On Sunday, the entire group went into the tiny town near our home for mass - only to find out that my limited Spanish doesn't entirely mean I understand Italian... the mass time we had was incorrect, so we spent a few quiet moments in the church and then decided to head out on separate adventures.
Our family went to Cortona (site of the book, "Under the Tuscan Sun"). We quickly understood how someone could fall in love with this special place, and both Jay and I remarked how good Italian towns are for the soul.
We had a wonderful time wandering the streets, and then stopped for some delicious pizza and amazing gelato (the kids sat on life-size ice cream cones while eating theirs).
We also discovered another wonderful thing about our home - it is so central to all the towns we wanted to visit. Last year, we had about a 30 minute drive just to hit a main road - while this time, we were able to visit Cortona (and other towns) within 20-25 minutes. It was perfect for getting back in time for Kate's nap - and minimizing carsickness!
We got back to the villa and began what would be our daily routine - Kate napped, Jack swam in the pool, and we took turns lounging by the pool - and swimming with Jack. By about 4pm, Oma would lead "Art camp" and "tea time" for those interested (Kate and Sami were daily participants, and Jack was a special guest), and then at 5pm, Uncle Jay would start up "sports camp" on the lawn - complete with soccer balls, cones, whistles, tennis, baseball, and even martial arts. It was a great "ritual" filled with lots of laughs.
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