Our week in Italy

We just returned from a week in Italy.  We stayed with Paolo's aunt and uncle (or, as Gio calls them, "Nonna Luisa" and "Nonno Renato" in Castelnovo ne'Monti in the Reggio Emilia region.  This is the area where we are building a house. See following pictures and video from our stay.  And sorry about the smudge on the video camera- we did not discover it until we got back to Kiev!

Entering the new house

Looking over plans with Guiseppe (foreman) and Adamo (black hat, architect/builder)

A master at work. 

Gio loved visiting the site.  I tried to keep my anxiety at bay as he scrambled about.  These pliers were a favorite discovery.

This dog has befriended our work crew and sleeps in the house most nights.  He and Gio had fun playing in the mud.

A haircut in town, complete with a generous dose of hair gel, Jersey Shore-style.

Gio loves the razor, aka, the "tickle machine."

Hmmmm....This stroller is getting a wee bit small, no?

Nearly every day we took a stroll to watch another construction project going on near Nonna Luisa and Nonno Renato's house.

No caption needed.

Another day, another visit to our house.  Today's focus was on "painting."

A visit to Lake Ventasso

Perfecting the fine art of rock- throwing.

Gio spent hours outside searching for ants. 

Despite attempts to be gentle, not a single ant escaped alive from his meaty little fingers.

Big Tom and Gio enjoying gelato.

One afternoon we went to watch cousin Matteo's soccer practice.  Gio, never a shy child, decided to join right in.  Here the coach is trying to talk while Gio is shouting, "Hi, Matteo! Hi, Matteo!" Matteo, understandably, is pretending he does not know him.

Eventually he gave up....

...and went to tackle Papa.

Now it is time to prepare for our puppy who arrives in Kiev on Friday!