Granny Annie's Visit

Here are some photos from Granny Annie's visit! We had a really good time and Mo misses her Grandma. Looking forward to the next visit...

Vomero Pictures

Here are pictures of our place, minus Mo's bedroom which we will add later.

Greetings from Vomero!

We finally moved into our new place and have unpacked! It's so nice to have our own things including Morgan's toys, furniture and other clothes to wear! My Mom is here visiting and has been very helpful getting us organized and also has encouraged Morgan to take her first few steps. She's now walking a little on her own - very exciting!

Morgan has moved up from the infant class to pre-tots where they finger paint, sing songs, read stories, play in the kiddie pool and go on buggy rides. She loves it and the other kids. She is at the daycare where I work - a 5 minute walk from my office - and 15 minutes from our home.

So much has happened since our last update. Jeff and I watched the Tour of Italy and Lance cruise by (Giro D'Italia) on the Amalfi coast. We watched it with a Navy cycling group who all had fast road bikes. But since we still were living in the Navy Lodge just had our heavy, slow mountain bikes. It was a hard and hilly ride, but we had fun cruising the coast while Morgan was in daycare. We watched the peleton zip by!

June 2nd was Morgan's 1st birthday and we had a party for her at Carney Park which is in a crater. We invited a few of her friends from daycare and a few of our friends.


After Greece, our next trip was to Germany for a week. I had a tri-services conference in Sonthofen which is a small town about 1.5 hours from Innsbruck Austria in the foothills of the Alps. It was gorgeous and we absolutely love Germany. It would be a great place to retire as all the old people bike and look very young - though it's not a place for kids. I set Morgan on the table in a few restaurants and each time had waitresses rush over to tell me the table was for food not for bottoms! While Germany has no trash it also has hours where kids can't play on playgrounds (no noise - public ordinance) and reportedly idling your car for more than 90 seconds could be fined up to 90 Euros for wasting energy! Actually having a baby in Italy is the best place to be! The Italians are nuts about bambinos!!!

We went to Germany the weekend before the conference and took the train to Fussen to see the Walt Disney castle (Newenstein - or something like that). Fussen is an adorable town with so many places to walk! We loved it and stayed at a cute B&B. From there we took the bus to Sonthofen for the conference and then the train back to Munich. A couple of my friends, Ellen and Sofia (Italian I work with) also stayed for the weekend. We had a lot of fun walking the city and trying out the local brews!

A few days later, we were off to Sigonella, Sicily for another training. After getting thoroughly lost there bought a Garmin which is awesome! Now we can get anywhere - though driving and watching it is a skill and the accent is funny! In addition to a running buddy, I now also have some swim buddies and a cycling group. We've hung out socially with the cycling group, but have yet to really road ride. We also have some friends that want to go hiking with us. Lots of activities!

Sicily was HOT! And we were a bit tired of traveling, so saw a few places - Taoromina (cute beach town), Catania and Castigirone (famous for pottery). We took the ferry over and spent the 3rd of July there and saw the firework show at the Sigonella base.

My Mom flew in last Friday, but has been doing more mundane things like helping do laundry and sort Morgan's clothes. We did take her to another 1-year old birthday party, which was fun. Tomorrow we plan to drive to Ravello which is on the Amalfi coast where they are having a music festival. Saturday we are having a girls lunch followed by shopping. Summer sales in Italy are great - about 30-50% off!

Here are a few more recent photos. More to come with my Mom this weekend. Miss and love you all. We do have Skype so look for us and we can chat. Love Liz, Jeff and Morgan

Sicily