St. Patricks Day - Arizona style

Alright, this is the second post of our trip - For St. Patrick's Day here, we decided it would be fun to have an early birthday celebration for Cailyn and her cousin Jared since their birthday's are so close together in April, but we're all together now. So, we all loaded up and went to this massive indoor play place. This place was awesome! All indoors there was go-karts, bumper cars, laser tag, bowling, miniature golf, and a whole section just for the little kids with tea-cups a carousel and one of those circle "roller coasters". So we spent the day just having fun, playing arcade games, and riding rides. It was so much fun!!! Here's some more pics of our time (not just of the day at the arcade)

One thing we absolutely miss are the Arizona sunsets. They are simply amazing. I haven't really had the chance to get any landscape pictures, but one night as we were hanging out at the pool, I thought this scene was pretty spectacular:

Another picture with Grandpa and his grandkids. Isaac looks pretty comfy!

Hannah and Cailyn had to demonstrate some Irish dancing. Cailyn is giving it her best shot!

And then Hannah gave some lessons to her cousin and Grammy

The birthday kids!

This was called the frog drop. It basically lifts the entire group up to the ceiling and then drops them. And lifts them. And drops them. It's so fun! Hannah and Cailyn were a bit nervous before the ride, but as you can tell, they're loving it! Cailyn had this look like, "Where has this feeling been my whole life?!?"

And Isaac got to go for his first Carousel ride!!

Hannah and her cousin on the roller coaster

And Cailyn and her cousin took a turn as well. Such joy!!

Arizona!!!

We're so happy to be back 'home' even for just a few weeks. The weather has been awesome - mid to upper 80's, and just absolutely perfect in the evenings. We've had such a good time so far, just relaxing and reconnecting with our families. Jen was able to see her family last year briefly, and they've been to see us in Ireland, but it's been two years since we've seen Seth's family. So it's been great. We've just been eating some good food (Mexican mainly!!) and enjoying time at the pool. So far, it's been great! Sorry we haven't posted a lot of pictures, but taking time to be on here has been limited! Here's some shots for you though of the trip so far...these first ones are of Isaac as he's meeting Seth's family.

Meeting Grandpa Deibel

Meeting Grammy Deibel

3 generations :)

Isaac has been full of smiles this whole trip!

Dublin Zoo

Since we didn't really do something "big" for summer this year, we took a quick trip over to Dublin to check out the zoo. It was a well deserved break for the family, and sort of a last chance to do something together before Isaac comes (and the subsequent down time that will follow!) We had a great day, even though there was rain off and on the whole day. We just tucked into shelters and under trees as each shower would come, and then we'd continue on. The girls absolutely LOVED it! It really was a blast for us, and though today we're tired from the quick trip, we're very glad we went! Here's some pics of the day with the kids. (the pics were limited because of the rain, but there were some good pics none-the-less)

Sweet picture!!

Jen and I laughed a bit at this sign...did they miss anything?!? LOL!

...and in the spirit of that sign, play the "Jaws" theme song in your mind at this one! If they don't want little kids chasing or doing anything on their little signs, then don't put peacocks out in the middle of the paths! LOL

Tiger sleeping blissfully next to the glass...

Mom helping them get a good look

This was probably the coolest thing that happened. We walked up to this enclosure where the otters were and we at first couldn't see them. Then I noticed some grass rustling and knew they were coming, so Hannah and Cailyn made their way over. The otters (no joke) SAW the girls at the window and came right over to them, and they all just stared at each other for a couple minutes. It was neat!

And the obligatory face in the Orangutan photos...Hannah

...Cailyn

...and a mommy who refuses to grow up! LOL

The last few...

Yeah! We've reached the end! Now, there are a ton of pictures we could show you, but what we've done is posted a few that really shows what our trip was like. The last bunch here is just some random pictures from different parts of the week. Hope you enjoy!

When we got to our villa in Tuscany, this guy was in the road. Now since I was the only one in the car with her, I have to tell you (with her permission) that Jen was a trooper...shrieking, jumping at every movement the beast made, the whole bit. At one point she may have considered crawling out of the window and standing on the car...but alas, I got my picture, and we simply drove away.

Of course, you go to Italy, and what is one of the most important things there to experience? The food! Jen and I are having lunch at a cafe in Positano looking out over the cliff. Ravioli and lasagna...awesome

And no week in Italy can be done without partaking in more than a few pizzas (partly because you save money doing this as it's the cheapest food you can find, but mostly because they're awesome)

One tradition that we love in Europe is that all the cars used here for brides on their wedding day get decorated. We were walking around a quiet hill-town and saw this. I thought about photoshopping in a couple '53's and some stripes, but I didn't...but we did, however, find the real Love Bug!

Jen took this off the back of the scooter. It's not too often you find a boat that blue actually match the water it's sitting in!

Alright - funny story with this one: This couple is in the Square in Pisa "holding up the tower." I was just trying to get a good angle to take a picture of the tower when I noticed a bunch of laughter coming from the group this couple was a part of. It took several minutes for them to get the pose right and the camera lined up for the picture to work, but in the mean time it was funny: One of the women in the group said (with a posh British accent), "I don't like that pose...it's not proper!"

Picture of the facing of the Duomo in Pisa

We saw many great back alleys and walk-ways as we were touring around. I love places like this because there's a bit of mystery to them; where does it lead? what's at the other side? Sometimes the look of the actual path is more exciting than what the path is for...and it makes for great scenes!

Another back alley...

And finally...a sculpture done by Michelangelo that sits in the Duomo in Siena. This one is accompanied by 5 other sculptures done by other artists. he truly was amazing as you could see standing there the difference in his work versus others. His is SO much better; much more detail, much more life-like. This is of St. Peter...

Tuscany

The later part of the week we got to spend was in Tuscany around Florence. We really enjoyed our time here as well. We got to go see the leaning tower of Pisa, Michelangelo's David, and a lot of the Tuscan country side. For the most part, we just took our time driving around, enjoying the country side. Here's some pictures for you:

I'm sure you've seen pictures of people that stand in front of the tower and get their picture taken while they're "holding it up." We refused to participate in this...however, we did get swept up in a moment of cheesy-ness an got this shot of us at Pisa

The main square in Pisa with the tower, Duomo (church) and Baptistry building. What you may not know is that all 3 structures are not straight. The tower is obviously the worst, but the Baptistry (the closest domed building) leans the opposite direction.

Ah, the tower. Another landmark that we're amazed we've been able to see. What I never knew was that the construction was actually going on while the tower was leaning. They discovered the problem after the first level was built, but continued on. You can see above the 4th level (where the scaffolding is) that they tried to counter-balance the tower, and again with the belfry. It took many attempts to correct the issue, some of those almost bringing the tower down. It wasn't until about 30 years ago that they were able to stop the leaning, and it's actually been straightened to where it was when they began construction on the 5-above levels.

You can see how pronounced the lean of the tower is over the Duomo

Country side in Tuscany

A villa in tuscany set on a hill. These are everywhere!

Another villa

And yet another...this was the favorite though...the grass was so green, and the view was amazing!

Tour of Pompeii

One of the things we really wanted to see was Pompeii, so we took about a 45 minute scooter ride to check it out. For those who may not be familiar, this town was completely decimated during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. And not more than 15 years before that, it was virtually wiped out by a major earthquake. They were really fighting a losing battle it seemed, and everyone was basically condemned by just living there. We were amazed as we went at how big the entire city was, and how much they've been uncover. Things for the most part are in-tact, and though they've moved a lot off to the museums in Naples, a lot is still there. It really was amazing to be at. And of course, as we stood looking at Mt. Vesuvius in the background, it was a little spooky knowing what else is going on the world! Here's some pictures of our time in Pompeii:

In the ruins with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Yes, this is great - Jen going all Abbey Road. But, the other thing is how this is a real "crosswalk". They built their roads below the building levels to help with drainage, so to keep people from having to step way down in the road when they crossed, they walked on the "crosswalk" made of the major raised stones, spaced just right so carriages could still pass

A clay pot excavated from the ruins...

This is in a cafeteria of sorts where people would go every day to get there meals. Warm meats, stews or whatever was on the menu would be warmed in these counters which would have been topped with marble. People would come get their fool, and take it back to there homes for their families.

A fountain inside one of the communal bath houses.

Wall decorations in the bath house

Driving along the Amalfi Coast

While we were in Positano, there were several things we tried to do. One of those was just to relax and drive along the coast and the surrounding area, just enjoying the beauty. I somehow was able to convince my wife to do this on a scooter! (Anyone who knows Jen will understand how out-of-her-element this really was!) We spent an entire day just driving up and down the coast, stopping for lots of pictures and coffee, and really enjoyed the day. Here's some of the pictures:

Proof that I got Jen on a scooter! It was fun! Nothing like being on something like that, riding on a very windy coast road!

Beautiful spot in a cove along the road...

Another picture of how great all the colors in the water were...

Another cute picture of Jen from the week

This was actually taken on the bus as we were leaving the area. I loved that little rain shower just getting ready to sweep over the little island

Another stop along the road...