roma!

daron and i got back a few weeks ago from a dreamy trip to europe. i think about the 12 days we spent there and have to remind myself they really happened! the last time i mentioned this trip was in this post when i was still going down my pros list trying to persuade daron what a good idea a vacation to europe would be... eventually, he was on board and we were on a plane 9 months later. yes, i started booking our trip 9 months in advance! all who know my ability to procrastinate know this shows how badly i wanted to make this trip happen. our itinerary consisted of 2 countries and 3 major places. our first stop?

the eternal city!

the 3 days we spent in rome were our busy, sight-seeing days. the rest of the trip we wanted to be slower to feel more "honeymoon like." daron and i spent a few days in park city right after we were married but i had to be back in school the monday after the friday we were married! so 4 years later, we finally decided it was time to take our "belated honeymoon!" a great decision i might add ;) the first night, we saw a few sights but spent most of the time settling in.

as we were exploring, i saw the tiny part of the top of a building that made me stop in my tracks. i had no idea what the building was but it made my heart skip a beat. a 100 steps more took us out of the trees and there was the colloseum right in front of us. seriously!? how many places in the world do you just happen to stumble on a famous 2,000 year old building? on accident! so cool. 

our first full day started off with making friends with some local italians during breakfast and then exploring the infamous vatican museums! we actually learned a ton thanks to our awesome tour. honestly, i don't think i would have got anything out of the museums without a guide. me and art don't know each other well.

after the museums, we climbed up a very narrow stairwell that has hundreds of windy steps leading you to the dome of st. peter's basilica designed by Michelangelo. this was my favorite part of the day! besides the gelato of course...

do you see those tiny dots that look like pigeons? ^^those are people! we saw our favorite view of rome from up there. definitely worth the climb.

^gelato round 1

^gelato round 2

*this gelato place, gelateria la ramona, was my absolute favorite. they generously fill your cone up with white or dark chocolate hazlenut fudge (!!!) then give you great portions of delicious authentic flavors that put you on a gelato high. the line was out the door with locals and the cherry on top - most affordable gelato place we found!

the second day was daron's favorite. we explored the forum, the inside of the colloseum, the pantheon, trevi fountain, and had the best pasta of our lives!

^that whole you're walking down the street 

and then, oh well hello there colloseum poking through! seriously, wow!

this aspect of the city was my favorite part.

it was only day 3 of our trip and i was already tired of taking pictures of each other. so i decided it was time to show the camera/daron how to be a gladiator...

  

^if you're wondering, i'm throwing a javelin at a tiger.

i also had to capture my little gps finding our way. i said it on insta, and i'll say it again. i would have been lost for 12 days straight if it weren't for him. so, while daron navigated...

i wandered up and down streets looking for appealing gelato places. very fitting jobs for the both of us ;)

the last few hours we had left in rome were a little chaotic. we tried to see the amazing villa borghese but ended up being completely lost and having random mishaps along the way. we decided to head back and jet out early for our next stop - positano, italy! 

a few side notes: our absolute favorite restaurant was a place right next to the colloseum called "hostaria isidoro." the restaurant had a really welcoming atmosphere and the waiters were really attentive. if you're smart you order the assaggini where the chef chooses what he wants to serve you and you are brought mouth-watering pasta dishes until you can take no more and say "basta!" (enough!) 

another matter - the weather. i can't tell you how happy we were that we traveled to the eternal city in may! we walked miles and miles and didn't have a drop of sweat on us. the weather was incredible. also, we found that if you are trying to save a few bucks, hotels and dining are much more affordable near the termini station. the first day we were there, we got pizza-by-the-slice and water and it was 5 euros for the both of us. our last night, we wanted a quick dinner and walked into a random pizza stand near the trevi fountain and it was 14 euros! almost triple the price! we found the same thing to be true with gelato. we heard great things about san crisipino's and while the gelato was very good there, we got about half the amount as gelateria la romana and it was double the price. however, the area near the termini station is much quieter at night and not as lively as the area near the spanish steps, trevi fountain and pantheon. pros and cons.

as for our wishlist for next time? 

(positive thoughts here that there is going to be a next time!

-a tour of the colloseum at night. i've heard this is incredible and the only way to tour the colloseum is underneath the stars...

-spend more time near the spanish steps and see some of the neighborhoods outside the city

-definitely visit the rome, temple that will be completed next year

-and go to the trevi fountain either really early or really late at night so me and daron can have that place all to ourselves... (it's really crowded!) 

so long, roma. thanks for knocking our socks off!

a very happy father's day!

this father's day was extra special for my family here in california because this was the first year that every boy in the family is a father! isn't that so special!? i love it! it's also neat because some of the boys in the family became fathers in a unique way and so we have all different types of dads and yet, in the end, they are all fathers and we got to celebrate them all!

this year, one of the gifts i gave daron was a kite. carter literally tries to steal other family's kites at the beach and so i thought it was time we get our own. we tried the kite out the second it was opened and it was so sweet to watch these two fly it together. carter had his tiny finger pointing high in the sky shouting, "kayee! kayee!" over and over. i took a ton of pictures of him but, not surprisingly, he is only in a diaper. i am trying to do better not posting pictures of him sans clothes! so we'll have to fly the kite soon... with clothes this time ;)

i am so grateful for a day to celebrate fathers everywhere and the major one in my life. the picture above is really special to me. i took this on our ferry ride to friday harbor in anacortes. daron didn't know i was there (for real didn't know i was there, not like the i'm-going-to-ignore-you-and-your-ridiculous-camera-kind) and i caught him giving carter tender little kisses. the picture sums up the type of father daron is. 

tender and sweet.

double the trouble. double the love.

i got a glimpse this week of what 2 kids looks like.

meet my niece,

savy may...

she is the sweetest and busiest soon to be 2-year-old you have ever met. she has been staying at my parent's house (which is our temporary house) while her mom and dad find their new home in utah. for the first time, her and carter not only noticed the other was there but they actually cared. they coudln't get enough of each other and i couldn't get enough of them. 

i mean, check out this hand holding...

pretty cute, right?! 

i would put carter down for a nap and savy would ask me over and over, "where's carter?" in the saddest voice until it was time for her own nap. the second he was up, their hands were locked. i actually was amazed by how many things they could do while holding hands. 

i was also amazed at the roller coaster 2 kids can put you on. i thought i was on a roller coaster with one! add another though, and wow! 

one second, you're afraid your heart might burst. the next second, they are swatting at each other's faces fighting for the very limited space on the hips of their one and only sweeatheart.

or trying to give unwatned kisses...

then they are feeding each other,

and sliding down the slide while holding hands...

then, while you turn your back to put food in the oven, they are already upstairs turning the bath water on, chucking bath toys at the window and eating chaptsick like it's chocolate. and it's like that the entire day.  

i've decided i love it. 

they make double the messes and cause double the trouble but you feel double the love which seems to me to be a sort of indescribable feeling. 

oh, and this was a good moment, too!

  trying to take two 1-year-olds ^^^ out of disneyland on a stroller only made for one. 

oh savy may, how carter will miss you!

back to normal

daron and i just got back from "the honeymoon we never had" -as i like to call it. we took a 12 day vacation to europe! it was really incredible to say the least. i can officially check europe off the bucket list. of course, we missed carter like crazy. i tried to prepare myself for carter to have a negative reaction to us leaving him but it didn't really work. i prepared (as well as you can for something like that) but it still was so hard when he was cold to me for 3 days! he didn't act mad at me, just hurt. it was heartbreaking. he did not want to be with me. he warmed up to every body else except for his mama. i would tell him "say bye to dad" as daron was heading out for work and he would start blowing kisses to me like "see-yah later mom!" 

it was a sad story when he realized he was staying with me. thankfully my punishment for leaving him ended on thursday when we were at disneyland. out of no where he threw his arms around me and started squeezing me so tight around the neck and patting my back. it felt so good. i think he decided "hey, she takes me to disneyland. i guess she's not that bad."  

since then, we've been back to normal. 

i love normal.