Bluffton, South Carolina

Yesterday morning we picked up the "Bat Mobile"...  Yaaaaaay!  Then we raced over to Bluffton, SC where my parents are.

It's hot here, in the 80's, we aren't used to it and for sure didn't pack for it!  But what a beautiful day!  We went to Beaufort this morning, walked around a little and had lunch.

Panini and a beer...mmmmmmm

Me with Mom and Dad on the boardwalk

We are still struggling a little with the time change, but we are hanging in there!

Baaaack in the U. S. of A!

What a day!  We left Naples early yesterday morning (after the usual Naples delay)...

When we arrived in Munich we felt obligated to get a sausage and beer for breakfast...

We zipped through the airport in D.C with no problems, if you can believe it!  And finally, we made it to Charleston, SC.

After a good nights sleep (thank you ambien!) we are off this morning to pick up the Bat Mobile (infiniti).  

And later this afternoon we'll be driving a couple of hours down South to where my parents are "Wintering".

It's good to be back and we are looking forward to slowing the pace down for the next few days before we start the house building process.

Good-byes

I hate saying good-bye more than anything!  It was a tear filled day...but the only thing that made it a little easier was that we were saying ciao...not good-bye, we'll be back!

It seems to be a little easier for Stu!!

We had our "Last Supper" with Paolo and his beautiful family.

Brothers forever...

Grazie once again Paolo and Stefiania for another great evening!

What could be better than this!

Too Funny!

This is a little good natured humor for our Italian friends!

The difference between Europeans and Italians...

Logan Update

Logan is almost 5 months old...time flies by so fast!  He started 2 things this week; he's now sleeping in his room in his crib at night (not just for naps anymore) and he started eating rice cereal!

Looks good anyway!

Laurie and Logan on St. Paddy's Day

Matt and Logan out for a walk

Moving Day(s)

Well, the time has come...we are officially moved out of Casa Allen sul Vesuvio and have moved into the hotel on the Capodichino base.   It's perfect, basically a one bedroom apartment with a washer/dryer and wi-fi...it will do nicely for the next 7 days.  

Have you ever wondered what 80 lbs of cheese looks like??  Well... wonder no more!

We'll be eating Parmigiano for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of our lives!  We are also bringing back lots of tomatoes and Greek olive oil.

And coffee, coffee, coffee for everyone!  I've gotten really, really good at making espresso!

There goes our stuff....see you in about 5 months (we hope)!!! 

Ciao guys, take good care of our things!

Our house...a mere shadow of it's former self.

We just have a few more things to take care of before we finally turn the house back over.

There's my pretty girl!

I'm really, really going to miss her, but she belongs here and will be well taken care of.

Our "Last Lunch" at the house.

Italian pizza and a Jamacian beer...

The side of the box says "the laughter, the beauty and the pizza".  I couldn't have said it any better myself!

Sophia Loren and an old Italian comedian Toto, on a pizza box... Gotta love it!

Padre Pio, pray for our shipment!

Lunch at Paolo's

After working our butts off all day Saturday and Sunday morning, we needed a break!  Paolo invited us over for lunch and we were grateful to get away from the house for a little while.

Paolo, Stefania and their two girls, Mara and Roberta live right in Naples, well above it really.  Their view starts where ours ends.

They have the biggest balcony we have ever seen! 

This is Ron, probably the biggest German Shepard I've ever seen...what a cutie!

The have a great view of the Naples stadium where the soccer matches are played.  They say that during a game if Naples scores, they hear the cheering outside before they hear it from the TV!   Naples played Milan Sunday (in Milan, thankfully!), but the final score was 1-1.

Grazie Paolo and Stefania!  Another great day and meal and I got some new recipes from Stefania, so we'll be able to take more of Italy home with us...I love that!