Europe

How did I not post about our European adventure?

France, Switzerland and Italy:

May 17 - June 1, 2009

After Matt graduated from Med School, we packed our (borrowed) backpacks and headed across the big blue ocean. We flew into Paris where we sailed through customs, jumped on the metro and headed into town. We stayed at Hotel Eden (thanks to a recommendation from a friend) where we had our own bathroom and bedroom. We had a marvelous stay in this culture rich city. Next on the list was Switzerland. We took an amazing train ride through the french countryside, into Bern, and on to Interlaken. With packs full, we hiked to our Hostel: Balmer's Herbage "a backpacker's paradise". We enjoyed the views from 'the top of Europe' and the valleys below. From Interlaken we took another (not so nice) train ride to Venice where it was at least 105 degrees. We wandered through the tiny-unlabeled streets to find A Venice Museum. This hole would be the dark side of the trip. Next stop: Cinque Terre, along the coast of western Italy. Our apartment at Mar Mar was a dream. We enjoyed our in-room kitchen and shower and everything about this quaint little coastal town. The last city on the list was Rome. We had cancelled our Hostel thanks to the misery that was a Venice Museum. Our hotel was a few long miles outside of the city... but we at least we had air conditioning!

So Many memories.... so many adventures! Here are a few pictures from our vacation:

The Eiffle Tower

The back side of Notre Dame. Such an amazing building, inside, outside, backside, front.
The Louvre. We did the classic tourist traps (took some slightly offensive art lover photos-aka our interpretations of the Mona Lisa) and exited.
Sacre Coeur. AMAZING. the view of paris from the top of this hill is just as breathtaking.
our giant packs. this was not comfortable hiking to the top of Monte Martre or any sort of walking for more than 10 minutes.

Switzerland! ahhhh
On our way down after hiking UP into the swiss alps. Breathtaking!
Cinque Terre. Love this place. If you are ever in Italy, you MUST make a pit stop!
Paul was here 2000 years ago. wow.

Pretending we were watching the gladiators!

The Trevi Fountain. We came here every night we were in Rome and people-watched. It was such a great place to sit and stare (while eating delicious pizza and gelato).
My view of matt for much of the trip. On the first day we argued so much about which way was the right way that we decided to let 1 person (matt) be in charge of the map and the other (me) wasn't allowed to complain when we got lost. This method actually worked really well. I was very happy being slightly oblivious to our location. However, we did have to rely on the "back to start" feature on my GPS watch on more than 1 occasion!

Oh the fanny pack. This housed all of our important documents. I slept with this thing and even took it to the shower with me. It did have quite the odor when I finally took it off in Tampa!

We walked 171 memorable miles in 15 days all across Europe! it was a great adventure!

Bun in the Oven

Well if you are sneaky and check this without us telling you, you get to know before everyone else: We are EXPECTING! Baby fox is due August 1st. We are very excited. Although baby doesn't like me to eat, things are going well. I am 14 weeks along and already have a small pooch that I can't suck in!

i've forgotten where we moved...

the north pole???

So when we moved here back in June, I was all freaked out about the cold weather. I hate being cold, truly hate it. EVERYONE said that Denver had such mild weather, "it only gets cold for a few days and then it is sunny and beautiful." They also said that it was really dry, so the cold wasn't even that bad. I should've realized back then because it rained almost every day this summer- despite their claims of dry weather. Well, it has been cold for 3 months now. I am waiting for that sunny and beautiful... any day now. Currently the temperature is 3 degrees. The feels like is -10. Do you know what -10 feels like? It hurts. Your snot freezes when you open the door. And, any skin not covered by 700 fill down, stings and turns white. The other fun thing is that we don't have a back yard anymore. That is currently down in sunny florida being overgrown with weeds. SO, I get to take the dog out in this weather 3 times a day and wait for him to find a green bush in which he will graciously pop a squat. Mind you, with 6 inches on show on the ground, this process can take up to 20 minutes.

it is beautiful here.. even with the cold.
and yes, I am in shorts. I never claimed to be good at dressing for the cold.... That is a frozen lake that I stood on for approximately 10 seconds before Matt had a fit.
Here are some more pictures from this Fall.

The giant elk at Rocky Mountain National Park!
My Favorite children in the Universe!! Ellie and Campbell Fox
Laughing at Uncle Matt

lots more snow

Denver Blizzard, October 2009

Apparently kids in colorado don't sled on snow days... they snowboard.

so this is Bailey climbing out of snow that came over his head. I couldn't snap a picture fast enough to catch him covered. He was freaking out it was so sad. he started crying. poor boo.

Our covered porch... covered in snow!

matt... slightly regretting his decision to move to colorado. or at least his decision to wear crocs and scrub pants out in the blizzard.

BRRRRR

SNOW

I think I woke up this morning in the North Pole.

still catching up

snippets from some of our travels and some of our visitors to Florida

May 2009: My girlfriend Lindsey came for a visit just before graduation. 
April 2009: Visiting the NC Fox clan. We went to the Duke Gardens and got to spend some time with the girls.
April 2009- Foxes from behind :)
April 2009: Mom came to Denver with me right after we found out we were moving here to look for a place to live and to interview. It was beautiful and obviously, the interview was a success!  This is at Red Rocks Park.

April 2009: Mom, enjoying the beautiful scenery at red rocks.

whoa. been a long time

Catching up a bit 2009:

I haven't updated this in quite a while...lots has been going on.  We have run some races, traveled the country, traveled abroad, celebrated graduation, moved to Colorado, and started new jobs. 

May 2009: one of the many going away parties celebrated in Tallahassee!  These are some of the best people in the world to work with-- many of my girlfriends from the pediatric ICU.
April 2009: Girls night (+ bruce and chuck).  My running buddies and me, celebrating many things, including the upcoming move to Colorado. 
March 2009: Disney Princess half marathon.  The Pancotto clan (- Theresa) registered for this last year... little did we know that dad would be smack dap in the middle of receiving chemotherapy.  Not that that fact held him back!  All of us crossed the finish line in the allotted time. It was a blast!
Pancotto Parents post 13.1 miles!
Our family!  We look pretty good for finishing 13.1 miles!