We also went to the annual church picnic last week. Zach played frisbee with his good friend Mauritz, had a water balloon fight, played tug-o-war, and lots of other games. The cutest of all was a relay race where the kids had to crab walk---Zach was surprisingly great at it!
learning how dandelions work
buying our "new" very old bike at a flea market
thrilled to see a real-life game of "Kapow" at the Aker Brygge carnival
posing just like Daddy
exploring a nearby island
playing in the sandbox at our apartments
a game of "frees-bee" (as he calls it) with some friends from church
We got a card in the mail a few weeks ago notifying us that Zach had a dentist appointment scheduled (things sure do work differently here!), and yesterday was the day.
After a few minutes he finally relaxed and let the dentist do her thing and we were out of there in no time (she basically just counted his teeth and poked at a couple of them). No cavities!
We flew into Rome on Saturday and immediately set out exploring. After a fantastic dinner we walked to the Trevi Fountain, got some gelato, and found a place to sit and people-watch for a while. Then we walked to the Spanish Steps and got accosted by several guys selling roses..."ciao bella, do you want a rose...no?...it is my gift to you, bella..." Oh geez they were annoying! We walked up and down all 130-something steps, caught our breath, turned down a few more rose pushers, and headed back to our hotel.
The next morning we caught a ride on a double decker bus for some sightseeing. We circled the whole city, snapping tons of pictures of everything along the way. We hopped off near the Pantheon and toured that before walking through the Forum's ancient ruins. 
Somewhere along the way we came across a prison from the 7th century B.C. believed to have once held Peter. We walked further down the street to explore the Colosseum. We were pretty wiped out from all of that touring, so we treated ourselves to a nap at the hotel. We did some shopping and then relaxed at the Piazza del Popolo and had another delicious Italian dinner.
Monday was almost entirely devoted to touring various parts of Vatican City, including the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. We are not exactly art lovers, but even we were impressed by the intricacy of the murals and sculptures amassed in the collection. Wiped out once again, we rested up before enjoying a quiet dinner on the patio of at a little restaurant near the Colosseum. Afterwards it was more gelato and a stroll through the park (ah, the joys of travelling without the little man for once!).
On Tuesday we took an early train to Sorrento, passing through Naples along the way. We had splurged on a 5-star hotel perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and its own private beach, and we couldn't get into our swimsuits fast enough! 
After a well-earned day at the beach doing nothing at all, we cleaned up and went into the little town for a nice dinner and a pretty hilarious tour.
Wednesday was nearly just as relaxing. We took a ferry over to the nearby tiny island of Capri and spent the day hiking around to enjoy the amazing views. In Anacapri, we rode this very precarious-looking chair lift up to the tallest peak. There was nothing between us and the ground except a little metal bar, and each chair was only built for one so there wasn't even another person there with you to hold on to! 
A little frightening, but nothing compared to the bus ride back down to the marina---two buses passing full speed on a one lane road winding down the edges of the very steep cliffs! It was a gorgeous day in a very gorgeous place and we lived, so it was well worth it! We topped off the evening with another dip in the ocean and a yet another delicious Italian meal.
On Thursday we took a train about 30 minutes north of Sorrento to Pompeii. I had seen a travelling exhibit of some of the artifacts from this ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius at a Houston museum some time in elementary school, so it was pretty cool to be able to visit the real thing. Kind of a strange culture though---they cleaned their clothes in urine, had some really weird coming-of-age rituals, and were a little obsessed with combatting the "evil eye" with phallic symbols. 
We were anxious to wash off all of our ancient dirt with another swim at the beach, where Kelly got overly ambitious skipping stones (more like huge rocks) and nearly hit a lady with a small boulder.
My sweet husband and son woke me up on Mother's Day morning with breakfast in bed and lots of hugs. What great cooks!
Unfortunately mom took a little tumble on a step outside the station and injured her leg pretty badly. Some friends from church came through just a few hours later with a walker to help her get around, and we're headed to the doctor today to get it checked out thoroughly.
Mother's Day was more like Christmas here actually because Grammy came stocked with surprises from the USA. Zach is in heaven with his new Handy Manny work station and roller skates and I am already rationing out my new stash of Velveeta (there is just nothing else like it in the world, LOL!) and other American treats.
But the best surprise they brought was an ENGAGEMENT RING! That's right, Mom and David plan to tie the knot with a winter wedding while we're home visiting later this year!
fire-starters Elly, Kelly & Marlon enjoying the fruits of their labor 
Zachy enjoying his hot dog
Happy Birthday Elly!
hugs for Kaya
We headed straight to Liseberg, the biggest tivoli in Scandinavia and found lots of fun rides for Zach in the kiddie section. Adults weren't allowed on one he had eyed for a while---the airplanes. 
He was relucant at first, but after watching a few rounds, he mustered up the courage to ride all by himself. He was so proud of himself (as were we) and had an awesome time!
After a full day of fun riding rides and seeing all of the beautiful gardens there, we headed back to the hotel for a splash in the pool and then a good night's rest.
We explored more of the city today. Our favorite thing was a boat tour that took us through some of Göteborg's canal system. One bridge we passed under, nicknamed the "cheese-grater," 
was so low that we had to get out of our seats and sit on the floor of the boat ducking! The city is really beautiful and the ride was lots of fun.
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