Dream Vacation!

How do you write about the dream vacation?  I guess you say, "hang on...there's a hundred pictures to follow!"  We had the best time, despite late take offs, missed flights, being lost five hundred times, driving in the bus lane, jumping curbs in a Fiat, getting accoasted by a gypsie, backing into a pole, having the crash team meet you at JFK and missing the family that wasn't with you. (Hysterically that list could go on and on, but on to the pictures!)

We decided to take the girls with us on our trip, last minute.  We are so glad they came with us even if they stayed in the hotel most of the time.

Brian and Phil philosophying in Paris.

The sunsets are even gorgeous in Italy.  It was a nice welcome!

After a night's sleep, some good food and we're ready to go touring!

On our way to Cinque Terre 

It was raining, but who cares!  We are in Cinque Terre.  Can you find the baby?

Cinque Terre

Wet and happy!

Brian and his ocean!

Beautiful even when raining!

Lover's Lane!!

We left our mark in Italy, look for us next time you go.

Irie made the wall on Lover's Lane!

More beautiful scenery!

Jet Lag setting in.

Even staircases are gorgeous!

Asking if I could move in!



Our girls hanging out on our balcony.

The beautiful view from our hotel room.

Florence was amazing!

The Duomo ceiling in Florence

Picturesque!

What is up there?

On the tour of the Duomo.

The floor of the Duomo

Climbing to the top of the dome!

A candy store grabbed our attention.

My "Italian Husband" or so he said when I said I wasn't buying anything until I found my husband. (My husband smells so much better!)

Rain = cool pictures!

The David! (replica)

Hanging out in the piazza with ancient statues, crowds of people, live music....

so surreal!

The gang in Florence!  Aren't we cute!

We are in love! (With Italy and each other)

Brian developed a bubble butt!

Off to Sienna, at the fountain of Joy!

The piazza in Sienna

The gorgeous duomo in Sienna! (The sky was beautiful too)

I loved the inside!

The girls made their Sienna debut!

After being hopelessly lost in Rome we made it late and hungry to our place we were renting.We had a nice pizza party while we waited for the owners to come let us in! (at 11:00 at night)

Off to the Vatican!

The Sistine Chapel!

Even the stairs are amazing in Rome!

What a handsome group hanging out in the Vatican!

St Peter's Basilica 

St Peter's - A-maz-Ing!

Guard in the Vatican dressed in Divinci's design 

The Colosseum!  So incredible!!!

Brian looking out over the Forum from the Colosseum

Really!  We are in Rome!

Reflecting the Colosseum in our glasses!  Too Cool!!

Quaint streets of Rome

So beautiful!

My favorite Brian picture!  (don't ask)

Some boys things never grow old

The Pantheon!  (I loved this!!!)

The Gang! Hanging out in the greatest piazza in the world!

(Piazza Novella)

The most picturesque restaurant!

Brian eating octopus spaghetti

Throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain! We get to return to Rome!!

So surreal!

The siblings!!!

On top of the Spanish Steps!

Three beauties with the beautiful flowers!

The commuter!  (Trying to figure out how to find our apartment without walking too much. After 14 hours of walking around Rome we were ready for an easy way home.)

A simple church in Assisi

In Assisi for their annual festival!  So fun to see all the costumes

(or do they always dress this way?)

Looking out over the countryside outside of St Frances' Church

The streets of Assisi

The Medicine Man

Every corner is a picture!

Ahhhh! Venice!

St Marks Square!

A perfect napping place!!!

The gondola ride!  Heavenly!!

The streets of Venice

Brian hanging out!

Look!  A church with the Resurrected Christ!  Let's go in!

(whoops, no church...moved for seminary training)

On top of a bell tower in Verona.

Verona colosseum that is still used today for operas!

The leaning tower of Venice?

We had to go back for one last hurrah!!!

The gondola parking lot!

The last supper!  Sandwiches on the canal!

We loved our Trip!!!!!!  Can't wait to go back.

If you made it through all of these pictures, you are amazing!  It was so surreal and wonderful.  We definitely want to go back again, and again!  Italy looks beautiful, smells wonderful, and is amazing!  Thanks for one incredible trip!!!!

Yipee Day!

Yippe Day!  A phrase that we hear from Tianne all the time!  It's her own phrase she made up to state her excitement.  And what's more exciting than turning 3?  Nothing is more exciting to this little girl!!!!  Yipee Day! We Love You!!

"I want a Minnie Cake!!"

"I'm Free!"

"Can I open presents now?"

"Look at my loot!"

"Blow out the candles."

"I'm so proud! And I can't stop saying free with my fingers."

Happy Easter!

SPOILED!! And Loving IT!!

It all started like this...Brian found out Audra McDonald was going to star in Porgy and Bess on Broadway. He told me and then told me we had to go see it! I didn't argue. I then sent an e-mail to my girlfriend, Kerali (a fellow lover of Audra) and informed her that she was starring in NY and suggested we meet her there......and Waa Laa we were there! The only catch was that we were there without husbands and children! There was no complaining on my part and Kerali and I had the time of our lives. The only problem is is that went by so fast it was almost a blur, and it seems like a dream that never really happened.

The show was A-MAZ-ING! and so were all the other fun highlights of the trip. Like going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

Seeing the beautiful blossoms in Central Park.....

walking along 5th Ave, seeing Rockefeller Center.....

The 9/11 memorial....

Plus shopping, Time Square, two other Broadway shows (Anything Goes, and Mary Poppins).....

It was so much fun! But worth coming home to my Broadway Babies!!

We Have Spirit - Yes We Do!

I love spirit week at school! I love watching Shayla get excited about each day of the week and how she gets to dress up. She missed miss-match day (which is alright, she couldn't have even come close to competing with Lucy on that one!) But the next day was crazy hair day! She couldn't wait to spray her hair different colors and do a crazy style. Too bad the wind was blowing so hard, we couldn't get a great picture of the hair.

Next came my favorite day! One that we had to prepare for the night before. After washing out all the colors (and making a fine rainbow in my shower), we prepared for the next day. We had to make sure she had curly, big hair! Rag curls were the only way to go.

And presto....we have 80's day! I loved it! Everytime I looked at her, I just grinned and reminisced a little. She couldn't figure out why we ever would be so extreme in our hair styles. "I mean, gag me with a spoon! You curled your hair everyday?" But I do think she looks pretty Rad!

Sisters!

Big Girl = Big Bed

You know the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, Tianne loves her crib and hasn't even tried to climb out. She is also one month away from turning 3 and is getting a little big for her crib. So we thought we'd get her in a new bed. The crib is still up, just in case, but we learned if we don't give her a nap on the day we introduce the new bed, then she's exhausted and goes right to sleep. She is beautiful in her bed! A true princess!

There was one slight problem with the big girl bed, though. The other two sisters get to share a room and she is left out. So do we put her in with Cambree and leave Shayla out? Or do we put her with Shayla and leave Cambree out? Or does she just stay in her own room? Then we came up with a brilliant plan......

All three in one room! Three princesses....one room!

The best part of putting the three together, was surprising them. They had no idea we were planning this. Thanks to some great friends that took them for an hour and came over to help decorate, we had the best surprise! The girls freaked out! They were so excited and ran to their beds! All three kept saying "Thank You! Thank You!" over and over and giving us hugs! And all three climbed in their own beds and went right to sleep tonight!