Italia

Miss Marie is studying abroad in Siena this fall, so my family {Dad, Mom, Marie, Jonathan, Uncle Bill, Aunt Jackie and Cousin Dallin} immediately jumped at the opportunity to drop her off and tour the beautiful country for 11 days. My hubby is Italian at heart {his family lived in Padova from ages 15-19 while his parents served as mission presidents and went back for one year to do a study abroad / olympic volunteer work}. Naturally, due to his Italian ties, Jonathan was the driving force behind this trip planning our day-to-day schedule, coordinating transportation, suggesting hotels, speaking the angelic language and packing all of this information into a quite impressive itinerary!!

ROMA

We spent the first two days in Roma seeing all of its ancient history. It's incredible to see in real life old Italy really is! Every thing was all so magical to me as this was my very first time in Italy.

Highlights: watching Jamie eat real gelato for the first time {says Jonathan}, watching dad eat gelato {says Jamie}, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Moses and Pieta, the Colosseum.

St. Peter's Cathedral

Gelato!

The Colosseum

San Pietro in Vincoli {Michelangelo's Moses}

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

The Vatican Museum

St. Peter's Cathedral

The Pantheon

Joe-lato!

FIRENZE

Riding on the train from Rome to Florence was an adventure. Thanks to ferie, all of Italy was returning from their 2 week vacation leaving Jonathan, Marie, Dallin and I 1.5 hours of riding in a stairwell between the train cars. Luckily Florence is a gem, and definitely worth the uncomfortable ride.

Highlights: singing with the missionaries in Piazza della Republica, shopping in the Florentine Market, Ponte Vecchio, staying in beautiful apartments that overlook Piazza della Signoria, the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David at the Galleria dell'Accademia.

Santa Maria del Fiore

The Baptistery Doors by Ghiberti

Ponte Vecchio

VINCI, PISA

We picked up a 9 passenger van in Florence and made our way towards the countryside. Our end destination for day five was Lerici, but we made stops in Vinci to pay tribute to Leonardo and Pisa {it's a checklist item, right?}.

LERICI

Lerici is part of the Italian Riveria {across the bay from Cinque Terre} and is breathtaking!

Highlights: delicious seafood, relaxing on the beach.

MODENA / MARANELLO

On the way to Venice, we made a memorable stop in Modena. Ask the boys, and they will probably tell you that this was their favorite stop! Although it's a baby compared to the Vatican, I'm pretty sure we spent more time per square foot in this museum than we did in any other throughout this trip.

Highlights: the looks on Jon's and Dallin's face after driving a Ferrari for 15 minutes.

Dallin driving a Ferrari!

Jonathan's dream come true!

VERONA

Along the way to Venice, we stopped in Verona {Jon says that if he had to live anywhere in Italy, he would probably live here}. It's charming, quaint and beautiful.

PADOVA

This beautiful little city holds a special place in the Curtis' heart as this was the place they called home for three years while Lee and Jane served as mission presidents. Unfortunately this mission has now closed, and as a result they have also torn down the mission home. It was fun to stop by, tour Jon's old neighborhood and eat at one of his favorite pizzerias in all of Italy - Dove Come Quando.

VENEZIA

I loved Venice. I have bits and pieces of every stop that I absolutely loved, but Venice was my very favorite to photograph. Every turn around its windy streets was as incredibly picturesque. We also took a boat ride to a nearby island called Murano where they specialize in glass blowing.

SIENA

Marie will be studying in Siena this fall at the Dante School. Lucky girl...Siena is beautiful. We purchased beautiful hand-painted pottery, ate yummy Tuscan food and walked around the beautiful streets.

RADDA IN CHIANTI

Chianti is heavenly! It's a quaint town about 20 minutes outside of Siena in the Tuscan countryside. We stayed in an incredible villa that overlooked the breathtaking landscape that is filled with olive trees, vineyards and beautiful rolling hills.

Highlights: riding scooters, eating breakfast on a patio with a beautiful view, the villa!

Dad's Boat

Last summer my father became a different man. About one month after Jonathan and I moved far, far away he purchased a boat, and this purchase has completely changed his life.

My dad used to pick up my phone calls saying, "Hey Jamie, I'm on a call with some clients...can I call you back?" Now he picks up and I hear wind blowing in the background as he says, "Hey Jamie, we're out on the boat..." Sad, I know. We're missing out. I guess that's what we get for moving to the other end of the country.

4th of July weekend we joined in on the fun. I saw dad in his element with a big goofy grin, mom wakeboard and wakesurf like a pro (she puts anyone to shame), Marie glide across the water (she's good too!), Nick fearlessly jump the wake, Trevor sing "goofy goober" while riding on the kneeboard and Jonathan do a great job wakeboarding in choppy water.

Dad, we're officially converted.

Dad sure does loves his boat!

Mom is the best at trailing the boat! Even the guys trying to load up next to us were VERY impressed!

I can get up! I even got outside the wake but laughed so hard (I was surprised I did it) that I didn't stay up too long.

Nick, Jon and Trev.

This is one of his smaller jumps. Way to go Nick!

The cutest flag holder!

Trevor on the kneeboard is prime entertainment! He does tricks like no hands (demonstrated above), air guitar and jumping all while singing (we could hear him from the boat!).

I love my sister.

This is just about the cutest thing ever - Mom + Trevor wakesurfing!

I loved watching Jon try and change his body from snow skiing mode to wakeboarding mode. He did so well!!

Dad is a true wakesurfer! Although he still has to take it easy, he sure tears up the wake!

He is adorable.

Marie made this look too easy. Just ask Jon.

New York Botanical Garden

These past few weeks have felt more like April and less like June as the days have been filled with one rainstorm after another. This weekend the rain finally let up (at least during the day), and we enjoyed a beautiful day at the New York Botanical Garden.

The current event that's going on now and started just yesterday is The Edible Garden - a summer-long celebration of growing and eating good food. To kick off this event, celebrity chefs like Martha Stewart (see below...yes, that's Martha!) were brought in to give food demonstrations. We opted out of the $20 fare for the festival and instead walked around the grounds soaking up the green trees + grass, beautiful flowers and time together. It made for a lovely Saturday afternoon. We highly recommend taking a visit!

Haircut

I've always had a strange obsession with hair. I can't count the number of times I was in trouble for cutting Marie's hair, dyeing my hair with friends (Lindsay + Camille) or giving Jack highlights (sorry, Grandma).

One of the many times I highlighted Jack's hair using the cap / pull through method. I don't think you can even see the highlights.

Eventually I gained some experience and was allowed to cut Nick + Trevor's hair - an event they absolutely dreaded and I absolutely loved. For some reason I could never quite convince dad to let me touch his hair. Now I have a dear husband who finally (after much convincing) let me cut his hair. Thanks for amusing me, honey.

Before

After