Burano and a pirate ship

This Saturday we went out on a pirate ship in Venice to the island of Burano. It's an island famous for their lace. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We set sail at about 11 am and pulled back in at 5. We didn't get to stay on the island very long, which was a little disappointing but the day was enjoyable and relaxing. I mean, how can you go wrong with a long boat ride in Venice. And of course Hannah had a blast on the boat. At one point, she could even just crawl around up top. I let her hang onto the railing and look out at the water as we were moving, which she really liked but it made Daddy too nervous, so she didn't get to enjoy it long. You may notice from the picture of Burano that all the houses are different pastel colors. It goes back to a time when merchants did not always have lighthouses and other such things to rely on. From the different houses, not only could ships see them better, but they also knew exactly where they were at. All in all, it was an alright day.

Diao Diao

Sunday Hannah and I were outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, when some of our Italian neighbors came over to talk to us. It was the neighbor with a little girl who is 1 1/2 years old. David and I decided months ago that we were going to try and teach Hannah ciao ciao, instead of hello/bye bye. So the neighbor's come over, and we're chatting when Hannah looks at Chiara, the neighbor, waves and says "diao diao." It was so cute! So now, whenever she waves, she says it. Now we'll have to tackle our next Italian word, which I haven't determined yet.

We're in for it now!!!!

No pictures with this one. I haven't mentioned this to many people, probably because I wasn't sure if it would last. On April 3rd Hannah took her very first steps. She took seven in all that first night. Not all at once, the most she took at once was three. Since then, we've been practicing everyday, and everyday she's taken a couple of steps here and there. Last Wednesday, while we were outside, she let go of the front pillar and walked about five steps to a toy that she wanted. She did it all on her own, without prompting. She doesn't quite have the hang of it in shoes or socks, but we're still working on it. I'm hoping by her birthday party we'll be able to impress all of our friends with her new skill. We haven't been able to get it on video or pictures yet, because everytime she hears the ding of the camera or video camera she stops to look at the device making the noise. I'll keep ya'll updated.

A swing of her own

Last weekend David and I, and Hannah, went out and got the rest of her birthday presents. Just a couple of little things, and the one thing we set out to find........a backyard swing for her. Yes, we do have that one behind our house that works just fine. However, that may not be the case at our next home. Furthermore, David and I love nothing more than hanging out back around our patio table; whether it be enjoying some food or sitting with a bottle of wine. The position of the swing, which we had to put up immediately, allows us to do all of this and still push/entertain Hannah. She loved it, and so far we've been able to put her in it everyday, well those days that it hasn't been raining. And it has been doing an awful lot of that. April has definately brought Vicenza rain. The same day we put up Hannah's swing, we also put a floral addition around the olive tree in our front yard. I think it looks really good, it was David's idea. And of course, Hannah helped with that!