Of all the places in Europe to celebrate Marc’s 40th, Tuscany was the perfect choice. My husband loves Italy and he loves Italian food. Vin’s 10th birthday also happens to be in May, so we celebrated him, as well. We stayed at a cool old castle, the Castello Montegufoni, an 11th century castle in the little town of Montespertoli, Italy. Can I just say that this might have been the most majestic place we have ever stayed? It also happened to be one of the least expensive. Oh, Italy, how I love thee.

After arriving at the castle and walking the grounds and having a dip in the pool, we were off to our family cooking class.

Our next stop was Florence. I remember not being overly impressed with Florence when I visited as a backpacker after college. I don’t know what I was thinking. Florence is COOL. The kids really loved Palazzo Vecchio. We had a great family tour guide, who was able to make everything exciting and interesting for them. We also had a street artist draw the kids portraits. They were really excited to get them and keep asking me to frame and hang them. It’s on my to do list…like so many things…

Lastly, we decided to take a day trip to Lucca, Italy to ride our bikes on the old city walls, and have some pasta and gelato! It was a wonderful way to spend Vincent’s 10th birthday. You really can’t go wrong with Tuscany for a family holiday. Next stop, the Cinque Terre…