I am catching up and still a few days behind but it is 2:38 am and I am sitting on the couch with Sabs, (yes Sabs), watching movies sitting next to me. 2:38 am. We’ve been at it since 1am. She fell asleep at about 9pm, woke up at 12am, tried valiantly to fall back asleep for an hour and then just gave up and started trying to wake her sissy. Sooo we relocated, ate some cheese, and surrendered to the jet lag. She is giggling and showing me all her games and movies. She keeps rewinding and replaying the same song in Coraline. She is not yawning. I am afraid…very afraid. Sophie on the other hand has resumed a fairly normal schedule as of last night and has been snoring away since 9:30pm. Will is still awake sitting across from me working on his laptop. Sabs is singing now. She is going to kill us all.

I’m not sure what church this even is but it is the last one we will be visiting:

Dada: Hey let’s pop in here and check it out.

Sophie: Uh, no dada. no.

Dada: Why not.

Sophie: I dont have a good feeling about this. It looks scary. I really don’t want to go in.

Dada: Come on we are just going to walk through quick and check it out.

(drags us all in there)

Sophie: Why is everyone whispering. What is he saying (man closing eyes praying to front of church).

Momma: I dont know. You are just supposed to be quiet in here.

Sophie: Can we go now? This is terrifying.

Dada: Hey Sophie! Check this out…

Sophie: DADA! I knew this was going to be in here! I knew they would have something like this! Why would you take me in here? Is it nice to chop off peoples heads? Is that nice to take me into a place where they chop off someone’s head. Why is he holding a man’s head. I knew from the scary music. I just knew it. Let’s go!

Dada: Meh, she has point. Let’s go.

Momma: (thankful most people prob spoke only italian inside church)

And so that is the only pic you will see of a church. First, and last. Girl has a point.

We started our day at the Spanish steps and wandered around from there. Before we left for Italy, I was telling Will to be careful with his wallet, etc. because I remember when I visited a long time ago they warned me about the Gypsy people who are notorious for stealing and scamming tourists. He laughed at me and made fun of how long ago that was and brushed it off. He also thought it was hilarious that i called them Gypsies. I said no i think it is a real thing. Then when we arrived at the hotel the first night and were chatting with the manager about the economy in Italy he started going off about the Gypsy people too and i just looked at Will b/c apparently it wasn’t “sooooo long” ago. He still maintained the racist argument and some blah blah about how he doesnt want to support a world that is going to judge and categorize people etc.

Fast forward to the next morning arriving at the Spanish steps. Within 5 minutes a guy comes over and hands the girls and I roses…then spews some beautiful family nonsense. Then proceeds to ask Will to pay him for the roses. Sucka. Will went to give him $5.00. He said no  i want more. Will was like seriously…and gave him 10.00. LOL. lesson learned. Gypsy numero uno. He made off with 10.00 and Will maintained his non racial profiling stance.

Fast forward another 5 minutes…in the middle of the Spanish steps (prob hundred or more ppl hanging out) and 3 guys come running through carrying bundles wrapped in sheets looking like stolen loaves of bread out of the movie Aladdin. Chasing after them are Italian police officers holding what looks like a ping pong paddle. No one is startled. No one is flinching. They all run through the crowd and life carries on. Except my dear husband who does not say a word to me but I observe him move my bag from his side shoulder to the front of his chest and grip it like a third child…for the rest of the day.

Oh how i laughed, not laughed, roared with laughter inside intermittently the entire day. I gave him the benefit all day and just kept my mouth shut, but I’m me, and well that can’t last very long so as soon as we got back to the hotel i just mimicked him and clutched a bag like he did (possibly singing some song about gypsies). Ah how i will cherish this memory, and in case i forget, i will reread this for entertainment.

So on to some pics of the Spanish steps. These pics would have been lovely if Sabi didnt steal Sophie’s candy from her hand seconds before Will snapped the pic. That didn’t go over well. Some photographer caught it all on camera and they were laughing (lovingly) about the situation, which clearly pissed Sophie off more. This situation took 10 minutes or so to recover from but we recovered. The faces below say it all. PS (neither of them even like the candy).

They realize they both don’t like Italian fruity hard candy and so they can be best buds again…

Well it may be close to midnight but we made it to Rome and when we landed the airport had a playground waiting at baggage claim so the girls were off and running straight away! Our bags all arrived in tact and a driver was waiting for us at the airport with a comfy SUV, candy and water.

Will found a beautiful hotel about 25 minutes from the airport and just outside of the center or the city so it was quiet and located on a tree lined street. We got there close to midnight and the manager poured us some complimentary drinks and then went and made us a cheese plate with toasted bread (plain, lightly toasted and dark to be exact), nuts, and chips. He also brought the girls some sparkly water. We hung out downstairs and chatted/stuffed our faces for a bit and then headed up to our room.

In our room the hotel put a crib, kids table, toys, and coloring pencils for the girls. It was absolutely perfect. I cant even remember what time we fell asleep…maybe 4am?

The next morning (or afternoon i should say since we woke up around noon), we missed the breakfast and the manager figured we slept super late so he saved a bunch of little pastries for us and then went out of his way and made us eggs and cafe when we woke up. Ahhh, italian coffee. The girls dined at their little kiddie table with chairs.

After breakfast we headed down to venture out for the day and another hotel worker came over and gave the girls little finger puppets and candy. We also met the resident cat.

Whew!!! We made it and we actually had loads of fun along the way! So super proud of these two little monkeys. I can’t believe how incredible they were the entire travel. They did not cry or fuss at all on a 9 1/2 hour flight. They only slept about 2 hours of it and hopped off the plane with excitement. The plane was a bit crammed and two grown men started fighting mid flight over seat space. People had to break it up before there was all out brawl on the plane. Too bad they didnt take cues on behavior from our 1 1/2 and 4 yr old (never thought id say that). So proud. When we landed in Madrid we had 7 hours to kill and one heck of a tired family. Will found a hotel in the airport that was a lifesaver. We booked a room for 6 hour, turned out all the lights and zonked for 4 hours straight. Zzzzzz. Woke up, changed clothes and headed off to our next 2 1/2 hour flight to Rome :).

Well of we went to begin our European journey! We couldnt make the 5pm ferry after dropping the animals off and getting the car packed so we decided to just drive the long route around the water. Mama drove for the first 2 hours which was the first time I have driven in 3 years (other than a quad). Sophie was concerned at first, convinced that i may not know my way or how to drive safely. She was quickly reassured after 10 minutes and declared me a better driver than Dada. I would have to agree  considering when i drove both girls fell soundly asleep and then when we switched over to Dada’s driving skills, Pookie puked twice and Sabs puked once. We arrived to the hotel 1/2 naked. Pooks was wearing only underwear by the time we got there, and I was wearing a sports bra and leggings. Somewhere between Puntarenas and San Jose we accidentally threw out my favorite Lululemon tank and Pooks skirt in a bag full of throw up. Let’s hope that is all we lose along the way. It is still early on in the trip. We got to the hotel around 10pm and had a late dinner and settled in. Everyone was happy and feeling good after puke fest 2015.

The next morning, Lisette, a lady who works at Aloft and loves the girls, knocked on our door with a little surprise. After she saw we booked a room and were heading into town she went to the store and bought some gifts for both girls. She surprised them with a bag full of colored clip on hair, candy, and some other goodies. She surprised us with a cheaper room rate she found that we didnt know about. Oh how we love Aloft and the way they care for our family. It has become like a second home for the little chicas and always a perfect way to start our travels. After opening their gifts we headed outside to check on our S O P H I E  rocks that Uncle Blake made for Sophie a few months back and we hide again each time we go to the hotel. Then it was off to the Multiplaza for some ice cream and toy store fun.