon mentioned he tried their technic and took some pictures. For not being able to aim correctly, focus or even know what he was looking at, he took an amazing picture of adam and god touching fingers. My favorite piece of art in the room! Shh, don't tell anyone.
Once outside of the Sistine Chapel we ventured over to St. Peters Basilica. An amazing, amazing church. HUGE doesn't even describe the massiveness of this building. St. Peter is said to be buried in the church. We took the tour through the crypt to see St. Peters tomb. Along the way we saw many tombs for previous popes including the most recent. Lots of people were kneeling at his tomb in prayer. It made me stop and think about the prophet, the head of my church, and reflect on how I feel towards him and how these people feel towards the pope. It was very inspiring. We also walked the many (many, many) steps to the top of St. Peters Basilica and had a fantastic view of Rome and Vatican City. Tally couldn't quite make all the steps so Jon carried her pretty much the entire way. Our overall take of Vatican City was amazement. It was beautiful and we still can't get over how massive everything is.
After the Vatican we toured a castle and then hopped on a small public bus which stops at all tourist stops. It was nice to sit for a while and see the sights.
The rain found us again as we were walking to the Pantheon. We ended up sitting in the Pantheon for about a half hour waiting for the rain to stop. The Pantheon has a large round opening in the top so the rain came right on down. The kids thought it was fun watching the rain and we thought it was great to give our feet a rest.
Also our day wouldn't of been complete without some Gelato! Close to the Pantheon was a fabulous Gelato place. We LOVED the Gelato and had some at least once a day (sometimes twice!)

Rome, Italy (Day 1)

We spent our last 3 days in Rome. We saw and did so much I decided I better split it in to three posts. Because you know, Rome wasn't built in a day!
Our first day in Rome was interesting. We had to return our rental car and find our hotel. Well, our hotel ended up being a little (okay, A LOT) outside of Rome. With all the packing I forgot to take our GPS with us so we were relying on following friends. Which worked fine up to this point of returning the car and finding our hotel. Our friends, the Smiths, were so gracious as to helping us find our hotel and then letting us follow them to the car return. THANK YOU! I think we would still be stuck in Rome if they hadn't of helped out. This took almost the full day so we started our adventure in Rome around dinner time.
We made a stop at the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain while looking for a nice dinner spot. While at the Spanish Steps we saw some famous Italian Actors. Of course, we didn't know they were famous until we asked someone but the Italians were going nuts. We later found out they were filming a detective show somewhat equivalent to america's CSI. Well, we snapped some pictures and joined in on the excitement with the Italians.
Trevi Fountain is LARGE! Not sure the true legend behind it but we were told that if you throw a coin in to the fountain and make a wish, your wish will come true. So, we gave each child a coin and let them make a wish. It took them forever to decide on a wish. They really thought it through. Later I asked what they wished for and Chase said a dog, Tally wished for lipstick and Bailee wants a baby sister. Well, double no to Chase, triple no to Bailee and okay to Tally!

Amalfi Coast, Italy

The Amalfi Coast is absolutely breathtaking! It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. The homes are built right up the rocky mountain side. We drove about 15 miles down the coast and was in amazement at every turn. I decided to be the driver since the kids tend to get car sick if the road is windy and Jon is driving. Luckily, no one got ill and we were able to just enjoy the ride. Our hotel room overlooked Capri Island. It seriously was just beautiful. There were thousands of lemon trees. We were shocked to see so many growing on the sides of the steep mountain. It did rain on us the entitre day but we still enjoyed every minute! (Oh, and I also ate Gnocchi for dinner!) Enjoy the slide show.

Pompeii, Italy

The second stop on our Italy adventure was Pompeii. We have an earth book which talks about volcanoes and the huge eruption in Pompeii, so my kids were prepared and excited to see something they knew about. As we drove into the parking lot there were orange trees everywhere. Jon shook a tree and helped the kids each get an orange. I think this was the first time they had ever seen an orange on a tree so they were pretty excited.
Once inside Pompeii our mood somewhat changed. The devastation that happened here was unreal. We just couldn't believe the destruction and how well stuff was preserved. I guess it really hit us when we came upon some bodies which were found and also animals, dogs to be specific. We spent about 4 hours exploring and still didn't even cover half of the area. Enjoy the slideshow of some of the sights.

Italy

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I last posted. Sorry! We have been so busy with visitors there just wasn't time. I'm going to try and get myself caught up on everything that has happened the last 3 months.

We started off the month of March with a trip to Italy. It was fantastic. Since we did so much stuff I'm going to break it up in to different posts so it doesn't get long and boring.

FLORENCE, ITALY

Our first stop was Florence. Florence was different then what I had pictured in my mind. For some reason I had more luxarious and breathtaking but it wasn't so much. It was just another typical large city in Europe.
While in Florence we visited the Uffizi Gallery. The famous painting of Venus was in this gallery. To take some boredom off the children while exploring the gallery, I bought them each a notebook and pencil so they could sketch some of their favorite art pieces. This was the BEST thing I have ever done! The kids loved it. In fact, several times Chase would lie right down on the floor so he could get a closer look. So many people were watching over their shoulders to see what they were drawing. It was so cute.
The David scuplture by Michelagelo is also in Florence at the Accademia Gallery. No photos were permitted but the David is fabulous! We were all impressed by the size. He is very large. The kids also had their notebooks out sketching. Very interesting to see through their eyes what the David looks like. Chase made me smile. He had drawn Davids private area and then erased it. I asked later why he erased and he told me "David should just have clothes on." I had to chuckle. In the slide show you will see a replica of the David which is on a hill overlooking the city. The best part of Florence was the food (well, all of Italy!). I was introduced to Gnocchi. YUMMY!!! It was one of the BEST dishes I have ever had. In fact, I ended up eating it at least 4 more times before we went home.