About Italy....

for starters we found a great house! It is right at the base of the mountains and near new friends in Joe's squadron. We move in at the end of the week. The only down side is that it doesn't have a bath tub in any of the 3 bathrooms - hopefully Carlie learns to like showers or we convince the owners to allow us to have a tub installed?? It does have a super guest space and 3 bidets :-) so pack your bags!
We have been keeping busy exploring all the little towns around here and we even jumped on the train to Venice last Monday. The Italians LOVE Carlie she has been showered with sooo many gifts from gold Pinocchio necklaces to Swiss chocolate (which mom and dad enjoyed!) and I don't think I will ever tire of the "Ciao bellas!" they sing out to her! She loves their food including the pizza, pasta and of course the delicious gelato - she says "mmmmmmmmmmm" and rubs her belly. We have also found lots of fun playgroups that meet at the library for story time, a fun gym and a playground.
On the sort of down side.... it has been quite rainy and kind of muggy - which makes everything so lush and green. The Italians enjoy "riposo" which means the they shut down businesses from 12ish to 3ish to nap and relax after lunch. It is annoyingly funny - it makes it hard to accomplish tasks at those hours, but it is so sweet when we get to enjoy a little "riposo" after lunch too! They certainly know how to enjoy life - one Italian that I spoke with actually said "why do today, what you can put off until tomorrow" :-)!

In the lodging room they have these HUGEOLA kennels for the dogs, Carlie enjoys playing like it is her little fort. We only lock her in there at night - just joking :-)
Chasing pigeons at the market - one of her new favorite Italy pastimes.

Spaghetti Kisses!

On a bridge in Venice!

I had to include this pick because I climbed to the top of this bell tower with Carlie strapped to my back!!

Touring around the town of Pordennone!

Carlie's first lollipop - another gift from an Italian friend!