Andiamo (Let's Go) to Tuscany 2024

And we did! We caught a flight from Zurich into Florence then went by private car to the Villa Petriolo in Tuscany. Our niece had booked the entire Villa which could only accommodate a max of 100 people so when we arrived it was only those attending the wedding that were there.  

We checked in and then were driven to one of the many little villas that had just been renovated. The rooms were beautiful and the views were even better. We showered, ironed our clothes as best we could (Europe does not do well with putting irons/steamers in your hotel rooms) and made our way the downstairs portion of our villa where the weekend's festivities were set to kick off with welcome drinks. They had Italian Palomas, wine, Aperol Spritz and even more. From there the guests of honor - Lauren and Matthew - made their appearance and truly looked like the movie stars they work with. Lauren's dress that night might have been my favorite all weekend (although her wedding dress was classic and elegant and very old Hollywood.)

We made our way up the hillside to where a long table for 83 guests was set with a hand-painted tablecloth and adorned with different hand-painted plates. Fresh salads, pizza and snacks filled the tables along with red and white wines. A five piece band serenaded us as we ate over the Tuscan hillside as the sun was setting and we thought the weekend could not get anymore magical. 

The next morning, we woke up to sunny skies and after breakfast in the main villa, embarked on our three hour e-bike tour of Tuscany with a private guide. You definitely needed an e-bike to get over the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside. We saw the Medici mansion and visited the birthplace of Leonardo DaVinci. We stopped in a cafe for a "drink" and then pedaled on back with assistance! 

Then it was a little pool time at our semi private pool at the bottom of our villa before showering and making our way to the pre-ceremony drink. This was probably the hottest part of the whole wedding - especially for the guys who had to wear full dark suits. It was sweltering and there was no air flow for this 30 minute or so part until we started walking up to where the wedding was set to take place - then there was a nice breeze and shade beneath the trees. There they had another string band playing music before their grand entrance. Lauren looked gorgeous and Matthew very handsome. The ceremony itself was short but sweet - having each written their own vows. Then they were married and the real party began! Back to the pool for more drinks and 2-hour appetizer hour. There was cheese, cheese and more cheese - literally bowls full of parmigiana, different breads and other passed hors d'oeuvres. We had to keep reminding ourselves that dinner was still coming! We then walked across the way to wear a long winding table had been set up for dinner. Once again, it overlooked the Tuscan countryside. We feasted on fresh salads, pasta, lamb and eggplant. Everything we ate was grown on this farm which was one of the things that attracted Lauren and Matthew to this place. After dinner, it was on to the dance floor which was set up a short ways away. More tables of alcohol and desserts were nearby. Lots of dancing and sweating and then we were called to the pool area (where Lauren had changed once again - she had many outfit changes during the wedding festivities) and they cut the Italian (Strawberry) wedding cake. And, as they fed each other cake, the sky lit up with our own private fireworks show! The wedding went until 4am but we retired at about 2pm. Another long but fun day!

The next day was all about sleeping in and we did just that but made it to breakfast before it closed at 11am. Then we got in a little workout (we needed one after all that eating) and then changed into our suits for the pool party at the main pool. There was a deejay, pool toys, open bar and then of course another huge lunch spread with great tasting paninis and fresh salads. We stayed until after 5pm and then went back to shower before the goodbye drink. The goodbye was again outside and there were small bites of food plus fresh pasta and lots more drinks (like we needed more of that!). We were one of the last groups there until about 10:30am before we thought it was smart to retire before our car came to pick us up at 4am for our early morning flight. 

What a weekend though! Lauren and Matthew did an amazing job of not just planning their wedding but really planning a vacation for all of their wedding guests. We couldn't have had a better time! (And we were happy Hailey went to camp while Peyton spent a few days with Grandma Szurgot before she helped Austen hold down the fort at home. It was a much needed vacation. Ciao!

Lauren and Matt - Welcome Dinner

That table

E-bikes

Cafe break

The pool by our villa

Ken and Lauren

Vats of cheese!

Fireworks! Lauren & Matt below

The Tuscan countryside on our tour

Pool party!

Enjoying the pool!

Fresh pasta

The end

Switzerland 2024

Almost a year ago, we found out our niece was getting married in Italy this summer. We decided not to bring the kids (if we could make that work) and instead spend a few days prior to the wedding in Tuscany traveling Europe ourselves. We chose Switzerland - mostly because it was fairly close to Tuscany and I had already been to a large part of Italy before and done all those things that I had no desire to redo - like visiting The Vatican, going to The Coliseum or just taking pictures in front of the many fountains or strolling through museums. Let's be real. They're not all that exciting the first time and the weather is typically so hot if you go in the summer so there was no way I was going to do that again! 

Anyway, on to Switzerland. We landed in Zurich on Monday along with all the T Swift fans. She happened to be playing there on Monday and Tuesday night but we weren't going to see her. After driving about 1.5 hours to the town of Bern (where we hoped to see a lot of Bernese Mountain Dogs but never did), we checked into the Hotel Schweizerhof. Our room was beautiful and we were right in the center of town. But we were exhausted too and promptly took a four hour nap before emerging from our room at 5pm, freshly showered and hungry. First a little walking tour of the town and then a little tapas meal before taking in the sunset over the Rose Garden and then walking down to the Bear Caves (where the Bears roamed on the banks of the Aare River). We rounded out the night with a little gelato (which was not that good - we should have waited until Italy) before heading back to our hotel. 

Our Hotel Schweizerhof

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. It was a lot of eggs but they did make these really sweet little waffles that were very good. Then it was off for our 3-hour private walking tour of Bern. And wow did we see a lot. We learned Bern means Bear which makes sense that the Bernese Mountain Dogs look like little bears when they are puppies and big bears when they get older. She explained that you could drink from all the fountains around Bern and that it was the glacier water flowing through there. We saw the inner workings of the famous clock tower and visited one of the homes of Albert Einstein who not only lived in Switzerland for some time but apparently in Bern. After our tour, we had a quick lunch at the "Casino" (not a real casino as we know it, just a nice restaurant) and then went back to the hotel to check the train schedule before hopping on a train to Luzern which was a lake town about an hour away. We booked a 1-hour boat tour around Luzern (which was simply breathtaking), shopped for souvenirs and had dinner before making our way back by train. And, when we got off the train one of the Euros SemiFinal matches was on. There were makeshift bars in the street with everyone watching the game on a big screen. It was a cool sight to see and would never happen over soccer in the U.S.

Day three in Switzerland had us rising early for another full day private tour of Zermatt where the Matterhorn is located. Our tour guide and us, boarded another train and then bus and then train again to reach the Matterhorn. Recent flooding had wiped away part of the track reaching Zermatt so the city had to figure out different ways to get tourists up there. It was cool, in the 60s maybe, and a welcome change from the heat of the summer (although we weren't experiencing the kind of heat Rome was). We dined at the top of a peak and had the traditional cheese fondue before exploring the picturesque ski village of Zermatt. I'm sure it's just beautiful during Christmas. May need to come back to ski it although the terrain of Switzerland certainly looked challenging as our tour guide told us only about 1/3 of Switzerland is actually livable. It was a long day of exploring and we got home about 9pm - just in time to see another Euro Semi Final match. 

Visiting Switzerland was beautiful and it was interesting to hear about the fact that so many languages are spoken there including German and French as well a different dialects of each. It was the perfect prelude to our Tuscany family wedding. Stay tuned for that wonderful wedding weekend!

Dinner in Luzern

Luzern boat ride

Bern clock tower

Drinking the fountain water

The lucky Bern bear

Matterhorn

Zermatt village

Cheese fondue

Watching the Euros

Sleepaway Camp Adventures

On July 7th, we dropped Hailey off at Girl Scout Camp for her first sleep away summer camp experience. I don't know why but my girls aren't huge sleep away camp fans. Me, I loved it and would use my own money to go back for the next session especially as I got older. 

Anyway, I wanted Hailey to have this sleep away camp experience so I got a friend to go with her. I booked her in a session where they slept in the lodge instead of in tents or cabins. And, I kept telling her stories about my summer camp days while reading her my favorite childhood book, "Hail, Hail Camp Timberwood."

Off to camp! 

She agreed to go but wasn't looking forward to it that much. She's my third so I also thought it would be a good lesson in independence for her. We do everything for her because she's slow. It takes forever for her to get out of the house. She's constantly running back upstairs for her shoes or something else she forgot mere minutes after I told her to come down with the item. So I was interested in how this was going to go. And I needed to let go of doing things for her. This offered her the perfect opportunity and me too. 

I wrote her letters every day and she wrote in her journal so she wouldn't forget to tell me things. And, I did get a letter from her on Tuesday that popped up in my email that her counselor sent her. I couldn't tell if she loved it or hated it from that letter so I would have to wait until she got home for the full report. 

Here's a summary of her camp experience straight from her lips:  

Favorite Thing about Camp: The pool! I got to be in the highest group and could swim anywhere because I passed the swim test. 

Favorite Food at Camp: The lunches were the best - chicken tenders, pizza and mac n cheese

Worst Food at Camp: Chineses Food (chow ming noodles with vegetables in it - they were gross and I went to bed hungry that night. Dessert was this cupcake with whipped cream that tasted terrible.)

Least Favorite Thing About Camp: The first breakfast  - it was bagels that didn't taste like anything

Least Favorite Activity - Canoeing. It was boring.

Something I Tried that I had Never Done Before: Canoeing in the front position, and I ate a banana in a banana boat sundae! (Usually I don't eat bananas.)

Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream

Overall Camp Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.5 

Asked if she'd ever go back to sleep away camp again, she said maybe but only every other year! 

Did she love it, no. Did she hate it, no. I'll take that as a good experience! Thanks to Lexie for going with her that helped give it that 8.5 rating!

Her letter to us

Happy to be going home with Lexie

4th of July in Michigan

Happy 4th of busy July! At least we don't have to go Nationals (for Austen's soccer) in another two weeks! Actually, I'm still fuming that once again we are not going to Orlando. We kicked off the 4th of July weekend with Austen and Tom visiting Washington University in St. Louis for a college soccer ID camp. It's a D3 school that has architecture so higher on his list of possibilities but still a very academically selective school which will still attract some talented soccer players. 

They kicked off the weekend with a Cardinals baseball game and then had a full day of soccer "tryouts" the next day. Austen said he thought he did well but you never know with these schools. They have 10 spots to fill with kids competing from all over the country. 

After St. Louis, we prepped to have a house full of people in Michigan - so lots of planning, prepping and cleaning before we had a house of 14 (18 for dinner on 4th of July). Everyone helps out though with breakfasts, drinks, appetizers and desserts so it's not just us having to do it all which came become exhausting. We met at North Pier Brewery in St. Joe which was awesome. They had some fun drinks and good food. Then it was home for late night pizza, fireworks and then s'mores and some campfire singing. In between there were games of Kan-Jam and bags too. 

We woke up on the 4th of July to cloudy weather so we leisurely had breakfast and played some more games until the weather cleared up mid-afternoon and we could head to the beach for a few hours. Then it became hot although the water was a bit cool. We still all dipped our toes in and a few brave ones joined in some games in the water too. Then it was home for a big dinner (with Ron's awesome ribs) and too many delicious desserts. 

We all headed home on the 5th after another leisurely breakfast and some laundry being done with loads of towels and some sheets. 

On to the next adventures for each one of us during this next week but more on those later...Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Chillin' in the backyard

4th of July minus a few

Cardinals Game with Teammates

Wash U Soccer ID Camp

Beach Time with the Urban Tribe