Europe Day 2 Tuscany

On our 2nd day in Europe, we rented a car and drove south from Florence down to Tuscany. We stopped at a winery for lunch and a tasting, then continued through the hillsides to San Gimignano and Siena.


San Gimignano was a great little town up on a hill. Of the 72 towers built, only 14 are left standing.




Il Campo in Siena - Siena is another gorgeous town in the Chianti region.

EUROPE! (Florence)

Jason was awarded a trip to Monte Carlo for all his hard work. Only the top 15% make this trip, so we were really excited. Jason and I have both toured Europe when we were younger, separately, but we haven't been back in many years. I have been wanting to get back for a long time. We decided to extend the trip and visit Florence, Italy for a few days first. We were so lucky to have our family members volunteer to watch our precious boys while we were gone.

After a very very long flight that was made even longer by having to wait on the plane's runway for 4 hours due to computer and weather issues, we finally arrived in Florence, Italy!
The Duomo
Wonderful cafes with paninis and sweets
Gelato!
Ponte Vecchio Bridge
We hiked across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, over the Arno River, up to the Piazza Michaelangelo to see a beautiful view of the whole city.

Super Colby

Monkey in a tree

Colby's new favorite pasttime is climbing in the tree that's between our house and our neighbors'. We tied a rope to the limb, and he loves to swing from the tree like a monkey.

Weekend in DC

We headed into DC for a weekend of fun with Uncle Matt and museums.
Colby was most excited to ride the metro train.



Uncle Matt had this fun astronaut costume at his school that Colby wore for 2 days straight while we were there.

We had a great time on the National Mall

Riding an airplane at The Air & Space Museum

Fly me to the moon!

Project with Daddy

Colby got a wooden train for Christmas, so he and Jason decided to put it together and paint it today. It was so cute to watch them working together on their project.

Firsts for Logan

It's hard to believe that 7 months have gone by since we had Logan. Time is really flying by! I just wanted to jot down a few firsts for Logan. Going to try to get some videos/pics up soon.

3/1/2011 -- Logan loves standing up. He holds my hand to pull up and then smiles and shreaks in delight. He loves to hold hands and walk around the room. Today, he stood on his own for 5 secs today. Maybe he'll walk before he crawls.

3/2/2011 -- Logan doesn't like to be on his belly much, except to sleep. Today, he inched forward on his belly to get a toy...so maybe now we're on our way to crawling.

Brushing Teeth

Logan enjoyed brushing his teeth this morning.


He has two cute teeth, and I love his new toothy smile!

Playdough

We made homemade playdough for the first time. It was pretty easy, and Colby had a good time kneading the dough and watching it change colors.

First Snow 2011

We got a couple of inches of snow, so Colby and I ran outside while Logan was napping to play! It was a lot of fun and wore him out for his afternoon nap, which is becoming more and more difficult.



After Logan's nap, I bundled him up and took him out for a few minutes. I think he was enjoying the little ride on the sled too...as long as his big brother held on tight! :)

Logan's first tooth

Logan has been drooling like crazy for weeks. I thought it was way too early for his first tooth to show up, but it has! The bottom right one has poked through, and the bottom left is close behind!

More Christmas

A few days after Christmas, Grandad came to visit. We had a great time playing in the basement and spending time with him. He brought us a fun popcorn machine, which we use a lot! Colby is constantly asking for popcorn. Of course, we don't give it to him everyday, but it sure is fun to use and tastes just like movie theater popcorn!

Christmas Celebrations

We celebrated Christmas at home this year. It was really nice to not travel anywhere. Everyone was wonderful to come celebrate at our house this year. With our newly finished basement and Logan's 1st Christmas, we really wanted to enjoy the holidays at home this year. So, we really appreciate everyone in our family coming to visit with us!

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our annual tradition of dinner at the Severn Inn. It's a beautiful restaurant on the Severn River. Then, we drove through the Lights on the Bay display. We've done this the past 4 years in a row and really enjoyed it. We had an early dinner this year (4pm!) as we were a little late making reservations, but it actually worked out great since Colby was too excited to nap, and this way he got in bed early. Oddly enough, as we were almost finished eating dinner, the couple we sat next to last year was seated at the table next to us. They have a little girl a little younger than Colby. It was really great to catch up with them.

After dinner and the light show, we came home to open 1 present (Christmas pjs), set out Milk, Cookies, Carrots for the reindeer, and cheese for Santa Mouse, and then we read The Night Before Christmas and our Santa Mouse books. Then, it was off to bed to wait for Santa!

Christmas Train

Colby was beyond excited when Jason pulled out the train to put around the tree this year. He couldn't wait for his daddy to get it out so he could drive it. He drives it around the tree everyday. Thanksfully, he's really careful and gentle with it. He knows not to drive it too fast. He still treats it like his little cars though by taking the cars on and off the track to try out different arrangements.

Cars lined up

Colby loves to make lines with his cars & trains. This day, he decided to make a line around his little brother. Luckily, Logan didn't seem to mind.

Holiday Pro Photos

I took Colby and Logan to get some Holiday photos taken. Here are a few of my favorites:



I love Colby's expression in the bottom left one! It's so great they were able to catch that on camera since he does that all the time!