After our hotel stay in Livorno, we drove to our villa which was nestled way up in the hills of Tuscany. We were totally tucked away in the countryside. The nearest big city was Siena, and there were several smaller towns dotted around where we were, and which we took a few day trips to. The villa was definitely a little bit more rustic than our American / British group is used to, and it was the opposite of kid friendly, with clunky stone steps everywhere and huge drops off the mountain at the edges of the property, but it was beautiful and very Italian and really lovely to be with family.
We were there for just over a week, and except for one day when it rained, we had gorgeously hot and sunny weather. And for some reason, Georgina slept SO MUCH on this leg of the trip. I think maybe it was a combination of the heat and all of the stimulation from being around so many of her cousins, (plus her room was really dark and really cool which always helps), but she would go to sleep around 8:30 (we kept her on semi-European semi-American time while we were in Italy so she could be with everyone for dinner) and wake up around 10:30, then take two huge naps a day. Some days her naps would be 4+ hours, it was nuts!
The three pictures above crack me up. It’s basically a triptych titled ‘The Reality of Trying to Take a Photo With Your Toddler.’ Oh Georgie! So much to do, so much to see, no time to pause for pictures with mom and dad.
This is another great typical toddler photo, where Tom is trying to help keep Georgie safe by holding her hand down the massively steep hill dotted with super-hard stones, and Georgie is just not having it.
Rustic villa aside, Italy really is just gorgeous. Those tall, skinny cyprus trees and the rolling hills and the red stone. Such beauty.
Everyone went out to dinner most nights, and we joined in about half the time. Georgie is generally really good at restaurants, but she’s still an active toddler who loves to explore, and who also needs constant watching over. That means Tom and I taking turns running after her which of course is fine, but not exactly what we wanted to do every single evening. So we switched up going out for dinner some nights and then hanging out at the villa some nights, watching the sunset, drinking wine and cooking.
Be still my heart.
Exploring one of the cute local towns / trying to hold Georgie’s hand because a random car or motorcycle will zip down the cobblestone street, but all she wants to do it walk on her own. Also, I have no idea what she is clutching so tightly in her left hand, but I can only assume it’s a little piece of trash that she discovered and then didn’t want to let go of. #toddlerlife
The double swimmies!! We brought these with us, and when combined with a little ring, it was the perfect way for Georgie to really float on her own and kick around and feel like a sort of independent swimmer.
Hanging with her cousins! She adored spending time with them so, so much.
I packed episodes of Sesame Street and Bubble Guppies onto my iPhone before we left, mainly for travel purposes, but I would sometimes bust them out in that pre-dinnertime witching hour too. Georgie’s cousins all became quickly obsessed and would crowd around her while she watched, which was so sweet. I love her face in the picture above, and the fact that even though she’s a toddler girl, she’s the one holding the phone over her big boy cousins 🙂
The most beautiful wispy clouds. Italy, we will be back again soon!!
