Hot Chocolate

By Molly
August 10
Inverawe

I got hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows and chocolate powder sprinkled on top and a piece of chocolate on the side that was in a circle. It was so good I drank it in like 15 sips.

Dune and Molly Day

By Molly
Aug 8

Today we played golf with Dune at Saint Andrews. Then we went to another city and we had lunch together, we rode a ride together at a carnival across the street from where we ate lunch, and we had ice cream and we also went to a gift shop together. We had fish and chips for lunch at a place where they were famous for their fish. We rode a really spin-ny, bumpy ride for about five minutes. But then it was time to say bye bye at the end of the day after ice cream. So we said goodbye.


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Scotland So Far - Aug 2

By Molly

In Scotland, we saw a bunch of cows. This morning we saw them herding cows into the stable and there was a mama bull and a baby bull. The mama bull knocked it's head into a hay roll. Then later in the day, we kept moo'ing and the cows moo'ed back to us.

And two days ago we went inside of a castle. It was cool. And Jackson got this set that was wood and he had to punch out a bunch of parts. He made it into a castle and then we played with the knights and horseys.

And we also went to Saint Andrews, where Golf was made. We didn't play at the good corse, but we are going to with Dune next week.

Love, Molly ❤️












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The Day of the Jellyfish

By Molly

Today there were a lot of jellyfish at the beach. 

I got bitten by in like three spots by jellyfish but we caught 11! We were at the beach that we have been to a few times and we also saw some really big fish, but we didn't get to catch one. 

It itches a LOT all over my legs to have a jellyfish sting. 

After we caught the jellyfish we would put the jellyfish on rocks so they would die so no one would get stung by them anymore. 

They looked like goopy things of clear slime that moved by themselves. 

Mom wiped vinegar all over my legs and then a waiter from the beach restaurant put some paste on my legs.  Then I had to be in the shade and it still itched for awhile.

But now I'm going back to the water to play again. Bye bye. 

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Preparing for Paris 🇫🇷

As we're relaxing on the beaches and patios here in Ibiza, we've started talking about all the action-packed excitement of our next destination

So far, this is everyone's first pass at a list of things they most want to do:

Jackson
Go of the top of the Eiffel tower
Go to the war museum / (Ecole Militarie)
Go to the Arc du Triumph
Go to the place where everyone was executed during the Reign of Terror (Place du Concorde)
See the remains of the jail where everyone was kept and broken free from (Bastille)
See Napoleon's tomb

Molly
Find the duck pond, get the bread that the ducks like and feed the ducks
See the Eiffel Tower lit up at night
See the Eiffel Tower in the morning
Want to go to a cheese shop and see all the French cheeses

Leah Elena
Go to the Champs-Eysses
Go to the Louvre
Eat European sandwiches
Go to Luxembourg gardens
Eat escargot
See Sacre Coeur

Joe
Take whoever wants to go to the War museum
Go to the Notre Dame and be there for the Gregorian Chants
Return to the Café on the corner at Ile Saint Louis
Date night with mama
Walk around

Emily
All of the above
Show my kids the Paris that I love
Hang in the Parisian parks with my kids
Lunch in the Tuileries
Sainte Chapelle
Montmartre




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Molly’s New Shirt

Party in the back!

Molly's new *favorite* shirt / coverup from a cute little shop on San Jose Ibiza. 💕

My New Pet Lizzy

By Molly

There was a lizard crawling on my head today! It happened because it wasn't too scared of humans and it crawled up my arm and stayed on my head.  

I named it "Lizzy." 

Later when Jackson was holding Lizzy, it jumped off of Jackson's hand and back into me. It grabbed onto my hair and dangled there.  We don't know if Lizzy is a boy or girl. 

I think Lizzy liked us so much because we were gentle and not hurting him and not scared. 

When Lizzy finally crawled away from us, Lilly said "bye bye Bebe Lizzy"

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Molly Finds

Molly was SUPER excited to find Mama's initials in the ironworks.

She is also fairly convinced that she was named after Molly Beach here. We tried to explain that we would have had to know it existed before now to have named her after it; but those details don't seem to matter to her. Yep, she was named after a beach.

Italian Postcards from Molly

"In Florence I got a purse so did my sister but this is about me I said how about a bow and she said ok. "
🤣

All about the gelato

💕

Molly in Florence ("Molly's new pink purse")

Dictated by Molly:

Yesterday, I went to Florence and I bought a pink purse.  At dinner time, I kept on saying, "mommy, can we buy something to put in my purse?"  But then, she said, "how about we put this little sunscreen bottle and this white bow in there." And then when we got home I put a tiny notepad and a pen in there.  And the next morning, I put a little card in there and pretended it was my credit card and I was pretending that me and my sister went to the park with my new pink purse.  

The Truffle Hunt

By Molly

Today I went on a truffle hunt and I saw a dog that was helping us find truffles. The dog was black and white and we got a whole bunch of truffles. The dog smelled around and then would dig wherever it smelled them. And then we had this tool and we smashed it in the ground and then we pulled the truffle out of the ground and put it in the hunters pocket. Then we went back to the kitchen and the chef made food for us and every food had truffle on it! The ice cream, the pasta and even the casserole!



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Today at the Benedictine Monastery - Monte Oliveto Maggiore

By Molly

Today I meet a Monk named Joseph ("Yoseph") from Holland.  Mom waved to him and he came to meet us.  He is 60 and has been at the Abbey for 31 years.  He is the second to oldest of the 31 Monks who live there.

He asked us if we would like him to give us a tour of the Abbey.

We got to feed the chickens and give them lots and lots of grass.  And we saw baby chicks and one was stuck away from the others on the other side of the fence.  We helped it and it found it's way under the gate and over the wood and it ran to it's brothers and sisters and mom.

And the Monk gave us three eggs and he went to get us some paper and bags but he found three more in the kitchen and he wrapped them up and gave them to us and we got to bring 6 home.

My brother asked him "is there a gift shop?" and he said, "Yes."  So we went to the gift shop and I found a charm that is a cross with Jesus on it and it comes with a box and a card.  But the card is in Italian because I got it in Italy.  And I kept on opening it and saying "ahhhh.... I love this.  hehhhh....I love this"  and I opened it all the way home.

Footnote:
Molly keeps calling him a "gnome" but we are working on remembering he is a "monk"
Also, the Abbey is just on the other side of the small village we can see from our backyard.  IT is about a ten minute drive and about 5 miles away, only you drive along the ridges of the mountains so it takes awhile.  But we don't mind because it is breathtakingly beautiful along the way.


More on the The Abbey here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_Abbey_of_Monte_Oliveto_Maggiore

Excitement is Mounting

We've spent the day packing and finalizing details and running around.  Now, it's our last dinner at home for awhile and we are all taking turns naming some things we are most looking forward to...

To drive through the  Italian countryside in a couple days- Joe
Pompeii!! - Jackson
A slower pace - Emily
Riding on the biggest ferris wheel in the world! - Molly
Lots of family time - Emily
Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower! - Molly
I'm excited for the museums in Rome, Paris and London - but not really art museums, just the other kind - Jackson
Italian wine - Joe (and Emily, too!)
Fishing in Scotland - Jackson (and Joe, too!)
Eating breakfast with a view of the ocean - Emily
Getting to show my children around Paris - Emily
Going to see Hurculaneum - Jackson
We think Lilly is excited about a TransAtlantic flight - (not really, though)
Getting the best ice cream made anywhere in the world (Gelato) in Italy and France! - Molly
To see what the kids find most exciting, interesting and surprising along the way - Emily
Pasta!! - Molly, Jackson and Lilly (who just jumped up and down with her hands in the air and yelled "pa-ta")
Dance parties  -Jackson
Seeing the cities at night on the plane and seeing the ocean at night on a plane -Jackson
Cooler temperatures all summer long -Emily

I'm curious about how big Pompeii is and how big the wall around it will be - Jackson
I'm curious about what the cars will look like in Italy - Jackson
I'm curious about France - Molly
Why is Jackson obsessed with gummy bears? - Joe
Why doesn't Molly like bananas? - Joe

I'm going to miss my friends - Jackson
I'm going to miss fluffy - Molly
I'm going to miss kitty - Jackson
I'm going to miss whiskers - Molly
I'm going to miss Lilly's highchair - Emily
I'm going to miss our cars and Cabo Bobs- Joe
I'm going to miss the toilet I trust - Jackson
I'm going to miss my bed - Jackson (and Emily!)
I'm going to miss NOVA - Jackson

I'm excited about postcards - Jackson
I'm excited about European gummy bears - Jackson
I'm excited about seeing the original Statue of Liberty in Paris - Molly
I'm excited to see and feed the ducks in Paris - Jackson and Molly
I'm excited to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower - Jackson
I'm excited to see where the real Queen and Princesses live in London - Molly
I'm excited to be on an island - Molly
I'm excited to go to the beach - Jackson
I'm excited to sing "Cake By the Ocean" while being by the ocean - Molly
I'm excited about getting Kinder Bueno bars out of vending machines in Paris - Emily
I'm excited to ride the new tube line in the London Underground that they installed in the past few years - Jackson
I'm excited to see the green rolling hills in Ireland - Joe
I'm excited to see Saint Andrews and Italian food - Joe
I'm excited to wake up and see the river Seine outside my window - Emily
I'm excited to watch the kids experience other cultures, towns and people and learn to have fun without toys and props - but to have adventures and create fun on their own - Emily

What would you add to the list?