Ciao Italia!!

Friday was Gio's final day of school (he will be back again with Mr. Mark next year so it was not too sad for him).  

Safety First!  Gio is often sitting at circle time wearing his beloved helmet.  I am not sure if he just does not notice he is still wearing it or if he is eager to get back outside to his scooter....

There was an end-of-the-year party complete with snacks, games and water guns.   

We got home to discover an exciting package had arrived  in the mail.  New Big Toms....though these are over twice the size of his original ones so he immediately dubbed them "Enormous Toms" and instantly fell in love. 

Saturday Paolo returned from his week away (Berlin & Odessa).  We spent the day packing for Italy and setting up the nursery so it is ready for our return sometime in August/September (this depends entirely on our how quickly the Italians can produce a passport for Baby Belli during their annual August shutdown!)

Done.
It sure helped that the movers cleared out this room this week to make room for all of Gio's old baby things! 

We began our drive on Sunday morning.  First rest stop at our favorite spot just before Lviv.  Frog hunting ensued.  

Enzo was hot hot hot.  Poor fellow.  He finally found some shade and only emerged to help us finish our lunch.

Post lunch everyone under the age of 5 took a nap.
Enzo chose his napping spot in direct line with our strongest A/C vents.

Our hotel in the Carpathian mountains (just before the Ukraine-Hungary border crossing) is set right on a river.
Enzo and Gio did some nude bathing. 

Day 2 was spent crossing the border and driving through the boring landscape of Hungary.  Gio spent much of the day asleep- he is a terrific road tripper!

After a very pleasant night spent in Slovenia, we arrived at our house in the early afternoon on Tuesday.  After enduring 3 days in the car with an over-ripe dog we quickly gave him a bath.  He was less than thrilled.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we drive to Livorno to catch a boat that will take us (Volvo and Enzo included!) to Sardinia for 10 days on the beach.  Bliss.  Happy beginning of summer to all, especially to our Kyiv friends who endured such an endlessly cold and snowy winter with us!

XO.  Clara

The Climbing Park!

This week Gio's class headed off on the school bus for a day at the climbing park.

Getting ready to board the bus....

Best buddy Grace makes an appearance.  All is right with the world.

Bus buddies! 

Harness time! 

I am glad it was not me trying to put this on him- looked complicated!

First steps off tree #1.  Yes, only about 2 feet off the ground but still massively exciting for a 4-year-old!

And he's off!

A chance to rest. 

At the end of each course was a zip line.  Gio soon discovered he could cheat a bit to do the zip lines over and over.  Luckily his PE teachers looked the other way and went along with his dastardly plan. 

Mr. Mark was there to catch him at the end.  Good thing as it is not easy to unclip a 54-pound boy from the line!

A best buddy sandwich (Grace on one side, Josh on the other). 

Gio kept at this for nearly 2 hours and is already excited to visit the climbing park we have near our house in Italy.  Yesterday was his final day of school (we are cutting out a week early- naughty naughty!) as we will begin the drive to Italy tomorrow morning.  Gio, Enzo and I are saying goodbye now to Kyiv for about 3 months (Paolo will be back here in July).  Next post from Italia!!