Catching Up

I have been away from my blog for more than a month now and I have been told that I must get back to it. I am finally back in Florence after the past two months of being here, there, and everywhere. At the end of July, Jane, the girls, another family, and I went to Ireland for a two week vacation. It was just gorgeous! (Say that with an Irish accent!) From beginning to end, we spoke to one another throughout the days repeating the Irish phrases that we heard in our best Irish imitations..."Top of the morning to ya!" was a daily thing..."Oh it's just at the top of the road" was usually what we heard after asking directions. "Tanks very much," we soon recited. And when looked upon with the four children running around me, I was once told, "You've got your hands full - you'll go straight to heaven!" Did he think they were all mine??? There's lots more to be said about Ireland and I will fill you in about it in another post. But just to catch up, after returning from Ireland, two days later, Katherine and Kellen and the whole Cooney clan (Kellen's family) came to Italy for a visit. It was fantastic seeing them! The girls had already gone to Bolgheri to spend time with their cousins and grandparents, so I was a free agent and was able to hang out with Katherine, Kellen, and the Cooneys for five days! (I was sad though that they did not get to meet Ali and Franci). I saw parts of Italy with them that I may have not otherwise been able to see, and it was so nice to hang out with them and to recharge my not-quite-homesick-but-definitely-missing-my-peeps battery. We went to the Chianti region, to San Gimignano, Sienna, Pisa, and then, spent three days in the most beautiful place with the most stunning views from cliffs with vineyards scaling them and colorful towns built into them -- this was Cinque Terre. And I will tell you more about that another time. :) From Cinque Terre, I took the train down the Mediterranean coast to reunite with Ali and Franci and La Famiglia Guarducci in Bolgheri. I spent the rest of August there and had a wonderful time meeting all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins, and going to the beach (which all reminded me of summers with the Coffey family in Avalon), playing in the pool, eating very yummy food, and just having a nice relaxing end to the summer. So finally, now, I am back in Florence and beginning to have a regular routine. The girls started school this past Tuesday and I have been there to pick them up at the end of each day. They go to a French school that is a little more than a ten minute walk from our apartment, and it is very interesting observing all the after-school chatter in a variety of languages -- so far, English, Spanish, French, and Italian have been the languages I have been hearing among the parents and children around me. So that seems to bring me up to the present day. I will definitely go back and fill you in on all the details. For now I must be off -- I am registering for school for myself - classes in Italian - and then I go to get the girls! Until later...Arrivederci!