Buffalo, geysers and bears....oh my!

.....4th of July weekend it seemed that everyone was going out of town and we were feeling a bit left out.  So we decided to go out of town too! :)  We were able to go camping for the first time together....so fun! We drove up to Yellowstone and had a fun little friday and Saturday trip.  What a blast!

We got our tent all set up. So proud.

These flowers were GORGEOUS!!!!!

Bryson picked one for me. Not sure if that's allowed, but it was sweet nonetheless! :)

This was Bryson's first time seeing the pretty (and stinky) little geysers.

He was pretty impressed with them.

We even saw a bear! It almost ate Bryson, but I protected him.

cool log, and me being myself.

Buffalo!

So many unbelievably gorgeous views.

While we were in West Yellowstone, we went to the Playmill Theater and saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Bryson had never seen or heard the music from that show and I knew he would love it.  And he did. It was a hilarious, fun filled production that we enjoyed very much.

Italia continued....our journey to another world

Our last stop in Italy was the famous volcano destructed city of Pompeii.  It was one of the most interesting places I have ever been.  There was almost a peaceful feeling as you walked down the streets of this once glorious city.

After our day of exploration, we went back to Naples and went to the restaurant that Jenessa had recommended to us. Antonio & Antonio.  She was right- the food was INCREDIBLE. So delicious- we left that place so stuffed.

Fried zucchini.  Unlike any I have ever tasted

Mozzarella ball

Gnocchi. A potato pasta that is to die for!

And then we had pizza, which as I said before, we forgot to take pictures of because the second we saw it we just HAD to start eating it.  As Brian Regan would say, "How do I get that goodness in me??"

Our last beautiful sunset on the cruise!

I like-a da pizza and di gelato :)

Next stop.....Italy! Oh Italy, there is nowhere quite like you, is there? Florence, Rome, Pisa, Naples......it was beautiful.  The architecture, the streets, the old ruins.  It was unbelievable.  And the FOOD. Oh my goodness, the Italians sure know how to eat.  Plain cheese pizza has never tasted so good.  In fact, it was so  delectable, we didn't even remember to take pictures of it because we were so eager to eat it.

First stop was Pisa.....where we of course followed the crowd and took the same pictures that everyone else does.  But how can you not?  :) 

Push war.....sorry Shelly, but it looks like Doug is winning. :)

Next, we went to Florence.  This is the Duomo- the heart of Florence.  It is to Florence what the Eiffel tower is to Paris.  It is absolutely beautiful. It is so intricate.  

The golden gates of paradise, depicting different events from the Bible.

We had a beautiful view of the sunset from our room deck that night.  Wow- even the colors in the picture are beautiful and imagine them ten times brighter in real life!

Next day- we were on to Rome.  Bryson was giddy with excitement as he neared the place he has always dreamed of going. The Vatican.   This was his first view of St Peters.  He almost ran up ahead of us, but managed to control himself and walk at normal speed.

St. Peters Basilica. We just happened to go on the day that the Pope was there.  We totally got to see the Pope! We're pretty sure he heard we were coming and wanted to make sure he made a special appearance in our honor.  

The Vatican museums are sooooooo big.  There is so much to see.  You could walk around for days- even weeks and still not see everything. It's incredible.  It's also a really good place to be a total nerd as demonstrated in these blackmail worthy pictures below on how weird me and Bryson are.

Bryson totally sneaked a picture of the Sistine chapel ceiling.  Wow. He totally escaped the reactions of the guards which are as follows...... "clap clap. shhhhhhhhh. NO FOTO!"

Told you the Pope was there. :)

Ok, so I lied. We remembered to take a picture of this fast food pizza but it was NOT the same as the restaurant pizza. Still super good though. Their cheap stuff is better than our gourmet. 

the pieta

Inside St Peters. It is also HUGE.  The maximum capacity is 60,000 plus people!

castel sant angelo

The colosseum

I think we totally would have dominated the gladiator wars, don't you think? We are both pretty muscular. 

We celebrated my birthday on the cruise ship that night. :) yay for birthdays! Unfortunately I became a quarter of a century old.  But oh well, at least i got a yummy dessert. :)