Enamored with Cinque Terre

May 17:  Today we woke up bright and early and said goodbye to beautiful Rome!   We would have been happy to stay another week, but alas, it was time to move onward.   We took a train to Pisa and walked from the station to the infamous leaning tower (with all of our luggage) so we could take our obligatory propping-up-the-tower photographs.  

We were only mildly successful in our attempts....

so we branched out and tried other poses too....

Or in Adam's case just stood there for good measure.....

And we're Goolds, so we had to do a jumping picture too!

After Pisa, we got back on the train and headed to La Spezia, where we were spending the night.   La Spezia itself isn't that beautiful a town, but it does lay claim as the home to the main train station that brings you to Cinque Terre.   So as soon as we arrived, we dropped off our luggage and headed for the station!    

Never heard of Cinque Terre (which is pronounced "Chink-uh Tair-uh") ?   Let me enlighten you with  photographs that will make you drool and immediately add Cinque Terre to your bucket list too!  

Cinque Terre is Italian for "Five Towns".  These five picturesque towns happen to lie on the west coast of northern Italy right on the Mediterranean Sea.   You can hike or take the train to each town.  We were short on time, so we took the train from town to town, then got out in Corniglia and hiked to Vernazza, because the guide books said that this hike had the best views.

It was about a 90-minute hike....

through some mighty gorgeous scenery....

We were pretty enamored with the whole experience...

When we neared the town and came across this restaurant right on the side of the cliff...

we decided to stop, eat dinner,  and watch the sunset over the town of Vernazza.  

Between the hike, the scenery, and the seaside dinner, it ended up being one of our favorite experiences of our entire trip!

If you're planning a trip to Italy anytime soon, I highly recommend a couple of days in Cinque Terre...

Our only disappointment of the whole experience....

is that we didn't leave ourselves enough time to hike between all five towns.

I'm pretty sure there's a spot in heaven that looks a lot like this picture....

Amo bella Italia!
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The Big 1-2!

In honor of Adam's 12th birthday yesterday, here are 12 random facts about him:

His birthday cake…a mint chocolate ice cream cake made by Emma

1.  His favorite dinner is lasagna and breadsticks
He tends to love any pasta dish as well, but usually makes some kind of sandwich when it's his turn to make dinner.   In fact, he makes himself a fancy panini almost every day for lunch, which includes pesto, fresh avocado, cucumber, and lunchmeat.

2.    His favorite treat is apple pie
 …and his favorite breakfast is apple walnut pancakes.  For his birthday he requested chocolate mint ice cream cake, which Emma was more than happy to make for him.  She tried the tutorial on my food blog for buttercream transfers and ended up making it  gorgeous as well as delicious.   Lucky for him, apple pie season is coming up and he will get some at least a few times over the next couple of months.

3.   Has a scientific mind and loves to figure out how and why things work       
I can count on Adam to be right by my side whenever we have something that needs assembling or fixing.   In fact, when Glen was out-of-town recently, he just took over assembling the fire pit we had recently purchased.

4.   He is still our resident bird expert  
His second grade teacher lit a fire in him to love and appreciate the beauty of birds.   Although our entire family now enjoys birdwatching as well, he still is by far the best at identifying the different varieties of birds.  

5.  Wears shorts and t-shirts almost exclusively…no matter the season
I can get him to wear a jacket at least in the winter, but even when temps dipped into the teens last winter, he still wore his shorts and t-shirts every day.   The only time he'll wear long pants willingly is to go to church and on campouts.

6.  His favorite outfits are monochromatic (i.e. an orange shirt with orange shorts)
He doesn't do it as much as he used to, but for several months earlier this year, he would almost invariably wear green on green, navy  on navy, orange on orange, and black on black.

7.   Really enjoys fishing
Adam has really taken to fishing this past year.   He won a fishing derby earlier this year and really enjoyed all the practice fishing he got to do with his daddy in preparation for it.  Glen wanted to make sure I also mentioned the awesome rainbow trout Adam caught in Utah.

8.   Doesn't like changes in routine
Ever since he was a baby, he's been our slow-to-warm-up kid who needs extra time to adjust to changes in our routine.   The beginning of a new school year is always particularly a challenging time for him and this year is no different.

9.   He is the family rule enforcer
Whether we are about to cheat on a diet or someone is trying to skip out on their daily chores, we can count on Adam to point it out and keep us on our toes.

10. Has always needed less sleep than the average kid his age
BUT  he also is by far the grumpiest and most nonfunctional of my kids when he doesn't get his required amount of sleep.   We all pay dearly for his lack of sleep at scout campouts and late nights with friends.  

11. Loves to program our Lego robot to do silly and pointless tasks --like spin in a circle for 3 minutes or go up and down the hallway over and over again.   He actually is quite good at programming it to do functional tasks (functional for a toy at least) as well, but as per his scientific mind, his favorite way to use it is to experiment with it to see what exactly it is capable of doing.

12.   Enjoys reading the "39 Clues" book series
…and the "Harry Potter" series, the "How to Train Your Dragon "series, and the "Percy Jackson" books!

We love our Adam boy!   Happy birthday to you!  

A Few of My Favorite Things

In most regards I'm somewhat of a cheapskate when it comes to shopping.  I buy whatever's on sale and don't think about it again until I start to run low.   Over the years though, I've found that there are a few items that are totally worth splurging on.   This post is dedicated to those....

Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Daily Moisturizer --I've tried all the other reasonably priced moisturizers and won't use any other brand.  It has just the right balance of making my skin soft without feeling greasy.  I love the subtle smell and the fact that it has the sunscreen built in.  

Tide laundry detergent--I've tried every name and store brand there is and there just isn't anything better for consistently getting my laundry clean and fresh smelling.  I buy it by the truckload at Costco!

Bath and Body Works air fresheners--They're fresh smelling without being overpowering.  I also like that they're pretty to look at too.

Trader Joe's frozen orange chicken--it's not healthy and it's only cheap compared to fast food, but man oh man, in just 10 minutes I can whip it up with some instant rice and I know everyone will devour it!  It's my favorite crazy night dinner.

Marriott Rewards Visa-- With all of our monthly expenses going on here, the points rack up quickly.   I don't know when or where, but someday we're going to go somewhere fun and exciting and not have to pay a penny for our hotels.

Cheerios--Okay, so this one is boring, but I love Cheerios.  I eat it for breakfast, I eat it on yogurt, and before I gave up sweets I even ate it on ice cream.   Someday I'm going to eat a bowl of Cheerios on top of the Eiffel tower with a beret on my head while holding a poodle.

Goldtoe ankle socks--They're comfy cozy, don't slip off my heels, and they last forever.  The only bad thing  about these socks is that Spencer is always trying to steal them from me.

Nike Air running shoes--I've had a pair of Nike Airs (many consecutive pairs, not just one) in my wardrobe since I was 15 and I love them as much today as I did then.   They're perfect for chasing kids, traversing mud puddles, and cooking dinner.  I wear mine every day.

Oral-B Satin floss --One day I was feeling cheap and bought another brand of  floss and within a week after having to tug between each and every tooth I actually pulled a cap off one of my teeth.  After the humiliation of traipsing into the dentist with my "tooth" in an envelope for him to cement back on, I decided that this luxury was well worth it!

Crayola crayons and markers--After five kids and eleven years of home co-op preschool---I've learned the hard way that I'll never buy another brand.

Toyota--Acceleration problems or not, we LOVE our two old Toyotas.  They're by far the most reliable cars we've ever owned and we intend to run them both into the ground!

5 gum-- I chew it when I'm  craving sweets, I chew it when I can't get to a toothbrush, and I chew it when I'm feeling rebellious towards my mother who hates gum almost as much as she hates communist socialists.   I'll send you a pack of 5 gum if you do your own post on your favorite things....

  

What are some of the things you won't skimp on?  Do you love (or hate) any of my favorites?    Do you have any good stories about discovering a favorite brand?   Does your husband agree with and support  your brand loyalty?

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