Provincia di Belluno

We got to see friends!!! Some fun military friends that we made in Vegas live near Aviano and they invited us to their amazing home. They showered us with Christmas gifts (including peppermint bark - I cannot find peppermint in Germany anywhere) and showed us around their lovely, old Italian city. They have racked up way more countries than us and will do mostly anything. They are truly adventurous. Recently, they swam in the ice cold Irish Sea with some locals for Christmas. I am not sure I will ever be that brave. Cold things and I do not mesh well.

The "warm" fifty degree weather in Italy drew us outside everyday. After two weeks in the twenties back in Germany, fifties felt as though we were nearing the end of winter. I almost took off my jacket. Whoa!

We walked around in the woods near their home, while their pup ran around in the meadows. As we stopped to take in the gorgeous mountains in the near distance, a large buck ran across the field. What a cool and rare sight to see! The girls really wished I caught that on camera. As we wound further up the path, we encountered some rocky hills. The girls, of course, did not resist the urge to climb around. Then they quickly stumbled upon two tiny wooden, nativity scenes. What a sweet little reminder of the reason for Christmas! Such a fun thing for someone to take the time to do. The day ended with delicious local food, toasty beverages and a warm fire!

The next day we traveled to the Lakes of Barcis for a hike and car picnic. Seth grabbed some meat and cheeses from the local street market on the way, while Natalie ( the girls pronounce her name as Nate -alie) continued to spoil the girls with Italian sweets! We fueled up with good food and pottied in the woods before we headed for the hike. We did not find out until later that we ate HORSE meat! Addy was like "nope never again, that is my favorite animals." It tasted ok, but not my favorite meat, but the cheese was on point! Seth purposely waited to inform us, so that we would give it a fair evaluation.

We hiked around Barcis Lakes and explored the woods. As we reached a high point we saw an overlook. The big girls ran for it! Mabel is still building up her stamina, so she was quite winded by this steep hike. Thankfully, no one slippes on all the moss (I love moss - the color and the feel) covered boulders while running. Natalie does not love heights. However, she could not resist Mabel's persistant requests to walk to the end of the small overlook with a view of the steep, cliffy drop into the beautiful teal lakes. Mabel pulled her out there and they both survived! I mostly feel the same as Natalie about heights, but I try to just do the things in hopes that my girls will not grab hold of my fears in life. I walked out slowly, while holding the rails tightly and taking in the view THEN Seth jumps to make the overlook shake. Oh that guy!

The girls, Seth and Nathan took turns seeing who could throw rocks the farthest for a while. Nate made things so much fun for our girls! The girls for some reason decided his nickname is Rock Star Dude, but I am not sure why. Another awesome day exploring the gorgeous landscape of Italy.

Next up a twisty, turny ride that almost made us all puke...Okumaya devam et