Searching for Vampires

When we were in Italy we visited some of the Tuscan Hills towns, including Volterra, certainly familiar to all the Twilight fans out there. I didn't put the two together...until we got there and this village is definitely milking the New Moon notoriety for all it's worth. We opted not to go on the New Moon tour, but we kept our eyes open for vamipires, none the less.

Jaxon was pretty excited about this Etruscan gate, if only for the fact that it was made out of volcanic rock. He is obsessed with volcanos right now (along with earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and most natural disasters). I had really wanted to take him to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, but Daniel thought I was getting a little out of control (we tend to do that). Unfortunately this was the closest Jaxon got to a volcano this trip.

The Roman ampitheater and a little pellet gun ball that Jaxon was much more excited about.

Playing at the archeological park with the Medici palace in the background.

The ancient skyline of San Gimignano. The nobles built these towers to hide in during raids.

They were really excited about the Christmas tree. And all the puddles....

Playing on the well in the village square.

Under the Tuscan Clouds

Between Christmas and New Year's we had a week off and decided to do our first European road trip with our new, much more reliable non-French car. Looking at the map we realized that we were only six hours from Tuscany, Italy. I hunted all over the internet and found us a reasonably priced farm apartment in the rolling hills of Tuscany. We left the morning after Christmas,poor Jaxon had to leave all of his brand new toys behind. It turned out to be a great time for a visit to the region. Sure, you miss the sun to a certain extent, but you also miss the hordes of tourists and we even were able to get in the Uffizi and the Academia without reservations. No trip to Italy is complete without gelato, no matter what the weather.

Jaxon loved visiting the Leaning Tower. I was a little bummed out because it was closed to potential climbers the last two times I was here and this time there was a possibility to go up to the top, but you have to be over 8. Daniel said I could go up--alone. Not quite the same.

We found a great golden calf the night we got into Lucca. Jonas was a little scared...

I absolutely loved that all the cities were covered in Christmas lights.

We walked the city wall in the morning.

Then we went and explored some Roman ruins that had required digging up the floor of a church to excavate. My little explorers searching for monsters.

This was the farmhouse appartment. It was perfect; totally relaxed and comfortable. Not a bad place to take shelter from some of the nastier whether we experience.

I was a total sucker for these exposed-beam ceilings; I love them!

An upside down map at the Science Museum (which was kind of a let down since most of the exhibits are closed until spring). Jaxon is pointing out Italy.

Climbing the Torre del Mangia in Siena

Jaxon is quite the tower climber. But whenever I would ask him if he wanted to climb a tower, he would say "But we will take the stairs, because it is safer." I guess he thought I was proposing the climb up the outside of it.

Il Campo square. I love this square!

The Siena duomo

Visiting another Tuscan hill town, Monteriggione, on a rainy day.

I love the quaint little streets.

A trip to the armour museum was a surprising blast for the kids.

Jaxon looking very intimidating.

Jonas found this little secret passage the next time we went to Siena.

Wandering the Pitti Palace gardens in Florence.

The view from the top of the duomo in Florence.

A visit to St. Margherite de Ligure just north of Cinque Terra. It was a good place for a pit stop on the way home.

And then we headed back home, 8 days and about a hundred museums later.

A Laid-Back Christmas

We had a pretty quiet Christmas this year. My parents were originally planning on coming, but they just received their mission call to Germany and are leaving the end of January, so they didn't have enough time. We had a great time anyway, our little family. Being low on people made acting out the Christmas story a little difficult, but Jonas did great at being both Joseph and baby Jesus. I tried to pull off a French Christmas dinner, with fois gras, prawns, smoked salmon, a chapon, and the thirteen desserts, and maybe a French person wouldn't have completely approved, we thought it was delicious. We spent the evening with some of our good friends. The most important things was that the kids were overjoyed, so it was a success!

Christmas Market Season

Ever since living in Germany when I was younger for a couple of years I have had a secret little obsession with Christmas markets. I love them! So, I feel super lucky to be in Provence where they also have a little obsession with Christmas markets. There was no question as to how our December weekends were going to be spent. This is our little exursion to Martigue, the "Venice of Provence." I guess it may be more convincing if one has not been to Venice, but they did have a great Christmas market!

Daniel eating roasted chestnuts. Yes, they actually eat them here. As far as I know, we only sing about them in the U.S. Such a shame.

Santa's little helper

This Christmas market in La Ciotat had a Christmas farm which was really fun.

Jonas experienced his first pony ride, which was a huge hit. Probably the best euro spent of the evening.

Jaxon got to sit on the pony for free. Best euro saved of the evening. He decided that he would rather drive the cars.

Isn't food always better with a face on it?

Fun with Cousins

During Matt, Rachael, and the kids visit in October, Jaxon and Jonas enjoyed lots of good times with their cousins. I think our neighbors did not appreciate all the fun and games as much as the kids. With five under the age of five, every minute is a party! We also had to get a little creative to figure out how to fit nine people into a small two bedroom apartment, but we had a blast. We found that the kitchen floor was the only open place in the apartment after all the kids were down, so each night we would sit on the floor, eat treats and drink herbal tea, and play cards until way past my bedtime. But of course, I was the only one who had to get up for work the next day.

Here are a few pictures from their visit:





Chateau d'if

A look back at Marseille from an island with one of our favorite coves below. Great shot taken by Matt

Lifeguard duty

I guess we thought it was too cold for the kids to get in so we didn't bring swim suits. Underwear works just as well.

Crab hunting - not as easy as you would think

Halloween day - a little late for a trip to the beach, but this did not deter the boys.

As we hiked up the mountain back to the car, the boys were tough and even passed a group of adults...Here they are showing how strong they are. I was convinced.