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The second week started well: Keegan was very sweet and affectionate, if a little clingy, and I got to do some Milano shopping while he was playing with his cousins. Unfortunately I did not find much, but I always love a nice window shopping. I upped my social activities as well, and had two nice dinners with old friends, eating real pizza.

We also finally took Keegan to the Duomo, the symbol of Milano. I have a framed series of Duomo images at home, and Keegan had been looking at them, so we thought it would be a good time to show him the real thing.

Just like I did when I was his age, he loved to chase the pigeons from the square. I could swear I have the exact same picture from when I was 2. I was of course wearing a stylish coat and head scarf then.

He also wanted to go inside the Duomo, and he was actually really good. He kept quiet and did not run. He even quietly posed for pictures. Sometimes I forgot how majestic and beautiful the Duomo is.

On Wednesday we decided to go back to the Safari Park at Pombia, since Keegan enjoyed it so much last year, and he has been asking to go back to his favorite roller coaster for months. We left after lunch time, hoping he would doze off in the car, but it took him a long time to sleep, so he ended up getting less than an hour nap. No matter: he was as excited as he can be. Most of the animals were napping, but we still got to see zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc. up close. Then it was time to party. The Bruco (caterpillar) Roller Coaster was of course the first stop…and the second and the third. We went back a few times. He never gets tired of it, but we dos, so we all took our turns.

We could barely pry him away, and only with the promise of more rides. So off we went to the Marry Go Round…

…then the giant slide.

This was my favorite, and if I did not have to climb all the way up, I would be still riding. I even took him up on a water roller coaster thing: not a brilliant idea, it turns out. I guess they could have some warning or age restrictions, but this is Italy, after all. It was a hollow boat, with no restraints, where you sit one in front of each other and climb up, up, up and then fall down in the water. The problem was that Keegan had to sit behind me, and could not see what was happening, and, without anything that would hold you, it was very difficult not to fall backward during the almost vertical lifts. Needless to say, Keegan did not like it, and after the first plunge wanted to get out. Fortunately there were only two. But he was very brave and did not cry. I guess next time I will go up alone.

After two or more round for most of the rides, we ended the day with a Parrot show. It was a little cheesy, but the parrots were very cool. Keegan loved them. By then, though, he was really tired, so we headed home, after a stop in the bathroom. Keegan was very proud of himself, because he had to pee standing up, like big boys: the only bathroom they had there were “Turkish style”, basically a porcelain piece on the floor with a hole in the middle. He was a little hesitant first, but then loved the fact he had to be naked to do it.

The next day, I did more socializing, and also took Keegan to visit my old friend Simona and his two sons. They have an amazing train set Keegan remembered from last year (he also remembered Simona had chocolate cake then), so we quickly set it up.

And while there was no cake this year, there were plenty of other snacks, which took the place of dinner.

On Friday, the weather quickly turned bad, so while we could not go outside as much, Keegan was enthralled by the rain, and thunderstorm. Living in San Diego, this was a real novelty, so he sat in front of the window and watched the lightning and thunders for a while. Loredana and Francesca stopped by to play, and they all got dressed up for the occasion.

After they left, there was more excitement: Naraiana and Samuele, Keegan’s cousins arrived for a sleep over. How fun to wake up in the morning and find them there. The weather was not the best, but we all had the chance to have fun. All fun that was of course videotaped and then watched in real time: Keegan bacame quite obsessed with watching videos and photos even as they were created.

I left in the morning for a last shopping trip to one of my favorite stores, Hi-tech a huge store that sells a lot of cool stuff, much from the States but also from Europe. I have found some really fun things, like My First Autoban for Keegan (a little back rolling car and a roll of tape, printed as a freeway), or the Daily Mood Calendar for Matt.

In the afternoon, since the weather improved somehow, we went to the Giardini Pubblici and had some fun on the merry Go Round and the little train, also known as the “longest little train ride in history”. It is a small track, but it goes around 6 times! Fortunately Keegan wanted to go by himself after the first two times (which means I still had to do 12 rounds on the damn thing). Such a big boy!

three generations

I was even able to squeeze in an Aperitivo with an old friend in this busy day. Sunday, our last day, I had to get packing: as always, no matter how many bags I bring, and despite all my good intentions, I always end up struggling with making everything fit, and under 50Lb. My sister and his family came over to say goodbye, and we brought the kids to the Bouncie house one more time. Keegan loved to have his cousins with him, so he could access previously unreachable areas. The place was packed (2 birthday parties) but he was still able to go wherever he wanted without wait.

taking a little break

When we got home we did our annual group photo…we did miss Matt, though )-: and we put Keegan to bed.

We had a nice, leisurely dinner, and then it was time for goodbyes and real packing. I cut down the number of carry-ons to 6, but that meant two bags to be checked.

The return flight went OK. It was difficult to carry all the stuff, and an Italian passport guy was giving me a hard time because Keegan’s last name is different than mine (you got to be kidding me!) but I got through it.The car seat really helped, and so did the DVD player. Keegan slept a few hours on the first flight. Then, fortunately we met an Italian girl, Valentina, that lives in San Diego, an acquaintance of mine who has a boy, one year older than Keegan. It was great because , not only she helped me with my bags, but Keegan had a playmate during layover. They were both over tired so they were jumping off the wall, literally, but at least there was not too much crying (aside from a timeout he got for kicking me…I still have the bruise). The layover was a little difficult: I had to get my checked bags in Atlanta, and had to walk a mile to custom and then re-check them…and remember I am also pushing a stroller and tons of carry-on. Fortunately Valentina helped me, and we went through it OK. More security screening (why do we have to do it twice is a mystery) and then a long wait. Fortunately, Keegan feel asleep the moment we were seated on the plane: it was now about 9.30pm, and I dozed off too. He slept all the way till we landed, then woke up and had one of his episode of extreme crying as I was trying to gather all our stuff and get off the plane. He wanted me to hold him…yeah, right. Not only we were the last ones to get off the plane, but it took us so long the gate door was already closed.

Anyway, we made it, and seeing Matt’s smiling face at the airport almost made me forget about all the stress and exhaustion. Keegan was a little shy, but he soon warmed up to him.  The house was clean and tidy (well, as tidy as it can be in the middle of construction), and beautiful flowers and a card expected me home. I miss everyone back in Italy, but it was nice to be home!

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