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.