At the end of April we headed to Vicenza, Italy to visit Jeremiah's brother, Jonathan, and his family. Jon is a JAG lawyer in the army and they have been stationed in Vicenza since July 2010. They had their first baby (Lilly's first cousin and our first nephew), Jackson Post Marshall, in January 2011. We had been wanting to go visit but with a new baby we had to put it off a bit. It was so fun to get to see them, meet our first nephew, and get to see what their Italian life is like! We did a lot of traveling and with an almost 19 month old it was pretty exhausting but so fun and quite the family adventure.
We did not buy a seat for Lilly on the planes but we lucked out and 3 of the 4 flights she had her own seat so we were able to carry on her car seat which made things a lot smoother for this mobile munchkin. Buckled in and ready for take off!
In Madrid for our 6 hour layover. We are all exhausted at this point. Lilly did pretty great on the plane but she didn't sleep as much as she should have so she conked out in the carrier once we finally got situated. When we first got to Madrid we had to find a place to buy Lilly shoes because they got left at home and then Jeremiah realized he left the iPad on the plane. So I got to speak lots of Spanish and we had to leave and re-check in to the airport to get to the American Airlines desk to talk to them. Thankfully we found it and our 6 hour layover all of a sudden didn't feel so long. The AA people remembered us (or mainly cute little Lilly) on the return trip and they upgraded us to business class! So nice!
The first weekend they took a couple of days off work and we did a long weekend trip to Pisa, Cinque Terre and Florence.
On the bus headed to Pisa
Cousin hugs
and kisses
The bros and their babies!
Jackson, Lilly, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Jackson, Aunt Sara, and Uncle Juan
Of course we had to do a corny pic!
Lilly was a little fussy and jetlagged, but such a trooper!
Exhausted and headed to Cinque Terre.
We stayed in Monterosso al Mare. It was beautiful and a neat coastal town. They had yummy lemons which helped with my morning sickness!
After dinner
Then literally minutes later...
She missed out on some yummy gelato... but don't worry we ate it at least once every day so she got her fair share. :)
Our second day in Monterosso we spent on the beach.
It was beautiful and Lilly had a blast!
Playing on the beach with Daddy.
Lilly trying to console Jackson during our attempt at a photo shoot.
Sharing fruit juice with mommy.
Being a big helper and giving Jackson his bottle. This is where big sister preparation began. :)
We took day trips to 3 of the other 5 towns.
Headed to Vernazza
Lilly looks pretty tuckered out. She doesn't nap well on the go so we did our best to be home for a nap but it didn't always happen. Hence why she looks a bit like a zombie. :)
Vernazza was beautiful and most peoples favorite town but it was very damaged by flooding and landslides last October. You can see on the colored buildings where paint is missing. They had water that high! It was really sad and they still have a lot of rebuilding to do in all the towns.
Family Photo Shoot
Lilly found her a new best friend! "Dog... ruff ruff"
Playing peek a boo with the waiter.
Riomaggiore
The Lovers Walk from Riomaggiore to Manorola.
The walk is alongside the cliff and it really breathtaking.
Where people lock their love.
Manarola
It was quite the accomplishment to see 4 of the 5 towns with 2 babies in tow. The 5th town was closed completely due to the damage from the landslides and flooding.
Then we headed to Florence!
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