Friends

I have to say that the last week has been so much easier for my wife and I. Why? Because life sort of seems a little bit more normal with Parker having two friends that he spends most of his day with.

Parker has loads of fun when he is with his friends. I have never seen him laugh and run so much in my life. When he comes in after playing his hair is actually sweaty in parts. Yesterday, we decided to take a trip around Milano 2 with Parker, the two girls and their mother. The main attraction was to feed the turtles and the big fish that Nonna and Nonno had introduced to Parker just over a month ago but everyone enjoyed themselves the whole time.

Yes, we did make it to the pond where the children got to throw a day-old baguette to the animals swimming around. It was definitely a little bit different then we were used to though. The fountain was on so so the turtles who normally frequent the pond hid themselves from the falling water. Then, a small dog that looked a lot like the dog from the television show “Fraser” came out of no where and jumped into the pond. He swam around causing the water to become foggy.

Eventually, through the sand and water we saw a turtle trying to eat some of the bread that Juliette had actually thrown into the water instead of eaten. But it was for only a quick moment because the little dog came right up behind the turtle and nipped at his back-side. The turtle then went head over tail in the water as the dog turned sharply causing a wave that the little turtle could not overcome.

I had promised everyone blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. So, Parker had a great surprise when the little girls came over at 9am to enjoy a breakfast that did not consist of the same porridge Parker has become accustomed to over the past year. I had picked up some Canadian Maple Syrup from Unes yesterday so that our friends could give it a try. Although they did enjoy it I have to say that it was definitely not the Maple Syrup you would get back home.

Now, I must admit that I am pretty much content with being in Italy and I do my best not to let things bother me, but my wife has definitely found it difficult. So, now that she has someone that she can spend time with (other than her loving husband) she is much happier. The mother of the two girls that Parker regularly plays with is a wonderful lady and Tracy really enjoys spending time with her. The last two evenings Tracy has gone over to spend several hours with her to share conversation and wine while the children slept. I am extremely pleased that she has this, I only wish she had this right from the beginning. That said, we did have our families and Natalie here for more than half of our time in Italy and that made life easier for everyone.

Well, I better publish this article so I can finish my studying before Parker wakes and wants to go visit his friends for the afternoon.