Our Little Aggie

When Owen was a wee little baby, we saw a neat photo spread in Parents magazine. A mother had taken pictures of her daughter in her mother's fifties style swimsuit every year, starting when her daughter was a baby up until the age that it fit well (about 15 years old).

My mother-in-law and I thought this was pretty neat and decided to do it with Owen in Jared's 12th man Aggie jersey. I am posting the pictures from last year and this year-taken of course on game day between A&M and the University of Texas. Enjoy!

November 2006, Owen 5 months

November 2007, Owen 17 months

And Owen is already decked out with his first Aggie backpack compliments of Granly and Grandad.

Italy Vacation November 2007

No complaints for the Solethers as we just got back from a 10 day trip to Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Jared had a 2 day conference at the Navy base there so we decided to make a family vacation of it. After thinking it over, Jared and I realized this was maybe our first destination vacation since our honeymoon...certainly long overdue but we had a great time. Following are some pictures of the different places that we saw.

Our little trooper

Owen was quite the trooper on our Italy vacation. We certainly pushed him hard with all the places we went and things we saw. Overall he did really well but there were times when he really pushed our buttons. Travelling with a toddler is certainly harder than travelling with a baby.

Most days, there was little time for naps, so Owen took them when he could.

This picture was taken in Pompeii...Owen was probably thinking, "Haven't we seen enough 2000 year old buildings, I can't take it anymore!"

You can't let the previous picture fool you, he had fun some of the time.

Owen was so exhausted he fell asleep half way through dinner. Though you can't really blame him - in true European style, dinner didn't start until 9:00pm.

We were staying with a friend in his bachelor pad...Owen had to get creative finding places to play.

Pompeii

We spent several hours visiting the remains of the city of Pompeii - a Roman city covered in ash from the erruption of Mount Vesuvio over 2000 years ago. Jared and I had heard how awesome Pompeii was to see but we had no idea how large this place is. It was so neat to see the ampitheatre, the Colissium and other ruins. Owen had a good time running around here as well. And how many babies can say that they've had their diaper changed in the ampitheater of Pompeii? The main streets are still old cobblestone and even have grooves carved out from the wooden wheels of the carts. Many of the buildings even had grafitti still evident.

Hiking Mount Vesuvio

It was a really neat trip to the top of Mount Vesuvias. To get the top you drive up the mountain about 8 miles with so many hairpin turns it can make you dizzy. After the drive up you hike about 30 minutes to the top of the crater. Mount Vesuvias last errupted in 1944 and National Geographic recently had an article that it was due to errupt again soon. A guide for Mt Vesuvias told us that this article really hurt business as people are scared to visit the top now.

It is impossible to capture on camera the scale of the crater at the top and how wide and deep it actually is. There were areas emitting steam the time we were there.


From the top you have great views of Naples on one side and the Amalfi coast on the other. You can also see Pompeii, which was covered in ash over 2000 years ago.


As we were leaving and driving back down the mountain we were able to watch the sunset over the Isle of Capri, it was beautiful!

Along the Almalfi Coast

Over the weekend, our friend Donny took us for a drive along the Amalfi coast. It was a gorgeous day and despite getting a bit carsick from the twisty, curvy roads, we enjoyed the trip. We started in Vietri, a small time known for its ceramics, and ended the day in Sorrento.

November was a great time of year to visit because it was low tourist season. These pictures were taken from a small fruit stand overlooking Positano.



It was a lot of fun to walk through the town of Sorrento. If we were to do the trip again, we would probably stay in Sorrento. The town specializes in in-laid wood and leather goods. We had a belt cut especially for Owen. He probably doesn't appreciate it yet but Jared is sure excited about it.

Caserta: Palace, Gardens and Fort

We spent a day exploring the Caserta Palace and gardens. People say things are bigger in Texas but these Italians built some huge places!

Picture from inside the palace at the top of the steps. We were trying to imagine them actually building this place and hauling all the marble and construction materials...how did they get it done?

This is a picture from the gardens. Behind the palace was about a 2 miles stretch of garden and terraced fountains, it was beautiful!

We visited the old town of Caserta - Casertachino and enjoyed exploring the old church and fort.

Castel St Elmo and Naples

Our first day in Naples we spent walking around and exlploring the Castel of St Elmo and the Monestary right next to it.

We opted to take a backpack carrier instead of a stroller. This is Owen and Daddy ready to start the day!
Family photo from the monestary, nice view of the city.

View of Naples from the castle. It is a very crowded city, Jared calls it a concrete jungle. It seems as if every square inch of available land is taken up by building after building. You can see Mount Vesuvio in the background.

The is the front of the monestary, Owen had fun running around.

Owen and Daddy inside the castle.

Hiking trip to Raminhas

Well, this hiking trip happened quite a while ago but I have been very bad about updating our blog. I think this trip was towards the end of August. We had gorgeous weather and discovered a neat camping spot. We did two trails this day and were amazed at how different they were when it was less than 100 between the two trail heads. We made it over the cliffs and all the way to the water, it was gorgeous! Enjoy.

Biscoittes Wine Festival

The first weekend of September we went to the annual wine festival in the little town of Biscoittes.

Participation in the wine making process was highly encouraged. In the end, mostly the Americans picked and stomped grapes. The locals came to watch us and then eat and drink afterwards.


You walked as a group down to the vineyards, picked the grapes and loaded up the carts. Once they were full, the carts were brought up the hill so we could stomp the grapes.


It was just like the "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy and Ethel stomped the grapes. You were able to jump right in (after washing your feet of course) and join the locals in stomping the grapes. They played music, sang songs and enjoyed the wine making process.


I took Owen in with me while Jared watched. By the time I got in, most of the grapes were mashed and it felt really slimy underfoot. It was pretty neat to experience nonetheless.


The vineyard and process as a whole was certainly a little more dated than vineyards we visited in California! (The wine didn't taste nearly as good either.)

Is this how you wear these?

Owen has taken to wearing Jared's sandals...

on his arms. He'll figure them out someday.

The Milk Man

Every other day or so you will see the milk man walk...drive...trot by (how do you describe a horse drawn buggy?)

We don't get our milk from him but I some of the locals do. Actually, we pay $2.49 a half gallon for "ultra pasturized" milk from the states. The milk I bought last Friday (Sept 14)has a use-by date of October 30th.

Just wanted to share some of the local culture...you sure don't see this every day in the States!

Future Aggie?

The shirt Owen is wearing is Jared's from when he was Owen's age. Doesn't he look cute?


Jared was the class of 2001. We did the math and think Owen will be the Class of 2029, that seems ages away!


Owen getting ready for football season - Gig em' Aggies.


(There will of course be no pressure when the time comes and Owen will have a choice where he wants to go to school...He could be a Trinity Tigers like his mom.)

Beach trip to Porto Martins

This past weekend we took Owen to the beach in a small town named Porto Martins that is about 10 minutes from the house. It is on the ocean but they have built concrete walls to create a swimming and man-made beach area right off of the ocean.


This town is also known as "mini-America" because so many Americans from the base choose to live here. We certainly understand the appeal! It has a great little Italian restaurant right on the beach named Buzios. We'll take you there when you come to visit.


Owen has been to the beach before but this was the first time to play and he LOVED it! He was in typical boy fashion - trying to get as dirty as possible while playing in the sand...


...why not eat a little sand while we're at it? Yummy.


We took him into the water and he couldn't get enough of it. We played for almost an hour and even though he was shivering from being cold, he still wanted to play.


We'll certainly go again!