Sarasota, Florida – For years, we have been coming to Sarasota to visit the grandparents, but this is the first time that I learned about the Amish and Mennonite communities that live here. I first learned about the Mennonites years…

Sarasota, Florida – For years, we have been coming to Sarasota to visit the grandparents, but this is the first time that I learned about the Amish and Mennonite communities that live here. I first learned about the Mennonites years…
Princeville, Kauai – High-surf warnings have foiled our plans for a beach day today (unless we want to drive to the south shore, which we don’t). But we ended up dedicating the day to horseback riding and shave ice, which…
North Conway, New Hampshire – We can’t go to Florida for winter break this year, but we can go to New Hampshire! We have had so much fun skiing this winter, we decided to keep it going with a pandemic…
St Clair Shores, Michigan – The twins are kicking off their summer in Michigan this year. We usually come in August, which is prime Michigan summer. But this year the grandparents are going to be away in August. Plus we…
Venice, Italy – The glassmakers’ workshop in Murano was obviously a hit with the twins, because: fire. (Twin S now asking for a blowtorch for Christmas.) But there’s more fun to be had on the island of Murano. We didn’t…
Naples, Italy – So much for the gorgeous Amalfi Coast and the Isle of Capri. We won’t be seeing them. There’s a hurricane hitting Italy at the moment, so we went inside. In Naples. Actually, we went underground. Napoli Sottoterranea,…
Sorrento, Italy – Sampling the local food specialties is such an important part of learning about a culture. Lucky for us, the Sorrento specialties happen to be desserts. So be it! Yes, my family was cursing as I dragged them…
Madrid, Spain – Number one priority for a weekend in Madrid? Sunday afternoon in Parque de El Retiro. This was a fabulous (free!) afternoon. We packed a picnic and spent our time exploring the park, playing at the playground, and…
Venice, Italy – This is actually the second time we have spent a semester in Venice. The first time was a lifetime ago, before twins, in 2008. It was so long ago that I had a different blog back then.…
Venice, Italy – We’re easing into this “world schooling” thing. Here is our first day of school at our local cafe and favorite place to hang out, Serra dei Giardini.