Easter Egg Hunt

Wow, what a morning. We headed for what we thought was just an easter egg hunt and it ended up being a full on carnival. Makaela got to ride a horse, jump in the bouncy house (many times), take pictures with the Easter bunny, watch a clown show and of course, find Easter eggs. Jackson ended up winning the golden egg and got an extra special prize. It was a long, but very fun morning. Here is video of Kaela telling the horse handler how old she is.

Girls' Night Out

Saturday night we got to have a girls' night out on the town to celebrate Tiff and Claudia. Their fabulous husbands got everyone a limo and wanted us to go out to show the ladies how much they appreciated all their work while the men were over in Afganistan. We had lots of fun at the limo and went to Pearl lounge. Martinis and free massages were an extra perk of the evening and lots of fun surprises were shared.

Kuhio Day at the Zoo

Kaela and I headed down to the zoo to take advantage of our season passes to the zoo. She was all excited about the elephants. She was a bit more brave when it came to petting the goats this time, so that was fun. Makaela also got front row seats to seeing a tiger in action- there was a young tiger that kept walking up to her and jumping right up at the glass where she was standing- very cool.

first day of preschool

First day back to Hawaii and first day to preschool. We jazzed up school so Makaela was kind of excited when we started out the morning. We all walked to her classroom, dropped off her things and then walked her to the breakfast room- once she realized we weren't going in with her, she started panicking. Since we just returned from a week and a half trip, we think she was going through some separation anxiety. When I went to pick her up though, she was chatting about all her "fwends" and the toys. She even came home with homework!

Visiting with Cousin Christopher

Makaela doesn't get a lot of time to spend with her cousins so we made sure to get some time with her cousin Christopher while we were in. Both kids were on their best behaviors and it was fun to see them play together.

at the firehouse

After coming home from Italy, we stopped in Brooklyn to visit Uncle Mike in the firehouse. Makaela got to jump into the truck, run around the firehouse and she loved their fish tank. The alarm went off and we all jumped out the way so the engine could get out but as I looked, I realize Matt was on the truck with all the guys...he was going along with the firefighters on the run...luckily it was just an EMT call, but while they were out, they got another call and had to head out on that run. Matt got more out of that experience at the firehouse than Makaela did.

Rome Day 3

Today we headed to the Colosseum and Palantine Hill to see some fun ruins. The Colosseum was quite impressive and I was thinking I needed to go home and watch "The Gladiator" again so I could make the connections. It was interesting to imagine what life was back in that time. Afterwards, we ran into a political protest- that was interesting. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was out marching. Then we wandered into an English pub to watch a some rugby games- didn't realize how much I missed rugby. A great way to end the trip.

Rome- Day 2

Day 2 of Rome was spent visiting the Borghese Gardens and Gallery. This was the most fun and fascinating museum I went to so far (not saying that the others were bad, but this was had some scandal behind it). The guy who built it was a cardinal and the nephew of a Pope, so he used his influence and all his money to buy up art. Some of the art was stolen...from churches, others the artists were threatened with imprisonment if they didn't create art for the gallery. The sculptures by Bellini were amazing. That evening, we grabbed some mozzarella, red peppers, bread and a bottle of wine to sit on the Spanish Steps to people watch. We had a fun time watching peddlers try to swindle tourists into buying roses.

Rome- Day 1

Rome was a whirlwind. We packed as much as we could into each day before passing out. The first full day there, we went to Vatican City and went through the Vatican Museum. Raphael's artwork was fantastic- he blended mythology and Roman gods with Jesus and pictures of the saints. I was surpised by the Sistine Chapel- thought the room was going to be bigger, but honestly if it was, you couldn't get out of there because there was so much to see on the ceiling. Then we climbed to the top of St. Peter's and got to see an amazing view. The church itself is enormous and full of art. It amazing me how intricate the mosiac work is- such tiny tiles and such detail. After Vatican city, we headed to the Pantheon-crazy old and the piazza was so lively. Then off to the Trevi Fountain where we threw a coin into the fountain to test the legend.

Orvieto

This was by far one of my favorite places on the trip. We arrived in the middle of the country and didn't see a town. Didn't realize that we had to take the fumucare (a ski lift type of cable car) up to the top of the mountain to get to the town. The streets were narrow and cobblestoned and the buildings looked like something out of a movie. Little shops were littered with people conversing outside and it was so quaint. The hotel we stayed at was so old school, that we had to turn in our key as we left the hotel and pick it up again when we returned- no key cards or modernization at all. Because the town was up so high, it was a bit brisk, so the smell of wood burning fires was always in the air- I loved the smell of the place. The wine there was fabulous and they are known for wild boar- the sausage was pretty good. The following day, we went on a tour of Orvieto Underground. Because the town was so small and up on the hill, people back in the 1600s dug rooms underground to house pigeons for cooking, livestock storage, olive oil making, refuge, etc. It was fascinating!

Pisa

After leaving Cinque Terre, we headed to Pisa. We ended up getting a ticket on the train though, a whopping 50 Euro. We didn't write in the date on our Eurail ticket- the previous train attendants always wrote them in for us, so we didn't realize we had to do it ourselves. Not a highlight of our trip. We got to Pisa and checked our luggage. We were only stopping in for a few hours for lunch and to take cheesy pictures of the Leaning Tower.

Cinque Terre

After Florence, we headed to Cinque Terre. We had seen pictures, but once the train started pulling into Cinque Terre, we realized how gorgeous it was. The train was hugging the side of the mountain and the ocean was so blue. The buildings were built right on the cliff and were all different colors. It looked like a post card. We started up the hill to the hotel which ended up being rooms located all over Riomaggiore. The town was about so tiny, it was perfect. We grabbed a bottle of prosecco and watched the sunset down by the docks. It was perfect. Dinner was in a little family restaurant where we could hear the couple yelling at eachother in the kitchen, but the pesto sauce was perfect and the pizza was the perfect amount of greasy. The next morning we started out on the Blue Trail, a walkway that connects all the 5 towns. We had to stop in the first one we reached for lunch, Manarola, because it was another beautiful town, we wanted to soak it up. We went to Corniglia and found that a rock slide prevented us to go on, so we turned around and walked back. We stopped at the Tunnel of Love to take some pictures. People leave locks there to symbol their commitments or a bandaid to help heal a broken heart. We ended the day in Montrossa (which has a cute beach) for dinner before heading back to the hotel to crash.

Florence

It was sad to leave Venice, but we woke up early to get a head start going to Florence. After a late night and many glasses of wine, an early morning was not what we needed, but we hopped on the train early anyway and by the time we got to Florence, we were ready for a siesta. We got to our hotel (we have been pretty lucky finding these hotels), a really pretty hotel, but we were on the 5th floor ...with no elevator. We definitely got a workout, so the nap was well deserved. Once the nap was over, we headed to the Duomo. Wow- such a gorgeous church. We lived the 600+ steps to get into the dome and saw the Last Judgement- a very disturbing painting, but it's amazing how they were able to paint on just a large scale on a dome, some 8 stories above. The view from the Dome was spectacular- the land right outside Florence looked beautiful and lush and the best part...there were castles in the background. That night we stumbled on a family restaurant that was amazing. The dining room was set up like ancient Florence, with columns and cracked frescas painted on the wall, yet their was still a contemporary feel. They had a flat screen that showed the chefs cooking all the dishes on the menu. We ordered though before we saw Matt's meal being cooked. He ordered the bistecca di florentine and the waiter looked at him a bit weird, said "It's a lot of meat, you likea the meat?" Matt, being the steak and potatoes man looked back and said, "yes", but really wanted to say, "why else would I be ordering the steak?" Well when it came out, we found out why. It was the largest steak I have ever seen. It was a T bone larger than Matt's head. He got through half. Florence proved to bring out a lot of fun surprises for us (in more ways than one).

We finished Florence with the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio and the Arno.

Venice

We got to Venice and immediately got lost trying to find our hotel. It was so interesting getting lost in the tiny walkways of Venice- none of the walkways are straight so we thought we were just getting more lost as we went. Between a teacher and a Navy Air traffic controller, we realized that we couldn't read maps too well (this skill did get better as the trip went on). We feasted the first day there- I had gnocchi with a four cheese sauce. Couldn't finish it b/c the sauce was so rich, but oh, it was so good. Matt got the frutte del mar, so he got to sample Venice's seafood. We walked all around the town, but it was hard to be romantic during the strolls. The walkways were so narrow, that with all the foot traffic, we had to walk single file (and we even visited off peak). What was romantic was sitting in the cafes, sipping wine, people watching and just catching up. We went to the Doge's Palace in St. Mark's and it was crazy that one of the most powerful men in Venice lived in a home that also housed prisons...wonder how tight security was back then? We also walked into Harry's Bar, which was recommended by the Fodor's book. We walked in, the waiters were in tuxs and when we sat down and got the menu, we almost choked on the bread. The prices were so exhorbant, but we were so embarrassed to get up and leave that we ordered one entree, split it and left hungry and a little shell shocked that half our traveler's checks were gone. My bellini was about $25 for a 5 oz. glass. Oh, traveling and getting used to the exchange rate :-)

Hanging with Great Grandpa

Great Grandpa Bob drove up from Texas to see Matt and Makaela in Oklahoma. I hear that golfing and playing hide-and-go-seek were on his itinerary while visiting. It didn't take too long for G. Grandpa Bob to find Kaela though...her hiding spots were fairly obvious :-)

More farm pictures

While Bailey and Leila are missing Makaela, it looks like she is surrounded by plenty of canine campanions at the farm. Uncle Daniel and Aunt Jenni are Sonar and Shadow, two really lovey labs. Although, I have a feeling that Grammy is dishing out just as many kisses to Makaela as the dogs are :)

Goofing around at Grammy's

No schooner did Makaela get to Oklahoma, did they have her in OU regalia (ok, that was my pun for the day). Dressed in crimson and white, she walked around Oklahoma and then Kansas, starting quite a few conversations about college football. Some people praised her for her smart sports taste, others, well...they told her she would soon learn who the good teams were :-) Anyway, here is a picture of her wearing Grammy's glasses and reading. Hey, if she is sporting college sports teams clothing, at least she can look academic.

Down on the Farm

Makaela and Matt flew to Oklahoma on Monday and drove to Kansas to the Hoffman farm. Apparently Matt and Makaela brought the good weather because the frost broke when they got there and the men spent the day tearing down fences so they could plow the driveway. Once all the hard work was done, Makaela came in on the tractor to help plow. She was all serious while she was driving too. I can just hear the "Green Acres" song playing in the background.