Italy and Grandparents and Adventures!

Our time is really flying fast now.  We have been looking forward to Italy for so long and all of a sudden we are done the first leg!  Tuscany/Umbria was wonderful and we all really enjoyed living life on an olive grove.  But the draw of the beach was strong and we were all really looking forward to the water.

But before we left Nana and Papa finally arrived!  We were all so excited to see them and spend some of our trip together.   We had to pick them up in Florence so we decided that it would be best if Luke just went and took the morning to explore (and have a much needed break!) and then pick them up at the airport.  The kids and I just powered through as much homeschooling as we could so we would have little to do when Nana and Papa arrived.  

A custom shoe shop that Luke found in Florence.  

Luke and I were also able to sneak away too to go see Rome.  We had thought about bringing everyone along but then realized that it would be crazy to try to navigate Rome in a day with all 8 of us!  And we need to leave *some* travelling excitement for later on in the kids lives!  So off we went.  It was an incredibly full, exhausting day.  We walked for about 12 hours straight.  The challenge of only being in Rome for a day is choosing what you see and what you skip.  We finally decided to see the old historical district and the few markets that were on the way.  

The Pantheon.  It is enormous.  Unreal to see in person.  

The Roman Forum

Luke checked 'the Colosseum' off his bucket list.

After a whirlwind in Rome, we packed up and left Tuscany for the beach.  Along our drive we decided to stop and see the leaning tower of Pisa.  Outside of our day trip to Rome we have mostly avoided the touristy things (seeing a few things every now and then but more so trying to find the smaller towns) so entering an incredibly touristy area with all 6 of us plus Nana and Papa was out of all of our comfort zones.  We were immediately 'attacked' by the guys selling umbrellas and sunglasses.  There were people everywhere taking photos of themselves pushing the tower over (we joined in!).  And there was some sort of old car race going on so there were cheers and line ups and noisy motors.  Needless to say, we stopped, took photos and kept driving.  Lovely to see.  Lovely to leave!

Nana and Papa

But then the beach.  So.  Good.  Something magical happens to all of us when we arrive.  The 2 older kids dart right in to the water.  Isaac immediately throws rocks in the water.  And Josie just giggles and squeals at all the action.  Luke breaths a sigh of relief and I just soak it all in!

 The sun has come out but it still isn't super warm.  So here is Josie with some creative footwear!

Funny story.  I misread the location of our house and actually thought we were *in* Cinque Terre not a 50 min train ride *to* the Cinque Terre.  Whoops!  So that meant finding other things to see while we were here.  We decided to visit Genoa as it was only a 40 minute drive away.  Some internet reviews said it was a waste of time.  Others said it was a must see.  So we tried it.  It was not what any of us were thinking at all.  Had a really cool arch.  An incredible but incredibly difficult to find market.  There were these super windy and mildly confusing tiny streets that took you all over the town.  And we ended up at the harbour which once again was full of people trying to give us "free" bracelets.  We were warned of this scam so we said no right away.  But were told to look around because those who were scammed often threw their bracelets on the ground.  Ella ended up with 8 bracelets by the time we were done!  At the harbour there was this amazing aquarium that a few of us decided to go through.  Everett said after we told him we were going, Yay!  That was my birthday wish!  So I guess it was a good idea!

Such a happy girl!

The Italian grandmas all stopped to oogle Josie. 

This was a yarn bomb. 

Having lunch on the palace steps

Making us laugh once again

We called this 'The Mean Market'  It was a street market but it didn't look super friendly!

Once again we were spoiled when Nana and Papa sent Luke and I off to the Cinque Terre.  We had amazing weather, a few mishaps with the train system but all in all an amazing day.  

We decided to do the walk between the villages last minute so were unprepared.  Luke decided to roll up his jeans to keep cool.  We're hoping to see this fashion take off.

Birthday boy!  We had such a great day celebrating Everett's 8th birthday.  We had french toast and presents at breakfast, gelato and popsicles for treats and Ella even made Everett oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Some day this girl will have real toys but for now, rocks it is!

A birthday evening dive into the ocean