Mom and Lucy Travels: Rome and Belgium

In November,  Lucy and I were had a fabulous trip to Rome and Belgium.  It. Was. Awesome.  It was planned around her swim meet in Belgium, so we had an excuse to make some memories!

We left poor Jason at home with two puking boys and an upset stomach.  But flights were booked, so off we went!  

We traveled with our great friends, the Fomby fam.  Susanna and her mom came with us to Rome and then we met up with the rest of the fam in Brussels.  

In Rome we made our way through the Vatican and finally made it to the Sistine Chapel.  You can't take any pictures in the chapel, but there is a TON of artwork in the never-ending hallways that lead to it.  

 Honestly, by the time you get to the big event, you've hiked through so much Catholic art, that it was a little anti-climatic.  It was awesome and I'm glad we went, but it was long.....very long.  

Here's Lucy, Susanna, and Cheryl outside the Vatican.  

I wonder who set up this pose?

More amazing art from inside Vatican Museum.

So, starting in Rome, every Kodak moment had to have a jumping shot.  Here's Lucy with the first of many.  

This one is my favorite.  It's down the street from the Vatican.  You can see St. Peter's Basilica in the background.  

Later that night we scheduled a walking tour through the piazzas of Rome.  That stomach bug finally caught up to Lucy Goosy.  She was a trooper as we went through the day.  She kept analyzing why she might have an upset tummy, hoping it wasn't the dreaded bug.  Well, I kept my eye on her the whole time and kept a plastic bag handy, just in case.  Sure enough, as we were learning about the Trevi Fountain, I looked at her through the small group we were in and she had the "Uh-oh" look on her face.  I walked quickly over to her and took her around the corner where she proceeded to puke, puke, and puke some more.  Yikes.  I earned my mommy points in that moment.  The tour guide helped us get a quick cab back to the hotel (being sure to tell us not to let the cab driver know she is sick).  We went back and she fell asleep quickly and I read my book.  

The next day she was feeling much better.  Which was good because we had to catch a flight to Eindhoven!  We got in kinda late, so we got settled in our apartment and then went looking for food.  We searched and searched, but all we could find open on a late Thursday night was a Chinese Restaurant.  So.....ham fried rice it was!  

The next morning, the rest of the Fomby clan joined us and we went to see Brussels.  I'm pretty sure they call the piazza "Grand Place".  It was so cool!  I loved seeing the historic buildings and it was interesting to see how different they are from the Italian architecture we are used to viewing (I'm so cultured).  

And....here we go with the jumping pictures.  Lucy, Nikolas, and Mckenzie.  

Oh. My. Goodness.  The food!  Absolutely amazing.  

We LOVED the Belgian waffles.  There were so many different "flavors" or toppings to choose from.  

Saturday she swam her little heart out at the swim meet.  Gabby is one of her close buddies on the team.  Most of the team stays and swims on Sunday, too.  I'm proud of Lucy for not getting upset or frustrated that we don't participate with the second half of the meet.  Her best race is always the breast stroke.  

Our next stop was Brugge, Belgium.  I love, love, love Brugge and plan to move their tomorrow.  It was beautiful!  

I had to give the jumping a try.  Check out that air! I got hops!

The historic center of Brugge was amazing, but even more breathtaking at night.  

Sweet Lucy.  I was so glad that she was feeling better and was able to swim and enjoy the rest of the trip.  She found her Brugge bag later that day.  She is collecting bags from all of the cities she visits.  

Lucy might have been getting sick of the pictures at this point.  Check out that creeper face. 

This picture cracks me up.  She was feeling better, but not back to 100%, yet.  She gave in to the sleep monster on the way to the airport.  

Check out the awesome ride we had during the trip.  It was great, but now I want one.  

I am so grateful for the expeiences we had on this trip!  I'm even more grateful for the fabulous girl I got to spend it with!