We love having visitors!

Last week, we were lucky enough to have a visitor come all the way over to Italy to see us...Auntie Michelle arrived on Friday the 10th and we were so excited to have her!

That first afternoon we got her settled in at home and went to our favorite eatery here in Italia, Regina's. 

 Regina's is our favorite for multiple reasons: the food is freaking delicious, the owners couldn't be more friendly, they speak English, it opens at 5:45 instead of 7:00pm like most and the food is delicious! Michelle was not disappointed, but she was tired. After traveling for 24 hours, that happens. So we headed home, made a quick pit stop for gelato, then really made it home and got ready for our weekend trip to: Tuscany and Cinque Terre!

Michelle was able to visit for 7 full days, which meant we were going to do a lot in those 7 days. Starting out with a road trip to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa (roughly 3 hours away).

We made it there in great time...tada!

Yep, as Pooks confirmed...it's still leaning! And the kids still grew bored quite quickly but we did get much better photos on this visit. Guess the 3rd time really is the charm!

We even snagged a family photo where everyone is smiling. No one is complaining of the sun or wind or being tired. Just smiles!

And to add to the collection of me being ridiculous, I present this gem!

Pisa really is a quick stop in Italy. Don't get me wrong, it's worth the stop but 1/2 hour is really all you need!

So we hopped back in the Swaggerwagon and headed to one of our favorite tiny Italian towns, Lucca. Not without a pitstop for Sissy first...

Once there we road the big 6 person bike around the walls. We asked a gentleman walking to take a photo, clearly he is unfamiliar with an iphone...

 But you can sorta see us all on there! We took a break 1/2 way around the city as two of the riders were annoying the crap out of me having trouble behaving. A time out seemed to help! I'll let you guess which 2 riders were having, issues.

 I really do just love Lucca. It's picturesque Italy. It's quaint, it has REAL trees, it's busy but not crowded. I just can't say enough good things.

 Now normally we can spend an entire day in Lucca alone but we were trying to show Michelle as much as possible in 7 days so we moved on to...Tirrenia. Tirrenia is a mapdot of a town right on the coast.

We walked around, we had dinner, we explored the beach (which strangely enough was covered in jellyfish...tiny jellyfish) then we made our way back to our hotel so we could get to bed at a decent time because Sunday we were going to Cinque Terre.

Continued in next post :)

How about seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa on your 50th birthday Mom?

Alternately titled : Yes, I am the coolest daughter in the world. 

I kid, I kid. But seriously, there are some perks to having your daughter move half way around the world!

On Tuesday, Nanaw's 50th Birthday, we woke up, she opened up a LOT of cards and memories from her nearest and dearest friends that I had mailed here, as did my Dad for his belated birthday. {Thanks again to everyone who helped!!}

 

Then we hopped in the car and drove the almost three hours to Pisa!

 

 Happy 50th Birthday Mom!!

After Pisa, we headed to the beach:

 After  bit of swimming and playing, we packed it up and headed to dinner. We wanted to watch the sunset while we ate...

Hope you had a great birthday Mom!