Andiamo! Let’s go! ✈️🇭🇺 In celebration for Hailey’s 10th Birthday and my 36th birthday we decided to head to Europe with just the girls.👨‍👩‍👧‍👧✔️❤️

As sad and heartbreaking as it was to leave the boys 👦🏻👶🏻✖️ we set off on our exciting vacation looking forward to spending quality time with the girls and relaxing!🎊🎉

For the first time in a decade we had no stroller or diapers or any of the annoying stuff to drag us down when we are touring through Europe that we were used to!

We hit the ground running on our 1st day in Sicily in the capital of Palermo. 🚶🏻🚶🏻🚶🏻🚶🏻And by running I mean, we walked the city really slow, jet lagged and desperate to find some cibo, food.

We walked and walked and walked for what seemed like a really ridiculous amount of time in a decrepid and dirty city and could not find a single piazza with a restaurant. 🍝✖️ We finally settled in the first place we could find and had our 1st disappointing Italian meal. 🍕✔️The upside was it was over quick and we sprinted back to our hotel so we could relax! 📖📺Of course the 3 hour nap backfired and we were wide awake! 😱To add insult to injury one of our converters blew and we were down to literally one plug to charge our 7 devices! 1️⃣🔌Our phones and iPads were down to single digit percentage and I was worrying about our 3 hour car ride this morning without any phones. Thankfully our luck turned around when the concierge had an extra converter, the music from the club next door ended at 2am, 🎶✖️ and we were able to charge our phones and rest up for the next day! See ya later Palermo, you won’t be missed. 👋🏽

We hopped onto the autostrade and arrived in Taormina 3 hours later with Biggie Smalls 👱🏿🎶and Big Pun 👨🏽 blasting in the car, the girls not impressed by their dads 90s rap skills lol. 🤔 We checked into the Villa Carlotta Hotel and were immediately wowed by the views!

We were dazzled by the views of the Mediterranean gardens and an extraordinary view of the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna! 🌁 After our welcome aperitif 🍷, we dropped our bags in the room 💼🏨and started our walk up Corso Umberto, Taormina’s famous and elegant pedestrian boulevard. We sampled some gelato 🍦, ate our 1st Sicilian lunch overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and then walked the town, stopping at picturesque spots, Duomo piazzas 💒 and popping into cute boutiques.

The girls were itching to go into the pool but we had one last stop to make, Teatro Greco. 🏟

Taormina’s Greco Roman Theater is probably the most visited and photographed site in all of Sicily because it’s perched on a hill overlooking the Ionian Sea, with direct views of Mount Etna looming in the distance.

The ancient theatre is built mostly of deteriorating brick, which would make sense since it dates back to 200 AD. The theatre is a must see on any visit to Taormina and if you’re lucky it’s an amazing place to watch concerts and theater performances.

Usually on vacation we are used to rushing to the destination and in a hurry to arrive. 🏃🏻🏃🏻With no where to be and not a current care in the world we just sat and enjoyed the moment..and we were treated to a pleasant surprise 🎁 when a random tourist got up in front of the entire stadium and started to sing for the crowd. 💃🏽🎤 It was one of those moments that brings a tear to your eyes and you feel such gratitude for the moment.😅🙌🏽🙏🏽 The lesson for today was “it’s about the journey and not the destination” and how sweet it was to have that impromptu gift! 🎁 We ended our memorable day with the girls performing their current favorite musica.ly song with the Greek ruins and Mount Etna as their backdrop…

We popped into the public gardens 🌲💐for a quick pic 📸and then retired for the night with an afternoon dip 🏊🏽 and dinner back at the hotel🍕🍝🍷. Buona Sera! 💋

Enjoy a short highlight of our day! 🇭🇺💒🏟🌁🏝