Aaron's 2-Day Trip to Rome

(Aaron wrote today's posts)
I caught a cheap Ryanair flight to Rome to meet my Dad to do some sight-seeing last week. Europe has several discount airlines that offer extremely cheap airfares. I booked this flight less than 2 weeks in advance and it still cost only about 50 euros (roughly $70). Rome is my favorite city so I was happy to find an excuse to go back.

(Ab0ve) Saint Peter's Basilica, the largest cathedral in the world. For 7 euros, we took an elevator up to the level of the statues of the saints. Then we had to climb 320 steps to the cupola at the top. It was the narrowest staircase I've ever climbed! Definitely not an activity for anyone who is claustrophobic.

(Above) Piazza Navona- a beautiful square where all sorts of artists were selling their paintings. I ended up buying a couple of them.

(Above) One of my favorite sites in Rome, the Colosseum. I couldn't resist doing the tour again.

(Ab0ve) Anyone who has watched Angels and Demons should recognize these two sites. On the left is Castel Sant'Angelo. On the right is Piazza del Popolo.

(Above) The Spanish Steps

(L) The Trevi Fountain- only a 5-minute walk from my hotel, Hotel Giardino. I definitely recommend this hotel since it's cheap and located within walking distance of most of Rome's famous sites. (R) Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

Grandpa Bill's Visit

Last week, Grandpa Bill came to Germany for a brief visit before his conference in Rome.

(L) Jack asked Grandpa to read him his favorite bedtime story, Disney's The Haunted House. (R) Jack sound asleep in bed with the new toy Italian police car Grandpa brought him.

(Above) Wandering around the old part of Heidelberg.

(L) Aaron running after Lucas on the famous bridge in Heidelberg. Lucas did not want to stay with the rest of us and kept insisting on running towards the gate. (R) The main square in the old part of Heidelberg next to an old church. These boys did not want to stay in the stroller.

(Above) Jack and Mom in the stocks at Auerbach Castle.

(Above) Jack has finally started to pose for pictures! Nice cheesy smiles. (Below) More photos of Castle Auerbach.

(R) Jack and Aaron looking down a deep well. Jack enjoyed throwing chunks of wood down the well and waiting a few seconds to hear the "thump" sound.

Kinderspiel in Mainz

About a week ago, we went to a birthday party at a kinderspiel or kids play house in Mainz. As you can imagine, Jack and Lucas had a ball climbing on the sets and riding the toy vehicles.

(Above) Jack and Aaron climbed up inside the jungle gym.

(Above) One of the kids' favorite things to do was to ride in the coin-operated bumper cars. Too bad for Lucas that he couldn't reach the gas pedal!

(Above) They had no problems devouring the Thomas-the-Train cake.

(L) Jack's a little too short to climb the wall by himself. (R) Lucas in the toddler area.

(Above) Jack bouncing on Aaron

(Above) A typical German kids meal

Christmas 2010

We celebrated a quiet Christmas this year, as we didn't have any visitors. Jack and Lucas had a great time opening presents, but it was probably a little too much for them, as they got a lot of new things and seemed to be a bit overstimulated by it all. Maybe we'll try to space the opening presents a bit more next year.


(Above) Jack's and Lucas' new train set. Unfortunately we didn't think to buy a train table before-hand, so Lucas ensured that the train tracks didn't stay together for long. We really wish more companies shipped to APO addresses- we're having trouble finding a decent-priced train table that can be shipped to our address. So the train set is in storage until we can get a table since we don't want Lucas to lose some of the pieces when he comes through the train tracks like Godzilla.

(L) Lucas was enthralled by Mr. Potato Head. It kept him entertained longer than any other toy on Christmas day. (R) The Little Drummer Boy

(Above) More presents

(L) Not sure if this was taken on Christmas day. (R) We had a white Christmas, which made Harmony real happy.