Nick and Jen Lloyd

MLK day meant a few extra days this weekend so we decided to head for the port town of Genova to check out their aquarium. It is supposedly one of the best in Europe. They are the only aquarium in Europe able to sustain antarctic tanks. There was also a biosphere, a children’s museum and all kinds of other stuff but we just did the aquarium.

There were TONS of little “nemos” in this tank, hanging out with the anemones. They were born at the aquarium, which I guess is special.

The antarctic brittle star, super pretty! They had some neat antarctic fish that I have never seen before.

And my favorite…Manatees!!! SO cute.

A dinosaur outside the aquarium made of tires and trash. His eyeballs were bowling balls.

Asiago is less than an hour away, so while Vicenza doesn’t really get snow, sledding is just a short trip away. And as a special holiday thing for kiddos, they had reindeer!

LOVE this house. The Italian colors with the German wood decks…my new favorite. It’s a perfect example of how Northern Italian architecture slowly blends into German architecture the further north you go. I’ve realized since living in Europe that the borders of each country are actually a bit blurry. The people who live close to the border often speak both country’s languages and blend both cultures in many aspects.

Well this first month with sweet little Declan has flown by. I keep telling him to stop growing but he doesn’t seem to listen. We are adjusting to being a family of four and juggling another little one. Jonah is a great big brother, he loves Declan so much and sings to him and kisses him every time he cries.

Christmas in Italy. We tried to go walk downtown in the “Corre Babbe Natale Corre” (Run, Santa, Run) but the bus schedule didn’t work out for us and we got there as all the walkers were crossing the finish line. While waiting for the bus though I had an entertaining conversation with a Romanian lady and a Russian lady, in Italian (obviously this was a second language for all of us).

After watching everyone else finish the walk/run, we wandered around downtown Vicenza and happened upon a “french Christmas market”. Which is super ironic because we had been looking for macaroons for my Mom to try when she was here, and of course right after she leaves we discover a french market in our backyard!

Declan is so fun to bring with us everywhere because Italians LOVE babies. People are so nice to us with a baby in tote! We found a super cafe downtown that we may have to go back to, the people were super nice and the food was delish.

We also drove out to a Christmas market in Bassano Del Grappa to see if I could get a replacement for my broken Bella Befana that I bought there last year…but the vendor wasn’t there this year. Oh well. The search for a new Bella Befana continues. (Bella Befana means beautiful witch, the story goes that the wise men told her to come see the Christ child but she was too busy. Then later on January 6th she decided she wanted to see the Christ child and give him a present but couldn’t find him so she brings presents to all the children.)

We spent Christmas at home in our PJs. Jonah got the Chuggington (train) toy he wanted so he was quite content. We rocked out to Christmas tunes and lounged around all day.

And the last photo is Nick with the most expensive Christmas treat EVER. That sucker cost $10! It’s like divinity with Nutella and hazelnuts in is…they have it all over at Christmas time and this one is from a vendor at the market. Nick always feels like once you ask and they weigh something for you that you have to buy it…..and he paid dearly for this one.

I love the expressions on the their faces, Declan is looking right at the camera too!

We were very lucky to have my amazing Mom here for a whole month. She was a huge help to all of us and we will miss her, Nick dropped her at the airport this morning. Thank you so much for everything Mom. And thank you Dad for letting us borrow her. Just thought I would share this adorable picture of her with the boys (in their matching Christmas outfits, yep, had to do it).

I’ve been wanting to check out the German Christmas markets so we planned a trip for while my Mom was still here. We drove up and stayed at the military resort, Edelweiss, in Garmisch Germany. On the way up we stopped in Innsbruck, Austria for their market. It was beautiful but REALLY cold so we didn’t manage to get out the camera much.

The next day we headed up to Munich, for the huge market there. We parked the car and walked up to the Marienplatz (main square) just in time to hear the Glockenspiel (really cool old clock) chiming and see the little dancing people on the tower. We wandered the Christmas market for several hours taking it all in. And yes, I know I look ridiculous in the pictures but I was trying to keep my new baby warm.

Then before heading home we made one last stop at the “Disney castle”, King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein. Right next to Neuschwanstein is another castle, the one Ludwig grew up in. We opted to tour Neuschwanstein, which was never completed due to Ludwig’s death.  They don’t allow photos inside so you’ll have to take my word that it was neat, Ludwig was an interesting guy with an affinity for the opera which inspired the design of the castle.  My favorite was his bedroom, it was full of so much wood carving that they said it took 14 carvers 4 years to complete. His bed had tons and tons of spires coming off the top of it.

Check out this website to see photos inside the castle

And lastly a few photos of the fancy military resort lobby with their beautiful Christmas decor up including the most awesome Santa chair.

Declan is a very content baby. The only time he really cries is when you change his diaper or give him a bath. He grunts progressively louder when he is hungry. When he is awake he looks all around, taking it all in with his pretty blue eyes. He poops and then after you change his diaper he always poops again, it’s a talent I’m pretty sure. He doesn’t scream at us anymore (he used to scream really high pitched when you changed him, now he just cries).

Jonah had hand foot and mouth starting the day we brought Declan home so he wasn’t allowed to touch the baby for the first week. But now that he is over it, he has been surprisingly gentle with Declan and loves to kiss him every chance he gets. Jonah has been busy helping Grandma cook and clean, he loves to do “team work” with Grandma. We loooove having Grandma here!

Nick got 10 days off for paternity leave and has been busy working on his computer certification and spending time with his boys. BOYS. Plural. Crazy.

We had our first snow here in Italy! Actually it did snow a little last year but it never stuck. Which is why when this snow started sticking Nick and Jonah ignored bedtime and went out to play. Jonah rolled up the middle ball for the snowman all by himself! A couple of neighbor kids joined the fun.