5/30/2009
Garage Sale Garage Sale Garage Sale
Yep, that is three garage sales up there and I even left out todays. Today is the fourth day of doing a garage sale at the house and today, we have sold $2.5o in an hour and a half. BUMMER. The last three times we did it though, we have made a total of $625ish!!! Can you believe it. Leann and I have talked a lot about what we are going to do with the money and the worst plan we have come up with is putting it on the school bill. The best plan is a flat screen tv - but we have one of those so who needs two. The other plans include using it for our Friday nights off so we have money to do stuff while we are trying to pay off the school bill. (I like this one, but who knows if we will be able to keep it up because we aren't so well with money laying around.) That is why I do online bill pay so that I know I can't spend the money that is in my account because it is already scheduled to leave my account. Come December though, Leann and I wil have finally paid off my school bill of $28,000! How great will that be? Then we can get a new car and pay that off for years as well!!! HA. Hope you all are having a great day out there.
The Final Day
Well, this was the final day of our Italy trip. Here is the 2nd oldest outside mall in the world. It was actually destroyed in WWII but there were so many pictures of it that they were able to rebuild it from the rubble. It was very interesting to walk through actually. There were desiger shops in there of Gucci and Prada right next to a McDonalds (which had brown arches instead of gold).
This "mall" above is right next to the Duomo in in Milan. We were able to go up on top of it actually and walk around. This church took over 700 years to build it and is green and pink marble. It is quite extroardinary to see.
Here is a picture of us on top of it with all the spires. It was amazing how small the people looked from the top of it.
This was a picture of the Robison's at the top of the mountain at Lake Como.
And finally, just one last photo of us on the same mountain overlooking the Lake.
We had a wonderful trip and now you grandmas can expect some more pics of the grandkids on the blog. :)
This "mall" above is right next to the Duomo in in Milan. We were able to go up on top of it actually and walk around. This church took over 700 years to build it and is green and pink marble. It is quite extroardinary to see.
Here is a picture of us on top of it with all the spires. It was amazing how small the people looked from the top of it.
This was a picture of the Robison's at the top of the mountain at Lake Como. 
And finally, just one last photo of us on the same mountain overlooking the Lake. 
We had a wonderful trip and now you grandmas can expect some more pics of the grandkids on the blog. :)5/29/2009
A Day Off
After all the traveling both weekends and walking and walking and walking, we decided one day it would be good just to lay around and not really do anything in the little town we were staying in. We decided to go for a walk and take some pictures of the little shops that we purchased things at and here they are. The first picture is the Gelateria where I purchased Gelatos from the Italian lady who spoke no English. It was really fun to try and talk with her because she kept asking me i I wanted to have all of the scoops (I asked for two) the same kind. I thought she kept asking if I wanted a bigger cone. It was confusing but fun to fend for myself when I can't speak the language. That is a part of the trip that I really loved.
This is the Pasticceria (pastry shop) that we went to 10 times or so while we were there. There were little pastries of many different varieties there, so we kept going and trying new things. She also didn't speak english so it took several tries a couple of times to get things that we wanted. The rest of the time we just took Titus or Angie with us so that we could just tell them what we wanted. 
This is the Pasticceria (pastry shop) that we went to 10 times or so while we were there. There were little pastries of many different varieties there, so we kept going and trying new things. She also didn't speak english so it took several tries a couple of times to get things that we wanted. The rest of the time we just took Titus or Angie with us so that we could just tell them what we wanted. This is the pizza that Leann ordered a couple of times. It is called the Atomica becuase of all the ingredients on it. That is one thing about Leann, she wants to get her moneys worth so she gets something with everything on it.
This was my pizza that I ordered. I loved it because it had a blue cheese on it and it was extremely salty. I don't remember what it was called, but I ordered it several times. No wonder we didn't lose weight while we were there...even though it felt liked we walked to the moon and back some days.
This was my pizza that I ordered. I loved it because it had a blue cheese on it and it was extremely salty. I don't remember what it was called, but I ordered it several times. No wonder we didn't lose weight while we were there...even though it felt liked we walked to the moon and back some days.
This is a good summary of how we felt about our trip. It was a joy we will remember for our entire life.
5/28/2009
More of Florence
Well, another Italy post for you all. Here are some of the things that we saw while we were in Florence. The first picture is of a place right across from the Ponte Vechio, which is the oldest bridge in Florence. During WWII, all the other bridges were blown up, so it is a bridge that really shows what things were like there several decades ago. I can't remember the name of this place, and since I am typing this while doing a garage sale, I am not going to go read my journal to find out what it was, sorry! I do know though that we saw a ton of art and sculptures here and had to make reservations - how sad is that. It seems like so long ago sometimes, but then other times, it seems like just days ago.
Here is the Duomo in Florence. Actually, this is the bapistry that is in front of duomo. The detail on the buildings are just fascinating and you could spend hours looking at the buildings just getting to see the different parts of it.
This sculpture is called the Rape of the Sabines and depicts the scene where the young overcame the older men and stole the Sabine women. The sculpture is really dramatic and is a great work of art just seing how they all fit together out of the one piece of granite.
Driving in Italy was one of the most of interesting things while we were there. All the roads twist and turn so much that you get sick after just 4 blocks it felt like sometimes. Also, while you are twisting and turning and trying to figure out when it is your turn to romp into the roundabout, don't forget to look up and to the right and read the signs pointing which way to go. Also, don't worry if you have to go around the cirle 5 times or so just to read all the place that are listed one after another. It really is just comical how many signs they put in one place, and sometimes, only in one place.
Finally, this picture was taken from the Piazza Michaelangelo. This a picture overlooking the city of Florence with the beautiful Tuscan hills in the background.
Here is the Duomo in Florence. Actually, this is the bapistry that is in front of duomo. The detail on the buildings are just fascinating and you could spend hours looking at the buildings just getting to see the different parts of it.
This sculpture is called the Rape of the Sabines and depicts the scene where the young overcame the older men and stole the Sabine women. The sculpture is really dramatic and is a great work of art just seing how they all fit together out of the one piece of granite.
Driving in Italy was one of the most of interesting things while we were there. All the roads twist and turn so much that you get sick after just 4 blocks it felt like sometimes. Also, while you are twisting and turning and trying to figure out when it is your turn to romp into the roundabout, don't forget to look up and to the right and read the signs pointing which way to go. Also, don't worry if you have to go around the cirle 5 times or so just to read all the place that are listed one after another. It really is just comical how many signs they put in one place, and sometimes, only in one place.
Finally, this picture was taken from the Piazza Michaelangelo. This a picture overlooking the city of Florence with the beautiful Tuscan hills in the background.
5/24/2009
Talk Talk Talk
There is so much talking in the house right now as our littlest one has decided that she know how to sing and she is connecting things together all the time. Today she came up to me and made the sign for milk, then said it, then made the sign for more, and then said it too. She had to think of the word that she was signing but she was still be able to put it all together. Anyways, I figured some people - grandmas - would love to just watch it. It is about ten minutes long, but I didn't think I recorded that much. It went pretty quick.
5/13/2009
Florence Lodging
OK, this was one of the best highlights of our entire trip. In Florence, we booked a room at an old castle that had been converted into a B&B. You can see part of the castle in the center of the picture and it wraps around behind the trees and goes to the other side. It is basically a U shape. The building on the right was added on later.
On of the things that we were most excited about was that the B&B was up on a hill overlooking the city. You could see part of Florence from where we were, but not all of it. We were perfectly fine with that because we had spectacular views of the surrounding hills and countryside. Below is the picture out one of our windows from our room. You can see the house on the next hill and the olive grove in between us and the house.
Also, our room had a nook in it where you could sit. There were windows on 3 sides of the nook so you got a panoramic view of the countryside. This was one of the best things during our whole trip. Leann and I sat in there and read and played cards and just looked at the beautiful Tuscan scenery. We are in love with Tuscany. It is easy to see why people would move there, and I can't say that I haven't thought about it. I have more thought though, what would I do when I got there??? I don't speak Italian so I can't live there and work a full time job. It just isn't possible.....is it?
This is the main entrance where you go to check in. There was seating there just to enjoy the view within the B&B. We loved the building and all the awe it brought to us just being able to stay here.
After a while enjoying the area and the rooms we got, we decided it was time to head out and see what the rest of Florence had to offer, even though we didn't need it to thrill us much as we had already got our expectations fully met. We opted for a photo opp. with the creepy Italian trees down the lane leading away from the B&B. What memories we will have for years to come.
On of the things that we were most excited about was that the B&B was up on a hill overlooking the city. You could see part of Florence from where we were, but not all of it. We were perfectly fine with that because we had spectacular views of the surrounding hills and countryside. Below is the picture out one of our windows from our room. You can see the house on the next hill and the olive grove in between us and the house. 
Also, our room had a nook in it where you could sit. There were windows on 3 sides of the nook so you got a panoramic view of the countryside. This was one of the best things during our whole trip. Leann and I sat in there and read and played cards and just looked at the beautiful Tuscan scenery. We are in love with Tuscany. It is easy to see why people would move there, and I can't say that I haven't thought about it. I have more thought though, what would I do when I got there??? I don't speak Italian so I can't live there and work a full time job. It just isn't possible.....is it?
This is the main entrance where you go to check in. There was seating there just to enjoy the view within the B&B. We loved the building and all the awe it brought to us just being able to stay here.
After a while enjoying the area and the rooms we got, we decided it was time to head out and see what the rest of Florence had to offer, even though we didn't need it to thrill us much as we had already got our expectations fully met. We opted for a photo opp. with the creepy Italian trees down the lane leading away from the B&B. What memories we will have for years to come. 
5/11/2009
Venice - Take 2
After our lovely trip to Rome and seeing the wonderful things we did, we decided that Venice was in need of a once more. We took Angie with us this time so she could get out of the house with Bella. We ended up going to the island of Murano, which is about a 15 minutes boat ride off of Venice. The island is famous for its glass blowing. We went there just to look around and see the different shops and see if we could get a good look at homemade glass blowing.
This is a glass sculpture in a piazza there in Murano. It is amazing. We didn't know it was there but walked around the corner and saw it. It was stunning and beautiful in the daylight. The picture doesn't do it justice. We think, as you have probably though about it breaking already, that it does get broken sometimes but they just replace the pieces. The whole thing also lights up in the evening, which we didn't get to see. (We think the broken pieces get replaced because all the blue on the ground is actually broken glass.)
This was the glass blowing that we did get to see. They were working on a chandalier while we were there. The guy sitting is rolling the pin so get the orange glass (which hardens pink) around the rim of the glass. Basically, they were making a glass container for a 4 bulb ceiling fan - except much fancier and much more expensive. That gives you a general idea though what the piece looked like.
There ducks are the first thing we saw when we got off the boat and onto Murano. We thought they were really interesting until we got up close to them and saw they were all glass. Then we thought they were phenominal. If you see the duck almost smack dab in the middle, you can tell from here that it is a mallard duck. It was 100 times more detailed once you got up close to it.
Finally, this is one more thing in a piazza that we say that was made out of glass. You can't see it very well, but I wanted to put another picture, so this is what you get. It basically is a christmas tree without the greenery. There are a lot of glass ornaments on it that just hang from different parts of the tree. It was fun to see the different parts of it, but I must not have gotten a close up picture. Oh well, maybe next time.
Finally, we headed back to Venice for the remainder of the time and I was able to snap this very classic Venetian picture. It made my day to get this picture as it is one of the things we have always seen Venice portrayed with. 
This is a glass sculpture in a piazza there in Murano. It is amazing. We didn't know it was there but walked around the corner and saw it. It was stunning and beautiful in the daylight. The picture doesn't do it justice. We think, as you have probably though about it breaking already, that it does get broken sometimes but they just replace the pieces. The whole thing also lights up in the evening, which we didn't get to see. (We think the broken pieces get replaced because all the blue on the ground is actually broken glass.)
This was the glass blowing that we did get to see. They were working on a chandalier while we were there. The guy sitting is rolling the pin so get the orange glass (which hardens pink) around the rim of the glass. Basically, they were making a glass container for a 4 bulb ceiling fan - except much fancier and much more expensive. That gives you a general idea though what the piece looked like.
There ducks are the first thing we saw when we got off the boat and onto Murano. We thought they were really interesting until we got up close to them and saw they were all glass. Then we thought they were phenominal. If you see the duck almost smack dab in the middle, you can tell from here that it is a mallard duck. It was 100 times more detailed once you got up close to it.
Finally, this is one more thing in a piazza that we say that was made out of glass. You can't see it very well, but I wanted to put another picture, so this is what you get. It basically is a christmas tree without the greenery. There are a lot of glass ornaments on it that just hang from different parts of the tree. It was fun to see the different parts of it, but I must not have gotten a close up picture. Oh well, maybe next time.
Finally, we headed back to Venice for the remainder of the time and I was able to snap this very classic Venetian picture. It made my day to get this picture as it is one of the things we have always seen Venice portrayed with.
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