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We gladly got in the car directed to Sestri Levante, because the temperature in Milano was moving from hot to sweltering. The drive was fast, without much traffic, and soon we were back to my childhood beach town, and more importantly, for Keegan at least, back to the the awesome Vis-aVis hotel. I guess he learned from me to love fancy hotels, or maybe we simply spoiled him by always going to nice hotels.

I love the Aperitivo Time at the hotel: whether poolside or on the amazing deck, I thoroughly enjoyed a few of them and so did Keegan.

Sestri was mostly the same, with two big exceptions:
• our favorite focaccia place, Tosi, a Sestri’s istitution closed for good. This was devastating news, because no other place in town is able to replicate the perfect recipes, and the wonderful mix of savory and sweet treats.
• There is now a fisherman statue in the Baia Del Silenzio, a wonderful addition to the fisherman bay.

I even met a couple of childhood friends, Leo and Roberto, the latter I have not seen in almost 10 years. It was nice to catch up, even if briefly.

The week was perfect. The weather was sunny, and even if it was a little too hot for my taste, we spent so much time in the water and in the air conditioned room that it did not matter. Cinzia and Nara reached us on Saturday, and Samir and Sandro arrived on Sunday.

As always we ate too much and consumed too much ice cream and sweets. What a tough life! I was a little sad Matt was not with us, but we managed to have a great time anyway. Mandatory pedalo’ day was Wednesday. It was strange to be the only adult. We had fun, but again, the novelty gone Keegan, got a little tired of it.

If nothing else, we got to swim in  clean water, and it was a great excuse to take pictures with the kids.

On the last day at the beach, we spent a long time swimming, diving and playing in the water. Samir was able to grab two hermit crabs from the bottom. I have learned the name for them is paguro in Italian. We watched them for a while before sending them back to their home.

After lunch, I usually spent a little more quiet time, alone, at the beach, swimming, sunbathing or reading. It was very relaxing and very welcomed.

As always, I do think that the kids had the most fun at the pool. This year there were more kids, even a couple of American ones, and Keegan and his cousins were always willing to invite them to play along.

Keep Away was one of the favorite games, like the traditional girls vs. boys fight for the ball. I can’t deny the adults joined in quite often.

Human towers were also a big hit. Even Keegan tried to lift Nara: he was able, at least, to emerge from the water.

Diving, however, was the all time favorite, and the old diving board saw a lot of use and inventive dives.

The inflatable dragon was brought to the pool especially as a photo prop on the last day. He made it safely to San Diego with us. Will we use it again?

Pool time often meant a reading break for me, when not busy exercising with the daily Aquagym program. I also enjoyed looking at clouds and guessing what they look like. Check out this one below: what does it look like to you? See my interpretation below…no peeking!

To me it looks like a chubby guy, facing left, reading a book!

The food was as always delicious…you can get use to be served appetizer, first, side and second and dessert, all washed down by a great glass of wine every night. And what incredible sunsets we got to see! They even moved us to the window table after the first two days for a better view.

two of the amazing sunsets at Sestri Levante

The only “negative” was the length of the meals, which was very difficult for Keegan. We all tried to entertain him, especially the cousins, with different games. When everything else failed, goofing around worked well.

The elegant restaurant gave us the chance to wear different, nice clothes every night and to try new hairstyles… well at least us girls.

We even convinced Keegan to wear something that was not soft pants and a t-shirt for the last dinner. Sandro’s mom gave him this outfit: isn’t he dashing in it?

This dinner was a special one, not only because it was our last, but also because we were all present to celebrate my dad’s 78th birthday!! We all got a special outfit on, and took lots of pictures.

Picture time for the cousins as well

After dinner, it was present’s time.

 

Cinzia choose a great photo with my parents and all the kids, and made it into a pillow. The kids positioned themselves just like to photo: is this a start of a new tradition? We will try to create those never-ending pictures…

The last night was special for a couple of other things: Keegan got finally to play “macho men” with Samir. They have been too busy playing Angry Birds and Star Wars Angry birds to have time… If you ever need inspiration, just look at this photo: don’t you feel like you are ready to conquer the world?

Also, that night, Sandro, I and the kids went out for a walk: Keegan went out the previous night and loved to be out after dark, so we had to go out again. Besides, my mom promised him he would try the jumpy ropes on the beach, and once a promise is made, he will never forget. Both Nara and Samir joined him.

In the background, some amazing fireworks were going off, for the third day in a row: I guess a celebration of a saint of some kind. Well, we took them as an early 4th of July show, since we will be missing the real thing.

And just like that our beach vacation was over, as was our Italian vacation. We spent Saturday driving back to Milano, shopping for the last few things and packing. Birgit, Giada’s mom came by to say goodbye and brought a beautiful photography book and a cool Milano mug for Keegan.

As always, leaving was very difficult for everyone. At least the trip went well, and Keegan was pretty good and even caught some sleep, on his own initiative.

We landed almost an hour early, so for the first time, we were the ones  waiting. Even with sadness, it was good to get home, and especially to see Matt feeling a lot better. While is taking us a few days getting adjusted to the time and our new routine, the happy memories will help us in the transition. Looking forward to fun summer camps and onward to Second Grade.

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