Ciao, Italia

The beach was once again calling our names (apparently we are sun deprived people lately) so the day after Rome, we relaxed in the sand and played in the warm water near Pisa. And yes, I did opt to take a picture of Jonas falling rather than catch him - but that is only because I knew he could easily catch himself...I promise!

After a restful day, we were up for another day of sightseeing. This time in Florence.

We had tickets to see the Uffizi Gallery in the morning. It took a couple of hours and was naturally impressive. We then walked around the city and grabbed some food and of course, gelato. We walked past the cathedral but decided to forgo the line and be content with just seeing the outside. It was quite hot!

My favorite part of the day was seeing the David by Michelangelo. The detail was amazing.

By now we were all a bit tired so we wandered back to the river where there were some shops and took a stop at the carousel along the way for Jonas & Clara.

Then after wandering around the shopping area for a while, got back in the car and drove home to get some dinner.

We didn't realize everything would be so booked and we couldn't even get takeaway so after inventing a dinner for the kids and getting them in bed, we ate cold cereal, Doritos leftover from the beach and apples. Not my idea of a great Italian meal!!! Thankfully, Devin still managed to get us dessert at the next door cafe which never failed to impress.

We woke up to our last full day in Italy. By this point, we were exhausted and had seen everything on our "must see" list. Although there were still plenty of towns we would have enjoyed, they were all a couple of hours away. So what do we do with a free day in Italy? Head to the beach one last time! Jonas finally made progress and played happily in the sand even if he still wouldn't get in the water. This time he had fallen forward but since sand didn't get in his eyes, I thought it looked pretty cute and took another picture.

Clara spent some time with this worm friend she found in the sand.

She also spent most of her day out in the waves and we all had the perfect last day. (Well, except for one really rude gas station employee who gipped us out of lots of money and Clara got to hear me say something I shouldn't have...don't worry, she called me on it!)

That night we made it back in time to get dinner. We fed the kids first and then enjoyed the BEST dinner of the trip - the most delicious gnocchi ever. Good thing it was our last night or I would have ordered this every possible chance. We then packed everything up since we would have to wake up at 2:30am to get to the airport on time.

Leaving was bittersweet. We loved our time away but we were ready to come home. Granted, it was to gray, cold, wet skies. :) Also, our street was being worked on so we got to park far away and drag all of our luggage a couple of blocks home.

The very best part was this: Jonas asked as soon as we got in the front door to walk (which he hadn't been able to do the entire trip). He is doing such a good job and has come so far this summer with his walker. The biggest improvement has been his desire. It makes me happier than I can say that he wants to do it since it is so much work for him and it typically takes so much encouraging from me...but look at his expression! Priceless if you ask me!