Norah and Luke enjoyed running around in this little piazza in Modena, complete with a fountain for them to look at! A guy was sitting here all alone, drinking a beer, minding his own business when we showed up. While I fed Susannah, our kids ran around like wild things, but he didn't leave. I think he enjoyed the show!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Should I?
submit this to an online "cutest kid" contest? I thought I would catch him off guard, so I called his name when he was looking at Norah in order to get a candid photo. He turned around and this is what I got! This kid makes it REALLY DIFFICULT to take a decent picture!
Romanesque Lion
Modena also has a UNESCO world heritage site: the Cathedral. It was built in 1099 and consecrated in 1184. It is really really beautiful in a different way on the inside. It has little alcoves and chapels that have carved scenes from the Bible. Another cool thing about this church is that you can walk almost anywhere inside--many churches here in Italy keep the altar and the whole front area off-limits. But here, you could walk behind the altar, and above the altar where the priest would stand and give his homily. It was really neat.
Outside are some typical Romanesque lions guarding the entrance to the church.
Buried in babies!
Luke has been wanting to be held lately--he practically shoves Susannah off my lap sometimes. So, this time, I held BOTH Luke AND Susannah!
Princess' window
We walked around Torino for most of the day and ended up behind the castle in the park that was once the grounds of the castle. We thought that window looked like a princess' window.
Luke went with Option C again for this photo...
There's a hole in her mouth!
Norah has lost her 4 front teeth (2 on top, 2 on the bottom)! She's got quite the gaping hole in her smile!
Here she is standing behind Torino's cathedral, where there are remains of an old Roman amphitheater. It was pretty cool to see that and imagine what sorts of "entertainment" the Romans experienced here. Gladiators? Plays? Music?
Luke's new trick
Luke's latest and greatest trick is that whenever we try to take a nice picture of him, or him and his sister(s), he either:
a) starts shaking his booty at us
b) starts "dancing" and looking like he is punching the ground, or
c) sticks out his tongue.
This time he went with option C.
Guy on a horse
In front of the palace in Torino.
p.s. Torino is the same place as "Turin." Why do people change city names depending on what language you are speaking? In my opinion, it should be pronounced in the same way as the locals would pronounce it...
Torino
We went to Torino to scout it out and see if it's a place we would want to spend a few days later this year. All in all, it was a fun day. There are numerous massive piazzas all through the downtown area of the city. This one is in front of one of the king's old palaces. The first thing our kids ask when we arrive at any destination is: "Can we run around?" This means they run around like feral children while James and I and Susannah try to enjoy the vistas of the place we are in. One great thing about Torino is that there were lots of places for them to run around without running into people!
Silly Cousins
The kids had so much fun when Ethan was here. Luke is "sad" every night and when I ask him what's wrong, he says he misses Ethan. Come back, Ethan!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Easter Sunday
We got the kiddos all gussied up for Easter mass at the Basilica. They looked pretty darn cute!
At the end of the mass, the priest chided the congregation for chatting and talking the whole way through the service. I hadn't noticed it, but we were sitting in the back and I was concentrating on keeping our kids from being "THOSE KIDS." He told them that they might as well not have come if they were not going to listen to the young people in the choir singing their hearts out to the Lord, or listening to the wonderful story of Easter. Everyone was quiet after that!
Dyeing Easter Eggs
We had Grandma Patti get decorating kits and send them back to Italy with James on his last trip to the USA. Then, Easter-time came and Nonna reminded me that all eggs in Italy are brown! Oops!
Well, we tried to dye them anyway, and they actually turned out pretty well. There is a date stamp on each egg that boiled off (luckily)--then we just dipped the eggs as usual and got some interesting colors.
Coloring Easter Eggs
Norah and I printed off lots of Easter Eggs for her and the boys to color. I thought they might color them for 10 minutes and then be on to the next activity. However, they sat there for about 2 hours and colored every last one! Nonna even got to color a few!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Entertainment
We were walking around Varazze one day and in a small piazza we found this pair of entertainers: a juggler and an accordion player. They were really fun to watch, and the kids had a great time watching the show!
Cousins
Norah and Ethan had a great time (most of the time) playing together on this trip. It was really great to see. We will sure miss him and Nonna when they have to go back to the USA.
"Now laugh about something!"
mamma 014, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.
Nonna and the kids laughing about "something" so that I could get a good photo!
Favorite thing
Luca's favorite thing to do at the seashore was, hands down, "throwin' rocks." He would have done this all day if we'd have let him! And, he might end up being a lefty like Chiara because he throws and kicks with his left arm/leg.
Varazze again
We went to Varazze, near Genoa, for a few days last week. Nonna wanted to show Ethan the sea, and he absolutely LOVED it! The kids played on the seashore morning and night, and at the end of the day, they were always exhausted. The weather was a little chilly, but at least there was sunshine and not rain! As a matter of fact, it was raining when we arrived on Sunday night, and it didn't rain again until Thursday morning when we had finally loaded all the kids and our stuff in the van to come home! What good weather!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
3 balls
A legend in Bergamo is that one of the military leaders from the 15th century, Bartolomeo Colleoni was so brave and strong that he must have had 3 balls. The symbol is on his coat of arms and people who come to Bergamo rub the three balls for fertility, strength, and good luck. In 2001, James and I came to Italy and visited Bergamo. He rubbed the balls then. Now, 11 years later, we have 3 kids! I told him NOT to rub the balls again, but he just wouldn't listen!
Espresso
Turns out Luca likes the taste of Espresso. Before you call CPS, there was nothing left in the cup but some foam and a little sugar! But hey, how else were we going to get him to walk back DOWN the mountain?
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Luke went with options A, B, and C in this photo. If you don't understand, read a couple of posts earlier and all will be made clear...