Familyland

After going up to the top of the mountain we spent the rest of the afternoon at familyland. It was lovely. Just the perfect size for running around and having a great time. The great thing about these little amusement parks is that they don't have an age limit on many things at all. They let James go on every ride but the rollercoaster. (He was disappointed that he couldn't go on it, but after I went on it I was very glad they didn't allow him to go. He doesn't need a concussion before he's four!)

One of his favorites was the water ride. Jonathon and Louise were kind enough to take him on it as many times as he wanted. They didn't make them get off and stand in line again they just kept going around and around. I don't remember how many times they went around, but James would have kept going, but it was time to go home.

 There were lots of rides, both big and small.

 James was thrilled they let him on the pirate ship ride. Right about this time I was getting nauseous and James is hoping it would go on forever.

 James and Todd trying to "get" Sissy. I love that they have the same idea and expression as soon as they got to the water squirter.

It was such a family-fun-perfect day.

Early Start

We started our Summer holidays a little early this year, but since Hailee had school until the 29th of June it was easy to start early. Some friends of ours decided to go to Austria on their holiday. Since we were just an hour and a half away from where they were staying we decided to tag along for the weekend. The place we stayed was absolutely gorgeous. I'm pretty sure they owner of the place thought I was completely crazy when I called to book our room for the weekend. She was used to European travelers that  come and stay for the week, not the crazy Americans that come for the weekend. After an amazing weekend we were all wishing we were staying the week as well.

 Adelaide, Hailee and James at the top of a lift. The views were stunning any way you looked.

 We've decided that Austria is a family-friendly country. This area had so many fun kid-friendly things to do. It was so relaxing to let the kids play and play while we enjoyed the scenery.

 With the Elder family on the way to the top.

This was James' favorite part. He bounced and bounced for as long as we would let him.

Summer

I cannot believe that our summer is almost over. It has been non-stop the last couple of months and I have so much I need to catch up on. We have had lovely trips to Austria, Slovenia, Paris and London, as well as a really fun visit from Aunt Emily.

We still have another little trip we'd like to take before Hailee goes back to school and a couple more trips to our favorite lakes.

It has been so lovely having Hailee home from school. I'm sure James and I aren't going to know what to do when she goes back in a few weeks. It's going to be a tough adjustment for all of us. The kids play so well together. Of course there are times when they squabble a little, but after sitting in separate rooms for a few minutes they are always happy to be together again.

Hopefully in the next couple of days I'll be able to get a little caught up before I forget all the fun we've enjoyed the last little bit.

He's Home

Yesterday Todd got back from a trip to the US. It was a long time and we are so happy to have him home. Since he was going back to the US and had to be there for a full 2 work weeks, he left on a Saturday morning early and didn't come home until Sunday. So we had almost three weekends without him and 2 very long weeks.

The kids did great. And although they missed their dad very much Skype and telephone calls helped as well as new lego sets to help the weekends go by a little faster for everyone. They were thrilled to see Todd when he got home. He got home just 15 minutes before we got home from church. It was such a fun surprise.

He always likes to bring the kids back something from his trips. They always look forward to this part of the trip, but yesterday they didn't even ask what he had brought them. They were happy snuggling and spending time with their very tired dad. It wasn't until bedtime that any of us remembered the "surprises." Both kids were thrilled to get new soccer jersey's. They will both be wearing their US soccer jersey's with pride. As if we didn't stand out enough in this country...now there will be no doubt of where we are from!

 Friday night Todd started packing and James decided he was going to go with him. He fit in his suitcase quite nicely.

 Saturday morning was not a fun morning. The only thing worse about waking up early is having to take dad to the airport (and running out of gas!).

 Cuddles before dad left. James misses his dad so much while he's gone. A few days after he left James told me....

James: I want to go to the airport plane mom
Nicole: Why James
James: I want to go get my dad
Nicole: Dad is in Oregon
James: Why did dad go to the airport plane all by himself?
Nicole: He had to work
James: I want to go on the air plane and go up up up in the sky and go get my dad!

We managed to survive....but it took both kids snuggling by me at night. It's so nice to be together again...and so nice to have just one person in bed with me at night, especially when that one person isn't nearly as wiggly as the two little ones.

Last day....

 This was our third trip to Italy and each time I think....I NEED to come back! We love Italy. It's so easy to travel here and the food really can't be beat. But beyond that it's full of amazing things. Honestly...do the Italians know how good they have it?  It was really great to go see the beauty of Rome, but small town Italy completely has my heart.

 We didn't have much time in the morning, but we had a couple of hours to walk around. Bologna was absolutely gorgeous. It was still raining so we took full advantage of the porticos that seem to be everywhere. There really isn't a better place to spend in the rain.

 We also got to see a few of the medieval towers of Bologna. Hailee was a fountain of information about medieval times. (She recently had a unit on the middle ages.)

And we started a new tradition. We found "The Very Hungry Catterpillar" book in Italian. Since we already had it in English and German we decided to start collecting it in different languages. The kids love it.

It was so hard to get on the train to go home. Not only did we love exploring Italy, but it was so fun to do it as a family. Todd is starting a busy time at work. The family time was very nice.

My sister recently booked tickets to come see us this summer. We're planning a trip to France and England while she's here. When I was telling the kids about it Hailee was very excited....James said "I want to go to Italy." I'm happy to think that he's enjoying our trips as much as the rest of us are. With pizza, gelato and really big rocks how could we go wrong?

Something for everyone

We had a morning in Rome to finish up the last important things. For me, it was shopping...for James, jumping in puddles. Thankfully we had enough time to do both. 

 Then it was time to get on the train for Bologna.

 I seriously have the best train travelers. James enjoys everything about traveling on a train.

 The only thing Hailee needs is a good book. We didn't hear much from her the whole trip. She gets lost in her books.

 After a crazy Italian train ride we made it to Bologna. It was raining! But Bologna is made for rain. Most of their sidewalks are covered. We only needed umbrellas for when we went to the middle of the square to get pictures.

One of the reasons we decided to stop in Bologna on the way home was because Todd fell in love with the place 8 years earlier.

While I was pregnant with Hailee he had a work trip to Italy. To say I was jealous would be a huge understatement. Honestly, when we would talk on the phone he would go on and on and on about how good the food was. It wasn't even nice. He promised me that he would take me one day. That day finally came and I have to say he wasn't exaggerating about the food at all. Honestly I would move back just for the food. The saddest part about our trip was that I ran out of room too soon.

 Both kids loved it as well. James loved the "real" tortellini (cooked in broth) and Hailee's favorite was the pumpkin pasta. Todd and I really couldn't pick a favorite, but the green gnocchi was amazing as well as everything we ate.

Rainy day at the Vatican

 The next day brought rain....and a lot of it. It worked out perfectly that we had bought our tickets for the Vatican Museum for this rainy day. It was perfect. We got to Vatican City before our scheduled time so the kids got to run around and explore a bit.

 It was just enough to tire James out so he fell asleep on the way to the entrance. It could not have been more perfect. He slept for the first half of the museum and was quite pleasant for the rest of the time we were there.

 One of the kids favorite rooms was the Egyptian room. They loved everything, except for the mummy. Hailee refused to look and James said "Oh that's really gross!"

The museum was beautiful, with so much to see. Every where you looked was beautiful. The only frustrating thing was the crowd. Honestly it was worse than Disneyland on the busiest weekend. I'm sure we weren't the only ones with the idea of going on a rainy day. But even with the crowds it was still enjoyable. We did get to see the Sistine Chapel at the end of the tour, but with the crowds and the tired kids it wasn't as enjoyable and relaxing as one would hope. But I'm glad I got to see it.

 We also got to see St. Peters Basilica  and the Swiss Guard

We called it a day a little earlier so we could go dry out. We were all soaked and tired. I was so glad we had a hotel in a nice area. We got back, changed out of our wet things and I went to grab dinner while Todd stayed with tired kids. Another perfect rainy day.