Il Amore in Italia
WOW! What a vacation!
Most of you already know about the surprise trip
Jesse took us on to Italy. If you haven't seen it yet go to our last
blog post and see the video where Jesse reveals to me that we were in
Italy for a week. Needless to say, I was shocked. Now, most wives
would have probably picked up on some hint of a surprise vacation being
planned for them but nope, not me. Mainly because I have learned long
ago to keep my hands out of any planning when it comes to traveling.
Jesse knows what he is doing and I've never seen anyone who can plan
trips cheaper than him (that is a compliment). So, when he told me that
we were leaving Germany on a cheap airline flying to Croatia, and then
to Moscow, I said "OK" and left it at that. Of course, once we got
there and he told all about the planning for months, things that were
said to me started to make sense. Even my twin sister knew and didn't
tell me (way to go keeping that secret, girl).
Though we didn't have much money to spend, Jesse found a campsite where we could stay for a week that was on the beach and had pools and other things to do for the boys. The place was beautiful and almost perfect ("almost" because it was REALLY hot).
We got there, set up our tent, slept, and woke up the next day and
right away went swimming.
The boys loved it. It was so much fun to see them enjoying themselves
and learning to be in the water. Jesse was determined to teach Steven
to swim. He was getting better and better each time and was pretty close to being a swimmer by the end of the week. Matthew was just happy hanging out in the water or
floating down the lazy river with me (my favorite thing) or playing on the nearby beach.
Of course, it being so hot and since we were the whitest people there, we
made sure we had strong sunscreen on. But we don't think it was
waterproof since we were suffering some really nasty burns the next day.
So, we donned our shirts and bought expensive ($14!) sunscreen that seemed to work
the rest of the time.
It didn't make any difference to the boys, though. They would run into the
water and play and play and play.
Steven loved the water slides but Matthew, not so much (he's like me).
But, it was so nice to be able to spend time together as a family
without any interruptions. We try to do that when we are here in T-land
but when you have friends there, they will just show up and spend hours
with you. It's wonderful to have that with the people here but it
makes it difficult to get good, quality family time by ourselves.
After a few days of going to the pool in the mornings, eat lunch, take a
nap, go to the pool again, eat supper, go to the kids program, then bed
time, we decided to take a break and catch a bus to head to one of the towns near the
campsite.
It was so Italian! All the streets were lined with bicycles, flowers,
and were really clean. I finally stopped taking pictures because all
the streets looked the same (that is to say, really beautiful).
We also were able to enjoy authentic Italian food thanks to my sister, who gave us a gift just for that reason. That meant we were able to enjoy some of the national dishes like spaghetti and pizza while we were there. I had told Jesse a while back that if we went back to
Italy that I would want to go and be able to eat as much pasta as I
wanted without worrying about the cost (that was before I had any idea of this
trip). And, we were able to do just that, so thanks, Kellie!
Every night the campsite had a kids program where they could do silly dances and things like that. Steven really loved it.
Above: The best meal I've ever eaten (pasta with fresh mussels). Below: Matthew seems to like gelato (Italian ice cream).
So, a week went by and then we left. It really was a great time.
Thank you Jesse for all that you do for
me! This trip was the best trip I have ever been on. I'm so lucky to
call you my husband. Thank you for marrying me and showing the love of
Him everyday. I love you more now than the day we got married 10 years
ago. Happy Anniversary to you too!
