Marciano

We finally got dressed & headed into town to find a pizzeria open for lunch, however Sunday interrupted us, and the only thing open was a  Gelateria!!!  Don’t you just love vacation when you have ice cream for lunch?!

That is our monkey!!  In the cottage behind us was a group of goats, which were called moo cows for the rest of the week!

After walking thru the town looking in vain for lunch, we settled for ice cream and a carousel ride.  Then back to the house for more fun!

The joy of sunshine

We woke up to a slice of heaven this morning…

    The pool is not yet really warm, but hopefully the sun will help it along.  Jammies until noon, playing with bubbles, and no plans.  What a day…

Umbria, for a week

Today we started our week vacation in Italy, partly to celebrate Alexandra’s birthday, partly to get to an area of Europe we’d not been before, and to have some fun with Nana & Papa.  But that darn volcano messed everything up.  Cancelled flights, another week of uncertainty, and finally we are on our way. 

However, we didn’t count on awful weather from Munich to follow us South!!  We arrived at our beautiful estate to clouds & cold, but it finally stopped raining & the girls could run crazy outside… We split the drive up into 2 days, left Munich last night after school & spent the night in Bolzano – apparently a very German, Northern Italy town – but we didn’t actually see any of the town because we just wanted to get as south as possible…

The girls went crazy when they saw the lawn, the pool, playhouse & swing, and even with the clouds there was a bit of sunshine for a while!!

Tomorrow it is supposed to be much warmer…

Alexandra – a 2 year look back.

My how our girl has changed…

Thank you for all of the joy you have brought to our lives!!

Happy Birthday my love…

Character day at school

Sophia’s school sponsored a “dress as your favorite book character” day at school right before we left for Italy.  After rejecting another dress as a princess day, and upon going thru her wardrobe for ideas, she decided on Madeline. This is her Madeline smile… 

She looked beautiful, and brought all of her books to school to share with her kids. Then she ended the day swinging from the monkey bars, getting her dress all dusty.  Oh well, in the spirit of Madeline I guess…

1-on-1 Time With Lexa

Alexandra and I spent a bit of time this weekend together.  I’m constantly amazed at how often she wants to be a part of whatever you have going on that day.  I suspect she has figured out that she is meant to be the smiling force in our day, because she is so good at that job.  First she tested her talent as a princess, then she made faces at the camera, finally tried to take few pictures herself (even if the camera was upside-down), and finished off the day as a beautiful sun flower on our terrace.

Munich makes the NYTimes

We were rather spoiled living in Paris, reading the NYTimes and knowing that someone in the travel department was in a love/love relationship with Paris.  It seemed like every week there was another article about the latest art exhibit, a new restaurant (that we never went to) or some neighborhood to focus on…

But today the spotlight is on Munich…

Thank you NYTimes, I will re-up my subscription as soon as we hit US soil…

Date night in Paris

Troy & I were able to get out & enjoy the city of lights and what a night we had…

Play at Park Monceau

The girls spent the afternoon at Pk Monceau, trying to run out all the energy that they are going to have on the drive tomorrow.  Sophia was doing all the things she saw the big kids doing, but this time she is a big kid! 

And Alexandra, she’s always been a monkey…