Jason and Vola: MIA

Wow, I haven't updated in quite a long time! So much has happened in the past month and a half that I haven't really had a chance to sit down and sort through all of my pictures!

First off, we took a big trip at the end of May/beginning of June. We started out in Connecticut, at a friend's wedding in a cute little town near Mystic. We stayed with my friend from college and her family -- which includes her 3 1/2 year old daughter and 1 1/2 year old triplets. Needless to say, Dylan was not lacking for playmates, and he had a fabulous time. So did we, especially when the three babysitters arrived to take over while we were at the wedding! After that, we stayed a couple of nights at my other friend's house in a different part of CT with her two little boys. They're both a bit older than Dylan, and he had a wonderful time following them around and rooting through all of their big kid toys.

From there, we took off to Sestri. Dylan's one lucky little boy -- this is his second trip to Italy! We mainly relaxed, went to the beach, and ate a lot of pasta and gelato. The perfect vacation! Nonna flew in a few days after we did, and it was so nice to spend time with her. Dylan loved to go on walks and to the park with her, and she kindly volunteered to stay with him while Jason and I took a couple of mini day trips. Dylan really got into the beach life this year -- he could have stayed out there for hours, digging in the sand, repeatedly picking up and throwing the same rocks into the water and swimming around in his inner tube. Wish we could have stayed longer!

First taste of gelato. The facial expression is deceiving - he loved it!

Chilling with daddy on the balcony

Riding in the Ferrari at the park - he loved the rides!

This smile cracks me up

Beach time with dad

Family pic that Nonna took from the balcony

Waiting for his morning cappuccino and brioche

Sitting on the Villa Balbi lion -- a Grilli family "must have" pic

Swimming with daddy and his shovel

Adults-only day trip to Genoa

Digging a hole

Family pic on the balcony

Mama and Dylan

Nonna and Dylan

Right before leaving Sestri :(

On our way home, we stopped in Istanbul for two nights to take in some new sites. It was a whirlwind trip, but it's such a beautiful city. And they love babies there -- everyone was so sweet to Dylan.

In front of the Hagia Sophia

Wearing a headscarf in the Blue Mosque

Dinner with a view

And from there, we went home! It was such a great trip that we'll never forget. You'd think that we'd stay home for a while after that, but the next week, Jason had a meeting up in the Bay Area. And Dylan and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go with him and see Mary, Matt, Alice and Joanna. It's a super quick flight, so compared to his previous trips, it was a breeze. We had so much fun. We had a BBQ one night, took advantage of the short window of time during which none of the babies were sleeping to go to the park, read books, and played with new toys. Can't wait for our next trip up.

Cousins at the park

Super stroller

Joanna and Dylan

And that's about it for the excitement! Besides that, we've been spending a lot of time in the sunshine, taking a lot of bike rides and trying to explore some new things in LA. It's been a busy summer, but we're looking forward to the rest of it!