Summer Stay in NC

The boys and I have just returned from spending several weeks in North Carolina visiting family. Our stay was packed with activities, from my brother's wedding (hurray!) to Tweetsie Railroad. Of course, it wasn't possible for Billy to come with us, having just come off two months of leave for his surgery.

We landed on U.S. soil for the first time in a year in New Jersey, at about 3:00am, via C-17. Since we were the only passengers, along with one other person, Landon and Logan were allowed to sit in the cockpit for a little while! From NJ, we shared a rental car to Bethesda, Maryland, where we met up with Granny and Pop.

We actually arrived on Granny's birthday! Pop tried to keep it a secret from her until he ended up circling Walter Reed for two hours....oops. Guess Google Maps wasn't the most helpful resource in choosing a meeting place! And of course, my Italian cell phone didn't work in the US.

 

 

We visited a donkey on my parents' road, Wilson, many times during our stay. He would get so excited when we got near his pasture! He is VERY loud......

 

Here are a few photos from the Lazy 5 Ranch, where we took a wagon ride and fed many different kinds of animals...by hand. It was a little intimidating, especially the Watusi cattle! But we had an awesome time!

Yep, we really were that close! Giraffes have super long tongues....

Landon's favorite animal to feed....the emu!

We didn't get spit on!

 Aside from the zoo, our other main trip was to Tweetsie Railroad. Landon and Logan had never been, and Charlie and I hadn't been since we were very young, so we were all excited to go. It was the first time Landon and Logan had been on a train of any kind.

The boys, with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Jessica, and Granny!

Tiger faces.

 (The photos from the zoo are on my laptop computer, and we haven't gotten the photos from my brother's wedding yet.)

Our journey home was considerably longer and more difficult than the journey to NC. We were attempting to fly Space-A to Spain or Italy, and we missed six consecutive flights over a week and a half. For some of these attempts, we drove back and forth six hours (one way!) from Granny and Pop's house to Norfolk. For the last few, the boys and I stayed in a motel. Finally, after missing our sixth flight, I decided to rent a car and drive to the terminal in New Jersey instead. We were able to get on a flight to Ramstein, Germany, the next evening. Thank goodness we ran into some friends from Sigonella, because I was having a hard time managing both kids, three carry-on bags, and two suitcases weighing over a hundred pounds together! Cara and Tim were lifesavers!

Then our mini-tour of Germany began....we stayed a night in Vogelweh before having a friend take us to the Kaiserslautern train station the next morning (thank you, Renee!!). From there, we went to Mannheim and then Frankfurt, where we got a flight to Berlin. We stayed a night in Berlin, where we explored our quiet little block and visited the corner supermarket to throw together a light dinner of fruit, bread, and cheese.

Our room in Berlin....somehow the boys were not too tired to wrestle on the bed.

Later, the smell of wurstel (hot sausage, or...hot dogs!) brought us back out to the beer garden below our hotel. Though they appeared to be mostly closed, as the owner was sitting outside with friends and no one was inside, Landon and Logan were served a cute little plate of wurstel, homemade pickles, and buttered bread. We sat and talked with the owner for quite a while about football and travel.

Finally, the next morning, we arrived back home in Catania! As our plane was making the descent, Mt. Etna came into view and Logan yelled, "Look! It's our home!" and both boys yelled and cheered when the plane finally landed. It's nice to be back home!