Because our house was too small to host my family (six adults and two kids), we decided to rent a house while they were visiting last week. Of course, in Italy “a house” is called “a villa,” and by just calling something “a villa” you have upped your rental experience by about 50%! Wouldn’t you agree?
Our villa was located about an hour from our home in Sicily, on the coast near the tiny town of Brucoli. We spent almost the entire week in the villa except for one lunch in Brucoli and one daytrip to nearby Syracuse (or Siracusa, as the Italians call it). I’ll share photos of these experiences soon, but in the meantime, here are a few photos from around the villa.
The beach was within walking distance of our house, so of course we went every day!
Elliott found the biggest worm we’d ever seen. Lena was amazed, and then I was amazed when she held it!
Gil and Lena were usually both up around 6am (yikes) and so I spent a lot of my mornings playing games with Lena and soothing Gil.
That brown streak is Siena, the cat, escaping from Lena’s prison. The pretty girl on the right is my dear sister Emily!
Enjoying a spot of good weather with Eric and Em. Below, the crazy cat that we decided to bring with us… and thankfully she added a lot of joy and cuddles to the week away.
Photos from early mornings with my Gil.
We squeezed the swing into our little Honda Civic (along with groceries and supplies for a week, our family of four, and the cat… on my lap). We were so grateful for the swing that week!
Below Gil relaxes with my dear dad, Gil’s namesake.
Looks like such a lovely, relaxing week! You must have so enjoyed having all your family around. And what a beautiful venue! :)
Looks lovely and so lovely to have your family to visit. Looking forward to seeing Siracusa!
Siracusa is definitely one of my favorite places, as I know you know, Di! I’ll share the photos next week. :-)
Love that you got to spend time with your family. Gives me perspective and makes me thankful that I’m only 5 hours away from mine.
Seriously, Esther, I agree with you. We can’t wait until we’re close to our family again! With kids especially there are SO many reasons we want to be close to our parents and siblings.
As I get older, I realize that’s just a huge part of what I want in life. Some people think I’m crazy and that my family is like a cult but really – we just love each other so much! So sweet to see it in other families, too!
Most brilliant bring-alongs: the cat and the swing for Gil. Well done! The villa looks beautiful. And Gil is getting so big and handsome.
Thanks, Heather! As I type this, Gil is actually sleeping in bed by himself… which has not happened in quite awhile. The swing has been a lifesaver as he seems to need almost constant motion, even to sleep by himself. Everything I’ve read tells me this is *not* okay, but we’re in survival mode right now. Sigh. Maybe I’ll write about this sometime…
Becca,
Lovely pictures, such a pleasure to see you all again. Thinking of Julia today especially. Lots of love to you all.