Our Memorial Weekend road trip.

At the last minute, Tom found out that they were getting the day off on Friday. That meant we had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day. We had to do something fun! We ended up taking a ferry from Sicily to the mainland of Italy. The ferry is about an hour from our house, and the ferry ride is only about 20 minutes to the Mainland. We visited Pompei which was pretty amazing, especially because DJ and I studied it in homeschool last year. We stayed a few nights in Naples at the Navy base. In Naples we went shopping at Ikea and then spent a day at a place called Carney Park. They had swimming pools, parks, and places for the kids to run and get their energy out. On our last night, we stayed at a kid-friendly beach resort in Pizzo on the Mainland. We left on Thursday after school and come home Monday evening. We made some fun memories together!

Noah's last day of preschool.

Noah had his last day of preschool for the year! They had a potluck party. We brought cupcakes baked in ice cream cones, and they were a big hit with the 3 year olds (and Lincoln). On his last day, Noah brought his teachers each a sand pale filled with candy bars and a note that said "Thank you for being such a sweet teacher." Noah had lots of fun this year with his friends Nicolous, Devon, and Hunter. For most of the year, Noah would talk all morning about wanting to go to preschool, and then we often struggled with him crying when we'd drop him off. Thankfully it would only last a few minutes. Noah's favorite things to do at preschool were painting and playing outside on the playground.

Market, Beach, and Baseball

The weeks seem to fly by. Here are some pictures taken over the past few weeks. We went to the Scordia Market on Friday. It's not far from our house. Each town has it's own market on a certain day of the week. I left Lincoln at home with Rosa, and I only took Noah. She helps me with the boys on Monday and Friday mornings. It was fun having some one-on-one time with Noah. We met up with a few friends and had a great time. I bought lots of strawberries, and they were all eaten before the day was done.

It's baseball season. DJ is on the 7-9 year old team. He has practice on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and then has games on Saturdays. It's all on base. We have fun sitting outside in the sun and watching him play. DJ loves baseball.

I have about 10 weeks left of this pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it's gone. After some thought, Noah asked if we're having another baby like Lincoln. I could tell there was a little disappointment in his voice. Knowing Noah and his struggles with being friends with his 16 month old brother, this comment made me smile. Their friendship is a work in progress.

Some of my other favorite spots.

A few weeks ago, I got to take a week long trip to Arizona. By myself!! I had such a fun time visiting my mom. On top of that, my brother Paul flew out from Brooklyn to spend a few days with us. It was such a special time. We shopped, ate, played cards, took walks, got pedicures, and just talked. We can't thank Tom and my sister-n-law Carisa enough for watching all the kids so we could make these special memories. I had nobody asking for Cheerios or milk, no diapers to change, no homework to check. It didn't take me long to get used to that, but I definitely missed Tom and the boys. Tom did everything from making my plane reservations to taking leave so he could watch the boys. I'm so lucky!!

It was such a memorable trip. I'm 6 months pregnant, and my feet were swollen by the end of my 24 hour flight and sleeping was pretty much impossible, but it was definitely worth it!! It had been almost a year since being back in the States, and I definitely miss it. We live in such a great country. I look forward to coming back in a few years, but for now, we are enjoying our overseas time as much as we can.

When I got back, DJ came in privately and told me that they had a fun time with Tom. I thought that was a very nice compliment. Tom did an amazing job with them. I know I'm extremely lucky to have such a great husband who thought it was important for me to get away and have some time to myself. It meant a lot to me. I'm so thankful!!

One of my favorite spots.

Taormina has definitely become one of my favorite places in Sicily. It's a touristy town during the Summer, but almost empty during the rest of the year. Now I just need to learn how to get there by myself. I'd love to be able to bring the boys there in the mornings on the weekdays. It's only 45 minutes away, but I'm still struggling with driving here. Last weekend, we went to the beach and flew our new kite.