{happy 1/2 birthday Mark} 4 Apr 2011

11 1/2 today.........in keeping with our annual tradition, Mark celebrated with a 1/2 birthday cake!

Enjoy :D

Ciao!

{shopping & lunch} 31 Mar 2011

I spent the day purse shopping & having coffee & lunch with friends.........a FABULOUS day!

us with our new, beautiful Italian leather purses :D

Enjoy :)

Ciao!

{a VERY sad day} 24 Mar 2011

Rude--our beautiful, sweet kitten--is in kitty heaven. He developed a fatal disease, FIPV (feline infectious peritonitis virus) and he could not be saved....we are really going to miss him :(

{happy SPRING} 20 Mar 2011

flowers blooming here...........sunny & 60F today...................WELCOME SPRING!!!

Enjoy :)

Ciao!

{first sign of spring}

This past fall when my mom was visiting, we planted a LOT of bulbs. Then we had flooding & I wasn't sure we'd have flowers this spring. But.........they are starting to bloom :D

Enjoy :D

Ciao!

{Milan} 13 March 2011

We had a nice surprise..........Suzanne (my cousin) e-mailed early last week and told me she had a business trip to Milan :D We drove up today to spend the day with her-she arrived about an hour before we got there--we met her at her hotel. It was a rainy day, but we had a WONDERFUL time exploring Milan.

The Duomo is magnificient. There was Mass being held as we walked around inside.


Suzanne in Milan!

Gelato :D

Castello

After visiting the museum, we took the metro back to the Duomo and had pizza made in a wood oven for lunch. A perfect way to spend a Sunday!

Enjoy :D

Ciao!

{Genoa, Italy} 18-21 Feb 2011

Here are pictures from our trip to Genoa, Italy over President's Day Wknd. Genoa is a 3hr. drive from here :)

This was taken from our hotel room window--it was really neat to see the ships coming in/going out.

Stazione Marittima

along the harbor

Galeone---a pirate ship---the kids LOVED exploring it!

Acquario

getting ready to board the pirate ship :D

Centro

Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

Galleria Civica di Palazzo Rosso

the view from the top of the gallery

Museo Civico di Palazzo Bianco

This picture shows the Red Palace on the left & the White Palace on the right.

one of Genoa's many narrow alleys

view while eating lunch

more pictures of the harbor

Sommergibile Nazario Sauro--we took a tour of this sub after spending time in the Galata Museo del Mare.

In the Galata Museo del Mare

view of Genoa from the top

Kieran ready to tour the submarine.

enjoying some gelato :D

a boat in the harbor outside our hotel

Lanterna

walking up to the top

215 steps up the lighthouse

the harbor at night

a sunrise on the morning we left Genoa

We had a wonderful weekend.

Enjoy :)

Ciao!

PS. Now we are planning a trip over Spring Break..........not sure where yet............LOTS of options!