Remember Adam & Christine? Over the course of some delicious meals at the beginning of our friendship, the four of us would trade travel stories and talk about the places we still wanted to go - you know, way down the road. Then one night someone had suggested that the four of us should travel together. Why not? I don't remember the exact dialogue, but I'm sure the conversation started with Ben cocking his head to the side and saying, "You know, the four of us could really go, dude, think about it." As the boys convinced each other, Christine and I plugged our ears to prevent getting our hopes up about what would, undoubtably, be a fabulous trip. Once we were persuaded by the menfolk that this is the best time in our lives to go -- no huge financial burdens, no kids, we're young and can afford to 'rough it' a bit -- Ben grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down any place the four of us might like to experience. Then he grabbed a map and we each ruled out one place and insisted on another. The locations were selected and we resumed our game of Blokus, growing more and more excited about the possibility of traveling the world with good friends.

More wonderful summer evening suppers were filled with home-made mojitos and European planning. Fall rolled around and the airlines were beginning to offer flights for the time of year we hoped to travel so we made plans with Adam & Christine to buy plane tickets the next weekend and plans to celebrate with champagne afterward. The four of us had joked that the only thing that would keep us from our European adventure would be a baby and were that to occur, the party at fault would provide the other party with a bottle of scotch. So when we got a phone call - but no voicemail - from Adam just a few days prior to our ticket purchase date, we became a little suspicious... As you can see from yesterday's post, there's no secret as to how this story unravelled. Instead of getting together to purchase plane tickets we gathered to adore the tiny little ultrasound photos that confirmed Adam and Christine would be staying stateside for at least a few more months (and yes, they came bearing whiskey). But truly, Ben & I can't think of a better reason to change our plans. We have loved celebrating this new adventure with Adam & Christine; baby Boy comes within a month's time now and we wouldn't miss his first year for the world!

The paper from that initial European-travel-dream-dinner remained on our fridge and for a few months we lost a bit of steam, wondering if we should go or not. The potential itinerary was reduced from 6 countries to 3 countries, to 2 countries, to 1 country. Eight months, one expectant momma and two plane tickets later, I'm thrilled to share that the Glass family will be enjoying Italy for three weeks this fall.

Hilarious side note: I just realized the Eric Carle book juxtaposed with our celebratory champagne; yes, it is for the Baby Boy of our original travel partners. =)

Ben has already begun mastering the Italian language (shocker), and I'm gaining weight just from researching all the fabulous food we're going to enjoy. Rest assured that there will be much more to come of Baby Boy and the Glass Family Italian Adventure.