First Few Days in Italy March 2010

Oh, man, are we having fun! After having the best sky cap in the business get us to the front of a very long line (we didn't ask him to, he just did it!) and even when the seat in front of me was broken so that the lady in it lay in my lap for about 8 hours, and our flight from Amsterdam to Florence was delayed about an hour, we arrived happy and full of excitement! Ross arrived about an hour after we did. He had been at a conference in Athens.....Greece, not Georgia! We opened presents, all of which were appreciated and well received. Even the Edward shirt Mark picked out for Lindsay as a joke. Yes, she's worn it....in disguise under a cardigan, but she's worn it! HA Colton's shoes look great on him. There was enough room in the pantry for all the American goodies. The Velveeta did not send off any alerts in the TSA as being a plastic explosive. We had pizza for dinner, were able to stay awake until 9 p.m. and then went to bed.

Saturday morning we were full of anticipation waiting for Robert and Charissa's arrival. They were due at 12:05 noonish. About 11:30 we checked to see if it was on schedule...remember, the same flight was late the day before. Horrors of horrors, it had been cancelled. I went into "mama mode." Where were my babies? Who were they with? Did they have a phone to call us? When would they get here? on and on and on. I know you are thinking, "Isn't Robert 26? Don't both he and Charissa have college degrees and are intelligent and good problem solvers?" You forget, I'm a mama and I've been looking forward to this since Ross and Lindsay moved here! I wanted my babies and I wanted them NOW! Ross called the airline. We had all the flight info, including their confirmation numbers, so we found out that they had been sent to Paris to connect to Florence. Ok, they would be here at 3:00 p.m. instead of noon. I can handle that. Yay! Ross went to meet them. They arrived, but their bags didn't. That's the bad news. The good news is that they each received an allowance of 100 euros to purchase any "needed" items. They were extremely happy about that! We went shopping! Their bags arrived the next morning even before they had showered! Whoop whoop!

Sunday we went back to the center of town and spent the day exploring, shopping, having gelato, coffee, wine, good snacks, etc. We ended the day at Zaza's, a wonderful trattoria and enjoyed some of their reasonably priced pastas. Good bread, good dinner, good wine, fabulous tiramasu!

Monday Ross worked. Robert, Charissa, Mark and I went to town to see the Duomo, the Baptistry, and piddle. Lindsay kept Colton at home since he had gone without a nap the day before. He needed his rest to keep up with us the rest of the week. Mark and I came home and LIndsay went to meet up with Ross, R & C. They had a wonderful afternoon out. We had a fabulous afternoon in with our grandbaby! I just love to play with him. We got him up from his nap, had a snack, played, played, played, had dinner, gave him a bath, readied him for bed and then put him there. When the kids got home, they were welcomed to a baby sleeping and burgers and home fries cooked by Grandy. What a fun day!

Today, Ross had to work pretty much all day, so Robert, Charissa, and Lindsay hiked to the Piazza Michelangelo, about a 45 minute walk. Mark found a project, replacing the broken frame on the stroller, and I played Gigi. After naptime, it was time for Colton's music class. Lindsay invited me and Charissa to go with them. It was so sweet. Colton was the only child who showed up today, and the teacher was so kind. We played with all types of rhythm instruments. Paula, you will be happy to know Colton loves the piano. The teacher played a child-like tune and allowed Colton to bang away to his heart's content. She never stifled his creativity or activity, and there was a lot of that! Tonight's dinner was an "everyman for himself, raid the fridge" kind of night. Right now, the big kids are off getting gelato (yes, again!) Mark has gone to the ATM to get money for our trip to Pisa tomorrow! Colton is asleep. I'm catching all y'all up with our trip so for.

Sorry no pictures this time as I'm using LIndsay's computer to write and I haven't given her the pics yet!