On Saturday there was a falconry exhibition in the piazza as part of the Pallio.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Pallio degli Zoccoli 2013
We just started the season of the Pallio degli Zoccoli here in Desio. It's a big event wherein the whole city is divided into 11 "contradas" (quarters?) and each contrada has its own flag. Each contrada sends a team of two runners to the pallio, which will take place on June 9. The pallio is a race in which the runners will wear wooden shoes (zoccoli). This is to commemorate the victory of a battle that took place in Desio in 1277. When the winners of the battle rode into town, the citizens of Desio stomped their wooden-shoe-clad feet loudly to show their support. There will be lots of events all week, including a parade in which people from each contrada dress in medieval dress and march through town. Last night, we heard singing and praying, and we looked out our window and saw a long procession of priests, nuns, and laypeople walking through town. We also saw the flag-bearers of the 11 contradas go by. All this to say that here's Norah standing by our contrada's flag, the pink and white one. We are in contrada "Piazza."
Birthday dessert!
By Norah's birthday, we were a little bit "caked out!" James had the great idea to get some gelato from the local gelateria and stick some candles in it. Norah was happy because she got to choose the flavors: Bacio (chocolate hazelnut), Strawberry, and Stracciatella (chocolate chip).
Norah is Six!
Next in line was Norah, who turned 6! She got to wear this special crown at school, and she brought little treats for everyone. She also wanted to wear a skirt to school, and since it was her birthday, she got her wish!
Luca is Three!
Luca's birthday was next in line, and he wanted "strawberry cake." We tried strawberry cake once with Norah and it was gross, so I made a yellow cake and we put strawberries on top. He was pleased! Mostly, though, he wanted to blow out his birthday candles!
An original by Raffy
Chiara asked her aunt Raffaella, who loves to paint, to paint a picture for Norah and Luca to hang in their rooms. Norah's has butterflies (as you can see) and Luca's has a little frog on it. They love these pictures!
Everyone
We had 14 people at our table that night! I love that our house is big enough to accomodate everyone! It was the first time we had had everyone over at the same time...and it went pretty well, I would say.
Norah's twin
We have a very similar photo of Norah feeding her Daddy some birthday cake on HER first birthday. You can see the other photo by clicking here. As a testament to the resemblance between Norah and Susannah, Norah just saw the picture of herself feeding the cake to her Daddy, and she said, "Oh! Is that a picture of Susannah eating her birthday cake?" :-)
Finally!
After singing "Tanti Auguri" all those times, Susannah was justifiably anxious to get to the cake-eating part of the celebration. She dug right in!
Tanti Auguri!
We sang "Tanti Auguri" 7 times that evening, once for each of us, and then once for the whole family (seen here) and then once more for Chiara's Uncle Marco, who also has a May birthday! I wonder what the neighbors were thinking...
Susannah is One!
We had the entire Italian family over to our house for a Hemsley Birthday Celebration on Susannah's actual birthday! It was great to have everyone over, and the kids had fun wearing birthday hats and kicking balloons around. "Where's Susannah?" you may ask...she is in her highchair--couldn't fit her in this shot of all the kids!
Norah e la sua maestra
Norah with Stefania, her teacher. Stefania has been so patient with Norah over these past months. We couldn't have asked for a better teacher for her. We also found out that she will be Luca's teacher next year! We are so happy, because he will at least be familiar with her...hopefully that will make the transition to all Italian all day easier for him.
Il Balletto
Norah and the other girls in her class did a really nice little dance (balletto) at the graduation ceremony. It was great to see her enjoying herself with her friends!
Graduation
Norah graduated from Asilo last week...though they don't stop school until the end of June! That really confused a lot of the kids who thought that they would never go back to school after the graduation. Anyway, it was amazing to see how far Norah has come since January. In January, she was shy and didn't speak a lick of Italian. Now, she is starting to speak in sentences and talks with her friends and teacher at school! Our friend Amanda had told us about the "silent period" in language learning, where the child seems not to be making any progress, and then all of a sudden busts out with words and phrases seemingly out of nowhere. This has definitely been our experience with Norah! And, when Luca starts school in September, I know he will do the same thing!
Hemsley Birthday Week begins!
We kicked off Hemsley Birthday Week 2013 with a babysitter and dinner for myself and James at a great restaurant recommended by my uncle Marco. Here are me and the kids before we left for the evening.
Ole Whitebeard
Luca loves to "swim" in the bathtub, which basically means he dunks his head under the water and drinks half the tub before he's through. He also insists on staying in the tub until the last drop of water has gone down the drain, all the while trying to "swim" in it. At the end, this is the result: a face full of bubbles!
Welcome Home
Norah and Luke made this sign for Daddy to welcome him back from his recent trip to London. They missed him when he was gone, and were so glad to see him!
In addition to bringing himself home, James brought home some books for the kids, including the classic "Where's Wally?" books. Don't ask me why it's Waldo in the States and Wally in England...I don't see how anyone would object to either name in either place...
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