What's missing of 2013 (September)

In September, I took the kids to Belgium. Together with all the other Belgian children, they started school (kindergarten) on the first Monday of September. For Auro it wasn't the firts time, but for Tosca it was....

This elephant became Tosca's symbol to personalise her things (her schoolbag, her drawings, her coat rack,...)

Welcome note from the school

Open day at the fire station

Day trip to Bokrijk

Walking on stilts (Bokrijk)

Auro on the day of his 5th birthday (17/09/2013). He was thoroughly celebrated at school

Birthday cake

Presents

Auro's first digital camera

Auro opening his presents at his birthday party

Remo savouring the moment





When we returned to Italy, we organised another birthday party for Auro. It turned out to be a pirate party. More presents and another birthday cake. A birthday to remember!

What's missing of 2013 (August)

Camping trip to Montecatini Terme (Tuscany), early August 2013

where the swimming pool on the campsite was the kids' favourite place

My Belgian friend and her family were also in Tuscany

and their hotel also had a swimming pool ;-)

Checking out Montecatini Alto

On the way back to Genoa, we passed through Lucca, Puccini's city and hence Tosca's city. "Osteria Tosca" offers "Tosca's specials".

In August, another good friend arrived from Belgium. Together we enjoyed the beach of Cesenatico, but we also traveled to Padua and Venice.

The holy remains of Saint Gregorio Barbarigo inside the Cathedral of Padua (Duomo di Padova).

Basilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova

Souvenir stalls in front of the Basilica

Botanical Gardens of Padua

Venice!

More Venice!

Day trip with the kids to Gradara Castle

Cousins

After a visit to a castle, how can you go on without an armour?!

Obviously, that goes for girls as well ;-)

July: summer break

In July, we truly started the summer holidays. We went to my in-laws in Cesenatico and took the kids to the beach. We also decided to give the kids a little push: we removed Tosca's diaper (during the day) and the training wheels of Auro's bicycle. 

When I left for Belgium some days later, Auro did not even want to try to ride his bicycle and Tosca did not look ready at all for being potty trained. I was almost happy to leave them in Cesenatico ;-)

Once in Belgium, I totally relaxed in a way you can not when there are kids in the house (not even when they are asleep). And then, when I was completely 'zen', I took a city trip to Rotterdam with my good friend Wendy. Three days of lazy shopping, undisturbed chatting and unworried relaxing in the pool and sauna of the hotel definitely did the trick!

After Rotterdam, me and my father packed the car and drove back to Genoa together. Some days later, we went to pick up Auro and Tosca and brought them home, where we spent the rest of July.

Cube house in Rotterdam

My beautiful niece in Belgium

My loud children in their swimming pool at home

My father insisted we'd have a barbecue

Dinner outside

One month into the potty training: number ones seem to be more or less under control ;-)

June: garden upgrade

I can hardly believe it myself... it's the first of October and I'm writing about June... Oh well, let's see what I can remember!

In June, summer started and our fence (that we had been waiting for since I don't remember when...) was hartily welcomed by us and all of our neighbours. Believe it or not, there were even people that slowed down their cars to have a better look. We got many compliments on our major garden upgrade! It just so happened that the fence arrived nearly at the same time as the wooden Pirate's Nest we had ordered for the kids (which, by the way, took at least twice as much time to set up!), so: happy faces all around (especially on the inside of the fence)!

At the end of the month, Auro finished school and we left for Cesenatico (where my in-laws live)....

Pirate's Nest

All fenced in...

open

Yesterday, I removed the safety rails on one side of Tosca's bed. She was very happy to be able to climb in and out of bed by herself. This morning, around 6, we heard her cry out after she had fallen out of her bed. Luckily, she didn't really hurt herself (the bed is low), so she was easily comforted back to sleep. I wonder how many times she will fall before she gets the hang of it....

Payday

It's beginning to become one of my favourite days of the year: Mother's Day. 

This year, Auro had 2 presents for me. While we were in Belgium, he made a plaster cast of his right hand. He didn't stay in Belgium long enough to memorize the little accompanying poem, but reading it out loud nevertheless brought tears to my eyes. 

At the kindergarten here, they had prepared a plastic container with hand cream. When I started reading the card out loud, Auro finished every sentence!
Oh... and I also got flowers!!!

Two weeks in Belgium

Last Saturday, the kids and I returned from a two week stay in Belgium (while Remo was abroad for work). I had planned to post something during my stay, but, as I should have anticipated, I could not find one quiet and peaceful moment to do so. So, here is a short summary of the two weeks in Belgium.

We arrived in Charleroi airport on Saturday (20th) and two days later, on Monday, Auro already started going to the kindergarten he frequented last time we were in the country. He was, by the way, more than happy to see all his Belgian classmates again.

One day, Auro came home dressed like an Indian. The Indian name they gave him: "wild dinosaur"!

Auro and juf Els, one of his two kindergarten teachers

The first Wednesday, Auro stayed home from school, because I wanted to take him to the Zoo of Antwerp, one of the oldest animal parks in the world (1843). He never went and I thought it was time for him to see real elephants and real monkeys. We met up with my aunt, my cousin's wife and her son, Jonathan. Auro spent a lot of time exploring the zoo by himself (something he recently started doing wherever we go) and so I spent most of my time looking for him and, mostly in vain, telling him not to wander off. Tosca, on the other hand, was very excited to see all the live animals, but was more than anything else impressed by the man at the entrance dressed up like a lion. Anyway, except for the somewhat exuberantly priced ride on the zoo's merry-go-round, we had a great day!!

Auro and Tosca on a gorilla

the kids on the pricey carousel

Friday evening, we drove to Jandrain-Jandrenouillle, where my brother and his family live in their new home. Zita was more than excited to have her two cousins sleep in the room with her (actually she insisted on it), so it was late when they actually fell asleep, but the whispering and laughing we could hear from their room made it completely worth it ;-)

This is how you fit 3 kids in a bath tub!

So ready for breakfast!

Auro and Tosca taking over Zita's sand pit

On Sunday, we went to see more animals at a kids farm in Lier ('t struisvogelnest). My cousin and Jonathan joined us and soon we were eating pancakes while the children were jumping up and down an inflatable castle.

In Betekom, a village near my dad's house, there was a fair, so after the farm, while Tosca was napping, we went there with Jonathan. Three days later, we returned with Tosca and Zita. For Tosca it was the first time at a fair and she was completely overwhelmed by it. She didn't speak a word the whole time we were there, but it was more than clear that she loved it!

Flying high!

Making a turn to the right!

Spontaneous visit

Last Monday, Han, an old (Belgian) university friend posted a photo on Facebook stating that he was visiting Florence. When I proposed them (he was traveling with his partner Rik) to drop by on the way back to Belgium, I got an immediate answer saying that they would join us for dinner the next evening. And so it happened that they arrived at our house on Tuesday. It was the second time they saw the house, but the first time they visited it since we moved in. Let me explain. In the summer of 2010, looking for a house to buy, we visited several houses in and around Genoa. When we came to look at the house we live in now, Han and Rik just happened to be in Genoa and therefore momentarily joined us in our house hunt. I remember that they liked it as much as we did (and still do), so it was extra nice to be able to host them in it. 

A short drive to Praglia