life lately

We have been so busy and have been having so much fun around here with Elliott's sister Jess.  She is with us until the end of the week, and we are packing each day full of adventures around Sicily.  Her dear friend Sarah joined us last week to stay for the final week and a half of Jess's trip, and those two girls have been great friends to me as well as such a big help around the house.  I don't want them to leave!

I have some photos to share of our adventures, and you can also check Jess's blog and Sarah's blog for fabulous and funny updates, too.  In the meantime, here are a few recent iPhone photos from around here.

the last of the spring strawberries with ice cream and a generous dollop of Nutella

& summertime means breaking out the espadrilles!

Jess knocked a stick off butter of the counter after it had been unrefrigerated for a couple hours and it went splat... proof that our un-air conditioned house is just too hot these days

& morning snuggle photo for Daddy when he was in Ghana for work last week

Lena was so excited to board the cable car in Taormina and then said, "Wooow!  Woooow!" all the way up the mountain

& Jess and her dear old friend Sarah at the medieval festival in our town (more about that soon!)

 favorite stop in Taormina: Bam Bar for delicious granite, the Italian version of sorbet,

where Lena and I their enjoyed raspberry and lemon flavors

Lena wakes up at 7am and I am just too tired to do much before 7:30, 

so we lie in bed to read books or snuggle.  It's a precious time.