British Invasion

Going shopping

First night, giardinetti

Cute cousins next to cute car!

La dolce vita

Loving the alleyways

Last week, my cousin Paula arrived with her three children: Archie (11), Felix (9) and Daisy (5, nearly 6). We had so much fun! I'd intended to blog about what we did every day, but we were so exhausted by the end of the day that it was about impossible! Suffice it to say that there was a LOT of playing with the cousins, water fights, a trip to the chocolate factory (including an amazing demonstration), a visit to a pasta shop (getting to see how everything was made), a Fiat 500 rally, and more! The children had dinner together one night while the adults had a more tranquil evening elsewhere, and there was a lot of cafe time in the piazzas! Michael had the luck to observe the following scene: Daisy in the park with a gaggle of 9-year-old girls who had decided that she was her mascot, communicating via their rudimentary English and looking up phrases in Google. Adorable! Daisy essentially asked why he was there...upon his responding that he was checking on her, she imperiously replied, "Well, I am with my friends and we are fine," (with the "shove off now" implied rather than stated, but clear nonetheless!).

Felix and pasta

Snack in the piazza

Daisy and pastries

In the baby car!

The boys visiting King Arturo

In the tower of San Fortunato

Archie is now sporting a fancy bruise, thanks to this!

Daisy having fun at the park

Lots of time spent here!

Daisy amidst the daisies

Gelato!

Yes, we taught her how to eat her pizza properly!

Daisy likes baby cinos

Daisy at the wine shop

Waiting for the chocolate to come off the cooling line

Covering the filled chocs!

At the chocolate factory!

Walking the bunny

No, the bunny doesn't provide much exercise to the owners.

Shoot!

So.much.fun!

Daisy and Florence at the shooting range

Robin Hood!

Thank you, Matteo!

Daisy on Florence's motorino

In the cisterns

A little down time with Tom and Jerry...complete with popcorn!

Rally!

The three cousins crammed in the back of the Fiat 500 while one or other of my larger kids was in the front during the rally. They all had a delightful time with the honking through the towns and waving, although when it had been five minutes without that requirement, Daisy said, "It's a bit boring now." The boys had verbal competitions over which one was planning to have more Fiat 500s when grown. Archie was very interested in how the double-clutch works, and both boys helped me the prior day when it came to filling up with gas.

You should have seen the registrar's face
when I said there were eight people associated with one vehicle!

Archie enjoyed some of Jeremy's strategy games, and we also enjoyed a few others with a larger group. We climbed the tower of San Fortunato, and enjoyed the views from there. What else? It's become a bit of a blur, to be honest.

We were all very sad to say goodbye; Daisy had a morning in which she had a "goodbye ride in the baby car," went up to the park to say goodbye to the swingset, the "big car" (the Panda, which is not large by any stretch of the imagination), and the fountain. The boys talked about staying and making "Daddy and the dogs" come over here instead; the situation wasn't helped by reports of below-freezing temperatures and rain in England, while we were looking at sunny skies in our short-sleeved shirts!

Buon viaggio, Paula and the littles!

Alexandra