Vacation in Italy!

My Mom came to visit for a few weeks and while she was here we spent some time in Italy, and boy was it an experience. We took the train to Milan and stayed right in the middle of the city which I highly recommend when traveling with kids. We spent a day at Expo Milano which is an World Exposition focusing on food and preserving resources. Each country has a pavilion where they showcase their resources and culture, and they were amazing! We walked through most of the pavilions fairly quickly, but could have spend days just at the Expo.

Anna and Quinn checking out the Swiss Pavilion.

The kids had a great time, and were serious troopers, we walked ten miles that day, and nobody had naps. The massive amounts of gelato they consumed must have helped. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

After our day at the Expo we checked out the cool Navigli District which is a neighborhood built around Milan's three remaining canals. I had no idea that Milan was a canal city, Venice and Amsterdam are always strutting their canals around, but in it's day Milan's canals were kind of a big deal. They're a little trashy and filled with boat bars and restaurants these days, but are still pretty cool.

 Unfortunately we visited on a bank holiday so most of the shops were closed, but we did grab some espresso and goodies at a very eclectic bar/coffee shop where a certain young lady may or may not have put on quite a show….of the tantrum variety of course.. Fun times.

We headed over to the Duomo and looked out over the city from the top of the cathedral. The view was stunning, but man did I have the death grip on our two little monkeys, and Kevin was practically a saint for lugging our stroller up ALL the stairs to the roof. After we climbed down, we walked around inside the church and the art and relics are really breath taking. Just thinking about all the history inside a place like that is mind boggling. We happily spent some time wandering around in awe.

Kevin headed back to Lausanne on Sunday morning, and my mom, and I headed up to the lake district to take the kids to a little town on Lake Maggiore for some R&R. We were a little nervous about getting the kids, our stroller and suitcase on and off the train but it worked out just fine (as it usually does).

See, no elevator, no problem!

We arrived at our hotel and were astounded by the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains. The weather was perfect and my mom and I were excited for some mellow days.

For most of our stay we parked ourselves either at the pool or at the lakeside park, and the kids were HAPPY to be in their element!

Trucks forever. 

This pool was perfect for kids, Quinn could stand in it and Anna was happy to splash around.

Ice cream Anna having the time of her life!

We were sad to leave Lake Maggiore but have plans to take Kevin back soon. It was great to spend some time with my mom and hopefully she'll come visit us again after we dragged her to three countries in two weeks!