Kaden' 1st Easter Egg Hunt

All ready for the hunt . . .
(doesn't he look like a big kid?)


distracted by the easter bunny . . .



the last egg in the whole area (they put out a few more after the big kids stormed through). This is Kaden's one and only egg (I did have to fight a few big kids off as he reached for it). He did find a few before the hunt started but we made him put them back (now I wish we hadn't - I had been warned that it would be crazy but just didn't understand how crazy it would actually be). Luckily Kaden didn't care, he was just happy that he got to touch the easter bunny.

Celebrate Family 2010 BBQ

Just a reminder to pencil in the family BBQ on June 26th at my house. The goal is to get together as much family as possible. Hope to see you there!

Rome

The Colosseo at night.

The Trevi Fountain

On top of the Vatican

In one of the stairwells coming down fro the Cupola at the top of St Peters Basilica.

Looking down from the top of the cupola at the top of St Peters. This is the "illegal" picture we took while I was standing up on Jamie's lap to reach over the fence. Not a bad picture for not being able to aim.

St Peters Basilica and the Piazza.

This is one of the anchors that hold the walls together at the Colosseo. This was one of Jamie's best finds. He loved to look to see how everything was built!

The Arch of Constantine!

Inside the Colosseo, looking down on the pits (cells) where the animals, and prisoners were kept before being brought out to fight for their lives. Seating was up on the Arches.
View from Pallatine Hill.

The Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum.

The Colosseo, from the park across the street.

Rome is such an old and massive city, meaning the buildings are huge. There was so much to see. We thought about taking the metro, but every time we did, we would see another building in the distance we wanted to see up closer, so we would walk. By the end of the day, we felt like we'd walked the soles off our shoes. It felt good to soak them in hot water at the hotel. There is so much to see in Rome, you could stay for weeks and not see it all. It was a great place to see.

Casa Roja Reviews

Our tour guide Amy in Toledo.

Casa Roja.

One of the views from the Widows walk.

Above: Cohen and Gavin's back (some of the other guests)
Below: the Guest bath.


Our most amazing stay was at Casa Roja in Spain. We would recommend that EVERYONE go spend some time in Madrid. This B & B has a very private suite, overlooking the city, with a private bath (except when Eli forgets there's company), balconies and a widows walk. The bed was the most comfortable of all our hotels in Europe and beautifully decorated. Meals were excellent, and widely variable (Amy is an Excellent chef). They provided direct transportation to and from the airport and also to the train station during our stay, where we could easily get to anywhere in the city. They will even provide tours to other towns like Toledo and Segovia. (Amy is a great tour guide, you'll love her!) The bell boy/chauffeur Bret, even carried our luggage up 3 flights of stairs and got up at 5am to get us to our flight on time. We were welcomed like family, and treated to pizza and movie night, family time at the park and we even got to dip our toes in the private pool. (I recommend swimming only in the summer as the water was a bit chilly in March).

So, if you're not planning a trip to Casa Roja yet, we would highly recommend that you start! It was a great Vacation!

P.S. Thanks Amy and Brett, we really did have a great time, and we hope this post drums up some more business for you. We had a great time!

Venice

Everything here is expensive, because this is how everything gets moved around, trash included.

This was one of our final views of the city, as we were on a boat, on our way to the airport.
I thought this was beautiful!
So pretty with all the colorful buildings!
Snow!
A gondolier on his way to clear off the snow, so he can take tourists out.
Aren't they majestic?

Venice is such a beautiful city. They have not had snow in centuries, at least that's what they told us ... so, it was very strange for us to have snow, but we survived the cold and wet. We layered on our clothes and enjoyed ourselves anyway. We were really lucky that we had a second day, and it was a much better day for pictures. We definitely would love to go back to Venice some day!

1st words

I am not sure if it counts as Kaden's 1st word(s) or not but he says "oh wow" - it's really cute :>)

Leaving on Jet Plane

Well, you all know the song, so you can just imagine it while you read this. I just have to say, I'm so excited to be leaving for Italy and Spain today. Seeing Tracy, Amy and my best friend in Italy. It's going to be a great trip, and I'll be sure to post some pictures.