The Lambo

There is no way that I will be able to do this post justice--but Ted is up to his eyeballs getting us all prepared to move and at the same time do his job that by the time he is done for the evening, he does not want to also pen creative thoughts.  BUT, we did celebrate his birthday a week ago with a trip to Manarello--the town famous for its Ferraris.  And it's worth sharing the fun we had.  

The kids and I arranged with another family to go together for the Dads to drive Ferraris.  As I was researching online the different companies to use (big business in Manarello), I discovered that a couple also had a Lamborghini you could drive (the Lamborghini town is nearby).  I've known Ted a long, long, long time.  When we were in high school he had a few things decorating his room--miniature Air Force planes and Lamborghini posters.

Well, my decision just got easier.  I no longer needed to pick which Ferrari, I just needed to decide how long a test drive in the Lambroghini.  They offered rides anywhere from 10 minutes around the city to an hour into the mountains.  These all started out very pricey and got exponentially more expensive.  20 minutes...that would have to do.

All along, while we were planning this, Ted was planning a day trip for the family that day in the opposite direction.  It was fun for us to go along with this plan, and the kids did a remarkable job keeping the secret.

So that's the background.  Now let's get to the FUN!

Check out the shot Cory got--you can see the reflection of Ted and the "instructor/chaperone" shaking hands across the top of the car.

In the car, belted in, ready to drive away

Big smile before driving off

Returning

Big smile afterwards, too!

I think it was a good birthday present!

We're all of a sudden very much in love with Lamborghini Green!

Our friend took a spin in one of the Ferraris--

Love the "no pictures from the papparazi" look.

Another great ride!

And Cory wished with every fiber of his being that the cars had a backseat, but he had to settle for watching like the rest of us...

Lucy and her best friend, Lizzie

After all that fun, we drove around for nearly an hour and eventually found a little agriturismo that was open for lunch.  It had a playground area for the kids where I took a couple of pictures of them, because the grandparents like pictures of them the most!

group shot

Mary rockin' the silly face!

Lucy's BFF

Ted thinks the long hair on Cory is specifically meant to drive him crazy.

14 July Offertory (Romans 8:38-39) - Seeds of Courage

Kristi and Mary blessed the Chapel during offertory today.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hopefully Not the Last Trip to Venice

Ted and I had an afternoon/evening by ourselves, and we took the opportunity to go to Venice for a few hours.

Some shopping at Murano for some prosecco glasses, checking out the busy canal with the cruise ship sailing through and strolling through some of the quiet canals.  Dinner at Hard Rock, cappucino at a cafe, sunset at Rialto.  A good time.  Like I said, hopefully not the last trip to Venice.

Our Barcis Adventure, Part 2

The second geocache we hunted in the Barcis area was not quite as challenging, or at least not in the same way.  It did offer a very narrow path that was, on one side, a steep slope down the mountainside.

Again, we were glad Lucy was not with us--we also traveled smarter this time, leaving behind the unneccessary electronics.  We traveled along a path that was up from the river.  It offered the occasional pretty view, but mostly we had our eyes on the path.

We made our way around the manmade waterfall

And across some of God's waterfalls.

Eventually we descended to the river again, and began searching for the cache.  It took us quite a while to find this one--but Ted and Cory found it.

This giant boulder sliding into the water was cleverly hiding the cache.  There was a small opening through which you could crawl completely under the rock.

On the return trip we followed the high road for a while, but after the waterfall, we came down to the river...the narrow path was hot, buggy, and the grasses itched our ankle.  We were already wet, so walking through the river didn't seem so bad--although getting down the rocky slope was no easy task.

Riley was more prepared for water play on this hike than the previous...wardrobe changes make all the difference.

After that full day, we drove home, got Lucy from her friend's house, ordered pizzas and kicked up our feet, feeling very accomplished.