April 2017

Since the kids had a 3-week school break we ventured to Italy for a 9-day trip! We started in Rome then took a high speed train to Naples and a boat to Sorrento. We were very lucky with weather, it was sunny and in the low 70's every day! We did lots of walking and fueled the kids with pizza, pasta and lots of gelato.

Spanish Steps in Rome

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

Ruins outside the Colosseum

Colosseum - outside

Colosseum - inside

Fountain in Piazza Novana

Awaiting our tour of the Vatican

Vatican Guard

This is a standard man-hole cover seen everywhere on the streets of Rome. The letters SPQR stood for Senatus Populus Que Romanusa - the Senate and the People of Rome. Relics of the Roman Empire!

On to Naples! We couldn't wait to try the pizza here in the "birthplace of pizza". It did not disappoint, it was amazing. Only wood-fired ovens for cooking pizza around here.

Basilica Reale Pontificia San Francesco da Paola

Ovo Castle

One of the days we were in Naples we took a train to Pompeii to learn more about this ancient city. We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about life in this city about 2000 years ago. What amazed us the most was that life today isn't that much different - they had restaurants, markets, streets that were labeled, houses with gardens, theatre for entertainment and even an arena.

Battling in the arena!

After our tour of Pompeii we stopped at Mt. Vesuvius en route back to Naples. It is quite a high mountain at 1281m but fortunately there are large buses that will take passengers nearly to the top. Just a short 20 min walk is all it takes to enjoy some breath-taking views.

After Naples we were getting tired of trains so we opted for a boat to Sorrento. It was lots of fun - great sunshine, a great view of Mt Vesuvius and a quick way to get to Sorrento in less than 1 hour.

View from the top of our hotel in Sorrento

From Sorrento we took a bus ride to explore the Amalfi Coast. We have heard and read that this is an amazing place to see so we were very excited. When we finally did arrive it was beautiful and we had a wonderful day. But the bus ride was much longer then we expected - 2 hours each way! Its a short distance but the roads are VERY narrow and are just not designed for the large buses that try to navigate their very tight turns. But we were certainly rewarded with amazing scenery after putting up with the long bus ride.

March 2017

March brought with it the promise of spring weather, longer days, and more sunshine! After a dark and dismal winter March was most welcome. We celebrated Carson's 10th birthday on the 22nd with a dozen friends at a trampoline park. The kids had fun bouncing around and all enjoyed the pasta and cake afterwards.

Carson continues to be an avid Pokemon collector. He was very excited to add some great new cards to his collection on his birthday.

Tragedy hit London the afternoon of Carson's birthday with the Westminster terrorist attack. We were very sad to hear that two of the victim's were from our home town in Utah. Makes you realize how fragile life is.

The kids had a nice long break starting at the end of March. Here they are taking a pizza-making class at the Jamie Oliver Cookery School in London. They have taken several cooking classes there and we love them. They are getting to be accomplished young chefs!

With the weather warming up the kids had some time to play on our swing set in March. So nice to have something to play on outside!

February 2017

In February the kids had their next 'half term break' which was one week off from school. The school year here in the UK is broken into three terms and each term has a break in the middle, usually 1-2 weeks off. We like the schedule and the frequent breaks are perfect opportunities to see Europe on the off-season. For this break we ventured to Paris! We decided to fly EasyJet which is actually cheaper then taking the bullet train. We were very lucky with weather considering it was February - it was brisk but not too cold to walk around, and one day was sunny and in the low 60's (that's 15 degrees here, where they use celsius instead of farenheit).

Our hotel was right down the street from L'Arc de Triomphe! Very nice accommodations thanks to John's Marriott points.

The first day we went to see the Eiffel Tower and even climbed up to the first level. The kids were surprised by the size of it - not as tall as they expected, and wider then they expected. John and I were surprised by all the security, we had to wait in a long line to go through metal detectors and have bags searched.

Amazingly enough we were able to find a cooking class in English for kids. The kids learned to make Eclairs from a French Chef. Bon Appetit!

The ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde reminded us of the London Eye. No takers for the ride today, we preferred watching it from the ground.

Gazing at the Eiffel tower over the Seine River. Below that is a bridge over the Seine where you can see hundreds of padlocks attached to the bridge. People leave them as momentos, most of them are engraved with names and dates.

Here's Carson just outside the Musee D'Orsay, a wonderful art museum. Carson's gamer tag on Minecraft is MrRhino so we couldn't pass up this photo opportunity.

We decided to take a taxi up to Le Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) to avoid the steep climb. What a gorgeous day and an amazing view overlooking all of Paris. Inside the basilica was beautiful as well.

An artist drawing the kids outside Le Sacre Coeur.

The Louvre

We went to see Notre Dame one day, a beautiful cathedral. Not only did we see the inside, we also decided to climb all the way to the top!

Almost all the cathedrals we have been to offer the option to purchase a candle with a small offering. You light your candle from another then say a prayer after setting it in place. The kids know they can light a candle as long as they say a prayer, and this is now something we do regularly at cathedrals. Its nice to have a quiet, reflective moment in the midst of a busy day of sight-seeing.

The view from the top of Notre Dame did not disappoint - we could see all of Paris from up there.

If you ask the kids what their favorite part of Paris was, they will tell you it was the foosball table in the hotel lobby. It was right inside the front door and they snuck in a game every time we walked by :)

Other happenings in February: Rachel had a disco dance at her school which was also attended by the local boys school. Here she is with her friends before the dance.

Carson is learning about Hinduism at school so one Sunday we decided to venture into the Hindu Temple in London. It is a beautiful temple and it was fun to learn more about the Hindu religion and culture. We even had lunch at the Indian restaurant across the street.