What happened to January?

I can't believe it's already February 1st. January went by in a blur for me. I suppose that is what happens when you take the month off from your normal responsibilities and live the life of a carefree 20 year old. My niece, Emily, was here visiting and I took the month off from being a wife, mom, and overall responsible adult so that I could travel with her. Well, not that's not entirely true, but my wonderful hubby did agree to let me travel without him and the kids (lots less money, headache and hassle).

We started out with 3 days in Venice...including New Year's Eve!!





Then it was off to Rome for a weekend. Ok, so my hair really didn't look THAT bad, it was just super windy. Oh, and we got to see the Pope!






Back in Naples, we took a day trip to Pompeii. And even took Tara and Hannah along!




And then another day trip to the Amalfie Coast, with Hannah.




Then it was time for our annual trip to Garmisch, Germany. This time we took the whole family! We had a great time. Matt, Tara and Emily skied, Alex snowboarded, and me and Hannah just relaxed and enjoyed the snow. Well, Hannah didn't really enjoy the snow so much.







While in Germany, Emily and I took another day trip to Innsbruck, Austria....home of the famous Swarovski crystal (among many other fascinating sights).



After a week in Garmisch, we returned back to Naples and then Emily and I took another day trip to downtown Naples.



So that explains why I'm so behind on posting on my blog. It's hard to keep up with everything when your traveling the world. Now I'm back to the realities of my life and trying to catch up on all that I neglected for the past month. But I had a great time and owe Matt a huge thanks for being both mom and dad while I was out and about. And thanks to Emily for being a great travel partner. I had so much fun and the memories (and the pictures!!) will last a lifetime!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Christmas Eve

No snow and ice here!

There isn't much I love about Naples. But 60 degree temperatures with bright sunshine in the middle of December is one thing I do love. Especially when nearly everyone I know is shoveling snow and ice right now and enduring below freezing temps. Hannah played outside today on her "bike" and I actually (sort of) got her to cooperate when I took her picture. This is getting harder and harder to do. All she wants is to hold the camera, not pose in front of it.

Scared of Santa...and others....

Hannah was just a little scared of Santa...by little I mean she screamed, clung to Matt for dear life, and would not even look at him let alone sit on his lap...and that's quite normal. Most babies are scared of a fat man with a white beard and bright red clothes (even some moms are a little frightened by the creepy Santas, right Portia?) But being the good mommy that I am, I took the picture anyway. It's always a great conversation piece for when they are older. I have both Alex & Tara's screaming Santa pictures, so I had to have one of Hannah also.




So Santa fear I get, but explain this one:

Today I was standing in the long line at the bank and Hannah was sitting in the little toy section they have in the bank lobby. She could see me perfectly and she was quite content sitting there playing while I waited. The place was crowded with lots of people coming and going. Then this little old lady walked in and sat down in a chair next to where Hannah was playing, but the lady didn't look at Hannah or talk to her. Hannah took one look at her and screamed the same scream she gave when she got near Santa. She ran to me crying and clung to me for dear life. She was terrified of this little old lady. Ok, so the lady wasn't the most attractive person I've seen, but she wasn't sporting a white beard or anything. And she didn't try to talk to her or hold her, but Hannah was scared nonetheless. I ended up just leaving because to me it was obvious that she was scared of the lady and I didn't want to offend her. So what's this all about? We have to work on this fear of old people. How will I ever be able to take her to Wal-Mart in the states???

Not much pomp and circumstance

Matt has completed his bachelor's of science degree in Human Resource Management!!!! Matt is living proof of how difficult it is to complete a degree while working full time and having a family, but he persevered forever and finished. Unfortunately, he won't be attending any formal ceremonies where I can snap some pictures of him in the ridiculous square board hat with a tassel hanging down.

For those of you who don't know this, I met Matt at a small junior college we both attended when we were 18 years old. Matt stayed there for a year before he decided to join the army. And now looking back, sure there are things he would have done differently if he could, but we are both happy that things turned out the way they did. The army has been a great career for Matt and our family. With retirement from the army just around the corner, it is an accomplishment to have the degree completed so he can shift his focus to the next stage of life. Congratulations, Matt. It was a long time coming, but you did it!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We splurged and went to McDonald's for lunch. Crazy, I know. We really know how to live it up. We went to a huge mall that is not far from our house, but so did the other 4 million people that live in Naples. I'm not kidding, I have never seen so many shoppers in one place (and you all know I have done my fair share of shopping in my lifetime). Add Hannah and Tara to the picture and it doesn't make for a very romantic dining experience. So we all agreed on McDonald's to avoid the mass crowds and simplify the day. And I have to admit it was tasty. We rarely eat at the Golden Arches, so it was actually an out of the ordinary meal for us. Besides, we are saving up for our annual ski trip to Garmsich, Germany in January. We love Italian food, but we are all really looking forward to some good 'ole fried schnitzel and potatoes, bratwurst and beer.

Thankful at Thanksgiving...

We had a good Thanksgiving holiday...we stayed home this year, except for one day in Rome. This is the first Thanksgiving since living in Europe that we didn't travel. We cooked all the traditional food and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. We discovered that Hannah loves turkey!! And all the fixins'...she ate potatoes, stuffing, green beans...she loved it all. Alex is usually my pickiest eater, but this year he seemed to like more of the food than in previous Thanksgiving feasts.

On Saturday we met some friends in Rome for the day. One of our stops was Trevi Fountain. This is supposedly one of the romantic spots in Rome and the place to meet your bachelor or bachelorette. Romantics toss a coin over their shoulder, into the fountain, thinking it will give them a wish and assure their return to Rome. Usually Alex will try anything to make his wishes come true, but when he heard about the returning to Rome portion he refused to take part. He said he hopes he NEVER has to go to Rome again!!! In typical 13 year old boy behavior, he instead took a coin and threw it at the head of the statue in the fountain. Remember, Alex HATES, HATES, HATES to go sightseeing and thinks he has seen the world twice over. I wonder if he will always feel this way? So we have pictures of me and Tara tossing our coins over our shoulder. I hope to always be able to return to Rome!




We also stopped at the Spanish Steps...another hangout for romantics. Instead of romance, our kids (along with our friends 3 boys) decided to race up and back down the steps and nearly took out a few tourist along the way. It was funny to see them running down the steps full speed, huffing and puffing. After the race, I made them go back and pose for a picture with Hannah.

So all in all it was a great holiday for us. And best of all, we had our Hannah with us. And it's our last Thanksgiving in Naples. YIPPEE!!! Now there are two things for which we are very thankful!