Capri

Day 4
In the morning we caught a boat to the island of Capri which is just off the coast of Naples. I was worried about getting seasick so we sat in the bottom and couldn't really see anything. The boat was really expensive, 17 euros each, one way. Yikes. I don't even want to do the math on that one. And we think Washington ferries are getting expensive...

We walked around the main part of town for a while, along with hoards of tourists. Everything was beautiful, and there were tons of expensive designer stores.

We had read about a restaurant that was supposed to be good & off the beaten path a little. We found the signs for it and followed them off the main road, down the hillside via some little alleyways. Unfortunately neither of us had a watch and when we arrived they told us it was only 11:30 - whoops. But they were super nice and gave us the best table with a gorgeous view and we just relaxed and perused the menu till noon when they opened.
The meal was the best we had had so far - an antipasti platter with grilled veggies & marinated fish, homemade ravioli with lemon sauce and pasta with tomato, eggplant, and mozzarella. The whole place was so cute, I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Entrance

Entrance off the alley/pathway with handsome guy in the doorway

After lunch we hiked down to the beach to swim. We bought a souvenir "capri" beach towel and used the free beach because the pay beaches that came with chairs & umbrellas were 14 euros per person for the day. ($50 to lay on the beach. ouch.)

The beach was packed, but the water felt wonderful and we had a nice relaxing time. From there, we took a bus to Anacapri, the other small town on the Island. We had no idea what we were in for, but I snapped this shot as we wound up the switchbacks towards the top of the Island.
At one point, I looked out the side of the bus and about two feet away, the road dropped away to a cliff hundreds of feet straight down. Later in the evening we took this picture where you can see that the road is basically carved out of the sheer cliff.
Anacapri itself wasn't that exciting, but we enjoyed the bus ride. We caught our boat back to Naples at 7pm after enjoying an early evening gelato snack.

The boat ride home was fun, we sat on top, had beautiful views and got to see the sunset. The crowd was fun too, lots of happy Italian tourists who had obviously had a wonderful time on Capri. You can see Capri in the distance behind the boat. (picture above)
Happy Italian Tourists

When we arrived back in Naples, we were going to go try a pizza place (Sorbillos) that was supposed to be "number one in Naples" according to both our guidebook and the guy at our B&B. But the place was completely packed (at 9:45pm) with crowds waiting outside. It was still packed when we walked home after dinner at 11:45.

Plan B - we went to a home style trattoria a few doors down. They had really reasonable prices, so we ordered a bunch of things to try. After we ordered I noticed everyone in the place (italians) was eating seafood, which we hadn't ordered any of. So, feeling brave, I called the waiter over and pointed to a plate of seafood someone had on their table, a mixed seafood salad.

When it arrived, I realized that 50% of the seafood was chopped up octopus legs. umm.....whoops. Definitely a new one for me. I love calamari, but I try to avoid the legs when we order it and generally just force down a couple so that Kyle doesn't complain. Unfortunately I had picked the dish and kyle told me I had to eat it. Let's just say octopus legs are like calamari surrounded by a jelly/rubbery covering that really had no taste, just an odd texture. They were about the thickness of a hotdog. I am proud to say that I ate a reasonable amount and there were only a couple pieces left when the waiter took our plate. They were almost yummy if you ignored the texture.

The other highlight of the meal was my eggplant parmesan I ordered as a side dish. I am craving more already, it was so delicious. They took those skinny long eggplants, sliced them very thin, and then layered them in a baking dish. My guess is that there was a ton of olive oil or something poured over top, then cheese & it was baked till the eggplant turned thick and carmelly. mmmmm......

Italy - Rome & Naples

Day 1
We arrived in Rome around 10am, exhausted of course. Wait .... backtrack. We arrived in the airport and I got my first cup of Italian coffee! I was so excited, and a bit nervous ordering. Its been so long since we've been out of the country, I was really intimidated.

We decided to walk the 1.6 miles (I looked the distance up on google maps) from the train station to our hotel for fun because we were so excited to see the city. Our route took us through Piazza Venezia with its gigantic monument and we were quite impressed. We arrived sweat soaked (it seems we spent most of our trip in this state) and checked in to our hotel which was right near the Pantheon.

The day was a tired blur, but we explored the area, got some killer gelato (lemon & fig sorbet for me) and saw the pantheon, which I apparently did not take a single picture of. After a 2 hour nap in the afternoon we dragged ourselves to dinner in the Campo di Fiore and I had the saltiest, most expensive (10 euro or $15 USD) dish of Amatriciana I've ever eaten.

Crazy Euro. That thing is all over the place. It was 1 euro = 1.67 USD when I researched the trip and now its down to 1 euro = 1.42 USD. So who knows what it actually was while we were there.

Day 2

We started by scaling the piazza venezia monument we had seen the day before and got an awesome view of the forum & palatine hill.

Then we went on down to the colosseum and wandered around for a bit. Our favorite part was the model of how they had little elevators to lift the scary animals up. Quite ingenious.

We took this picture special, just for Crafty Mama. (this shot used to be on her blog header. well not this shot, but one exactly like it with her and her husband. except it was better than ours. read on.) I love how awkward Kyle looks, focusing on holding out the camera rather than our romantic kiss. And how his bangs are sticking straight up. Thank goodness I look awesome. Guess I won't be making it my blog header anytime soon.
Did the colosseum, palatine hill and the forum, all by lunchtime! Lucky for us, August is Rome's slow season, so there were no lines, just lots of hot sun. Kyle & I are weird when we travel, we like to see the famous things but we sort of blitz through them unless there are interesting signs to read. We never buy the audio guides. Luckily we are alike in that way.

We had awesome lunch at a salad place, mine had lettuce, arugula, artichoke hearts & lots of huge chunks of parmigiano. mmmm..... We also had wine with lunch, we were trying really hard to fit into the European lifestyle. What we didn't realize is that a liter of house wine is quite large, especially to go with salads for lunch. It arrived and we were both shocked at the huge jug. Thank goodness for my other favorite European tradition - the post lunch espresso. mmm.... perked me right up.

In that state, we wandered down the street in high spirits and happened upon....

It was actually quite exciting because once again the lines were only 15 minutes and I had read to expect 30 min - 2hrs. It was so dark and I think we were both surprised that the Sistine Chapel itself was completely unremarkable except for the ceiling. It was more like a warehouse with painted walls/ceiling. And we were supposed to be quiet, it was packed and the guards kept shushing everybody. But lovely nonetheless.


Finally we wrapped up the day with a visit to everyone's favorite big church. I almost didn't get to go in because my dress scooped in the back. I was so careful to wear one that covered my shoulders, but it just wasn't good enough. Luckly my hair and purse covered things ok and we made it inside where I spent 30 minutes wandering around with my purse around my neck, hanging down my back.

That night we ate at a cute place near our hotel that just has one menu per day, whatever they've cooked up. We were stuffed silly with all the courses it included, but I can't remember that much about it. So I'll wait till we get to the meals I loved to go into full detail.

Day 3

In the morning we took a train down to Naples. When we popped out of the metro station for the first time, it was pretty wild. Reminded me a lot of Egypt and definitely a lot messier/crazier than Rome had been. We walked the 15 minutes to our hotel, dumped the bags and went to find our first Neopolitan pizza, something I have been dreaming about for practically my whole life. (or at least the last 15 years)

We stopped at the first place we found that my book described as "quite good". I knew exactly what I was going to order (margherita - tomatoes, basil & buffalo mozzarella) but Kyle was instantly overwhelmed by the sea of choices, all in Italian.

I started reading some descriptions to him and had too look up one of the words "acchiughe" which apparently is "a sauce of mashed anchovies, garlic, olive oil & parsley". The pizza came with the acchiughe sauce, olives, capers and oregano and I thought it sounded intriguing - like something I'd love to taste, but not neccessarily order. Unfortunately what came out of my mouth was "hmm... that one looks good". So the waitress shows up and Kyle panics & orders the one I said looked good. Whoops. It didn't even have cheese on it.

It did have lots of anchovies & they pretty much permeated the entire pizza. We both do like anchovies, and Kyle was a really good sport about eating most of it and then finished mine because they were huge! And mine was fabulously delicious, everything I had dreamed of.

Next it was off to buy my Christmas "creche" or Nativity Scene as we call it. No psycho squirrels and S'mores baby Jesus for us, apparently Naples is very famous for its nativities and it is quite the Italian tradition to put one up every year. We found a perfect one that I am in love with. Here is a picture of the street we bought it on, which is lined with shops selling everything you could possibly need to create an entire christmas village with the manger scene in the center.
It amazed me how all the main roads in the historical area of Naples looked so big on the map and then when you get there, they are these tiny tight alleys. The architecture was absolutely fabulous. Other than food, what I love about travelling is the feel of a place, its character & the way the buildings lend to that. And I especially love it when the old & new mix in a sort of messy way, where people are still living side by side in & with old historical buildings. So yes, I loved Naples, despite its noise & stenches.

Vesuvius

We took a huge long walk that day, down to the waterfront, then up a fenicular to see a view of the city. We took a little rest at a cafe and Kyle bumped the table and spilled my $6 glass of prosecco. Jerk. I was too tired to even bother buying another one.

Gorgeous. We found our way back down and wandered around trying to find a couple restaurants that sounded good from our guidebook. I was so picky about where we ate because I really wanted every meal to be fabulous. Unfortunately, every reccomended place in rome & naples was closed for August while the owners were on holiday. It drove me crazy. So after a couple dead ends we straggled into a place that looked busy and had a pretty good dinner. By this time we were eating dinner at 8 or 9 pm and we actually loved it since it gave us extra time to sightsee.

Stay tuned... Capri is up for tomorrow...

We Survived the Fair, 2008!

Fun eating ice cream in 90 degree heat.


The highlight of the day for annika - nasty puddle with poop residue in the goat barn.

Highlight of the day for Saben - $3 for 5 minutes of fun running through this big play structure.

Unfortunately they only let him go through it once and Mommy wouldn't shell out $3 more for another go. Did I say "survived the fair"? I meant BARELY survived the fair.

Daycamp

Saben has been going to "daycamp" for the last two weeks at the Bellingham Preschool of the Arts. Last week their focus was cooking/fun with food and this week it is "Movin & Groovin" which is music and dance. Each morning I drop him off and then usually Annika falls asleep in the car and I get 1.5-3 hours all to myself. It is awesome. In fact, I only signed him up for one week but got so addicted to my free time that I decided paying for another week was defnitely worth it.

Saben loves the preschool too. I could actually totally see sending him there in the fall if I hadn't already signed him up somewhere else. They've done a great job drawing him out and getting him to try new things. Last week he ate english muffin pizzas, which is nothing too exciting except that he was really reluctant at first, then finally tried one and ended up eating four of them. He has also resisted dancing in the past so I was nervous about whether he would actually be movin and groovin or just sitting like a lump. Apparently he's really getting into it, so maybe there's hope for him yet. The only dancing he's ever really been into is running his feet in place really fast or "push" dancing which is basically exactly like being in a mosh pit. He loves running around pushing kids, and I blame it all on his cousin Nathan who taught him that neat trick at Shauna's wedding. : )

Anyways, hurray for preschool! Real preschool starts in less than a month. yikes!

Snippets

Annika is officially weaned - she hasn't nursed for over a week now. I can't believe it actually, I keep expecting to somehow need to do it again, but I think that is obviously not going to happen. I have dreaded weaning Annika since Saben was born. I remember nursing him and thinking how awful it was going to be to wean our final child. But... After nursing for 2 1/2 years of my life, I guess enough is enough and quitting wasn't as painful as I had thought. And it was actually easier/less emotional than weaning Saben.

The craziest part is that I have been averaging 1-2 books read a week because I nursed 1-2 hours a day. Suddenly I have a huge stack of books that I haven't even looked at. My advice to new moms - use your nursing time to read everything you've always wanted to have time for. Make a list before the baby is born! For a while I kept running out of book ideas. Then I got hooked on Travel/Cooking/Living abroad biographies/memoirs and probably read 20 of them. (somewhat light reading was the best because its an exhausting time of life.) So now random food facts and European culture are a couple of my specialties. (most of the travel/living abroad books also included food - so they were mostly in France & Italy)

And for those of you who have been to our house in the last year - yes, the pillows are finally gone from my nursing corner of the couch, but no, my huge pile of books & magazines is still there. And my "footrest" box is on its way to recycling as soon as I get around to it.

A few more funny things about Annika

• Annika does not like Kyle's bare chest. He often takes his shirt off when he gets home and tries to pick her up and she pushes herself as far from it as possible and looks disgusted. Definitely won't give him any hugs until he puts his shirt back on. It is really funny actually.

• When she's really excited, Annika sticks her tongue out all the way out & down with her mouth open wide. It is really funny & cute. (you could see it in the water pictures I posted last week) She sometimes sticks out her tongue when she is crying & angry too.


• Annika really likes animals, especially dogs and cats. (more than Saben did) She likes to pat Roxxy and poke at animals faces.


• Annika also likes stuffed animals a lot, especially playing games where you sort of tickle her with it.

I've learned from experience that updating my blog and cooking bacon should probably be two mutually exclusive activities.

The Stats

Saben - Annika
Birth Weight: 9lbs 4 oz, 21 1/2 inches - 9lbs .39 oz, 22 1/2 inches

2 weeks: 9lbs 10oz, 22" - 9lbs 6oz, 22 1/2"

2 months: 14lbs 11oz, 23 1/2" - 12lbs 3oz, 23 1/2"

4 months: 18lbs 3oz, 27" - 14lbs 5oz, 26"

6 months: 19lbs 6oz, 28 1/2" - 16lbs 3oz, 27 3/4"

12 months: 24lbs, 30 1/2" - 25lbs 5 oz, 31 1/2"

I know these stats are not at all exciting for most of you, but please notice that suddenly my petite little Annika surpassed her brother in both height and weight. Somewhere around here I have her 9 month stats and it is driving me nuts that I can't find them. I am fairly certain that she was 19lbs and 30 1/2" at that appointment so she gained 6lbs in 3 months. phew.

It was so funny at the doctor today, someone brought in a 6 month old baby girl to the waiting room and Annika would not stop staring and trying to touch her. I was trying to figure out if Annika has really ever seen someone younger than herself before. Or maybe it was because the baby was in a carseat. She ignored an infant boy who was newborn that I tried to point out. She was poking at the 6 month old in the same way she pokes at dogs & cats and would not leave her alone even though I carried her across the room several times. I think the mom was Russian or Ukranian. Maybe Annika prefers Ukranian babies. Very strange.

We also had to wait 40 minutes to see the doctor, right when Annika & Saben should have been napping, which is always fun. Then a drive home in the hot (wonderful) weather, except we're driving Kyle's car which does not have air conditioning and every time I opened the windows, Annika started shrieking because the wind was in her face. So we broiled our way home.

And lastly, she has a big nasty looking molar coming in. poor girl.

"Adventures with Corn"

"They are not always photogenic"

Potty Time

Kari for Governor

Governor (Partisan Office)
Candidate: Kari Young (independent mish mash)

Candidate Statement:

I am on a mission to assert Washington State leadership for other States joining for positive changes.

I believe the number one issue in the 2008 Governor election should be the illegal and unethical election practices used by former Washington State Attorney General/current Washington State Governor Christine “The Cover-Up Queen” Gregoire.

Fact: McKay, Even and Reed cancelled the entire 2004 Washington State Primary Voters’ Pamphlet just to censor Kari Young.

Our governor must convene a Climate Emergency session of the legislature now to enact emergency World War II-type laws:
• Divert Boeing to manufacture of solar and wind power equipment
• Outlaw Single Occupancy Vehicles
• Protect Washington trees as ‘common good,’ critically aiding our climate.

Because I feel Washington State should be leading the Nation in promoting a Spiritual Civilization based on holistic medicine, alternative energy, affordable housing, relevant education, a dynamic economy, bio-diversity, world development and meaningful access to justice, I respectfully propose my “FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS” PLAN OF ACTION.

FREEDOM FROM HUNGER, DESERTS AND WORLD MISERY: Thanks to ethical trade, the doubling of exports, tree planting, vineyards, organic agriculture, health restaurants and the distribution of “superfoods” (including but not limited to amazing dopamine-producing raw vegan chocolate mousses), we would find solutions to world hunger and deserts would flower.

Does anyone else look forward to reading the voters pamphlet each year because it makes them laugh out loud and roll on the ground with glee? (updated: I compiled my statement from the most outrageous sections of our governor candidate's statements. I couldn't make this stuff up.)

My sweet one year old

Happy Birthday Annika! I can't believe you were born a year ago. (doesn't every mother say that?) Your Daddy says you keep getting cuter and cuter every day. Lately your personality has really started to shine through and its so fun noticing all the little ways you are different from how your brother was. Here are snippets of what you are like at one years old:

• You walk everywhere, no more crawling for you! We've gone to Boulevard park a few times lately and you will walk and walk and walk along the path. You still fall down some, but you really like the independence. Sometimes you like to hold our hand when you are tired of falling, but most of the time you want to go wherever the heck you please.

• You love to play this game where you hold out an object to someone and then pull it away when we reach for it. You laugh your head off when you trick us like that and you especially like to do it to Roxxy. She reaches for the food in your hand and just as she licks it, you jerk it away and giggle. Over and over until she finally gives up.

• Another favorite thing to do is play with Daddy & Saben on the couch. (and mommy too sometimes) Daddy throws you & saben up in the air and lets you fall bouncing onto the couch. You also love being pushed over while you are standing on the couch and then being tickled on your back. And you still LOVE being hung upside down.

• You love playing in the water and often try to crawl right into puget sound when we are at the beach. But for some reason the pool & swimming lessons scare you. I think it is because you are nervous about the teacher and mommy not being in the pool with you. But the last couple of days you've gotten a lot braver.

• You really like to feed yourself with a spoon and suck the food off of it & your fingers. You've gotten pickier about what you eat lately and if you don't like it you start yelling, shove food onto the floor and throw your spoon. But you can eat a banana in about 1/3 the time it takes saben.

• It is very obvious that you have quite the independent streak. You really like to do things on your own and have them done your way. You often get frustrated if we try to "interfere" by helping you. But you do play well with Saben, he is the one always taking your toys and you never seem to get that angry about it.

• You do get angry whenever mommy holds or hugs Saben.

• You don't really say anything yet, but it seems like you are getting close....Lately if you are hungry you come grab my hand and take me over to the drawer where we keep your cups, spoons, etc.

We love you Annika! Happy Birthday!

Miracles

In the last two weeks, Saben has tried and decided he likes peas & cucumbers. He only eats a few bites of each, but they are the first veggies he's eaten in over a year. (except for avocado) He has really been open to touching his tongue to things lately to try them. Once he's "tasted it" its up to him whether or not he tries biting it. Such a relief and we're praying he's starting to outgrow the ultra-picky phase.

He's also been gagging & spitting things out lately, especially new things or things he doesn't think he likes. He keeps eating, but says the item got "stuck in my throat" and spits it out before taking another bite. This is new too. hmmm....

Summer

Three weeks ago, we headed over the mountains to visit my moms extended family and celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary and my grandpa's 80th birthday. It always amazes me how much fun Saben has with his "cousins" (my cousin's children). Lara is the oldest, seen below holding Annika. She is always amazing with all the younger kids and really helps out when we stay at her house. Saben adores her and even named one of his toy cars after her.
The other kids are all evenly spaced by about a year, so we have a 4 year old, Saben, a 2 year old and annika at one. No babies born this year, so the run has been broken, but its so fun to see them all play together and visiting them is one of Saben's favorite things to do.

After our visit, me & the kids drove another 2 1/2 hours away to visit Crafty Mama. We stayed with her for 3 days and had a WONDERFUL time. The kids got along much better than they did at Christmas and it was awesome to see our friends again.

I also talked my other long lost friend into driving up and we had a fun day at the park, catching up and seeing eachother's little ones in person for the first time. I love blogs, because if we hadn't reconnected via blogs, I don't think I ever would have gotten in touch with her. And it was really fun to introduce my two friends because they have a lot in common (crafty) and live somewhat close to eachother. It was wonderful, even though Saben was being a complete brat most of the time. I think the lack of naps & schedules were really getting to him.

In this picture, Saben is/has been behaving beastly and is refusing to sit on the bench
Cute cute cute!!!
What amazed me about the whole trip was how energizing/rejuvinating it was. There was really nothing relaxing about 2 moms and four kids hanging out all day long, it was just like being at home with lots of work & juggling involved. But having a wonderful friend there to share the day with and chat with turned the whole thing into something really special and fun.

We went out to lunch one day and it was absolutely crazy. Annika was throwing buttered linguine all over the place, I was coated in butter, Saben was testing his limits & pushing ever button he could find. I'm pretty sure I dragged him screaming out of the restaurant by the time we were done. Audrey was under the table threatening to poop in her pull up. Me & Andi had all the kids separating us. But we ate marvelous food and didn't have to prepare it ourselves and laughed at the bad parts. We didn't regret it at all!

Saben pushing Audrey in her baby stroller. She looked like she was in a wheelchair.


We drove the 6 hours home, leaving at 7pm in the hopes that the kids would sleep all the way home. HA! Annika screamed for a good 30 minutes before falling asleep. Turns out she had pooped, but I had no idea, I just thought she was fighting sleeping. (she never poops at night after I've gotten her ready for bed!! Never!) I felt awful when I got home and saw it. In fact I have no idea why I am admiting to such a horrible thing here on my blog.

Saben was sort of sleeping but his car seat wasn't holding his head up so he was sort of slumping out the side of it. He threw up after Snoqualmie pass, luckily he is old enough to know it is coming so I caught most of it in a bag. I threw the bag out the window because I didn't want it leaking in the car. One of the only times I have ever littered, but oh well. Right before we got home he threw up again, in another bag, this one paper, so I definitely threw it out as well.

Andi called right as we were pulling into town and once again, it was shocking how good a mood I was in. I didn't feel exhausted like I sometimes do, I felt happy, content and energized for the week ahead, despite the 6 hour ordeal. It also helped that I had a book on tape to listen to the whole way, that really kept me entertained.

When we arrived home, we had gobs of strawberries from our home plants ready for us. This year we had so many more than ever before. Part of it was that I finally got fed up with slugs & pill bugs eating everything so I poisoned them early on with this organic stuff. It was amazing to finally get so many perfect strawberries harvested. We probably had about 4 bowls this size by the time we were done. Enough to eat fresh, make jam, ice cream, & sorbet.
We've spent plenty of time out in the sun the last few weeks. Golfing....
Annika loves the water and this is the first year that Saben is enjoying the water too. He hasn't really ventured into the spray park yet, but he's been very adventurous with sprinklers, pools, the lake & even having a ball on a slip & slide. All the other summers, he would barely touch the water so its fun to see him outgrowing that fear. Tomorrow he starts swimming lessons which should be fun too.

We had some professional pictures taken right before our trip and got them back when we returned. It was bad timing for Annika, she had a runny nose & sort of puffy eyes. But you can't really tell & they turned out great, here's a couple to check out....


I think that's enough for now, time to go enjoy the sun again. I realized the other reason I haven't been blogging is because all my time on the computer is being spent planning our itinerary to Italy, booking hotels & working on planning our bathroom. So much work, its pretty much eaten up all my free time lately. Hopefully we'll wrap those two projects up in the next couple weeks & I'll have more energy to keep the blog up.