First day of school

 Today was the first day of school. Elan and Mila are back on the same bus, although the first stop is for Mila and Peabody Middle School and then Elan continues on the bus for Sanborn Middle School. 

Meet Sun and Moon

 Mila used her birthday money to buy Sun and Moon, which are Chinese dwarf hamsters. We spent the day getting to know these funny animals and setting up their cage. Mila was very excited to bring home two furry pets.

Long travel day home

 Today we got up early to a text that our flight was canceled! So we quickly rebooked and headed to the airport. Luckily we got there in time for the kids to have pizza for breakfast before our flight. It has been a exciting and exhausting two weeks! It was wonderful to arrive home and get to go to bed at home. Next up....Middle School!

Vatican City

 Today we spent the day exploring Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. Both were completely overwhelming. Every wall, floor and ceiling were covered with art and gold. We climbed to the top of the dome and had great views of Vatican City. After some pizza for lunch, we wandered around Rome, being silly before eating more pizza for dinner. Today is our last vacation day. Long travel day ahead of us tomorrow!

The Colosseum

 Today we spent the majority of the day exploring the Colosseum. We started with an underground tour, which only allowed 25 people in at a time. It was impressive how big the Colosseum and surrounding ruins were; we spent half of the day there and didn't see it all!

 

Cerveteri

 Today was the end of the cruise. We were picked up by our driver and taken to Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri, which is an ancient Etruscan civilization on the outskirts of Rome and dates back to the 500s BC. After, we drove towards Tuscany, visited a castle in Bracciano and then had lunch in town where no one spoke English except our driver. It was a very authentic lunch! Then it was back to Rome.

Pisa

 Today we spent the day in Pisa, including getting to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is something I never thought we would do. Then we went out to lunch in town and walked around for a few hours before heading back to the boat. Once on the boat the kids participated in the magic show before dinner.