Archive for April, 2011
3 Weeks of Fun with “nonni”
I can’t believe it how fast time flies: it has already been a month since i nonni left: we still miss them quite a lot.
But let’s not dwell on the sadness of the separation. We had a wonderful time together, and we wholly enjoyed these days in San Diego. The trip was uncertain till the last minute, but with the doctor’s green light, my parents arrived on March 26.
Despite our new addition, they still preferred to rent the usual apartment at the beach…and who can blame them? Spending the morning in beautiful Clairemont or hanging out on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach? Humm, it is really a toughie…In any case, it was good for us too, so we get to visit the beach a lot more often than we usually do. The weather has been a little chilly, so there was no swimming in the water, but definitely playing in the sand.
We of course enjoyed a lot of wonderful, home cooked meals, and I made sure to ask for all my favorites.
The weather was not the greatest, but we took advantage of all the sunny days. My parents also rented a car, so they had the chance to take Keegan out to play, while I got some wished-for downtime. Mission Bay was an obvious stop, so Keegan could show one of his favorite playgrounds and all the progresses he made in climbing and jumping. Check out his really cute t-shirt (with some apologies to Milton Glaser for re-appropriating his logo)
We really got to do a lot of fun stuff, and Keegan sure enjoyed all the attention. Seaworld was another mandatory stop. Keegan showed his nonni his newest favorite: The Dolphin Show.
We also fed the seals, but the smell of raw fish turned Keegan off. We had a quick stop at the polar bear exhibit, and of course we could not miss the Shamu show. Keegan showed off his great map reading and leadership skills, directing us to where he wanted to go.
The first week my parents were here, there was a small Fire Expo right across from Keegan’s school. We went to check it out. Between a couple of emergencies, the fire station was open for business, and we got a nice tour. We were a little disappointed there was no pole, but the guys assured us the PB station have one. Of course, the cutest firemen were brought out for the event: I pick Keegan up every day, and I never seen any cute ones before. The kids also got to test out the fire truck and spray water with the fire hose. They all got stickers and a hat. It was fun.
With nonni here, everything was a game and adventure, even the painful (for us) meal time. He even started eating tomato suace again, but the veggie soup still remained a no-no.
Of course the best thing was simply the time spent together: everyday they would invent a new game for Keegan to play and regardless what it was, there was plenty of laughter. One thing Keegan really liked was to listen to grandma and grandpa telling stories, all sort of stories, from the classics, like Cenerentola (Cinderella), which is now one of his favorites, to Pinocchio, to Greek Mythology (Ulyssis and the cyclops) to Aesop’s Fables. Some of the books were the same ones I read as a child, and it felt really weird to see them again. They don’t look quite as beautiful and fascinating now. It was probably the first time he sat quietly listening to a story, without having any visual in front of him…It is more than I can say about a lot of my students.
Stickers books were a big hit too.
The overall favorite games, though, involved jumping around, and “hiding”. Keegan is fascinated with Hide and Seek, but he still does not get that you really have to hide and not tell where you are.
My mom even tried her hand at baseball.
Keegan even got to go to Legoland with Matt for his school’s annual trip: a welcome break for my parents. Unfortunately I could not make it, but looking at the pictures it seemed like they had a blast. Hannah and her mom tagged along, which made it a lot more fun, especially for Matt.
With Easter approaching, our neighbour, the photographer, once again had a little lamb, Daisy, and we got to play with it a little bit…in fact it walked us home one day… then promptly peed on our driveway, which Keegan found hilarious.
I can’t deny, of course, that my parents’ visit also meant free babysitting for us: it was great to be able to go out at night without worrying about finding and paying a sitter. We took full advantage of that. We went out to the movies, to the Rise Against with Bad religion Concert, and we even stayed a night in a awesome hotel, The Keating, designed by Pininfarina in the Gaslamp Quarter. It was awesome! I mean, being able to be away for a night would have made a cheap Motel 8 feel like a mansion, but this place was incredible. We have not been in a modern, boutique hotel since Keegan was born…and I can say I did not lost the taste for it. The room was great: concrete floors, in room glass shower, espresso machine in the room, huge, comfortable bed. Every floor had a cool model of a concept Ferrari. It was very luxurious.
in-room bath and shower
bed
espresso machine: I had to drink some
the hallway with the Ferrari models
After three weeks filled with so much fun it was hard to say goodbye, but we hope to see them soon in Italy. Thank you for everything and a presto!
San Diego Update
So, we have not been writing for a while. Too much to do, too little time, blah, blah, blah. Anyway: all is well here. we kept busy with working around the house and my parents’ visit (more on future blogs). Of course, we have still not moved in the new rooms, and we still have mostly empty closets, and boxes in the garage. All in due time: we are setting up weekend schedules, and try to tackle one thing at the time. Keegan especially is in no hurry, since empty rooms means he has more places to store toys and play.
Case in question: his huge, inflatable ball, proudly sitting in what will be Matt’s cave.
Among all to do lists we had to add some unexpected item, that took priority. Matt’s truck finally kicked the bucket, after 12 years and more than 165,000 miles. Honestly we were hoping to wait till the summer, but when the mechanic said that the wheels could come off at any time and it would take more than $2000 to make it safe, we need we had to get something else, and quick. Amazingly enough for us, we managed to get our new ride in a couple of days. So we are now proud owners of a Honda Ridgeline. I am very excited about it, because it is still a truck (hello IKEA trips) but it has finally 5 seats, so we can all fit in comfortably. No more squeezing in a jump seat or inside the Mustang. Hopefully this will lead us to take more road trips.
As for the house, well, there is still so much t do: the yard is priority #1, We have been working with a landscape architect to come up with a comprehensive plan we can slowly adopt for the whole house. We are also setting up new concrete pads for our jacuzzi and pool, and try to figure out where to place them. For now, the yard is half a jungle, half wasteland, 100% depressing. It is so bad that gophers peek out and scurry around with impunity. They are eating some of the weeds, to be honest, but also make a huge mess. I feel like I am inside an eternal rerun of Caddyshack.
gopher are kind of cute, but still…
Then we will need to get furniture for the upstairs rooms, and the living room. And of course the outdoor furniture as well. The garage is almost cleared out: still a few things to seel, a few things to put away. And we finally ordered blinds for 2 of the upstairs rooms. My goal would be to have most of the more pressing item taken care of by summer time, so our house can really be ready for guests. Anyone flying to the West Coast?
I will soon post images from our wonderful three weeks with our parents, but in the meantime here are some pictures of Keegan during the past couple of months.
trying to inspire his musical career
A big boy seat…love it! I can actually use the front passenger seat now
Our wonderful morning ritual: milk, books and cuddles. It almost make waking up at 6.15 am bearable, ALMOST.
Another ritual: watching some TV with dad on weekend mornings, all bundled up with some friends (while mom is napping).
Keegan is very fascinated by little babies: here is with Natalie, Hannah’s little sister.
Really, 1 lucky boy on St. Patrick’s Day (also 150th anniversary of Italy’s Unification)
