The end of the school year is always crazy here but this June has been particularly busy with far too many good-byes as an unusual number of families are moving away from Ukraine this summer. Poor Gio has lost every one of his 5 best friends. Definitely a downside of the ex-pat life. I am fitting in one more Kyiv-based blog entry before we relocate to Italy for the next two months....
Happy Summer to all! Next post from Italy....
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| My super boy on his way to school. |
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| Enzo and his daughter Enzita (she belongs to our wonderful dog-walker Lucy)! |
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| For the last two months I have been taking Gio out of school early once/week to have a Mamma-Gio date. It is a rare opportunity to have some one-on-one time and I love every minute. We usually go to our favorite spot, Milk Bar, for Uno and grilled cheese sandwiches.... |
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| ...and red velvet cake! |
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| Spring time means the stilettos get even steeper! |
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| Gio feels it is time for Maria to learn her letters.... |
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| We spent a lot of afternoons in the sandbox with Maria's main man, Jackson. |
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| In June Maria finally perfected her roll. Her very first one was onto Enzo- a perfect spot to land! |
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| We brought Maria to Milk Bar. She was very disappointed that we did not order her any red velvet cake. |
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| Another weekend, another going away party.... Sigh. |
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| Big brother swing time. No better way to spend a sunny afternoon. |
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| Maria eats an apple nearly every day. She LOVES them! |
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| Hanging out with sweet Pepper. |
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| Baby's first mojito. |
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| Don't panic. It was a virgin one! |
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| Every morning after we watch Gio get on the bus we have some sand time with Enzo. |
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| Gio took a field trip to the zoo. |
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| We had quite a few rainy afternoons so Maria, Gio and I often ended up at the play area in Ocean Plaza. |
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| More morning sand time.... |
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| Enzo and his best friend Annuta. |
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| Maria discovered the joys of grocery shopping! |
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| Snacks help... |
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| One lazy weekend morning we all took a trip to the hair salon so the boys could get their hair cut. |
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| Maria adores her other big brother! |
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| Bath time is always a hit for Maria! |
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| Another Wednesday, another Milk Bar date with Gio. On this one he discovered their amazing milk shakes! |
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| Another raining afternoon spent at Happylon! |
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| Gio won the jackpot- 500 tickets! |
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| Megamarket began carrying maple syrup. Now if they would just get some brown sugar! |
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| Final book club of the year! |
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| Watermelon! |
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| An interesting hair day.... |
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| Pepper had a bad accident- falling from our balcony and getting hit by a car. He ended up needing his back left leg amputated. The day he came home from the hospital he immediately climbed to his favorite perch 7 feet off the ground. Amazing cat! |
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| Summer in Ukraine.... |
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| We often spend time on the swings while we wait for Gio's bus to bring him home at 2:15. |
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| Gio's class. |
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| Yes, we had a lot of rain this spring! |
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| And, yep, he won the jackpot AGAIN! Got to get this boy to Vegas! |
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| Sometimes I resort to this to try to rouse Gio in the mornings. Not an easy task! |
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| Fashion choices in Ukraine are often alarming. This was a 60-ish man sporting this belt! |
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| Pepper found a new favorite spot in Paolo's old briefcase. |
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| Graduating from pre-school earned Gio cake AND a milkshake! |
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| The day after graduation the boys (all 4 of them!) headed off for the 3 day drive to Italy. Maria and I will fly to join them on Monday. |
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| An ice cream ad in Ukraine. Sigh. (Photo courtesy of my friend Andrea HK- thanks!) |
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| A raspberry walk. |
And, for those of you who are amused by Maria's mealtime antics....
Happy Summer to all! Next post from Italy....
