Margie and the Becks visit

Last week we were so lucky to have Margie and the Beck family come to visit us. It was so wonderful to have them here, to show them around Italy and to have the kids all play together. Jessie had been planning her trip for several weeks, but Margie's visit was a last minute surprise. She was able to fly in for just the weekend, which was amazing.

When everyone arrived, we spent some time hanging out at the apartment and we went to play at the park. Claire and Zoe had a great time getting to know each other again and playing like they meant it!
It was so wonderful to finally meet Tristan, Eloise's birthday twin. It was awesome seeing the babies play together and interact with one another. Tristan is such a wonderful and happy baby!

During that first full day, we all went to Capri to see the sights and we got to visit the blue grotto, which was very cool.
We then wandered around Capri, ate some lunch and enjoyed the views.

The birthday triplets... only people born on July 30th were allowed to be in this picture. ;)

The next day, Sunday, we dropped Margie off at the airport, and the Becks went up to Rome for some sightseeing and stayed overnight. Then, when the Becks returned, Aaron and Andy went to Pompeii while Jessie and I hung out with the kids on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the 6th of April, Claire's birthday, we went to the beach in Vietri and then had dinner at our house with our friends, the Macks.
Here is a picture of Claire with Sadie and Zoe. The girls had way too much fun together.
And, of course, there were Pinkalicious cupcakes for the birthday girl.
On Thursday, the Beck's last full day in Italy, we went to downtown Naples to seek out the famous "original" pizza restaurant, which was delicious. When we came back, the girls hung out eating Popsicles on the deck and later had fun in the bath.


Tristan was totally wiped out from all the fun.

And I loved hanging with my friend, too!

Claire Plays T-Ball

For many, spring is baseball season and while I'm not a baseball fan, I couldn't resist signing Claire up for t-ball this year. We were out of town for her first game, but she's all geared up and ready to go for her first game next weekend. So far, she's been having lots of fun at practice.

Eight Months Old!

On April 30th Eloise turned eight months old. She is certainly moving and shaking. She's an expert crawler and is pulling up to standing on furniture. Cruising is just around the corner for her!

Claire's Pinkalicious 3rd Birthday Party

For Claire's third birthday, we decided to do a Pinkalicious birthday based on the book Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann. For those of you who don't know the book, it's a darling story about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes that her skin turns pink. To remedy the situation, she must give up all of her favorite pink foods and eat only green foods. She returns to normal and even though she liked being pink, being herself was even better.


The story has a lot of great party ideas, and while I didn't get a ton of great shots of the party, there were a ton of pinkirific details inspired by the book.
As Claire's guests arrived, they were given Pinkalicious wands, pink beads, pink boas and sparkly crowns, just like Pinkalicious has in the book. The girls had a ton of fun jumping around and playing with their dress up items.

We then gathered all the kids to read the story of Pinkalicious.
After the story, all the kids made pinkalicious flowers inspired by one of the scenes in the book where Pinkalicious blends in with the pink flowers because her skin has turned pink. The flowers were turned out pinkiriffic!
After the craft, we had lunch that was full of pink and green food, including pink pizza! Well.... at least the sauce was pink (well, red actually).
Then, the kids played pin the cherry on the pink cupcake, that was just like Pinkalicious' cupcake!

Then, it was time for cake and cupcakes! Claire's mommy made a Pinkalicious cake and Pinkalicious cupcakes just like in the book. So cute!
Finally, it was time for the pinkarific pink horse pinata. If the kids weren't sugared up enough, they sure got their fill after the pinata!

All the kids had fun at the party. In addition to their pink dress up items, they each went home with more pink candy (yum), green squirt guns for the boys, and pink felt monogramed cupcake hair clips for the girls (soooo cute)!The birthday girl had such a good time, she quickly fell asleep in the car on the way home, party favor in hand.

St. Patrick's Day

I couldn't resist.... why have two girls if you're not going to dress them in matching shirts and bows!

Pre-School Picture Day

Recently, Claire had her first school picture day. Of course I had to get her all dolled up!

Girls' day out at the winery

For ages, my friend Sarah and I had been trying to plan a tour and tasting at a local winery. There are a ton around here and all over Italy, of course, but we'd been having a really difficult time getting in touch with one and setting up a tour.

Finally, we were able to connect with a darling little winery and vineyard in the Bacoli/Monte di Procida area. We had a lovely time and had some delicious wine. So far, it was one of my favorite experiences here!