60

On the 19th of June, Remo's mother turned 60. A special birthday requires a special gift, but what do you get for someone who seems to have everything already? Luckily, Lara (Remo's sister) remembered that one of the things her mother once mentioned as something she wanted to do before dying is to ride in a sidecar. So, all we had to do was find a motorbike with sidecar (preferably with driver). Easier said than done. It actually took some weeks (and some visits to a local biker's bar) before we (read: Lara) found a guy owning a sidecar, willing to come down to Cesenatico and drive my mother-in-law around for a couple of hours... and all for a reasonable price! But it was so worth it.Tears of commotion upon seeing a bike with an empty sidecar pull up in front of the house. 

Dream fulfilled!

Mission accomplished!

Dance

During the latest auditions of So You Think You Can Dance, a young dancer of unparalleled talent was discovered. Some of you might remember the little happy dance Auro so proudly performed in a Chinese shopping mall  a little over a year ago? Well, he had rhythm then and he still has it! 

 

Fever

On Saturday and Sunday, Cesenatico hosted the Biker Bikini Benefit, an (at least I think) annual biker's event organized by a local bar. Over the weekend, Cesenatico changed from a rather quiet port town mostly visited by families looking to spend some relax time on the beach, into a noisy bikers nest when heavily tattooed men dressed in leather came flooding in from all over the country on their shiny motorbikes. The ideal opportunity to show Auro some real choppers, cruisers and Harley Davidson's! It was absolutely wonderful to see how his jaw dropped open in awe when one bike after the other drove past us. He was also more than happy to pose with the bikes he liked most ;-)

Last night, unfortunately, Auro developed a high fever. 2 paracetamol suppositories and a sleepless night later, luckily, the fever disappeared and he is feeling much better now. Let's hope that tonight will bring him lots of sleep and 'peaceful' dreams about beautiful motorcycles.

Time off

After my family had left Genoa, Remo's parents came to visit. Because Remo had to go to China for a week,we had decided that the children and I would travel back with them to Cesenatico.

So far we have been enjoying our little holiday. Having all that extra time to spend with my children, I decided to get serious about Auro's potty training. In the morning, we put on his swim-shorts, that are easy to rinse, and we make him sit on his potty at regular intervals. So far, it's not too bad. It is clear that he is physically able to do what he is supposed to do, but he doesn't really want to. It reminds me very much of the time when he was learning to eat with a spoon. He could do it, but he preferred me to feed him. After 2 or 3 days of crying and not eating (because I refused to feed him), he got over it and picked up the spoon. We have not quite yet reached the final stage yet, but I am very hopeful ;-)

In the car, all safely buckled up

Tosca's first time on the beach

...no comment ;-)

Déjeuner sur l'herbe

Last Saturday, at around 6:30 in the morning, my family from Belgium arrived at the house! During the next 5 days I forgot I was in Italy: the main language spoken in the house was Dutch,  and while the  mayonnaise was always on the table, the empty beer bottles piled up in the kitchen ;-). 

Auro had a great time talking to/playing with/climbing on his new victims. Zita needed some days to appreciate her cousin's 'entertaining qualities', but at the end decided to reward his efforts with 15 minutes of uninterrupted laughter! Tosca was her happy self and smiled at anyone who would give her some attention. She even kept smiling after she got a nasty sunburn in her face (pieces of her skin came off and she looked horrible, but it's nearly gone by now).

Picnicking in the mountains, or our own déjeuner sur l'herbe as my brother so wittingly compared it to

Zita reading a bedtime story to her father