The Grandkids Visit

No question, grandkids are the most fun ever!  So our most anticipated visit was by our daughter Amy, son-in-law Scott, and grandkids Eliott and Lucy.  Right after they arrived, we fulfilled one of Eliott's wishes and rode a bullet train, up to Venice.  

Here is the family taking in their first sights of Venice from the Ponte degli Scalzi:

In Venice, you have to go for a gondola ride!



Eliott wrote a story for class about being a schoolkid in Venice and going to and from school on a vaporetto.  And now here he is, riding on one.

Walking around Venice, we happened upon a little piazza where a string trio had set up and were playing music.  Lucy said, "Hey Eliott, let's dance!"

Scott gets ready, then captures some of Lucy's moves.

After dancing hard, grandkids need an energy boost, and what better one than gelato.

Mom deserves an energy boost too!

After all that hard dancing and gelato eating, sometimes a kid just has to crash.

Back from Venice, we all wanted to go to the beach, and our friends recommended a beautiful one, Spiagge Bianche, south of Livorno.  The translation of the name is "white beaches" and it really lives up to its name.  These two pictures were taken by Amy and Scott, who are excellent photographers.

After a day at the beach, Amy and family spent three days in Rome.  When they returned, we showed them around Florence for a day, and the next day we had the grandkids all to ourselves while Amy and Scott did some serious museum visiting in Florence on their own.  We took them to the local pool and had a great time (As did Amy and Scott in Florence!).  Evenings at home were quiet affairs compared to being tourists.  Here, Grandma shows the kids how to play Candy Crush on her iPad.  Bad Grandma!