It’s rite of passage day around here again:

(Apparently phone boy over there was cursing a blue streak and for every question muttered “why the $&@! would I need to know that?!” He did not pass.)

But my child did!

Sigh. Gonna be spending a lot of time in the passenger seat over the next six months. But totally worth it to swap “Mom, can I have a ride?” with “Mom, can I borrow the car?”

Nothing says “hey you’re in Italy” like a view of Mount Vesuvius out your balcony window. Or decor that colorfully celebrates its role in the demise of thousands.

Or more coffee for ants.

(Our AirBnB came with a lovely induction stove…and an aluminum coffee pot. FORTUNATELY I married an engineer who found some steel to save the day.)

You guys, Pompeii is totally real! I had no idea what to expect, but my guess was something bare bones like this:

Nope! It’s totally legit. We walked up and down real streets, imagining first century life with its shops, houses, theaters, and bakeries.

And the remains of a public toilet (nicer than some of the present day Italian ones, lol):

To round out what we saw in Vesuvius’s shadow, we spent a few hours viewing the artifacts removed from Pompeii for safe-keeping at the National Archaeological Museum.

We’ve been averaging about 15,000 steps a day, but we were still pretty exhausted after that day’s touring. Pizza to the rescue!

In a weird “wow, this isn’t how it worked in my day” convergence, The Girl has an online friend in Naples and the girls got to meet in person (attended by parents ensuring the other wasn’t actually a 40-year-old man). How small is this world?!

Our last day was a magical, golden tour up the Amalfi Coast made all the better by our champion guide Alberto and Marco the driver.

Marco embodied the spirit of Italian driving (which seems to be a massive game of chicken wherein he who flinches first must give way) and was the love child of Lurch and Jason Statham.

Alberto was our personal fount of endless knowledge/finder of cool back alleys/seeker of desserts for our entire three days – he was the best and we all love him.

The coast and the little towns (Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi) were gorgeous. Some areas were busier than others (oh Americans, when you stumble around loudly swearing at each other while carrying personal bottles of wine, you earn your reputation and make it hard for the rest of us, grrr). But the views made up for it:

And the food!

It was Good Friday, and evidence of Holy Week was everywhere.

And with that, we came to our final evening which we celebrated with a walk by the Mediterranean sea and one last gelato.

And now Home we go! We’re currently in Paris after a 4:30 am wake up to get from Naples here and are waiting for our flight to Reykjavík and then Seattle. This last day of travel is always the worst, but soon enough we’ll forget about all these airport lounges and we’ll be making plans for our next adventure!

Despite living in Portland, I’m definitely not a coffee connoisseur. I love me a mug (or eight) but once I’ve hit a fairly low bar of “good enough” taste, I’m a quantity over quality gal.

Which makes traveling in Italy a bit tough:

(What is this – a cup of coffee for ants?!)

Luckily we found a moka pot and some grounds and after a few rounds of that each morning, I was good to go.

Yesterday we took our over-caffeinated selves to Vatican City! We realized a bit late in the game that online tickets would help us skip major lines and by that time the advance tickets were sold out. So my personal concierge found me a guided “Art and Faith” tour. (He totally knows my heart.)

Good thing too, cuz there were a few people there:

So amazing! Tapestries, sculptures, paintings – a treasure trove. The Sistine Chapel was underwhelming due to the swarms, so I was very glad our guide had given us a more detailed explanation before. St. Peter’s Basilica was by far my best.

On so many levels I felt removed from the expressions of faith I saw, but it was nonetheless humbling to know that this too is part of God’s holy Catholic Church and that this Sunday we will all be saying “He is risen, indeed!” together.

Unfortunately, the Vatican and the hourlong walk home broke The Boy:

The Girl had already spent the day in bed because she was sick, so we all just napped and played on our phones before sending the grownups out to forage for food to round out the day. Oh well. We just passed the one week mark, and that’s usually when we all start to get a bit testy.

Today was another train and another city. My favorite one yet – Naples!

It is so fun here! Crazy and loud and constant near-misses with scooters and mazes of cobblestone alleyways.

And you never know what’s through an innocuous-looking doorway:

Tonight we met Alberto, our personal guide for the next three days. Our first adventure was a food tour! We started with dessert – baba and stragfiotelli (sp?).

Then over to Alberto’s favorite stop for smoked provolone to try a variety of cheeses and a special Easter treat.

Then the main event: make your own pizza!

So fun! So good! So “can I have a pizza oven for Christmas please?!”

Completely stuffed, we headed for home. Just kidding – we went for gelato (probably the best yet, even though Alberto was disappointed in us for skipping the whipped cream)

And NOW I’m home, cozy in bed being lulled to sleep by yelling Italians. It’s so great here! I almost want to tell Alberto to cancel the next two days and just let me explore, but then I’d miss the last two biggies of this trip: Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Wouldn’t want that!

Another flight, another city…

Off to Rome yesterday!

Not gonna lie, too many late nights and early mornings (plus many miles walked in between) and I fell into the AirBnB bed pretty hard upon arrival. So it was up to The Husband and The Boy to get the lay of the land, including the inaugural gelato.

Fortified by a few hours sleep, The Girl and I joined them for a bit more exploring and some pasta and pizza.And some more gelato.

This morning we all slept in, so by the time we headed out for one of my famous walking tours (aka “I downloaded a map and it’s free so stop complaining”), we needed some kid calories.

Funny story – The Boy has a peanut allergy. (Well actually, that’s not all that funny.) We assured him over and over that in Italy his only concerns would be hazelnuts and pine nuts – nobody here eats peanuts. So we stopped at a hole in the wall cafe and ordered pizza. As with most such places, it’s family-run, and one guy takes orders, makes coffee, takes money, and also prepares the food.

This being Italy, there’s not a whole lot of handwashing in between these activities, but hey, when in Rome, right? That’s what strong immune systems and antibacterial wipes are for.

Until you notice said one-man-band munching on something behind the counter.

Here is The Boy’s face after he realized that the peanut-munching pizza-making proprietor prevented him from partaking:

Don’t feel too bad for him though. We made it up to him with this:

Everybody satiated, we finally started our budget tour. We dodged the rain drops in the Villa Borghese gardens and walked to the Spanish Steps.

After which it was time for gelato on our way to the Trevi Fountain.

Then we snaked our way through cobblestone alleys on our way to the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona.

All that walking called for a break, so we did as the Romans do and watched the world go by over happy hour at a cafe in another piazza.

Rested and ready, it was time for today’s highlight – a food tour!(If you’re going to have your first glass of wine, why not make it an Italian one in an ancient wine cellar that predates Christ?)

We also had cookies with a side of celebrity – a famous Italian actor (so we were told) walked in followed by the mother of an Oscar-winning costume designer. (I think we cared more about her cute dogs.)

Then on to porchetta (pork shoulder) and street-food suppli (fried rice balls) and (oh yes) more pasta:

(Sorry – I ate most of it before I thought to find my camera.)

And to finish? You guessed it!

Goodness gracious I’m full! And goodness gracious I’m enjoying Rome more than I thought I would. It’s chaotic and cobblestoney and disorganized and dirty, but it’s also varied and vibrant.

Speaking of, we’re off to The Vatican tomorrow! I gave The Boy a pass on museums today because tomorrow is the mother lode. Given his hatred of museums, I suspect there may be some bribery required as well. Fortunately there’s a gelato shop on every corner – we should be just fine.

So when I found out I was returning to Paris AND that we would be reuniting with our interns, I downloaded the Duolingo app to try to brush up on my French. Before I left, I was apparently at 50% bilingual.

(Lies. I probably couldn’t order pizza at that point.)

And yet that all changed after we took our bright-eyed bushy-tailed flight yesterday:

See, when I hear French spoken, I do this weird thing where I speak French back. Even if I don’t actually know it! (It’s even better when I’ve been drinking. Then my French is formidable!)

Alors, when we arrived in Paris, one of our dear interns was there to greet us and I immédiatement switched to my awful language mix. But she didn’t seem to mind!

In fact, she and her boyfriend drove (DROVE!!) us all around Paris. First we toured le cimetière Père Lechaise where we got our graves on.

(That last one is Oscar Wilde. Last time I was here, there was no glass in front and you could still leave your lipstick kiss.)

Totally adorably, The Boy found himself a new idol and spent the day basking in the glory of her boyfriend (who was completely amazing and chatted video games and movies with him).

And gave him workout tips.

And even played Trivia Crack with him for ages while the rest of us ate the most AMAZING dinner.

(Noémie et Mohand, nous vous adorons!!)

Today was another golden day spent hanging out with our other intern. As we are staying in Montmartre, we of course stopped for a quick Moulin Rouge photo op before climbing alllll the way up to Sacré Cœur.

Then we revisited our Metro skills and subwayed over to my favorite museum – Le Musée d’Orsay – where we got our Van Gogh on and visited a familiar friend.

Then we enjoyed a walk along the Seine, a glass of wine in a café, and sending the kids to a movie so the grownups could do a bit more catching up.

(Ignore The Boy. He has decided this trip is his “no smiling” trip. I’m ignoring it myself – he’s eating and happy and even went to a museum today without complaining. I don’t care what he does when I record for posterity.)

Et finalement, after big hugs, back to our appartement where I’m now trying to do laundry in French.

Fortunately, ma français has improved so much that I’m AT LEAST up to 60% bilingual and I’m totalement up for ce challenge.

Now if only my language skills could help me past the fact that France observes Daylight Saving Time tonight. Is it just me, or is it cruel and unusual that I have to spring forward TWICE this year?!

Zut alors indeed!

Country #1 complete! (Well, I’ve got a 4:30 am wake-up call and a bleary red-eye to go, but I think it’s safe to call it.)

When we were last in Iceland five years ago, we were still working out the kinks in our travel style. One of us (ahem) refused to eat, resulting in a hanger-fueled tantrum on Main Street that had me wondering exactly why I had decided not to spank again?

However, we’ve found our rhythm and this do-over has more than made up for it. Not only are we eating, but we went all-in on local fare on our first food tour.

I ate the traditional lamb soup, the smoked goose and local cheeses, the rye bread ice cream, the Skyr yogurt, the Arctic char and the “mostly lamb” hot dog, but I drew the line at horse (despite assurances that he was a “mean” horse).

We wandered off our food daze revisiting some sites and agreeing how much more fun it was when one of us wasn’t (ahem) yelling.

(Ack, they were babies!)

Crashed for a bit and then went out for dinner sans The Girl (who was maybe feeling the effects of a double portion of ice cream) – local beer and a reindeer burger.

(Nothing says “family fun time” like researching the Bill of Rights.)

Today was nature day and we toured the South Coast where we saw a glacier, a black sand beach (lava rocks everywhere here), and a couple of waterfalls.

We climbed all the way to the top of that one (The Girl lost count after 275 steps) and peered over the edge.

And then it was out for some more local beer and a lamb sandwich.

And one last hot dog…

Stuffed and happy, we’ve turned in and are being lulled to sleep by the thudding of the nearby clubs (this is a major party town after dark). Off to Paris tomorrow! At least, I hope so. Both trains and planes were at least partly shut down over there today due to a strike (how French!), so we’ll see how much of the chaos has dissipated by 5 am tomorrow. Which is when I leave for the airport. Oy!

This winter was tough. And that’s all Imma say ’bout that.

But! Spring is here and with it, our annual adventure! This year we’ve headed to Europe: a couple of faves (Reykjavík and Paris) and some new spots (Rome and Naples).

We just got to Iceland (woot!) and to get here we’ve taken one bus, one train, one car to Seattle, another bus, one tram, one very loooong plane ride and now we’re on our final bus of this leg.

Getting there’s the hardest part, right?

(Huh, looks like Winnipeg out there)

Onwards friends! Here’s to ten days of food tours and visiting volcanos (active and Pompeii-ish), checking in on some interns and NOT getting run over in Roman traffic. Maybe we’ll even see the Pope!

Our New Year’s resolution around here is to explore more of Oregon (aka The Husband has decided we aren’t adventurous enough [to which I say, “what?! Just last week we had that nail-biter moment where the Internet wasn’t quite fast enough to run Call of Duty AND Netflix AND Minecraft so I had to resort to a real paperback book – it almost did us in!]). And so this last weekend, we went to Ape Cave.

I was promised a “moderate hike.” I got this:

WE WENT UNDERGROUND AND IT WAS VERY SCARY (BUT DON’T TELL MY KIDS I SAID THAT CUZ THEY LOVED IT).

Here we are heading off to Ape Cave (at this point, I still thought it would be like one of those guided cave tours sans guide and BYOHeadlamps because this is ‘MURICA and they’d never let you do something THAT dangerous because litigation, right?):

The kids pooh-poohed Lower Cave (“the easy exploration of a spacious lava tube”) and decided to head straight into Upper Cave (“more difficult travel through a smaller, longer, and more rugged lava tube to an exit [after which you] enjoy an easy return hike winding through shady forest and crusty lava formations”). No worries, right? I’m a big hiker, it’ll be all good.

Oh, is that scrambling over large boulder piles of various levels of stability? Dodging subterranean waterfalls? Scaling 8-foot rock faces? Why yes, YES IT IS!

The kids rocked it (heh). They took turns leading the way (shockingly, we were the only ones down there aside from a couple we met halfway [who were on what looked like the worst first date ever]).

ARGH!

About 3/4 of the way through, there’s this awful tease of daylight where I forced an obligatory family selfie (if I’m going to face my subterranean fears, Imma get a picture of it).

I almost cried heading back into the depths after seeing that peek of light, but finally, FINALLY we made it to the exit. Oh what’s that? A rickety ladder leading through a teeny skylight to freedom? Why would I expect anything less?

(Can I just say here that daylight is highly underrated?)

Happily three-quarters of us LOVED the adventure and the less-enthusiastic quarter took the advice she always gives to her children (“the only way to end this is to get through it and it doesn’t help to complain, so might as well just keep going”) and so we returned to the car and our well-earned sandwiches with no injuries, happy hearts, and a plaintive request for the next adventure to involve fewer caves and more breweries.

But I’ve got my prepper stockpile at the ready just in case.

(I even have a 5-gallon bucket for pooping in. Seems I may need it.)

(For some reason The Husband is “Chicken Nugget 4000,000” on my phone. Because teenagers.)

(From one of the best scenes ever…

I knew I hadn’t checked in for awhile, but August?! Oy. An unexpected break. I may not be dead, but our laptop certainly was, and blogging on a phone is very much not fun. So, our Black Friday laptop purchase is your gain and I’m finally back!

Ok, so I need to fill you in on the end of summer, all of fall, and the beginning of winter, yes? Seems like a tall order, but fortunately (or not, depending on your preference) this won’t be an overly long post because in searching through my pictures, I realized that I am very bad at taking them. Not that the pictures themselves are bad (although yes, they totally are), but that I just never whip out the old camera. Except for a certain someone:

Oh we heart this little piggie so! Sitka has turned into the sweetest family member and she gets passed around all day for snuggles. She has a little playpen beside me in my office and we keep each other company while I’m working and I send cuteness updates to The Girl while she’s at school.

Speaking of school, we’ve got a houseful of high schoolers now!

Their expressions say it all, don’t they? The Boy is in his freshman year and he’s totally rocking it. Something clicked and he’s doing homework unprompted, getting himself up and ready and making lunch each day, and even doing all his own laundry. The Girl is a junior and has a hilarious schedule that includes Metalshop, Art, Psychology, Anatomy, and Forensics (yesterday they studied “urine tests.” I inquired no further). Lately she’s been into listening to vinyl and napping with her pig.

She’s also been into a pretty major rite of passage:

Only a few hours and a couple of classes so far, but she’s doing great! She got to drive home from church on Sunday and was VERY proud to pass her youth pastor while in the driver’s seat.

We’ve had a bunch of guests this fall and it’s been fun exploring Portland and Oregon through their eyes. There were trips to the beach, food and wine tastings, the aviation museum (I *finally* understand how The Boy feels when I drag him to the art museum and he says “I don’t care about one single thing here”), and plenty of sitting on the couch and chatting. The Husband got to take up a few new passengers as well:

Now that gliding season is over for the year, The Husband is all in on his first love:

(You know it’s a big deal when he works out every day and says “no thanks” to beer even on a Friday so that he’s “ready for the big game.”)

Hallowe’en was super low key this year. The neighbours had a massive party, so The Girl hung out over there and played with some of her local babysitting charges and paraded Sitka in her costume (she’s a fish if you can’t tell). The Boy and a friend went to the dubiously-named “Candy Man”‘s house and came home with a ton of loot.

November brought my birthday (cake at dawn/in my bathrobe per family tradition) followed by a trip back to Minneapolis to check in on the work peeps.

(I am so crazy grateful for this work bestie! We can chat for hours about parenting and recipes and house stalking and THEN we get to go to work and admire each other’s bullet point prowess.)

And then for Remembrance Day weekend we snuck up to Canada to see our framily’s new digs in Kelowna. What a great city! So beautiful. A bit like a Canadian version of Portland 😉

We’ve been to a bunch of concerts this fall: OK GO, Feist, The National, The Shins, Rural Alberta Advantage, Typhoon, and (my best) Whitehorse. (Lol – do you love the CanCon?) I also went to see Martha Wainwright, but The Husband refused to attend so I found myself a fab plus one.

And as for me, I’m just grateful that it’s finally winter. Summer was so, so hard for me. It was crazy hot and I just felt wilted and lethargic for weeks. We had a gorgeous fall but honestly, it’s these dark-early-cloudy days that are my favourite. You’ll usually find me in one of two places these days:

And that’s all I’ve got folks! Nice to be back – here’s hoping my next post is sooner than four months from now. In the meantime, have a guinea pig: