We're back!

We had such a WONDERFUL time in Italy, Greece and Turkey. I am not going to go into crazy amounts of detail on this blog, but will be doing an entire separate blog (of which I will provide the URL at a later date.) If you want a historical description of what you see below, or want to see many more pictures, that will all be on our vacation link soon to come. Here are a few fun pictures to give you a quick summary:

--Day #1 in Rome, loved the small street, small cars and crazy drivers--

--Coliseum (duh)--

--standing in the Coliseum--

--inside, really amazing history--

--Palentine Hill--

--Palentine Hill part 2--

--artsy view--

--huge building they are restoring down town--

We flew into Rome and arrived early morning, we still managed to have a full day. We loved walking around, and eating Gelato.

--Day #2, St. Peter's Square--

--inside the Vatican--

--more Vatican (could have 800 pictures and you could never capture the artistry)--

--Sistine Chapel--

--Sistine Chapel--

--Trevi Fountain--

Day 2 was spent touring the amazing Vatican, St. Peter's Square and Basillica, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

--Day #3, the Pantheon (no it isn't leaning....)--

--Castle de San Angelo--

--view from the top of the castle--

--another great Roman view--

--Piazza Navona--

--Piazza de La Republica--

--Roman Baths--

Day 3 was spent walking around the Pantheon, Pizza Navona and de La Republica, Castle de San Angelo, the capital, Circus Maximus, and the Roman Baths. We packed our stuff and got ready to start our cruise.

Some conclusions about Rome:
(1) people cannot drive, often 6 lanes would merge to one, and mopeds would cut off buses
(2) no one wears tennis shoes or t-shirts. Very snappy dressers
(3) most people are friendly and know enough English to help you through things
(4) it is a beautiful city with such rich hisory
(5) dining is leisurely. You have to ask for the check or you would never leave
(6) the whole city shuts down from 1-4, to go home and eat
(7) EVERYTHING is smaller in Rome, cars can park perpendicular to the curve, full sized beds are considered luxurious, a 200 sq ft hotel room costs $250 a night, and this elevator was what was in our building

--Day #4, we board our ship in Civitavecchia, here is one of the pool decks--

--the casino--

--josh's favorite part of the ship--

--and us entertaining ourselves during the lifeboat drill--

--Day #5, we spent at sea, so I took advantage of the free makeover for formal dinner night. We had tons to do on the ship, and the food was amazing--

--Day #6, Mykonos Greece--

--famous windmills--

--windy streets all through the city--

--ruins of Delos, island that used to be the center of all trade for the Mediterranean--

--Day #7, Rhodes Greece--

--City streets of Rhodes--

--Ruins near Rhodes--

--Day #8, Santorini Greece--

--I couldn't photograph this place enough, simply gorgeous--

--the entire city is on top of the mountain, we hiked down, just amazing--

Day #9 we reached Istanbul Turkey--

--the city has 12 million people, and is the only city on two continents--

--Topkapi Palace--

--Turkish Bizaar--

--The hand made rug we bought from an amazing rug store. This place was 4 stories high, and our rug took 12 months to make!--

--Day #10 we explored Ephesus near Kusadasi Turkey--

--Huge stadium that still has perfect acoustics--

--2 stories of a 3 story library--

--bust of Marcus Aurelius, doesn't he look like Denny!!!--

--it seemed that every place we visited celebrated fertility...I did a double take on this statue--

--before we went back to the ship we visited the site of the house that Mary lived in, these are the supposed wells from which she drank--

--Day #11, we made it to Athens. Here is the stadium that seats 75,000 completed refurbished and covered in marble for the most recent Olympic Games--

--hiking up the Acropolis--

--the Parthenon, they have to restore it because of the pollution--

--the view is incredible--

--we aren't super imposed...we were really there!--

Day #12 we were at sea, and Day #13 we made it to Naples--

--port at Naples--

--We hiked Mt. Vesuvius--

--then we went to Pompeii, you can see how big the mountain used to be--

--the preservation is incredible, and the town is HUGE, you could walk around it for days--

--art on the wall in homes--

--ancient crosswalks, the horses would walk through the gaps in the stones, and the chariot wheels would fit through the gaps as well--

--the city was never ending--

--so many artifacts have been discovered, including plumbing that used lead pipes in the 1st century BC--

--outside of the fortified walls of Pompeii--

The trip was the trip of a lifetime. There are so many stories and details that I didn't want to include because this post would be way too long!!! I am going to create a blog that includes the history, some fun stories the tour guides told us, and our many adventures at each port. So if you are interested, that will be done as soon as I get to it! Thanks so much to Gramma Rue for watching McKenna while we were gone. They had fun playing, going to the zoo, reading stories, going to the park, shopping, having adventures with vicious animals under our deck, and living through a tornado that was close by! We appreciate it!!!!

2 year checkup

We had Mac's two year checkup today, before we leave for the Mediterranean tomorrow. She weighs 25.5 lbs and is 33 and a half inches tall. 25th percentile for both, which is pretty consistent since her 6 month checkup. I almost started crying on the way home at the thought of leaving her for two whole weeks! We haven't been apart for more than a few days since she was born, and I already miss her. We spent a good deal of the day just spending quality time together.

--here we are playing with her train--

--here she is closing and opening the door (her new favorite game)--

--this is her flower girl dress for the wedding she is in at the end of the month--

I have to write a few things that only moms care about now - just so I can remember. Everything right now includes "too." Some of her favorites: "mommy, rylee go to the park too?" "mommy, i have cracka too?" You get the jist!

She is also running, jumping, climbing on everything, The doctor said that her language and motor skills are pretty advanced, which means we need to keep our eye on her even more!!!

I will make sure to take lots of pictures and do some mega-blogs when I get back!! Maybe I can talk gramma rue into blogging while I am gone!

McKenna playing with her new toys

McKenna is 2!!!

Today is Mac's official birthday, but we spent all day yesterday celebrating! We decided that since McKenna LOVES the teletubbies, we would do a teletubby theme. I had a hard time finding decorations, because the show is only in reruns. But with a little help from photoshop, ebay and my own creativity, we had a great time! We bought streamers, balloons, plates and cups the color of the teletubbies, and added our own flare.

The night before the party I made a Teletubby train cake. I also made Oreo surprise cupcakes. The morning of I decorated them, prepared the Po pizza ingredients, and made brushetta (Tinky-Winky Toast). We threw soda, beer and wine in the cooler, and I made home made Laa-Laa lemonade, and Tubby Tea.

--yummy oreo surprise cupcakes!--

--Teletubby train cake (hard to decorate!!)--

At the beginning of each episode of Teletubbies the sun comes up over the horizon with a laughing baby face. We put together our own McKenna-ized version.

--Official Teletubby sunshine--

--Mac's face on the sunshine--

I also made signs that explained what was going on, and Josh made his own sign to put on the door that said "Laa-Laa takes off her shoes." This is hilarious to anyone that has ever watched the show, because it sounds just like what the narrator would say :) The family started to arrive, and thank goodness Denny and Kathy got there early, because I was a wreck trying to get Brushetta in the oven, and make enough toppings and pizza dough for 30 people! They really saved me!

--Karie, gramma, gona, with Paula and Sam in the background--

--Mike, grampa, Shelly and Damon in the background, Karie, gramma, gona and sam--

--Tali and aunti Em--

We had quite the guest list: Gona, Baca, Aunti Em, Uncle Mark, Kade, Tali, Mike, Bridgot, Grandma and Grandpa Great, Karie, Damon, Shelly, Nolan, Sashank, Vandana, Avi, Dick, Paula, Sam, Willum, Char, JJ, Maddy, Josh, Me and McKenna. Scott, Melissa, Austin, Stahr family, Andersen family, Stone family and Abby couldn't make it. Almost everyone that we invited came, and thanks to all for making it! After most people had arrived, I handed out their pizza order forms.

--I made pizza's on the grill for everyone, special order!--

The pizza was a big hit. I make them like rustic, Italian style, and they are yummy!!!! I did have quite a hard time grilling while it was raining...had to cover all the ingredients up and then uncover them every time I made a pizza. But, everyone seemed to have fun while waiting for their food!

After lunch we opened presents, and man did McKenna make a haul! She got clothes, books, a tiny tikes castle, an elmo shape game, some coloring books, sidewalk chalk, a baby doll, cinderella and horse toy, kitties and kitty carrier, jack in the box, alphabet game, sand and water outdoor toy from Gona and Baca, a party kitchen from Grampa Rue, some teletubby dolls from mommy and a necklace from daddy. Daddy got me a mother and child necklace with McKenna's birthstone in it for my birthday/mother's day. He got McKenna the same one for her birthday, but with my birthstone in it...so cute!!

--hard to tell but it is silver with a tall figure on one side (mommy) and a shorter figure on the other (mckenna). My birthstone (aquamarine) is in the middle--

--McKenna and Avi before presents--

--playing with her castle--

--the sunglasses were a hit!--

After presents we got McKenna her own piece of the train and sang happy birthday. With all the people who were there, we had quite a chior! She sat there and ate it up (both the attention and the cake!)

--Happy birthday sweet girl!--

We hadn't practiced blowing out the candles, so her friend Sam had to help! He did a great job, then everyone chowed down on the cupcakes and train!

Thanks to all who came, we had such a wonderful time! We had originally planned on having it outdoors, but with the weather, we had to reorganize our entire main floor to accommodate so many people! We had so much fun, and are so happy that we could share it with all the wonderful people in our life! Thanks so much to Aunti Em, Mark, Gona and Baca for helping to host/serve pizza/clean/and basically coordinate such a huge event!!

--the first thing McKenna wanted to do this morning was play with her "kit-ton"--

--Now my baby is official 2 years old!!! I can't believe it!--

McKenna playing

I ran upstairs to grab a letter I needed to mail. While I was searching for it, I heard McKenna singing to her baby. She was rocking her and singing "rock by baby....teetop....rock rock...down baby." I thought it was the cutest thing, so I grab the camera to get it on film, and of course she wouldn't perform...oh well, still cute :)

--here she is giving her baby a binky, making her dance, and giving her a horsey ride--

Going to the park

McKenna has been asking "where apwil go?" I told her that April had to go bye-bye. Then she responds with "ya, apwil go hom." She also reminds me that "apwil toy me" informing me that the toys she is playing with are what April got her for her birthday. Here are some last photos. We miss you April!

--how can you come to Iowa and NOT wear a corn hat--

--at the costume shop...pretty hilarious--

Yesterday was beautiful weather. It was 75 degrees and McKenna announced "mommy, me go park" so we got our shoes on, and left. She insisted on wearing her coat, even though she didn't need it. She also make sure that all the snaps are snapped before we move.

--all the trees are blooming, spring is FINALLY here--

--she rides this "ti-sickle" all the way to the park, with some pushing from mommy--

--can go up and down the slide all by herself now, the little ones, AND the big ones--

--she enjoys the slide more than the swing, but still has fun for a few minutes--

I wish the weather would never change, and that we could go to the park everyday! Thanks for helping me appreciate the little things McKenna, like picking up the bark off the sidewalk, and putting it back in the play area, and how much fun it is to go down the slide on your tummy.