This is the view from just outside the back of the hotel

Wife of Daniel Crane Purdy

Spin spin spin... Chomp

This is what happens when you ask Ellie where her fingers are.

I mean, this just melts me.

Now that she's so much more agile, Annabelle demands to go up and down the deck stairs, stopping along the way to peer out through the banister.

I really like this shot. I like the colors and the contrasts. And this dog belonged to one of the shopkeepers, so he didn't break my heart.

There are dogs everywhere in Chile (and Argentina). Some are pets, but most are strays. It's heartbreaking, since they clearly would be better off in someone's home, but for the most part they look well fed (garbage is plentiful).

Other than negligence, I never saw a dog mistreated. Amie explained to me that the Chilean (and maybe across So. America) attitude is "they're liberated and it's wonderful"; they believe dogs enjoy their homeless existence.

So, there is no emphasis on spaying or neutering. They're everywhere; in the streets, on the sidewalks, sleeping in the middle of Plazas amongs the crowds...I cried a couple of times, involuntarily, at the sight of a puppy who needed some love, or an older dog who was tired of fighting for survival.

I never got used to it, but I suppose one does.

Yuzu

Shannon's Mom has passed on a tremendously good spaghetti meat sauce recipe, and it's pretty clear that Annabelle's a fan. (And yes, that's her own handprint you see around her left eye!)

ug12 Yashica TL Electro

The interior of the "disco van". We took all of our trips in this baby - and it was definitely of the era!

Volterra

I took this one just for me.

This is a good example of how Annabelle mimics most everything we do now -- I had taken this baby food lid and smooshed my face up against it to make her laugh, and then she reached out for it, took it from me, and did it right back to me. It was so adorable.

It's a rare occasion that I get to feed Annabelle a bottle these days, so when the chance arises, I grab it with both hands.

Annabelle can steal Shannon's glasses in under a quarter of a second flat.

What adjectives to use to describe Venice? I pretty much could not keep my camera out of my pocket - every time you would turn a corner you would see a scene like this - with incredible colors and textures - we spent a lot of time wandering around the back streets and canals and there was always something interesting going on.

Gazing out from the roof of Sacre Couer.

Steven took the dark photo I took and played around with it in Adobe Elements. Much better! Thanks, hon.

ze19 Yashica TL Electro

She's not only walking a ton now, she's also become incredibly agile when she wants to -- she climbs up onto things, and tries to climb down off of much higher things (like the bed)!

The Autostrada bridges and tunnels on northern Sicily are impressive.