Our first week in Italy...

We're getting settled in and have gotten out a bit to explore now that we have our car. It's very hot here so we are holding off until it cools down a bit to do a lot of the local sights with the kids. We are already enjoying the famous Neopolitan pizza that is available everywhere! And of course the gelato!

Ethan is upset about something...

Ethan and Allison playing in the courtyard outside the Navy Lodge.

Courtyard in back of the Navy Lodge

train ride at a local mall

Dan in front of the walkway behind our temporary housing

Ethan loves gelato too!

Dan and the kids in Carney Park, a huge recreational area inside a volcano crater

Driving on the highway in Naples, that's Mt. Vesuvius!

Benvenuti in Italia! Welcome to Italy!

We arrived last night and have been slowly getting acclimated to the time difference and our new temporary housing. So far, so good! The flight over was a fairly hellish experience...... from a midnight flight with a 5am stopover in Lajes, Portugal (we had to get off for 2 hours- all crammed into a tiny terminal that did not have enough seats for all of us), to a 3 year old who decided to sleep about 1 hour total, leaky diapers that necessitated 3 clothing changes in the first 4 hours of travel, to a flight crew who demanded that the airplane interior lights be on full-tilt when they were serving food no matter what time it was. It wasn't fun, but we survived!
Internet is spotty right now but we will try to update as we can with more info! Ciao!

Buon Viaggio!

One last picture from our wonderful summer in south Florida.....

Well, the day is finally upon us- we leave for Italy in less than 24 hours! We are excited, nervous, overwhelmed, anxious...just about every emotion a person can have. We know we are in for a wonderful adventure for the next 2 years. We will miss the comforts of home, for sure, but hopefully it won't be too hard to adjust to life as Neopolitans. I'm not sure when I will get to update this blog next, as we don't know what our internet situation will be there while we wait to get into housing.

Keep checking back for our next update and think of us as we embark on a 24-hour transcontinental plane ride with 2 toddlers!

Happy Birthday America!

This past weekend I got to visit Dan while the kids stayed behind in Florida. We had a great time in Newport and Boston for the 4th of July! Newport was beautiful and the mansions are amazing....and Boston has so much wonderful history. The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful getaway!

The Breakers in Newport

4th of July parade in Bristol, RI (nation's oldest 4th of July parade)

Faneuil Hall In Boston

Dan with the founder's statue at Harvard (in deep thought....)

Fun in the sun!

We've been having so much fun in the sun here in Florida the past few weeks! In the interest of getting this blog up to date, here are some pictures of all the things we've been up to!

relaxing poolside...

Sitting in sissy's booster seat

Visiting with Aunt Shana!

Chuck E. Cheese

Petting zoo at a local farm

Pony Ride!

Hanging out together in the front yard

Potty Power!

After months of resisting, Allison finally seems to be coming around to the idea of using a potty. She's doing great so far when we are at home! All it takes is some bubblegum and a princess potty chair! It looks like she won't be going to Yale in pull-ups after all!

Uncle Noah, Jackie, and Sadie

Next, our uncle Noah and Jackie visited and they brought their dog Sadie! Sadie had a lot of fun playing with Sunny and Crockett and we had fun with Noah and Jackie! Can't wait for them to come see us in Italy!

Safe, sound, and all wet!

We arrived in Florida and have been having a blast! We sure do miss our friends in Oklahoma, though!

The first week after we arrived Allison and Ethan took a mini swim camp where they had lessons every day. Allison did her lesson with her teacher Coach Kelly. Ethan did a "Mommy and Me" class. There were some tears involved but both kids had a pretty good time and are so much more comfortable in the water!

We have the greatest friends!

Thursday Dan had his "Hail and Farewell" party from the squadron at the base bowling alley. He got a nice plaque signed by all his fellow officers! He will miss these guys and the flying a lot!

Here he is with the CO of his squadron:

Then, on Saturday (I thought) we had a sitter and plans for the two of us to go out to a casual dinner (since we'll be apart for a month while Dan does his training course in Newport while we're in Florida). Little did I know that our great friends Geri and the Crawfords had planned a fabulous farewell party for us! We had so much fun celebrating with over 20 of our friends! Thank you so much Geri, Kacee, and Russ!!! It was amazing and so sweet of you!