Italy...with kids

When we were planning our family trip to Italy we knew what kind of vacation we wanted it to be. Very relaxed. We wanted everyone to enjoy it. Our first and easy decision was to fly. An hour and a half flight compared to a 10 hour drive was a no brainer for us. Next decision was no (or very little) sightseeing. We knew the kids would hate walking around in the summer heat looking at a museums and a bunch of old buildings. And just as much, Brice and I would hate having to hear them complain about it. So we decided to hit the beach (a lot), the pool, and one or two sights.

Picking up our rental car. Traveling with kids requires A LOT of stuff.



After a little confusion (on the rental company's part) we picked up our car. They gave us a BMW because it was the biggest one they had. Even then it was too small to fit all of our car seats in. I guess there just aren't very many requests from people with 3 kids.

The beach. We stayed in a town just outside of Pisa. The beach was sooo clean and not crowed at all. The first day we went there we had beautiful weather.

See, no one else there. We had the whole place practically to ourselves.

Kayla in the sand.

Caden in the sand.

Avery in the sand. Despite her facial expression in this picture, she LOVED the beach...sand and water.

Kayla having a snack in the shade of the umbrella.

Caden and Kayla collecting shells.

A very tired Avery. Although she really didn't nap at all during our 5 days in Italy (except in the car) she did amazingly well. No crying at all.

Misty and kids

(Leaning Tower of Pisa in the background)

Pisa, Italy

A very crowed Field of Miracles

The family and the tower

Inside the cathedral

So our day trip to Pisa was pretty stress free. The kids all had a good time posing for the traditional "holding up the leaning tower" picture. We grabbed pizza from a vendor and had lunch on the grass looking up at the tower. Besides taking the standard pictures and going inside the church, there really isn't much else to do in Pisa. I am sure that we spent more time wandering thru the hundreds of souvenir stands than we did looking at the sights.

Second to the beach, the kids favorite part of the trip was bowling at the hotel. Yeah, we go to Italy and the kids keep wanting to go bowling. We only went twice. After a day at the beach, we would come back, shower, eat dinner and then bowl.

Caden in action

Dancing to the jute box at the bowling alley

Our only other attempt at sight seeing was Florence. We knew that we weren't going into any museums (we learned our lesson in Cologne). So our "plan" which really wasn't much of a plan was to take a train over to Florence, walk around the city, take some pics, eat some gelato and then head back.

Some where in Florence

Random statue on Florence

More buildings in Florence. The blue sign on the right is the gelato place we ate at. It was called "Very Good". And I would have to say it was "OK". Gelato is yummy anyways, but I have had better.

So our trip to Florence was a surefire disaster. Partly because of our lack of planning and partly because we have kids too young to appreciate culture and old enough to complain about it. The train we took was very hot and crowed. We should have driven, but we thought the train would be fun, it was cheap, and it took us right in the middle of town. So after we arrive and are already hot, sweaty, hungry and tired of hearing our kids complain, we try and find someplace to eat. The first thing we see when we step outside the train station was McDonald's. Yea, we pretty much went to Florence, Italy to eat at McDonald's. Sitting at the table, Brice and I both feel like eating and then getting right back on the train home. But we pulled out our map and made a half hearted effort to find some of the major sights. We got sidetracked by a "flea market" which was somewhat entertaining. After about an hour of walking and not really seeing much more than tall buildings, we grab our gelato and get back on the train. The ride home was just as miserable, but we survived.

Lesson learned, the rest of the vacation was spent at the beach and pool.

A very happy Avery

The water was pretty choppy this day, but was really fun because of the waves. The waves brought in some really cool shells.

Gelato...again.

Our shell collection

Not including the trip to Florence, we had a fabulous time. Everyone loved the relaxed days in the sun and water. It was just what we wanted and needed.

Das Tollhaus

We discovered a fun indoor play area that the kids love to go to. They have been begging to head back there but it has been really hot (and this place doesn't have A/C). I caved in and let the kids invite a few friends.

Me and Avery after the slide

Action shot of the girls

Avery being silly.

Kayla and Isiah climbing UP the slide.

Kayla and Isiah

Caden in the bouncy house

Sweaty Kayla

Very hot and sweaty Jayden and Caden

Crashing at the bottom of the slide

Action shot of Caden and Jayden

Ball pit

In the dancing room

Isiah

Good friends

Taking a break

Although it was crazy hot inside that non air conditioned warehouse, it was way better than being outside. This was a shot of my van drowning in the rain.

Your Momma's......

.....so cheap that instead of taking you to the park, she makes you pull your sister down the stairs on a pillow.

Truth be told, I am not that cheap, I'm just lazy.

I was actually trying to recreate a game that we did when I was little, but the stairs of my youth were not curved and didn't have as much friction. We used to fly down the stairs. My kids kinda had to scoot themselves.

They had fun though and that's what matters.

Overheard...

.....while Kayla was on the toilet getting a little frustrated while trying to do her business.

"Would you just come on out already. You've been in there all day."

Pause

"Maybe if I shake a little you'll come on out."

Pause

"Finally."