Week 2: Chill Days

Forget about blogging every day. That was an unattainable goal :).





We have realized that there need to be chill days. The kids thrive on it. But Andrew and I also need adventurous days as well. We have had a good mix of both lately. I should point out, in case it isn't very obvious on the blog, that Andrew does work. In fact, this last weekend he just sat at his computer and worked all day. Sometimes even I'm amazed at what we've been able to fit in when he is not working.

Sometimes Andrew is stuck in his room, working...

...while everyone else is hanging out

There is almost always laundry hanging out to dry. I probably should have brought more clothes. We do laundry pretty much every day.

On one of our chill days, Andrew came home early to get some reading/studying done in his room while the rest of us played. It was sunny but not too hot. I can't get over this weather. It just makes a person want to live outside. On this particular day, Cam developed a strange fear of bees. I guess it is not rare for a child to be afraid of bees but this came on rather suddenly. We had the windows and doors open to enjoy the nice weather (no screens in Italy) and a bee had flown in the house. Cam was completely freaked and shut himself in the bathroom and wouldn't come out. I wasn't sure what to do since I didn't have any sort of fly swatter and the bee wasn't flying out on his own. So I told Cam that we should pray for the bee to leave. So Cam said a simply little prayer, and not 10 seconds after he finished the bee flew over our heads and out the door. A Miracle! I told Cam that his prayer was answered. I don't know if he was as amazed as I was. probably just relieved, but he definitely remembered the experience and told his Aunts and Uncles when they came home.





For dinner, we made some pesto, a small caprese salad (just moz and tomatoes actually) and some cheese and crackers. We took it out to a small perch on the hillside (on the huge property here) and had a little picnic. The sun was setting. It was awesome. My brother and sisters were home from sightseeing at that point and it was so cool to have them there. The boys pretended to be airplanes and ran through the olive trees, up and down the hillside. When we originally had the idea to come to Italy with our family, I kept imagining the boys running through the countryside of Tuscany. But I thought that image was probably too idealized and a bit unrealistic. I was wrong. There may be other aspects about this trip that weren't as I imagined, but that part has exceeded all expectations. They run and play, as idyllic as any childhood novel, among olive trees, on a hillside of vibrant greens. If we lived here for the rest of our lives, I wonder if they would ever do anything else.

Another chill day we went outside and made some fairy houses with sticks, flowers and rocks. They weren't quite as amazing as what we came up with at Grandma Stacey's house last summer, but they were fun to make, and promptly destroy. They are boys after all. Esme was with us too, hanging out in the stroller. She is still working on sitting up by herself. She really likes it when I let her scratch at the grass and the dirt. I think she may have a tomboy streak in her. I tried to exercise and run up and down the hill next to our place a few times. But after a couple laps I was done. Still not in good enough shape to run up a hill I guess.

The boys really like the woman who waters the plants and takes care of the property. It think she may live here but I'm not sure. They like to run up to her and say "Ciao" and then run away giggling. They make me go say "Ciao" to her too. This is a little odd because normally my boys are a little more shy around strangers. But it is cute that they are trying to speak Italian and coming out of their shell a little. Luke is more aware that there is a language barrier and sometimes I can tell he is a little nervous that he doesn't speak Italian. But as time goes on, he seems to be less worried about it and it looks like he is a little more comfortable in this country.

a view from one of our favorite walks

Chill days. Love them.