Ethan leaves for Italy!

Ethan and Nonna left for Italy on Tuesday.  They will be gone for 3 1/2 weeks!  Oma, Jim, Lucia, Gigi, and I took them to the airport to see them off.  Ethan was such a good boy and was very excited to go on the plane with Nonna.

We sure are going to miss this guy!

 He absolutely loved his carry-on bag Nonna got for him!  He was pretty cute walking around the airport with it!

One last family picture before he leaves.  Jim and I were able to hold it together and not cry when we said goodbye.  However, after we watched him go through the security check point and he was out of sight, I turned to Jim and said "well, we did it" and started crying.  I'm pretty sure Jim started crying then too, but I couldn't look him in the eyes because that would just get me going again!  It sure is hard sending your child across the world without you, but knowing he is with Nonna and his aunt/uncle and cousins sure does help!

Happy Birthday Grandma Sue!

We celebrated Grandma Sue's birthday this weekend.  Here's Aunt Kerri, Jim, Ethan and Lucia with the birthday girl!

Lucia was loving the birthday gear!

Grandma Sue and her baby girl!

Grandma Sue wanted pizza for her birthday, so all the kids got to decorate their own pizza pie.  Lucia had to be told more than once not to eat her pizza until it was cooked!

Addy with her pizza covered in olives!

Butterflies and MG

We spent a lot of time at Meijer Gardens this weekend.  On Friday, Oma joined us to see the butterflies.  There were a bunch flying around!

It was also super hot in the conservatory, Lucia's cheeks turned red in no time. 

Ethan, Lucia, and Oma enjoying a break. 

I need to get a picture of this kind of butterfly with it's wings open, they are a very brilliant blue color- quite awesome!

Today, we joined Nonna, Gigi Bree, and Kaylen for a walk at the Gardens.  

The kids had a lot of fun running and burning off energy. 

Nonna, Ethan, and Lucia walking towards the big horse. 

"I'm scared"  We came across a sculpture that Lucia did not like- she looked at it and then immediately looked down and closed her eyes.  

This is the sculpture, I think it was called "Sleepwalker."  It left quite the impression on Lucia, she was even talking about how "scared" she was at Meijer Gardens tonight at the dinner table.