www.micahandlindsey.com

Europe ‘19 — Pisa

Trick Shots:

Some better than others.

Creative Trick Shots:

Some better than others.

Europe ‘19 — Lucca

On our drive today, we found a little Olive Oil factory and got a personal tour. It was pretty awesome and tasty, and that olive oil and balsamic was a staple on the rest of our trip.

As we were driving, we had big decisions to make.

We kind of hated the Italian Riviera.

Actually…we REALLY hated the Italian Riviera. It was dirty, you had to pay money to get on every road, there were too many people..it was honestly a total bust! So today, we decided to go inland to Tuscany and drive south. Our decision was a good one, because we found Lucca!

Oh…Lucca!!!

We love you.

Lucca was at the top of a hill, behind a medieval wall. It was small and quaint. It was charming and Italian. It was heaven sent.

The cafes were yummy.

The patisserie was visited three times by this crew.

We happened upon the perfect shop for Scout!

The girls and I were in desperate need of a good blowout.

So daddy treated us!

Micah found an Italian shop he was excited about — and got a few new ties.

Pippi got gelato and plopped for a rest in her new Italian sandals.

It was a great afternoon. We loved Lucca!

I mean — look at these water fountains that the local restaurants were filling their water carafes with. It was the coldest and cleanest tasting water on earth.

And the kids were in their happy place as they adventured all over this town. Scout challenged everyone to walk these handrails. They did it successfully several times until Navy tried to cross and her foot slipped, and she came down on her side with full force. For several hours, we were concerned that maybe she had broken a rib or had something internally going on. Her reaction was intense and almost silent. She struggled to get a full breath of air for hours, but it started to get a little better so we just watched it. It ended up being really bruised and tender for a week, but thank goodness there was no horrible injury!

As we were driving away from Lucca, we decided to park again and stop for dinner. Micah, the research genius found maybe our best food of the trip.

Just like Pippi, we all licked our plates spotless clean.

As we drove away from Lucca, we all said that leaving the coast to drive inland, was the best decision we made!

Europe ‘19 — Nice

On our way to Nice, we stopped in Aix En Provence.

It was a darling town, that featured my favorite…

a french carousel — the best carousels in the world!

The town was almost closing for the night, but we were able to walk around and just be excited we are in France. I loved it all — the cobblestone streets, the fountains, and the boulangeries everywhere.

By the time we pulled into Nice, it was dark and CRAZY! The women’s World Cup is in France this year, and they had just finished a game in Nice an hour before we got there, so the town was on FIRE! It was a little crazy for us, but the next morning redeemed the city.

This is my view from my morning run.

Quiet and calm…and beautiful.

The kids were excited to go to the beach.

Although we all agree that we prefer sand over rocks!

We spent a few hours relaxing or playing. It was kind of stormy, so we really didn’t have any crowds to deal with which made it great. And of course, Navy and Scout found an entire bottle of Mediterraneansea glass — including three marbles!!!

In the afternoon, we walked the streets of Nice. It was so french with cafes everywhere, parks tucked in between buildings, and fountains in the middle of squares. The kids were getting their first taste of all things naked in Europe, and were saying that Dash was the constant model for these pieces of “art”.

Meanwhile….Micah was walking around and sending me pictures of kid shops we needed to see! You know you have a good husband, when he scouts out shops for you…AND THEN…takes the kids while you shop!

He took the boys all around, while the girls stuck with us to try things on.

In each shop, there was a kid area, so Navy made the best of her time with Pippi, while my mom and I looked around.

We all met back up for dinner, strolled the streets some more, had gelato, and made our way back to our hotel…before Nice got crazy again with another round of World Cup soccer.

Europe ‘19 — Barcelona

After two long flights, we arrived in Barcelona to pick up our brand new Mercedes Van for our impending road trip. Nonnie was exhausted, so we got her to the hotel, and headed out for a few essentials to ward off our jet lag.

First stop — a European park with an ocean view.

Second stop — fresh bread with European butter (the best kind!).

Third stop — a farm stand where they cut down our fresh lettuce, the tomatoes were like candy, and I quizzed the kids on the veggie knowledge (they all knew everything!).

We then went to hit the sack out of pure exhaustion.

The next day, we hit up the streets of Barcelona…where they were having a “Tastes of Spain” festival. You bought tokens, and many restaurants had a sample dish from their restaurant for 2-4 tokens. There were a few tasty treats — and few not so tasty treats.

Pippi got in on the action as our purchasing agent.

After eating, we walked around town to see what Barcelona had to offer. Dash and Navy were loving the statues everywhere.

But the real gem of Barcelona was the shopping. Besides some cute children’s stores, Brett advised of us a purse place called Biba…and we were obsessed. Even jet-lagged and hot…we feel like we all made very wise purchasing decisions in Barcelona.

But truth be told…by the end of a few hours in downtown, we wanted back in our beds at the hotel. Jet lag is real. Although, Scout and Navy rallied, and went swimming in their pool for a few hours. They also discovered their gummy candy that was out in their restaurant (the way other places put out peanuts)…and they gathered bags of the stuff. Like usual — we made our mark.

But we called it to be an early night, because we are on the road tomorrow morning….all the way to Nice, France.

LAX

And we are off…

We are flying into Barcelona…then driving the Mediterranean until we get to Rome. After Rome, we will drive to Venice via Florence…then hist Milan before we drive to Switzerland. We end the trip by looping back to Barcelona through France — which miraculously lines up with the first day of France’s Soldes…so that is AMAZING!!!

See you in three weeks.

Navy’s Gold Rush

Based on great advice from me…Navy chose to be a banker for the Gold Rush today. She literally had to bring half the amount of stuff as a banker — and half the amount was still WAY too much! But the Gold Rush was rad!

They first hiked into the “mining town” with all of their gear.

Then all of the 49ers went mining on a nearby hill to find gold. When they found it, they turned it in to the bank for cold hard cash. (Navy’s part.) After all of the banking was completed…it was shopping time.

Because Navy was a banker, her team’s role was just at the beginning. The rest of the afternoon was her going from shop to shop to bargain and buy. Which she did. Someone asked her how she was such a good shopper, and I beamed with pride.

The fourth grade team does such a great event with this unit, and it ended Navy’s fourth grade year with a total bang!

Walking Group Cons

I dropped Scout off for his last day of walking group. As I was leaving him, he and the rest of the boys surrounded the car and demanded that I take them to donuts. I tried to fend them off…but I am a total sucker! They all crowded in, and I took them, but told them they had to walk to school after donuts because I needed to be somewhere.

After the cons ordered their donuts…I drove off in a “hurry”.

Then I circled back and honked at all of them as they sped-walked to school…and yelled “Suckers! Who’s the con now!!!”

I love this little group of knuckleheads — especially when they saw what I had done, and started laughing while giving me the I Love You sign.

Stories

I snuck up on Pippi telling a story about a garden, and a beanstalk for 20 minutes this afternoon.

She went on and on to nobody in particular!

She was in her favorite place…Imaginaryland.

When I was discovered, her story came to an abrupt stop. But she saw Nonnie, and ran to grab Chika Chika Boom Boom and settle in her second favorite place…Nonnieland.

I literally can’t believe Kindergarten is right around the corner for Pips. She is going to love it. But I might just hate not having her around me as much.

Street Rats

Skateboarding is their thing lately.

Specifically…long boarding.

Street rats…need I say more?

Homemade for Navy

Scout has been secretly working on a really cool project for Navy. He worked all day yesterday cutting, drilling, spray painting, ets. Today, he printed, mod-podged and assembled.

The final product…