tizimatt.info

We barely had time to recover from our long trip before Keegan started his new school year. He was excited, and a little nervous. I know he would be OK: he is in the same classroom as last year, Room 12, this time as one of the big kids. He has the same teacher than last year (and summer) and most of the same friends. He chose, not too convinced, a Spider Man backpack, a Batman water bottle and a dinosaur lunch box…not much of a theme, but that was Target offered. And the backpack lights up when moving, so it is pretty cool.

I dropped him off early on September 2, on a beautiful, sunny morning. He barely took the time to pose for photos, and get some sunscreen, and off he went to play. I met the new teacher, Ms. Sara, who seems very nice and sweet.

back in room 12, with ms. Sandy and ms. Sara

At the open house, a few days later, we had the chance to meet some of the new parents and what was in store for the new year. Big news:no more “color chart of shame” as some parents called it. I can’t say I will miss it, since Keegan was regularly in the trouble spots. For the rest, we hope that being a big kid in the class will help him behave more appropriately, but I am not sure it will happen, if I have to judge from the first few weeks.

Being a first grader does not mean forgetting the old friends. On September 20 we had a Preschool Reunion in Mission Bay. Obviously it was only a few of the kids, but the ones who got along the best: Keegan, MacKenzie, Elliott, Van, Rozelin and Julia. It was so great to see everyone. One if his old teachers, Ms. Debra, also stopped by, with her own brand new baby girl.

The kids had a blast playing on the playground, kicking the ball around, or just enjoying some great food.

Friends from the beginning: Keegan, Van and Kenzie

Julia, Kenzie, Keegan, Elliott and Van goofing off

We watched the sunset from the shore, and started our bonfire. It was a beautiful, warm evening. Bonfire, of course, means s’mores…

The kids all got wet in the showers, but fortunately we had a change of clothes. It was hard to say goodbye, but hopefully there will soon another chance to get together.

Old buddies: Julia, Elliott, Keegan, Rozelin and Van

Comments are off for this post

This year, we headed to Italy at the end of August…a first. It is not my favorite time if the year, because it is usually very hot and humid, and the city turns into a desert, especially in the second half of the month for the Ferragosto holiday. Moreover, most of my friends are away on vacation. However, August  was the only time that worked for everyone this year, so we headed to Milan on August 14. “Luckily” this year, the weather has been unusually cold, and rainy: bad news for the tourism industry, but good news for us: less heat, less humidity, and slightly less mosquitoes. And honestly, we only had 1 rainy morning in Milano, and a rainy day at Sestri…Another bonus: my best friend Loredana was around, so we spent lots of quality time together. I even had the chance to experience a wonderful, full length reflexology massage. Not having too many friends around worked out too, since I only had few days this year: instead of a mad rush to see everyone, I took it easy, relaxed, slept and read books.

As always, Keegan had a wonderful time with his nonni, who have endless patience and love to spoil him and dole out lots of attention…and presents. Despite Keegan’s resistance, I have to say that Italian class really helped: his Italian was much better than last year, and from day 1, there was a nice conversation going. He listened to endless stories, and played countless rounds of Chinese checkers, the Sandokan game or any other available game.

My sister and her family came back a few days after our arrivals, and of course Keegan was super excited. Since my sister had another week off, we had the chance to spend lots of time together, such as quality time at the orthopedic doctor! My knee was still bothering me, so we tracked down a childhood friend, now working in a Milano’s hospital, to give me his opinion. Of course, without x-ray or MRI you can’t tell for sure, but he thinks it may be a slight injury to the meniscus (how soccer player of me) but regardless, the prescription is the same:RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). He felt it was on the way of recovery, though, and that was a relief…well, not literally, because for a few days after the visit, the knee hurt a lot more.

Medical business aside, Cinzia and I got the chance to talk a stroll in the new Milano Garibaldi area, to enjoy a quiet pizza in Magenta area, and of course to visit at her house, land of the thousand helicopter-sized mosquitoes. Since Nara and Samir were not feeling too well, Keegan even got an extra treat: he watched a whole movie, while snuggling with them: Ice Age 3.

After a full week of “dolce far niente” (sweet do nothing), Matt arrived. His flight, this year, was perfectly on time, and landed where it was supposed to land. I guess we are alternating: this year, our flight from London was delayed 3 hours!!

Poor Mattie did not even have time to recover from his jet-lag, since the next day, around lunch time, we left for the Italian Riviera: Sestri Levante once again. Well, he had a full week of rest at the beach, in the wonderful hotel we stayed last summer. Not too shabby. With some difficulties, we all took a nap when we arrived, which killed some time before my sister and family arrived, just in time for dinnertime.

This past April, my parents celebrated their 50 Years Anniversary, so we thought it would be nice to celebrate when we are all together. We surprised them with a custom cake that night at dinner. It was beautiful and delicious!

We also got our annual group photo, and amazingly enough, we all look good in this photo.

The food was delicious as always, but being all together again was even better. Well, my sister and her husband had to leave the next day, but the kids had a a wonderful week ahead of them. Keegan was so excited: he got to sleep with his cousins, and they took wonderful care of him, so Matt and I could enjoy some time aline. How nice.

the force is strong with these ones

Our routine was the same as last year: wake up and around 9.30 head up for a wonderful breakfast buffet. Then, we go to the beach to play and get in the warm, Mediterranean sea. At lunchtime, Keegan, the kids, and my parents would have lunch, and gelato, and then head to the hotel for some rest. Keegan took a nap almost every day! Matt and I, would stay longer at the beach, maybe swim more. The afternoon was spent at the pool, and then we time to get ready for dinner.The peaceful view from our balcony was breathtaking.

The restaurant, as always, had amazing food, and you can’t beat the view.

It’s the perfect backdrop for family photos.

my niece and nephiew

nonno and his grandkids

Pool was always the highlight of the day…well, together with getting some delicious gelato form the local shops.

I was also happy to know that my lifelong friend Giada was in Sestri too. Our parents met here at Sestri, when her mother was pregnant with Giada, so we have really known each other all our lives. We spent 18/19 summers together here at Sestri, and really grew up together. Unfortunately, now she lives in Germany, so we rarely get to see each other. It had been more than 2 years since I last saw her.

We first met for an “aperetivo” on the beach, with my family and hers…19 people in all. What a great way to start the week.

salute!

Keegan got some presents too: a cool memory game, travel chess and a t-shirt. And boy, do they came handy. On Tuesday, it rained almost all day, so we were stuck in the hotel, and the memory game provided much needed entertainment. Fortunately, it stopped raining long enough for the kids to jump in the pool. Surprise, surprise: under a dark gray sky, we were the only ones on the pool deck.

We had many chances to spend time together, Giada and I, and to catch up, even if she had to work for half of the week: we took swims together, and walks after dinner, and we spent an afternoon at the Hotel’s pool with her kids, Alba e Giacomo.

We also had a chance to get another aperetivo (oh, how much I miss them) and watch the sunset.

We changed quite a bit from this photo with her mom, Birgit…

While the kids loved the pool (and I enjoyed it too), we also had fun at the beach. Keegan loved the pedalo’, or pedal-boat. We rented the same one, with the slide, and we had a great time and lots of photos.

With my niece and nephew

il mio pesciolino (my little fish)

the rare photo of Tizi and Matt in a bathing suit

Who do you think had the most fun???

 

In fact, Keegan had so much fun, that he wanted to go again, the following day. Matt and I were not thrilled at the idea, so nonno went instead.

Matt and I swam out to them, so I still got some of the fun (diving) and none of the work (pedaling).

And in a flash, the week flew by. Cinzia and Sandro returned on Friday night, and we got together again for one last dinner. We had another surprise celebration: my sister’s birthday. The hotel had an outdoor dinner buffet planned, with a live band, so, non only we got a special cake and champagne prepared, but the band also played Happy Birthday for her…as expected she was deadly embarrassed, but it was a sweet gesture for sure.

We took advantage of the festive occasion for getting lots of more pictures, enough to last us for another year.

The cake: delicious chocolate, cream, whipping cream and cream puffs

birthday girl with dad

it all started with this: the original family

mom and daughters

Ciniza, Sandro, Nara and Samir

two sisters

After the fun dinner, Matt and I went for a nice, long walk with Giada. I was glad I had so much time to spend with her, and I hope I will not have to wait another 2/3 years before seeing her again. It is always sad to say goodbye to Sestri but it was a good send off.

The next morning, we went back to Milano, and started packing…the flight back to San Diego was early the following morning. I was able to talk to a couple of friends on the phone, and Loredana stopped by to say goodbye with Francesca and Carmelo. We took advantage of our last chance to chat, and run a few errands: I can’t leave without parmigiano cheese or panna! The rest of the afternoon was spent packing and making sure we did not forget anything, especially Keegan’s toys and book (of course we did forget something anyway: his Star wars pj). Before packing, Keegan wanted to photograph the cool space-ships he built with his Lego. He was pretty proud of them, and so he should be: they came straight from his imagination.

The next morning we left early for the airport Malpensa. We arrived a little later than I wanted, and of course, this was the only time the plane left on time. We had to rush to the gates, conveniently located at the exact opposite end of the airport. This meant we had to rush the goodbyes as well, but maybe it was better that way: leaving is always so painful. It is like ripping a band-aid: it is easier to do it with a quick  pull. The flight went well. It was long and tedious, but we all got a little bit of sleep. We arrived on time and crashed in our beds. The jet lag adjustment was not too bed. We had a full day to rest, and recover. Keegan woke up at 3.40am that first night, so I laid down with him and cuddled till 5.30. It was a long day, but it was nice to slowly get back to routine: we unpacked, got laundry done, cleaned up, and played in the pool. Not quite as fun as the Hotel’s pool or the beach, but we managed.

We also got a nice nap, even Keegan who insisted he was not tired.

I am not tired. I don’t need a nap!

Waking him up was hard, and dealing with his crankiness was even harder, but the promise of ice cream got him moving. The last gifts from nonni, a book and a personalized Star wars t-shirt also helped lift his mood. THANK YOU NONNI!!!

These beautiful days in Italy really flew by, maybe even more than usual, and we are all sad to be so far away, once again. We had a wonderful time, and really treasure the days and hours spent with our wonderful family. We are so grateful for the great vacation and all the little and big things that made our stay so pleasant. Thank you for everything! We are looking forward seeing everyone soon, at least via Skype. We miss you, we love you and we send you all our love. A presto!!!

Comments are off for this post