When in Rome

 At the beginning of the month the kids had a fall break so we decided to take advantage of it and hop on the train to Rome.  It's just a quick two hour trip on the high speed train, and our kids hadn't ridden a train before so it was exciting for them too!!! 

The train left at 7 a.m., and I bet it hasn't rained more than one day since we arrived in September, but the morning of our trip it was pouring!  So we started the trip with wet feet and tired kids.  But the excitement carried us through! 

After a quick stop at the hotel we were off to explore the city. Luckily the rain had stopped for a while! We rode the hop on hop off bus, another first for Zach and Lilly.  We hopped off at the Colosseum and had your typical Italian food for lunch.  Pizza and pasta of course.  Only problem, our kids don't love pizza or pasta. After wiping off the sauce and a promise of gelato afterwards, they decided they could eat.  

We had booked a tour of the Colosseum for late afternoon so we had some time to kill.  We walked around exploring with some mist in the air but everyone enjoyed themselves.  When it was time for the tour the rain let loose.  We enjoyed the Colosseum from the view under our umbrellas.  It was a highlight of the trip even in the rain!  

 Immediately after the tour we hopped back on the bus to our hotel.  After a hot shower we were warmed up and ready for dinner.  We had a great server and he was very impressed our boys new some Italian, he even brought them some candy after their meal and showed us pictures of his boys.

Day 2, the rain let up thankfully and we had the day to ourselves with no tours booked we walked and walked most of the day.  We saw all the famous sites, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, had gelato, Piazza Navona, McDonalds, and the LEGO store.  Some how those last two snuck in there!  We came home with several treasures and everyone really enjoyed the day despite the 20,000 steps! 

Our last day we had scheduled a tour of the Vatican.  I was determined to see it after we missed our tour the last time we were in Rome.  It was incredibly busy, wall to wall people but beautiful and amazing all at the same time. We enjoyed a little lunch and of course more gelato outside the Vatican before the rain cut loose!  We grabbed a cab and we headed back to the hotel before we had to catch the train back to Bologna.  

It was a short and semi-sweet trip but one for the books.  We have been to Rome twice now.  Once in the scalding heat and the other in the rain.  Maybe the third time is the charm.  It's a beautiful city full of so much amazing history.  It was fun to relate it back to the bible for the kids and they really were intrigued by all the history of this great city.  We had a great time overall and are so thankful for these little opportunities to show our kids some of the most famous places in the world.  

Next trip, Iowa, in just 2 weeks we will be home for three weeks to celebrate Christmas!  We're really looking forward to it.  Ranch dressing, Chick Fil A, frozen pancakes (the kids not me) with real syrup, goldfish crackers are on our list of things to eat and of course we can't wait to see our family and friends! Happy Holidays from all of us!