L'arte di non fare niente

If you found your way across the ocean today and flung open our bright green shudders I might be a tad ashamed at what you would find.  Both of us sprawled out on our yellow comforter with two books and a bottle of coke.  I think we're trying to find a balance but some days we wander out at ten and weave in and out of bakeries eating as many varieties of la bouche con crema as we can find before coming home to take a nap.  Ben and I have our own rhythm when we travel and except for that time I got food poisoning in Moab and had to spend the night in a campground outhouse before being hospitalized, we are usually on the same page.
 We're a good one part food, one part adventure and one part blank page.  And without ever really having the conversation, we know it is important to both of us that we get to experience community.  That is one if the things we love most about levanto.  People are very welcoming here and within a few days you get beautiful glimpses into family life and Italian culture.  It feels like a unique privilege.
On Sunday we found ourselves on the winding street up to the local church.  All the grandmas we're in their best church clothes with beautiful dark haired grand babies in tow.  There are no English speaking services here but it isn't difficult to follow along with the program and it is especially moving when singing the hallelujah chorus in unison.  Had we inherited a great sum of money we would have flown out a hundred of our closest friends and family to get married at this church.  Although secretly at night since we're not catholic or Italian.

At the heart of levanto is a large piazza where all kinds of events are held from operas to circuses to small concerts.  Two nights ago we decided to to attend what we thought was a concert.  We found our seats and waited for it to begin.  There was a large heart constructed on the stage so when the first couple came out we thought maybe it was a dating game.  Finally we realized it was a talent show for local performers.  The older Italian man who hosted was hilarious and some of the acts were pretty funny (like the teenage girl who sang One Direction) but in between the acts the band would lead the audience in a song.  You can tell it is a very close knit community and it gave me chills to hear them sing in unison.  And they even put the words on a large screen so we could sing along, so now I am sure that we are a deep embarrassment to our homeland.

Antiques and invitations

This morning (read eleven am), after I made the slow walk from the crystal clear sea to the outdoor shower (carved into a probably thousand year old stone wall), a bright orange butterfly landed next to my hand and I couldn't stop laughing.  I looked over at Ben and said, "a butterfly almost landed on me." And he said, "of course it did."  Do the people living here realize they wake up in a fairy tale?  Every walk leads us somewhere magical and I can't even make it through a novel because I don't want to look down.  On our anniversary I asked our beautiful hostess Chiara where we should go and she said, "I will call l'ancora della tortuga."  And there is no question that we will take the train to the turtle cave and eat whatever they put in front of us because it just sounds like the most romantic place on earth. And of course it was perched on a cliff overlooking the sunset and the food was amazing and the hostess gave us special sangria because, "Chiara is-a my friend-a."  So we've been here four days and even though there are five more I feel panicky that we won't fit it all in.  And by all I mean the thirty gelato favors I want to try.

The courtyard outside our room

The restaurant in monterosso

Last night we heard about an antique market in sarzana so we decided to drive up and check it out.  I tried to convince Ben to buy a car and take a ferry across the Atlantic so that I could buy a dining room table and bring it home but I only got a blank stare, which I took as a no.  The town is actually situated inside castle walls and is where napolean's parents were born.  The piazza was filled with vendors and choosing dinner proved to be the first of many difficult decisions. The market was really dozens of streets lined with brightly lit lanterns and everything from antique furniture to African trinkets.  It was a good thing Ben said meet me at the ballon man if we get separated because I lost him somewhere between the jewelry and the Italian captain America comic books.

Will this fit in my suitcase honey?

Bruschetta, gnocchi, and pesto ravioli

The view from above

We finally decided to call it a night and leave the still full streets at near midnight.  I definitely wished my Lawson girls could have browsed the shops with me.  Food, antiques, and bargaining one euro off an old map of Paris, yes please.

Some kind of wonderful

Today Ben and I celebrate ten years since a lifetime of promises were spoken.  It only took about ten minutes to make those vows to each other and I am sure that neither of us knew the depths of what we were saying.  But we are slowly learning to read between the lines.

Many people know Ben as the funny guy in the room, or as an outdoor enthusiast, or maybe as the math teacher who wears pink vans.  The short of it is that he sings in the shower, bleeds Breaking Bad, makes a mean mix cd, loves the Avett brothers, has mad Internet skills, and is not afraid to dress up like Aladdin and pretend to fly Ava on a magic carpet.

The long of it is that he would do anything for me, he always makes the most nervous person in the room feel welcome, he is fiercely loyal, he makes me laugh until my stomach hurts, and he lives his life without any hypocrisy.  He is my love, he is my love, he is my love...

Like most marriages, there are chapters I would rather forget.  There are times I have wondered why it has to be so hard and times I have wondered how it could be so easy, probably in the same day.  The real beauty in our story happened over countless nights of house hunters international as much as in climbing mountains and sunsets in Hawaii.  It happened in a doctors office when we couldn't find a heartbeat anymore.  It happened during a hundred kid bedtimes, during acts of brazen selfishness and a thousand apologies, during desperate hugs after a long day and years of weddings and funerals.
I never know what the next chapter will look like, I only know who wrote our story and I wholly believe that each year He is smoothing our rough edges until we fit together in a way that makes Him smile.

Happy anniversa-b!

A worthy journey

Well after what feels like a week of traveling we have finally arrived at our destination.  The church bells in levanto are a constant reminder that I am not dreaming all of this.  The town is bigger than I remember it but hasn't lost any of its charm.  Within an an hour of our arrival I was waist deep in the Mediterranean with a gelato in hand.  I know this week will be filled with amazing discoveries and breath snatching views bit I am mostly aching for a renewed sense of my creators presence and that His love would find us here and tie us together.

After driving through the night and parking our car in a (fingers crossed) legit parking lot.  We arrived at the Seattle airport.

The sun streaming through before our 7am flight.

New York City!  Where the people watching is fabulous but the food, not so much.

Making our fellow passengers nauseous with a little PDA.

It isn't too often that you can catch a sunset over Iceland.

Our big plans to wander through Helsinki became big plans to secure these benches.  My first thought was, we are getting too old for this.

After re-committing ourselves to staying awake we immediately slept all the way to Zurich where a family chat was definitely in order.

Then we picked up our rental car which far exceeded our last Switzerland car experience when the car (with the rental company's name plastered across it)'s horn failed ten minutes into our trip, and we had to drive through these small town's like we were in some kind of angry parade.

Ben was definitely in his happy place, weaving through the Swiss alps until finding our hotel in the southern lake region.  I don't know how we end up in these places but again the people were wonderful and the cobblestone streets made me smile from dusk till dawn.  And the cows had giant bells on their necks that you could hear at all times.  Right?!

I think that brings us to about 12 hours ago when there were a few incidents involving jet lag, an aisle of Swiss chocolate at the grocery store, not enough time to take photos, and less than loving tones.  

But all of that is forgiven as the Italian light streams through the bright green shutters.  My love is stirring and the chocolate croissants are calling...

Will these vacation photos ever end?

I don't know about you but it's been a ding dong circus around these parts.

Don't even get me started on the laundry and the mail pile.

Coming home after a whirlwind few weeks on the road and then packing up two nights later to camp with our small group homies and Ben and I being a mere five hours away from our great adventure across the ocean has left more than a few butterflies in my stomach.

First of all, it's an embarrassment of riches but I still like to carry the, I'm freakin exhausted card, in my back pocket.  And of course the mom guilt of leaving my kids for twelve days rages hard and has led me down a path that causes Ben to reconsider being married to me.  All the crazy seems to have been checked off the list and only the final goodbyes are left.  They are in the very capable hands of their Tia and grandparents and obviously they're pretty distraught.

But before we get our adventure going I wanted to post the last of the cousin cuteness.  We finished up our family time in San Diego and managed to fit in a wedding, Mom's 60th birthday party, a trip to Sea World and some frolicking on the beach.  It should be enough to hold all of us until Christmas.

Gettin their nails did

 Mom's reaction after Dad sang her celebration song

two beauties

 Shamu show!

 They had no idea how much water was about to come their way

 Sammy the sea lion, definitely nature in its purist form

 Madagascar live!  Because nothing says ocean education like dancing lions.

 Sesame Street land rides

 Elmo's flying fish

 This is what we like to call, Sea World burnout

 We don't let a few clouds spoil our beach fun

 All gussied up for the wedding.  Seriously, when are they not in matching outfits?

 Ok, this one surprised me.  At the reception each table had to send up a representative to say something about the couple in order to get dinner.  So Ava decides she wants to sing Love Story by Taylor Swift since the bride's name was Taylor.  Daddy gave her the lyrics on his phone and she sang it beautifully in front of a hundred people.  Who knew?

 And then it was time to party.

Another great family vacation stored up in the memory banks.  I think the littles must be getting used to these gypsy summers of ours because they took each day as it came and impressed both of us with their ability to adapt to all kinds of crazy.  Let's hope the streak continues...

A little bit Disney and a whole lot of insanity

We coasted into town Wednesday midnight after a marathon eleven hours straight from San Francisco and it was a good thing since Ian was wearing his last diaper and mama had enough angry pms hormones to fuel a small city.  After 23 days on the road and nearly every night spent together in the same room we were all happy to be back in our own beds.  We had such an amazing trip and very few bumps in the road which is kind of miraculous considering all the coordinating it took.  Both of the kiddos counted Disneyland as their fav California memory and it isn't hard to see why.  As manufactured and commercialized as it is they love every minute of our time at that park.  I have friends who say they will never go to Disneyland and I have friends who go every single year.  It's definitely a personal decision every family must make for themselves.  It's hard not to get into the spirit of it when your there.  Once you figure out the timing of it and go all in with the crazy six am wake up call to hitting the pillow well after midnight it's a ride you love and then are happy to get off.  Here's some of my favorite moments.

Our first morning heading into the park.  The girls were beaming with excitement.  Ian was probably still sleeping in the stroller.

 After taking Ian on pirates of the caribbean we decided to do splash mountain.  Probably not the best idea since I know Ian is tall for his age.  He hit the mark physically but emotionally it was a whole nother ball game.

I felt so bad since he was waving to all the characters and singing along the bouncy path.  And then boom, out of nowhere he sees the drop.  "I'm never going on a ride again!  Bad ride!"  I had to take him on the Winnie The Pooh train twice before I regained his trust. 

This gang on the other hand...

 Then we ran into this lady.  Who was the first evil queen I'd ever encountered at Disneyland.  The kids were excited and terrified at the same time.  She sent them off with a, "And please, have a horrible day."

 Autotopia is one of our favorites!

 Even the shuttle plays disney movies

 After naps and the pool we headed back to the park in full costume.  

 They always cause a scene with their cuteness.

 Proud grandparents

 Meeting the main mouse

 Ending the night in style

 The next day we were up bright and early again so we could get Ian into cars land before the really crazy began.  We learned our lesson from last year and got our fast passes early so he could get on all the rides.  He was one happy boy.  

First stop was the Mater ride

 And a little meet and greet with Red

 and Mater

and Lightning.

 Then Luigi's flying tires, which Mama thinks is a little lame, probably because last year she waited two hours to get on.  This year there was no line and not surprisingly, a lot more fun.

 Of course, Ms. A wanted to show her stuff and pose in the tires.

 We love Cars Land!

 Only here do you get five gallons of lemonade for breakfast.  They even top it with pomegranate whipped cream for a little Disney flare.

 Then we took it easy with a few shows and got to meet the new girls in town, Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First.

I thought Ian was going to charge the stage when Jake showed up but he showed a little restraint.

Then they got a little time with Mr. Mouse

 Until next time!