Meeting in Rome

  Well I've got my Italian gramma now.  We went to the Kingdom Hall in rome yesterday. A very tiny but super friendly hall. It took great effort to get there and frankly I would have given up the effort if it weren't for Jimmie pushing us. I'm glad he did, the meeting was great . Emphasis on spending time together as a family reminded me I'm so glad we came. We met some wonderful brother who invited us to lunch at bethel. This is a real privledge. We do that tomorow. Also we met a brother who does bible tours in the city so we have arranged that. We met a sister from New York who married an Italian and she invited us to meet for ice cream. Next to the ice cream place we found another Kingdom Hall full of Italian people just leaving their meeting.  They were all very friendly and cute. We went in and visited for a while, I met this cute sister and her eighty year old mother who I think may have been senile. Her daughter kept telling her I don't speak Italian only English. She refused to acknowledge this and I have no clue what she was telling me but whatever it was , was pretty funny because everyone was laughing. They kept trying to shush her, but I loved every minute of it. I told them to tell her how I longed for an Italian gramma and can she be mine? She agreed and kissed my cheeks.  

  This is the beauty if Jehovah's organisation. We have family wherever we go.  It's been the best lesson for the kids to see this firsthand. 

A poem.... Kinda

  From Amsterdam to Naples I've traveled this far

Across mountains and rivers

To seas

And many bars.

There have been places and people I'll never forget

A life full of memories I'll never regret.

   

Time has moved slowly

As I've soaked it all in.

It felt as though I would  always 

have this permanent grin.

It's been two months since this adventure began 

Time sure sped up, 

As we near the end.

If there's one thing I've learned in my travels thus far

Life can be hell when your stuck in a car.

But it's a necessary evil, this is true,

It takes you places you haven't been before,

And when you arrive you surely must stop by the bar.

Talk to strangers

Buy them a drink

New people will help you find new ways to think.

Making friends wherever you go,

This is a knack you surely must know.

Taste new culinary delights.

Soak up new sights.

Rent a bike.

Take a hike.

Fly a kite.

You may come home with a new hobbie you really like.

  

Slow down and smell the roses.

Breath in the mountain air.

Feel the ground beneath you , and be happy that you are there.

 The world around you is a lovely place.

Not taking to time to see it

Now that's a disgrace. 

It's full of smiling friendly faces,

People just waiting for you to meet.

That's just something 

That can not be beat. 

Willie oh willie take me home...

  The almafi coast was beautiful. I imagine that greece is similar. Old white stucco buildings hugging the cliffs above the blue medieranian sea. We ate lunch at a place perched on a cliff that felt as if we were in a boat floating on the water. Pasta with fresh clams , bruschetta , more pizza for the kids. A sweet old Italian guy was the cook and the server. His face was sweet and tender and he kindly cared for us, treating us to cookies after our meal and reassuring me the con artist who ripped me off at the roadside vegetable stand is no reflection of southern italy itself.  The coastal towns were pretty touristy, but I could easily see why people visit here.

  Still I was having a hard time, being " in the moment" I kept thinking about home. The crook who ripped me off May be what tipped me over the homesick edge.   I have so much on my mind, I'll see if I can put it into words.

  Part of this adventure , this biggest part really, is the time we have to spend getting to know each other, and myself. That brings me back to the fraudulent fruit man. Jim pulled off the road to take a picture of the ocean view. There was a man with a truck there selling fruit. Jim lingered taking photos. I thought to myself, we shouldn't park here because this guy needs customers to pull off and buy stuff. This was a public area though, so we were doing nothing wrong. Still I got out not because I needed fruit, but because I felt obligated. The man spoke no English, I said I'd like a few cherries and maybe a watermelon.  I looked around and noticed two chiwawa 's then I saw three more. We looked over the fence on the road and I'm not kidding there had to twenty rabid chiwawa's that all wanted to eat us alive. This evil dog breeding ground wasn't exactly the makings of an " appetizing" fruit farm. He picked a cherry out of the basket and handed it to me to taste. How sweet. His hands looked as though he had a manicure in a dung pile, my eyes widened as I stared at his hand with layers of dirt and in slow motion he handed it to me waiting for me to try. Now instinctively, I didn't want to eat the cherry, it was surely covered in ecolli, and whatever other things linger in poop. But here's where I learn about myself.  I looked back at the dirty man , and popped the cherry in my mouth so I wouldn't hurt his feelings. This is ludicrous I know. Then he started putting gobs of cherries in the bag, I tried to slow him down, next thing you know he's putting peaches and nectarines in the bag. Oh well I think to myself, I guess we will get some of those too, even though I hate the furry skin of peaches. At least everything in italy is inexpensive. Then he drags out this scale, the most ridiculous fakest looking scale I've ever seen in my life,by this time Tristan and Brock are there with me. He looks at me and says 27€ .... Ok that's crazy I have a tiny watermelon, some cherries a few peaches bla bla bla.   Now my eyes are really wide at this point. The kids are like " mom, put it back forget it!"  But nooo..... I'm to much a stinking people pleaser for that. So I tell him politely ",to much, I don't want the nectarines,"  he put them back 3 of them and then tells me 22€.  Why do I care about pleasing this dirty cheat? What's wrong with me? How hard is it to say no?   So what do I do? I pull out a 50€ and hand it over to the man. Now the boys and Jimmie have  not let me forget about this for a minute. They insisted I take my picture next to the watermelons that were only  . 50€ . This whole incident really bugged me, and what really bothered me most was I knew he wasn't being honest and yet I still let him take advantage . So maybe it was this incident that got me in the funk that has made these last few days harder. 

   I have to admit, I am homesick. I'm ready to come home. I'm tired of the constantly being on the go. We have certainly seen so much but I've reached the point of mental exhaustion and I don't care about seeing anything anymore. Jimmie has much more stamina than me and can just go and go but I'm tired. I'm done.  Yesterday, we drove to mt. Vesuvius , this the day after Pompeii .  Some of us were not interested in seeing it but there was no way jim was going to miss it so we were happy to join him. Brock reminded him we have volcanos at home. Yes but, not volcanos that destroyed ancient cities. Okay... Fair enough... So back in the car we go. An hour and a half drive then and 30 minute walk up to the top of the crevice. I stared down into the " volcano" it's a giant pit of sand. I think jim expected to see bubbling lava. 

   Okay then were off to find the ferry in Naples to take us to the island of Capri. This is all in one day mind you, turns out the tickets to go there would cost us too much money so we changed our mind and I was so glad. Vacation overload. It happens when you try to see everything , I've lost interest.

  So instead we found ourselves at a nearby beach. It was an interesting experience. You get to the parking area and they " valet" your car , which means they squeeze it into this tiny space with fifty other cars and scratch the heck out of your bumper. Then you have to rent a loung chair on the beach. Fair enough and how can I complain about that?  So after you pay you follow the guy who carries your chair and literally step over people in their chairs until he finds space , but not really, for your chairs. I stare in disbelief when  He places our chairs 2 inches from the strangers in their speedos and woman with her hairy armpits . I had to laugh at this point.  People were laying on this beach squeezed so tight we were literally like sardines in a can.  Well I just kinda rolled with it, and was reminded how silly us Americans are with our need for personnel space. 

   After the beach we went to the town of sessa auranica for dinner. It was my kind of place, no tourists shop were seen and people stared at us like we were cone head aliens because everyone and I mean everyone is Italian. Dinner was great, so incredibly inexespensive. We ordered the " local wine" for 5€ and he brought us a liter in a carafe. It was delicious. 

   Willie Nelson played as we were driving, he sang " always on my mind" .  It was then that I was completely homesick. When I hear willie sing, I close my eyes and see mom and dad slowly dancing across the living room floor. Tears instantly streamed down my cheeks. I used to love to watch them dance , and they loved willie. I miss my parents, I especially miss my dad being healthy and how they were so in love with each other.  When I go home, I won't get to see them dance, we all watch in horror as daddy's health deteriorates.  But I want to go home still.  I was blessed with an amazing family, and I think of all of them, my brothers and my sister and I think, I wish they were here with me.  Dave would like this, Judy would love that, Danny would love her, Jon Jon has been here and loved this.  I wish mom would fly, I'd bring her here. Daddy is always In my heart and constantly on my mind. 

  So at the end of it all, with all my fantisations of moving abroad and doing something exotic and different there really is no place like home. That's where I belong, near my family and friends in my congregation. As much as I love everything about it here it's not like I could move here and just make it all mine. Everyone who knows me, knows I love to move, and expect me to pick up and take off again. But I think maybe those days are over, it's not for certain, but it seems that way. Traveling for this long gives me that " run away" feeling I love.  I remember " running away" when I was seven years old with my best friend Rachel. We packed oranges in a pillowcase and tied the pillow case to a long stick which we put over our shoulders . I loved the excitement of it. Maybe that's what gave me my run away heart. 

  Right now this heart of mine is ready to fly home. 

   

Pompeii

  We visited Pompeii today. It was  really interesting to say the least. The sophistication of the city really impressed me. The art on the walls that has lasted through the volcano and almost two thousand years pass the eruption. Mosaic tiles in beautifully ornate designs. 

   For some reason I never imagined you actually can walk through a whole city. I thought it was going to be more like a outdoor museum with a few plaster skeletons, I never imagined streets with the original stones, you can see the " cafes" of the time, their ovens their sinks, the stairs , many original fountains. It's all still there. It's amazing really!  It was a huge city and so much of it is still so much in tact. They even had a gym and sauna and bath house.

   The most memorable place though was the brothel. As we walked through our tour guide pointed out the fresco paintings on each room advertising each prostitutes " specialty". The boys giggled like crazy on that part of the tour. The beds were still in the rooms. Stone beds. Cole said " that couldn't have been very comfortable"   These people were perverts, our tour guide pointed out a huge carved penis in the side of a wall and pointed out that it was pointing the way to one of the many brothels. The kids of course laughed hysterically at that one too, while all the other guests oohed and awed at the stone penis and took pictures. 

   The temple area was also fascinating. A huge temple was devoted to their main god , Jupiter. He was believed to be the protector of the city. Ironically mt.   Vesuvius was in perfect view behind the broken down temple which Lay helplessly in ruins with the volcano staring down at it.  I could almost hear laughter from the mountain. 

   The amount of artifacts you are able to view in close range is astonishing. To see the people who died so long ago , cocooned into plaster it was hard to imagine they were real people like us. There was even a dog who died and he had a collar on. 

   It was a fascinating place for sure and anyone who digs history will for sure love to visit here. 

Amafi coast

   Well I can't quite dust the mental picture off my mind of that disgustingly dirty town we passed to get to one of the earths must beautiful coastlines. It's gorgeous here, no question about that. But how can it be so close by such an ugly place? 

   The drive has been a spectacular , breath taking and nerve racking expedition. The road has taken us   From sorrento   to positano on a disgustingly narrow  road with harrowing curves and cliffs of death that fall a thousand feet in to the endless Mediterranean. Add to this , crazy and I mean crazy drivers. They drive fast, they don't bother at all to stay in their lanes, they pass on curves and the motor bikes pass both on the right and the left, sometimes at the same time. So I've been trying to admire the beauty all the while hanging on to my seat for dear life and covering my eyes around every corner for fear it will be the last corner I ever wind around.  

  We stopped at a road side stand and I got shamboozled by some guy who tried to charge me 26€ for a watermelon some cherries and a few peaches. It actually hurt my feelings. 

  Well I suspect I like northern Italy more than the south but I'm not completely sure. 

   

   

Grumpy pants and earthquakes

    Sometimes in life, it seems just when you think you've ironed out all your issues, you've got it all figured out now, it's all good, everything heads south and you have to eat some humble pie just to remind you that you never really figure it all out every moment of every day. One thing I am certain of, every single family , including us, most definitely shares in common some level of dysfunction.  When we were younger we used to have our picture perfect families we thought had it all figured out , they were beautiful families, their children seemed intelligent and spiritually minded, they never raised their voices at each other, they never miscommunicated they always were blissfully in love with each  other. The moms never drank to much and danced ridiculously or said bad words, they were sophisticated and always in control.  Then as we grew up and watched these families over time our rose colored glasses cleared up and we saw in every case every family has some level of weirdness. Our family mostly defiantly has a healthy dose of weird. So after a wonderful day together we decided to do some nice healthy reading together, as we aim to do every week. One thing led to another and next thing you know instead of all sitting nicely together for some family time, our dysfunction reared it's ugly head and the evening was ruined .   

   Before long we all kissed and made up because for certain we all love each other dearly, but the next day sadness still lingered inside of me. We spent the day in sienna and I just couldn't shake my bad mood. Perhaps to much pasta and gelato, I don't know, but my grumpy pants were on so tight I couldn't get them off. Sienna was a beautiful city, but I was hot , tired , and after a certain amount of time all the cities started blending together. I started to question was this all worth it? Being gone this long , so far away, will we gain lasting benefit of closeness to each other? 

   The evening ended in our cozy trailer, with me cooking dinner and then Brock reading us big foot stories by candlelight.  My sadness slowly  drifted away and I fell asleep peacefully. But before that, Jimmie and I had some " making up to do" if you catch my drift. The boys were all asleep in their side of the trailer, but before long , Brock frantically ran up to our door," dad did you feel that earthquake?"  Umm .... Yah .. Weird... He was completely convinced the shaking of the trailer was caused by an earthquake. We certainly did not want to traumatize him any farther by letting him know his parents in particular his dad was the cause behind the shaking of the trailer. 

    Brock by the way is growing so fast . He has no clue about his strength and he's clumsy the way pregnant women are when ready to deliver , he steps on us constantly and accidentally walks in front of people or steps on purses in cafés . Yesterday he kicked off his shoes at the pool, one hit me in the face. Five minutes later he threw a ball and it hit me in the head. Five minutes after that he threw the ball and it hit the lifeguard in the head. 

   The next day on our way towards Naples we stopped at another thermal park. This one was even better than the last one. We all had a warm pool of fresh water to lay in. 

   We are now south of Rome in a town called Baia Domizia. The weather is warm and muggy , with occasional sprinkles. Our camp is hilarious, when we arrived the music was blasting at the pool, and I mean blasting!  They were doing some sort of dance competition at the pool. We watched for a while, I'm forbidden by my family to dance, so we headed to the beach. I was surprised that there were pretty decent waves and the water wasn't blue like I expected. We played football on the beach then played in the waves together. It was a perfect family night for our very imperfect family.  So yes I'm still glad to be here and do this but I am getting home sick as are the boys and Jim's work is finding it's way to italy so I feel by the time we are home I will  be more than ready.

  We are driving to the amalfi coast.  We passed through the grossest town I've ever seen in my life. If people saw this place and only this place they would hate italy. Garbage lay strewn all over the streets I've never seen so much trash laying around any city. Filthy. Prostitutes were standing all over the curbs and several police with machine guns! Where are we??? This can't be my Bella Italia!!! Brock said , " speed up!" But we all agreed we didn't want to get pulled over by police with machine guns! We stopped at a light and an old woman with whiskers on her chin took a rag and barely attempted to wash bugs off our car then within a minute was at our window wanting money. We gave her a euro . I hope she uses it to get some wax for her chin. 

  So hopefully the amalfi coast will be what we expect. I'll keep you posted.

    One final note,  when the trailer is a rocking, don't come a knocking......

Dinner time

Tonight I decided to cook something American , but with an ITALIAN twist considering all the wonderful ingredients I have here.   There's nothing more American than a burger so I thought ok how about a Burger ,

bruschetta ITALIAN style. 

  I started with a package of ground beef and a package of ITALIAN sausage . Added lots of fresh garlic some diced fresh parsley and the seasoning you buy here in Italy everywhere that is used for spaghetti. It's something we bought last time , I am bringing loads of it home this time. It's a combination of crushed chili, parsley and garlic and other things. Also I added some grated Parmesan . Mixed it all up and formed it into burger patties. 

     

    I took some day old bread , as I learned from an ITALIAN lady here, put it in the oven all by itself , no oil. Toasted it till crispy. Then I took some olive oil and tossed it with my seasoning. Of course the olive oil is very fresh, I bought it in lake Garda from a small farm. 

 I topped the toast with a drizzle of the chili oil , then the burger a thinly sliced tomato and red onion, some nice greens, more oil and there you have it!   It was a smashing success, and shows how fun and simply you can make a nice dinner while " glamping" in Europe. 

More of Tuscany

  We are more south , in the town of Sarteano.    The campground here is much quieter than the the last one. The pool is very resort like but other than that there's not a whole lot going on for kids except that there is free wifi in our trailer, a rare treat. So the boys are catching up in their virtual worlds of conquering empires and stealing gold in clash of the clowns or some silly game they all love. 

   This camp in my opinion is a great spot for couples. You can walk right into the heart of the town, and this is my kind of town, just the kind of place I described in my last post. The last camp in Tuscany, camping girasole is one spot I'd like to go back to and camp for vacation with friends and stay two weeks, this is a place I would pick up and move too. The surrounding area is an amazing spectacle of beauty, with golden rolling hills, vineyards galore , olive orchards, lakes , ancient villages, and the warm Tuscan sun shining on so many wonderful gardens.  The town is very old of course, with the cobblestone narrow streets and a castle, but no tourist shops.  The people are wonderful. 

   We tried to go to a meeting at the Kingdom Hall  yesterday but the people are at their convention. This is something I finally got jim to agree on is that next time we will stay in only a few places but for much longer, this time we are exploring and have seen so much, but it's so difficult to stick to our spiritual routine and not miss our meetings because were constantly on the move. But we have talked to so many people about the bible, it's been amazing. We have placed many tracts and tell people about j.w. Org to learn more about the bible and that is really nice.  I still look forward to not moving around so much next time.

  We had an awesome date last night. Jim had a grumpy day yesterday. He was frustrated we couldn't go to the Kingdom Hall and nothing seemed to be working out well for him in general so he was in a sour mood. He had made a dinner reservation for us at the most beautiful restaurant in town, up on the hill, in a beautiful old stone villa covered with vines with a lovely outdoor garden area for dining. Whatever grumpy bad moods we had the last few days quickly disappeared in this heavenly setting. We took a drink and climbed the old stone wall overlooking the Tuscan countryside and watched the sun silently disappear behind the golden hills. I said a prayer and thanked my creator that I'm married to someone who so appreciates something as simple and magnificent as watching the sun go down, 

   Our dinner was amazing!!! The place is called costa Santa chiara.   Our waiter was this sweet little grandpa and his son who was our age. The little grandpa who I wanted to adopt proudly told me his wife was in the kitchen doing all the cooking! The son told us his grandma used to cook in there with his mom, she died a few years ago, she was 93 years old and cooked in the restaurant until three months before her death. He said the secret to her good health was to drink wine every day.  Ok good I got that down. I couldn't believe this woman who was in her seventies was back there with only one assistant and was responsible for every delectable creation on the menu. The food was simple, not overly sophisticated, but totally fresh and authentic. You felt like you were eating at grammas house and gramma was a mastermind in the kitchen. Simple bean soup with Tuscan vegetables served with thin sliced raw onion and then drizzled with olive oil from their trees. Simple... Beautiful..,, pasta homemade by gramma, with loads of garlic chilies sardines and bread crumbs, MAMA MIA!!!! Eggplant layered with tomatoes from the garden and fresh mozzarella, a few meatballs on the side. A truly unforgettable meal in an unforgettable setting. We were there over three hours but it flew by because we never ran out of things to talk about. It's amazing after 23 years how two people can have so much to talk about still. The one thing I am so certain about in my life is that I am married to my best friend and I am eternally greatful for that. We really have an amazing time together. We made out like two teenagers on a park bench on the way home, it was awesome. 

  So today is a new day.  Going to a museum. See the castle here and check out a few more hill towns.

  Were leaving the grumpy pants behind today.

More of life under the Tuscan moon

    Well I can't call this one life under the Tuscan sun because I believe that's been taken so let's call it life under the Tuscan moon. Camp girasole was truly one of my favorite spots and definitely so for the boys. We all made so many friends there. The camp itself is very lively and has so much to offer. The cooking class will remain one of my best memories.  By the time we left we all were a little sad to leave our friends. Of course there was man and Gerry who we hope will come see us in two years in California, then there were the wonderful Irish families camped next to us we talked extensively too. Also for the first time ever camping through Europe we met another American family. They were from Florida and really friendly. Carla and Jose was there names, he was very interesting to talk to because he raced horses for 32 years. I picked his brain on that one evening and found it enthralling. The kids had an army of pals by the time we left. They played football 24/7 for four days straight and had an international brood of kids to say their goodbyes too. In the evening we would all meet up in the camp bar area where all the chairs were lined up for watching the World Cup. Tristan  showed up with five or six young Irish kids following him around. It was adorable they were all so cute. At one point he told me one of the little boys about seven years old ran into his arms crying because the Italian boys called him fat. He apparently was a bit fat, but Tristan reassured him that they didn't speak English and didn't know what that word meant. So sweet. I'm so proud.

   Then there were the girls. We have nicknamed Tristan Casanova.  He is really not interested in them but this harem of girls from italy and Ireland stalked him and Brock. The kids were under strict instructions to stay together and under no circumstances go to anyone's camp sight whether it's a boy or girl . At one point when they bought their  pizza the aggressive little Italian girls snatched the box from their hands and said" come eat with us" they of said no .. Good boys... The girls said they had set a table for them... Haha I imagine it had candles and the works. They were very insistent , Brock said he said a prayer ,  so cute,  in the end of course they turned the girls down, and then there were the Irish girls who followed them around like stray puppies. When we left the next day, three girls were waiting at the exit. They knew it was our day to leave. When our car pulled up you would have thought we had justin Beber in the car,  they all practically jumped up and down. Tristan said goodbye with a sheepish embarrassed grin, Brock was so scared he hid in the car. Girls will be girls. Let's be glad the kids are more interested in football and video games. 

  On our way to our next sight we stopped at a hillside town called San gimagnano . It was a beautiful very old town but very touristy. Again this is one of those times, when you hear someone say, you have to go to this place so you set out to find it and in the end your like , ok it's another touristy town. Every shop was meant for tourism, and the trouble with these towns, as I see it , is you don't get the true flavor of italy. The people are never quite as friendly probably because they are so sick of people, and the place is touristy so  there's no need to be extra nice because more tourists are two steps behind you. This reminds me of our Italian buddies at the restaurant in Verona  who when we asked about belagio replied " diareah" ... That has become our joke. If were not to impressed with a place we say  diareah. Well nothing in lake como is quite diareah, but belagio definitely did not excite me.  We loved the smaller town varenna much better.  We stopped at a jewelry shop and were smitten by the old man there who apparently liked us to because he gave the kids a turtle made from volcanic rock from his store.  And actually I liked lake Garda every bit as much as como. My favorite places personally are the towns where people just live. They are old and charming and when you wind through there narrow streets the air is filled with the scent of fresh laundry swaying in the breeze above your head, and sometimes the door to someone's house is open and you spy and old woman watching t.v. Or maybe cooking or their dog wanders out to greet you, and the people smile at you curiously because they wonder why you are here? Why are you not in belagio? I love the cafés in these small towns when obviously everyone knows each other and you stand out like and elephant in a tea shop. I particularly like visiting the cemeteries. The gravestones always have a photo of the person and I stare at them and  think what a wonderful life they must have had living their  life here and growing old here and what a lovely place to be buried. 

     After San gimagnano we drove to a thermal river spot we were told about by a Dutch man who lives in italy. It's a river where a spring from the mountain poars out hot sulphury mineral water. This place has been in use for two thousand years. The water has created these little tubs in the rocks that are like being in a hot tub. It's believed that the water can cure all sorts of ailments. It helped cure my bad mood for sure. 

  Yes I was In a very bad mood. This trip is not 100% awesome every moment of every day. Sometimes I am so tired from the constant moving around and the biggest problem for me is the car rides. I hate car trips. Even though we havent had to drive more than six hours at a time it still is awful to me. There is still the same fight we had three years ago. Who gets the window seat? I believe my kids would fight to the death to insist on the window seat. At what point do they stop this? It's pure hell. As I've already confessed, all my reasoning falls on deaf ears. I end up holding my ears and cradling my knees in the front seat of the car and rocking back and forth like a crazed mental person. When they were young If I served cake or ice cream I told them whoever grabbed to get the first piece for himself would get the smallest serving. Instead of instilling in them generosity in them , they quickly turned it into ,... "You go first, no you go first" .... My plan backfired. As hard as I try to sort this  fight out I fail miserably every time. 

   So by the time we got to the river none of us were in a great mood. Of course it smells like rotten eggs. So the first thing the kids say is diareah.... Little turds..,.. It was lovely... You can cool yourself in the river, then go back into the hot pools and even get a free massage under the pipe of hot hot water poring into the pool. You can rub the rocks together and make a mask for your face. I did it after I saw a few people doing it. My skin was glowing after. An awesome experience.   I believe everyone there was Italian. I will also add it was completely free. 

   Apparently Tuscany is full of these spots so we plan on hitting another one. 

   I'm missing my family and friends, especially my mom and dad. Mom if your reading this, I think about you guys every day and we all keep you in our prayers. Hang in there, we'll be home soon .

Pictures

The difference between Dutch and English

   The duth rock at futbol. The men are hot , and not just because they are running ferociously chasing a ball to kick it in a net. They win the game. The people all dress up to watch the game, loyally in their orange shirts, they are intent at every play and when they win, they dance and sing, then  within ten minutes it's over. They all leave. They tuck themselves in their Dutch covers ,  I guess and go to sleep?

   England :   There are more straight teethe in my family than the entire team and all the people in this camp watching the game .   The main difference, the game is over. They are still here, drinking talking. They lush it up like the Danes. They are funny. They are entertaining. I love their accent. I love them all! 

  Cultural diversity. It's beautiful. 

Lessons

  I have had an epiphony .  This shall come as no surprise to those who know us well. We suck at disciplining. Discipline is a necessary and important feature in rearing children. It molds screaming selfs centered babies into productive self sufficient members of society. It's clearly plays a prominent roll in parenting.

   These are my tactics. If you try to murder each other no gelato for a week!!! And I mean it!!! Umm if they are dead, they won't taste the gelato anyhow.

   Then there's the reasoning. This is how I read its supost to be done. I calmly and kindly try to rationalize the irrational feelings and temperaments of three raging hormonal maniacs. I give it my best , my words are like a thin napkin of garbage that float away silently in a violent wind. 

   At one point I recommended jim pull over the car and punch them all in the face. Now this one is original atleast. I've never had this recommended in the parenting books I've read ,but hey perhaps this is the ticket , this will actually solve all the disciplining dilemmas. Just a quick punch in the face and it will scare them silly and they will be quiet , sophisticated decent little men from here on out. I'll write about in a book, sell a million copies and retire in italy drinking wine on my vineyard . When I fervently voiced this plan on one of our road trips, they all burst out in laughter instead of the dreadful fear I hoped to invoke. 

   Basically I am full of empty threats.

  My epiphony is that .... Dadada.... None if it works, and yet still they are amazing kind ,   Yes LOUD little humans. I am terrible at administering discipline but with that said, still they are still awesome little guys. 

Cooking class, lord of the flies and making pals

   Yesterday was an amazing day. It's always been a fantasy to take a cooking class in italy, so yesterday that's just what we did. It was an amazing experience. Getting our hands dirty in dough, rolling out fresh pasta then using a tool called a guitar the slice out thin spaghetti was a culinary field trip I will never forget. There was only four people in our class including us. The other couple was a Dutch couple. We have met so many people from the Netherlands on this trip and I am struck by how warm and sweet they are. I also might add that people from holland are exceptionally good looking. I am usually not impressed by the look of fair skinned people but these people are a good looking bunch, the men are tall and have sharp pointed features, there is no shortage of beautiful women. The people in our class , Gerry and jan were a little reserved at first and I worried I was talking their ears off. But by the time we finished four hours of cooking together and sat down to eat together we were like old friends. 

   When we got back to the camp the kids were still playing futbol, as it's called in italy. Americans know it as soccer. We will never call it soccer again. It's the game of Europe, it's played with your foot and since they are the ones who take it so seriously we shall refer to it as football and my kids are hooked. They are getting their  own cultural experience in so many ways. Some days we are disappointed they are not as enthusiastic as we are about seeing ancient roman ruins, but then as I watched them play there five hundredth game offootball last night and making friends with kids there age from Ireland, holland , Germany ,Scotland England I realised this is such a wonderful education in itself. The other boys were very kind and welcoming and they all had such great sportsmanship. In Europe on both trips we have taught our boys just to approach other kids and ask to play, they always have been treated kindly and end up with new pals. I once told them to do this in America at a campground where some boys were playing ball and I watched as my kids walked over, then turned around and came right back. I asked what happened? They said " screw off"   So another lesson they are learning , actually they already are great at this, but still, how to treat others and welcome them in to a group. They actually are exceptional at this but it's still drives the point home. 

   Last night as I was walking up some stairs in our camp sight I had a horrifying experience. A GIANT bug flew right at my face. It was so big it sounded like a tractor flying at me. I at first thought it was a freaky humungous bumble bee. Living up to my reputation, I completely overreacted and screamed and jumped as though  Freddy Kruger was chasing me with an axe. These darling people at the top of the stairs tried to comfort me with their accent saying" do not worry, it's not dangerous!" This always cracks me up when English isn't the first language I suppose this a practical thing to say, I do realize I wasn't being chased by a lion, that would be a dangerous animal, but still , when a freakin giant fly from hell the size of a bird is in your face it's a frightening experience. 

   Last night we watched the World Cup in the bar at our campground. I have never watched a sports game before, but I may be hooked. The room was filled with people wearing orange from holland to support their team. We sat by our new pals Gerry and jan and they filled me in on the details I missed. When holland won the room exploded in cheering and singing. It was great fun. And ladies the Dutch football team , wowsers.    Just saying... 

   The boys and Jimmie finished the night playing more football and watching another game. I relaxed in our trailer and cried my eyes out while reading a book on auschwitz we picked up while visiting dauchau.  I can't put the book down, it's horrible, humans , I really love humans, I love meeting them and talking to them and hugging them. I can't imagine humans that can be so ruthless and cruel. The book is a reality check to say the least. 

   This campground is called girasole. It's near the town of Figline Valdarno. You should look it up, it's maybe my favorite and I think for sure the kids favorite. Definitely want to come back here. 

   Well that's all for now folks.