The islands

The “Dreambouse” I rented is actually 2 separate apartments on top of one another, so that’s kind of a bummer. Our dream housers decided to meet at 10 for some island exploring. But first stop, the other Airbnb across the island to say hi to the NY groves. We hung out there for a bit and then after some machine headaches and long lines for Frey and Lu (I bought our tickets online) we headed out on the Vaporetto. First stop St Michele Island, which is the cemetery. We took this group selfie as soon as we got off the boat. 

It was really beautiful, so as we walked I took this one, and then we read about how we should be respectful and not take pictures, so we didn’t take any more. The kids got to water some flowers and it was peaceful and beautiful. 

And we were on our way! Adi didn’t get the memo about the picture. 🤣

Next stop Murano for their Fsro!

Faro = lighthouse. 

We walked around a little bit, bought a few souvies, and then we were off to our next island.

Goodbye beautiful lighthouse!

We had a 30 minute boat ride around several islands. 

 Venice is made up of 118 islands, and our next stop Burano is considered an northeastern suburb. 

It was so lovely on the front deck so that’s where Matt and I hung out. 

Burano is SO cute!

Frey found a restaurant with gluten free options and we had the nicest little lunch! They set up an extra shade umbrella and we had a nice breeze blowing off the water, it was amazing. 

I had to laugh at Quinn’s French fry pizza. 

After lunch we spent several hours touristing it up. 

And also gelato. Sooo yummy!and the owner was cute and amazed that we have 5 kids. And she said Lexi and I look identical and she’s my younger sister, sooooo. 🤗

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to share - on our walk to the other Airbnb in the morning we passed a fruit stand and Damian bought some fruit (delicious plums!) and as he was finishing up his peach, a giant seagull flew in from behind and snatched it!!! He drew blood and all! We were walking behind and saw it happen, but didn’t know he’d stolen the peach until we talked to him. It was the craziest thing! And while I wish it didn’t happen, I’m so glad it didn’t happen to one of the kids. Or me, honestly. 🤣

Anyways, we walked all around, the girls and I got cute skirts with lace, because that’s what Burano is known for. 

Matt was enthralled with this leaning church. We walked all the way around it. 

These 2. They have souvenir money and they buy the dumbest things. Venice is big on Mardi Gras style masks. They say the aristocracy wore them so they could go out and party without being recognized. I don’t know, but Delaney was all in. She really wanted one. I had to talk her down from several because they were big and had lots of pieces and could potentially break in our backpacks. And then max bought the most ridiculous glasses. We spent about 20 minutes in this shop chatting with the shopkeeper/artist and telling him how beautiful everything was. It was cute. 

Frey and Taylor headed back after a bit and Lu and Damian were shopping around. 

Matts not always the greatest group selfie taker. 🤣

The houses are all so bright and pretty. The video we watched said because the houses are so small the use their front yards for space too so the make sure the houses are all different colors to differentiate. 

I felt like I didn’t have any pictures with my little sister, so we grabbed one before we left. So many cute alleyways!

And here they are with their souvenirs. Happy as dumb little clams. 

We missed our boat by about 30 seconds. It was supposed to come 2 minutes later, but 🤷‍♀️ So we hung out at the dock for 20 minutes and played the number game and alphabet game. 

Such a beautiful place!

We met back up at the other Airbnb and welcomed Kristi and headed to dinner. Papa grabbed an aerial shot. 

And a from behind shot, even though he’s not allowed to take these kinds of candies anymore. 🤣

We ate pizza and pasta and risotto and after dinner they brought everyone limoncello shots and the rest of our table made out like bandits because of Matt and I. We washed some clothes in the tub, because even though I swore this place had a washer, it does not, and then everyone needed a shower so I got to bed around 2am. 🥱 I’m pretty tired but wouldn’t skip any of this for a nap.