Rome- the beginning...

Rome is a fascinating city with ancient and modern all side by side...


Our first stop in Rome after we got settled into our apartment was dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Here are the kids with Elvis.


The next morning- we got to see a lot of Rome. We went to a fun "Time Machine" that took us back through the history of Rome. We saw Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, etc. It was fun. Then we had a bit of lunch- yes there is McDonald's in Rome! (But we ate lunch in front of the Pantheon!)


All of us in front of Rome's Piazza Venezia. We went on a Walking Tour of Rome and saw the ancient highlights- the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Old City, the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon.


Emery with the Colosseum behind her. This is a face that her mother really loves.


The kids... They were so good for the tour!


Claire enjoyed climbing around at the Colosseum.


The Carrells at the Colosseum. The weather was gorgeous!


Madison had pigtails in her hair at the beginning of the day- she looked adorable! Then she took them out and lost the hair bobbins. She's still a cute little trashy thing!


Us by the Trevi Fountain. Emery was toured out!


Dinner- with some of our favorite things- note the water, the olive oil (we LOVED dipping bread into it) and Italian hot chocolate (the thickest hot chocolate you will ever have- one of my absolute FAVORITE parts of Italy!!!- you can also see that Emery enjoyed it...)


The hole at the top of the Pantheon- it is open- so rain can come in! The Pantheon is probably the oldest Christian church in the world. It is a fascinating place. (Of course, it was originally a temple to the Roman gods- then converted it to Christianity!)

Bella Venice #2

We stayed at a great little hotel on the Lido. The Lido is Venice's beach island. We had fun walking along the beach.



Then we rented these cool bikes and rode around the island.



It was really fun- although I was a bit irritated when Shelby asked me why I was so slow! (I'll have you know that we kept up with the boys.)



Jake and Danny powered the other bike.



At our favorite little restaurant in Lido, they made this cute little pizza for Madison.



Kailey in the Doge's Palace courtyard.



Of course, we had to go on a gondola ride! However, they only allow 6 people in one gondola. So- we split up! This is Danny and his crew (Shelby, Claire and Madison).



Jake, Emery and Kailey were with me.



Here we are with Anthony- our gondolier. He was really interesting. He has been a gondolier for 27 years and owns his own gondola. His father and his father's father were also gondoliers. I asked if he had a son (he does) and if he would follow in the family tradition (he wasn't sure...). On our motorboat tour, our guide told us that the gondoliers are very successful and make as much money as an attorney or doctor.



Shelby



Claire (the Doge's Palace is behind her.)



Jake has this fascination with Ferraris. (Just ask him what cars he would like to own when he grows up!)



On the Vaporetto- Water Taxi. We spent lots of time on these babies.



One Day we went to the island of Murano, where they make beautiful glass creations.



Danny and Claire at the same place- just looking the opposite direction.



Gelato makes every day even better! Thanks for all of the great memories Venice!

Bella Venice #1

The kids were out of school for a week for midterm break- so we went traveling!

We left early in the morning on Friday the 23rd (Happy Birthday Kailey!- more on this later...)and flew to Treviso, Italy (about 45 minutes away from Venice). A man with a big van took us into Venice and dropped us off at the main bus station. We took a vaporetto (water bus) to one station where we should have been able to catch the next bus to the island our hotel was on. BUT- they were having strikes and we had to walk for a bit. Danny reassured us that it would only be a 10 minute walk. Now, keep in mind that we had all of our luggage with us (8 people, 8 suitcases plus 6 backpacks)and Madi was not to be trusted walking alone. If only we would have taken a picture of us! As it was, we walked through a crowd similar to this one:



There was some murmuring from the shorter ones, but it is a fun memory for me. And we did arrive at the next bus stop about 20 minutes later. (Danny's optimism already at work.)

After getting on the correct waterbus- we headed for the island of Lido- which is a 10- 15 minute boat ride outside of Venice. The island isn't very big- so Danny and I decided that we could walk the 10 minutes to get to our hotel. Another slight miscalculation- 25- 30 minutes later we arrived at our hotel. The kids were tired and hungry- so after we checked in at our hotel- we went to eat at a nice little restaurant.



Our first day was the only day in our entire vacation when it really rained. We were so lucky!

On day 2- we went into Venice and went on a walking tour of the city. Kailey and Danny planned our entire itinerary and did a fabulous job.



Shelby thought the carnivale masks were great.



Emery with gondolas and St. George's church in the distance.



We saw St. Marks church (where he is supposedly buried) and it has loads of amazing mosaics. It is a beautiful church. (Jake just reminded me that the tour guide said there were more than a million mosaics in the church.)



How our family entertained themselves during the tour...



A typical canal behind us. Isn't it beautiful?



Our teenager with gondolas in the canal behind her.



Claire on the Rialto Bridge- one of three bridges that cross the Grand Canal.



We decided we needed something different from Italian- so were thrilled when we found this nice little chinese restaurant. (Who else would eat chinese food in Italy?)



Here we are with the Rialto bridge behind us.



Gelato at St. Mark's Square (Piazza de San Marco)



Claire and Shelby with their Carnivale masks.



Madison and Claire on the boat tour.

After the walking tour and lunch- we went on a motorboat tour of Venice. Talia, our guide is from Connecticut and has lived in Venice for 8 years. She was excellent and gave us fun information. My favorite story was the rich family who would tell their party guests that they didn't need to wash and reuse their gold plates- they would just throw them over the balcony. Little did their guests know that they had a net to catch all of the plates and their servants would fish them out of the canal, wash and reuse them.



A view of the Rialto Bridge from the canal.



Danny, Emery, Madi and I and Jake.



All of the houses in Venice are called palaces. I thought that these were beautiful.



Jake with St. George's Basilica behind us.



Danny and the kids outside of Piazza San Marco. The Doge's Palace is in the background on the left. I love how Madi posed for this photo!

Fill 'er UP!

Through our church, we have met a great lady named Anele who is from Zimbabwe. Anele is an incredible woman who has had her share of challenges in life. Anele came to Ireland a few years ago to make a better life for her family. Her first year or two here were very difficult as she was almost a slave to the family she worked for. However, she was able to leave this horrible situation and joined our church, she met a great guy (they are getting married in the spring) and has found a lot of happiness.

We have had Anele over for dinner several times and she is always happy. It is rare to not see a smile on her face. Anele has two children, a brother (plus his family) and her parents who still live in Zimbabwe. (If you have heard anything about Zimbabwe- then you can imagine what their lives are like.) Anele sends her family a drum full of food every few months. We asked if we could do it once and she said we could!

It was an adventure to get the stuff to fill it. We went to an area of Dublin that I haven't been to before and found the African/Caribbean Store. (An experience in and of itself...) Then we bought food that Anele said her family liked. We also bought a bunch of stuff at Lidl. (A fun food experience.)


Emery inside the empty drum.


Madison inside the empty drum.


Loading the drum.


We packed it as tight as we could.


And we needed Danny's massive muscles to get that baby closed.

What a great experience.

Jake's Hospital Adventure

Danny left for Singapore last Sunday and with two sick kids (Jake and Claire), I knew it was going to be an exciting week. I just didn't realize how exciting it was going to be. J and C were better by Monday afternoon so they both went to school on Tuesday. However, Shelby didn't feel well so she stayed home.

After school on Tuesday, Jake didn't look great and by bedtime I was a bit concerned. He had vomited and his abdomen hurt. I did a few checks and was worried that he might have appendicitis. Since it was late, I just prayed that he would be okay until morning.

To make a long story shorter- after visiting our family doctor on Wednesday and her confirming my fears- Jake and I headed to The Children's University Hospital on Temple Street in Dublin. We arrived at 12:30 and were admitted and up to Jake's room by 7:00p.m.


Jake in "CASUALTY" - we would call it the E.R.


Jake was really good while his IV or his "Freddie" (as the nurses called it) was put in. Or maybe his mom was just really good at getting his attention away from what was happening.


A view of Jake's room from the entrance to his room.

Because Jake was coughing and had vomited- they were afraid that he was contagious, so he had an entire ward all to himself. (I was coughing more than Jake and I am thankful that I don't have to worry that I infected anyone else! Hooray for isolation!)


Jake watching a movie on my laptop.

The surgeons weren't convinced that it was Jake's appendix. There were just a few things that didn't match up. He had pain in his right lower abdomen- but only with movement and it wasn't excruciating. He only vomited once. When they asked him to jump up and down- it didn't bother him too much. So, they wanted to watch him overnight just to make sure.


By morning they had mostly decided that it was Mesenteric Adenitis. It often follows after a person has a sore throat (and he did over the weekend). They let us go home before dinner. We were both very happy to say goodbye to the hospital.

Personally, I think all of the prayers in Jake's behalf- especially from his sisters- and many others are what made a huge difference. We are surrounded by such good people here. I had several friends who jumped in and helped us out in so many ways. My children at home were well cared for. We had lovely dinners brought over to our family. Women took my healthy children to and from school. Another friend not only offered to stay the night, but took the day off of work to stay with my little girls on Thursday all day. Others brought Jake magazines and I had so many texts from people who were concerned about Jake and wondering what they could do to help. I am so thankful for these amazing women who went above and beyond the call of duty to help our family out. I have never been in such a situation without family members close by to help me. I am very indebted to these very Christlike women for their love, their concern and all they did for us. I know it wasn't a big deal to them- but it was huge to me. Thank you!

Now, Danny is home and Jake is doing great. We just need to get Shelby, Madison and I healthy. There's always something...