Dirty Diaper?

I was having a meeting in the hall during 2nd hour at church.

When from around the corner comes Afton walking hand in hand with one of the nursery leaders.

Luke was on the opposite side of the hall from me and the nursery leader spotted him first.

Afton had a look of a little mischief and one where she looked like she was in trouble.

Um...

I looked over to Luke for an explaination and all he could give me was a red face with tears streaming down his face.

(couldn't speak he was laughing so hard)

He walks an embarrassed Afton over to where I am and says

apparently, "she has a DIRTY diaper"

...

Um...

Afton's been out of diapers for a YEAR.

She gets the gassiness that smells like a dirty diaper from her dad.

:)

Happy Sunday

Stop #5: Volterra

Yup, she's got her shades on for the Tuscan sun :)

This archway or entrance into the city was constructed by the Etruscans during the 4th century B.C. ! There's a cool story about how the Nazis, during WW II, took the city and were going to blow the archway to make it harder for enemy to pass. But the citizens quickly took stones from the road and filled it in to make a solid wall. The Nazis left it alone, thank goodness, and after the war, each stone was removed and put back in the road.

Cool!

Are you kidding me!?! I could NEVER live here...or at least drive here! They are crazy.

Most of the outer-city was constructed between Etruscan and Roman times.

Are you kidding me?

It was crazy walking around on the grounds that were so old.

This Roman theater was built during the 1st century B.C.

I can't get over it!

Part of the city overlooking the Roman theater.

A lot of the inner-city was constructed during the Middle Ages. Though the first duomo of the city was built during the 5th century A.D.

Looking out over Tuscany in Winter.

More Middle Ages...

Original outerwall.

The Selci gate and Fortress which is now a prison. Crazy cool. We went up to it, thinking we could take a tour of the old fortress, but instead we found warning signs and barbed wire with mounted cameras. Um...no thank you.

The Roman theater at night.

Arrivederci!

Vacation Stop #4: Livorno

We took a rest day and stayed at "home base."

Nothing like some good ol' reading and toilet time to recharge the batteries :)

Vacation Stop #3: Florence

First stop:

The David, by Michelangelo.

SO incredible and far exceeded my expectations!

It stands in a museum now, in perfect condition still. Created between 1501 and 1504 it stands at 17 feet tall! My favorite part were his hands and arms. A-mazing! They were SO true to life they reminded me of Luke's. Every muscle, vein, and tendon in proportion and accurately sculpted on marble! I can't get over Michelangelo's genius.

We weren't allowed to take pictures so I got this from the internet :)

Then to the Duomo of Florenze






And inside.


The flash totally ruined the kiddos but I liked their sweet impromptu pose.

The Baptistry

Outside after some gelato.

Yum.

And again, the Duomo.


Capelle Medicee





San Marco

And a chupa chups lollipop for trecking around like such a trooper. We didn't see "it all" but we were thankful we saw what we did with our little ankle munchkins! We've gotta be proud of the little things. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vacation Stop #2: Pisa

Always wanted to see this monument.

Kids weren't allowed up so we took turns climbing.
While Luke climbed, we discovered some major lollipops.
Kids were happy.


View from the top.

My turn to climb.
And according to a group of ladies I overheard on the way down,
"if the pregnant lady can do it, we can do it."
I felt like saying, "Crossfit, Ladies. Crossfit! Peaceout."

Church


Baptistry


And then, of course, the obligatory photos.
Had to.
Sorry.

Luke's picture is better. But I loved Afton in this one.
She got tired of the dumb pose, I guess.

Loved the Tower. Loved climbing.
City is a lot run-down and a little ghetto, as expected, but definitely worth the visit!And this is where we said goodbye to Mr. Sun.

We're On Vacation

And our half-way point:

Lake Como.

You'd look too.


Boys

I think I'll take a boat "garage" like this:

And this was my favorite.

This one is for Porter.

"Luigi" from Cars the movie.

Couldn't get enough.

And this is how we all felt after our amazing 24 hours.

(Maybe she thought she was a Christmas tree?)