Thanksgiving...Italian style!

The Vatican at night

Visiting ancient Rome

Mac's favorite discovery in Italy...breadsticks!

Mac's improv bathtub

Conquering the Spanish Steps, Rome

A rainy day at the Piazza del Campo, Siena

Piazza Navona, Rome

Thanksgiving night

Mac vs. the Japanese tourists, Assisi

Top of the campanile, Florence

Riding the caraosaul, Florence

Playing in the leaves at the Galleria Borghese

The long-awaited post on our trip to Italy is finally here! Dan came back last Sunday but Mac and I stayed a bit longer and made it home Wednesday night. The trip was truly wonderful in every sense of the word. So many humorous stories, antidotes and whatnot to share. I think the best part of the trip was getting to spend quality time together as a family. Both my parents and sisters joined us, which made the entire experience that much more enjoyable.

Over the course of 12 days, we visited Rome, several hillside towns throughout Umbria and Tuscany and Florence. All in all, we were completely smitten with Rome. So many amazing things to see and Mac was the absolute hit of the city! Everywhere we took him, women and men alike were cooing our our little boy. We also loved our stay in Siena, which is a beautiful walled city in the heart of Tuscany.

One story worth sharing - for Thanksgiving, we were all wondering what to do since we weren't exactly in a place where everyone was breaking out the turkey and stuffing. We were in Siena at the time and decided to go to dinner at this little local place called Trattoria Fontenuova. When we got to the restaurant, the only people there were the restaurant owner and his family eating dinner. They immediately set up a table for us and it literally played out like a movie from there. We were all laughing over our poor grasp of the Italian language, so there was a lot of pointing, nodding and agreeing with whatever our host recommended. We ended up with a feast of amazing Italian food from pici with wild boar sauce to pate to risotto with truffles and porcini
mushrooms. At one point, the owner's son and two daughters (who were in love with Mac) got up to play the piano and sing. They came by our table, grabbed Mac and set him right on top of the piano to clap and sing along. It was heartwarming and amazing and I'm sure in all my life I'll never forget that evening.

We're just beginning to sort through our 1,000+ pictures but here are a few of our favorites. More stories to come at some point but for now enjoy!