Monsons Visit to Italy!

They've been saying they'd come from the moment we received orders for Italy.

As they are among my families "most apt to travel" I would have bet on it. 

When our 3 years was coming to a close and I hadn't heard anything solid from Aly I decided that I'd bet wrong.  

But by the skin of their teeth, (Joey's actually) we were extended!   

And come they did!

Here's Arie interpreting the Birth of Venus, a painting she actually got to see just a few days later in Florence!

Georgie was so glad to have a girl cousin around!

Goof Balls!

These were all taken in Polcenigo, on the way up to the castle. 

That face!

The Friday after they arrived we spent the day in Venice.  Isaac and Georgie had school but Juliet was permitted to skip.  

I love this photo. 

 This was taken in the Frari Church.  The girls were being a little showy 

and dramatic about their "prayers for Mary".

All Arie wanted out of Venice was for a pigeon to land on her head.  She was so happy when she got it!

And Aly just wanted to smooch Ryder on a Gondola.

Sure enough!

"Word"

Looking cute on The Grand Canal in Venice

This Gondolier wasn't a singer.  But Juliet remembered the last one we'd had that was.  So she decided it would be appropriate for her to sing to us.  No one had the heart to tell her she was tone deaf.  We came into an alley that had multiple Gondolas, some with singing Gondoliers.  Juliet just piped right up with them.  I have a video that I'll try to get loaded.  Love this firecracker:

This is one of my favorite pictures that we've taken since living in Italy. 

Aly and Kelly stayed on in Venice to see it at night.  The kids rode the train home with me.  Here they are playing "photo bomb"...a game the Monsons brought over with them from 'merica.  They were cracking themselves up.  And me too.

On Saturday we headed for the Dolomites.  We stopped in Bolzano along the way to see Otzi, the iceman and the lovely city.  

Here's Arie wearing a mockup of Otzi's jacket:

And these crazies posing with a mock up of what Otzi might have looked like when he died:

Here we are eating street food in Bolzano.

Cousins!

The following morning we hiked up to a rifugio with a Dolomite view.  We found snow along the way and a lot of complaints from the kids. Our view was obstructed by cloud cover.  Joey and I were really disappointed that they never really got a good view of the jagged, dramatic Dolomite rock.

But the lowland views weren't too shabby.

Boys

The Agriturismo we stayed in was perfect for us.  The perfect scenery, the perfect breakfast, the perfect farm full of animals.

The boys enjoyed the ping pong table.

And the girls LOVED the guinea pigs and bunny rabbits.

The chickens ran free in the yard.  The fenced in area you see  in the back was such a quaint, cute little garden.  I couldn't stop staring and daydreaming about it.  

The Girls

The Dolomites are hard to top.  So I through in a bit of "lock car keys in the car in the middle of Emilia Romagna" to spice things up a bit.  I think everyone appreciated it.  That happened just before we visited Villa San Donnino for a Balsamic Vinegar Tour.

Look at those 5!!!

Getting a description of the Vinegar making process.

And those three!

I'm curious to know how Aunt Kathy appreciated the 12 year old vinegar 

Aly and Kelly bought for her here.  Three years later, ours is almost gone!  

Next Stop:

Florence

For Pasta!

We chowed at a cute little restaurant close to our airbnb (airbnb was a bit sketchy, sorry guys!)

And the following morning we scoured Florence.  The Duomo, the Uffizi and the David.  The kids, Kelly and I went to the Museo Galileo which, on first thought was a little disappointing being that it had almost nothing in there about Galileo.  But after we settled into that some of the science artifact displays were pretty impressive.  My favorite was the series of antique cross section models of a womans pelvis area while giving birth.  They showed babies coming out in all the wrong and right ways possible.  If the kids were able to look at it (some were "grossed out") they got a pretty good education on the birth of a baby.

The second best little sandwich shop in Italy!

Just look at us would ya?

Georgie and Arie bought Marionette puppets of Pinocchio.  Arie had always wanted one and seized this "but I need a souvenir" opportunity to get one.  Georgie liked that idea.  So she did it too.

Last Stop:

A Few Lazy days at Our House

I love this picture and these two "babies".

This "baby" is not bad either.

I managed to procure a babysitter for their last evening here.  We ate at Il Rifugio and fully enjoyed the Frico:

And then they left:(  It was a great trip, one none of us will forget! 

 Thanks for the visit Monson Family!