we were so grateful that the next stop on our travels turned out to be the perfect spot for ian to recover from his illness (and for me to recover from the craziness of taking care of him as well as four small children in a foreign country!). we had rented a little cottage in the tuscan hills and it was just completely idyllic – so charming, a pool across the path, and stunning views all around. we spent a lot of time in and around the cottage, and as ian got stronger and stronger we were able to take some outings to nearby villages. it really was a wonderful rejuvenating few days.

after lots of time hanging out in and around our cottage, ian decided he was feeling well enough to go to a nearby town, san gimignano, for dinner. all the children fell asleep on the drive there, so we kept driving a bit through incredible scenery and happened upon a tiny little hilltop hamlet right as the kids were waking. we got out and explored a little. it was so quiet and so pretty.

we made it to san gimignano and had gelato before dinner, because, when in italy that’s what you do 🙂 we saw some pretty views and let the kids run around the town center as it got dark.

the next morning we went to the medieval village of voltera, which is adorned with colourful flags and stuffed with toy weapon shops which moses and gabriel loved. these pictures look lovely but our whole crew was pretty much a total mess that morning, ha! but we did our best admist the chaos to take in the enchanting atmosphere.

back to the cottage for naps and more swimming …

and then back to san gimignano for dinner because we all loved it there! we also got the “best gelato in the world,” and were back home for an amazing sunset.

the next day, i got to take the big boys to the walled village of monteriggioni. we climbed to the top of the wall, visited the armor museum, explored and got gelato (of course).

and again back to the cottage for more pretty views and more swimming!

i knew ian was finally feeling almost better when he was started tossing his little sons in the air that evening. so, so glad he recovered and that we had such a perfect place to be while he recovered!

hard to say goodbye to that perfect spot. there may or may not have been some skinny-dipping after the kids were in bed on our last night, to end our stay on the perfect note 🙂