Week 29 - A Birthday and a baptism

This week on Wednesday we flew to Finland just in time to escape from the very hot weather that was arriving to Italy. The day we arrived it was sunny and nice, but the next couple of days the temperatures sank as low as 14 degrees during day time and it felt more like autumn than summer.
The girls went to pick blueberries and raspberries as soon as they arrived and we got ingredients for blueberry muffins that we made for Carlotta's birthday.
This week was a party week for us. On the 20th was Carlotta turned 8. We had a nice little party at home with my parents and a friend of mine with her children. Carlotta got nice presents, we ate cakes and went out to the playground a bit before the guests went home. Carlotta wanted to leave some presents for another day. She remembered that we celebrated her twice last year because all the family wasn't here at her birthday, so she wanted to do it again this year. So there are still some presents to open later on when we'll go on a birthday pick nick. On her birthday it was a bit too cool to sit outside, so we had the birthday cake inside this time.
Next day we went to Helsinki to celebrate my cute little goodson's baptism. There weren't so many guests, so they celebrated it at home and it was very nice.

Finally in Finland

Finally in Finland again! We came here quite late this year, on the 17th of July. Once we came here the weather started getting cooler, so it hasn't been so summery so far. Yesterday there were only 14 degrees and it was raining, so it really felt more like autumn than summer. For me not such a a big problem really, as I had some work to do, but a bit boring for the children. My work really disturbes our summer holidays a bit, but I will try to get it ready soon so we can do something nice. In the meanwhile the children watch dvds taken from the fantastic library we have here and Carlotta has been trying to ride the bike without the side wheels. She is learning it a bit late as she hasn't had the chance to practice and she also has been a little bit afraid, but I'm sure she will learn this summer.

But we already had two parties here. On the 20th it was Carlotta's birthday and my friend came over with her children to celebrate her.

The next day I became godmother to a cute little baby boy, my sister's daughters fourth child. We drove to Helsinki to his baptism.

Week 28 - Thunders and a lovely sunset

Back to normal life again with quite a lot of work - at least it feels like a lot when it's summer and the children aren't at school. Went to the beach a few times anyway and riding, of course. This week the sky turned black almost every afternoon and there were thunders. We had a tortilla dinner at home on Tuesday and on Friday evening I went out with the girls to a chinese restaurant. Sofia had been craving chinese food for a while. On Saturday afternoon we did some shopping and then took an evening swim in Ostia. Very nice and the sunset was beautiful!

Week 27 - The beach, cappuccinos, granitas and Zoomarine

My brother and his son were here till Thursday. We went to the beach, went to our favourite pizzeria near our house, had some cappuccinos, Carlotta had her summer favourite granita a few times and one day we went to the amusement park Zoomarine with some friends. Daniele, Carlotta and Sofia all had friends with them and had a good time. Carlotta has started reading a lot, so she got some new books this week. On Friday evening me and the girls went out to Eur have an ice cream with friends we hadn't seen for quite a long time.

Week 26 - My brother in Rome

On Monday we took a trip to the beach, but it was too windy, so we didn't stay long. On Wednesday my brother and his son came to Rome. It was the first time my brother visited us here in about 20 years I have been living here, so it was high time! It was really nice to have them here and I think they had a good time, too. The only negative thing about their visit here was that some pick pockets got my brother's wallet on the metro. That's one of the less nice sides of Rome.
My brother's son wanted sunbathe as much as possible that was quite an easy desire to fulfil because the weather was nice all the time - a bit windy the first days, but then it got warmer. They spent two days in our summer house in Fregene, then we went to the centre of Rome and strolled around there a bit and on Sunday we had a barbeque in our garden. Me and Sofia also went riding this week and as our riding instructor wasn't there we took the opportunity to ride bareback.
Our house was quite full this week as my mother-in-law also is staying at our house. She isn't well and can't live alone anymore so my husband is taking care of her. To make things easier our washing machine broke down and we ordered a new one on the internet, which was the most stupid thing we could do. The delivery is much delayed and now we have been without a washing machine for almost a month. Fortunately it's summer and at least things dry quickly. A part from all that this has been a really nice week!

Week 25 - Holiday at the Isle of Elba

Our holiday at Elba was made of beaches, pebbles, braids made on the beach, beautiful sunsets, pizza evenings, a boat trip, evening walks in nice villages, evening swim, with new made friends, sunshine, beautiful nature and lots of other nice things.

Week 24 - The summer holidays started!

On week 24 the children's summer holidays began. Me, Carlotta and Sofia went to the hairdresser's on Tuesday to get a new summer hair cut - On Thursday we went to the beach and for the first time this year I took a swim in the sea! The water was really unusually cold for the season - On Friday it was my birthday. It was a very stressing day, but in the end we managed to celebrate at home with a cake (thank's to my sweet girls who helped me make it) and pizza - On Saturday off to the island of Elba in Tuscany together with the children and my friend with her girls - Beautiful nature and beaches at Elba. 

Week 23 - Kittens in our garden

The first week in June besides working I had time to enjoy summer a bit, although the weather was rather cool for June weather here in Rome. On Monday when I came back from my zumba class, watching away from the sea the was so black I had to stop and take a photo. - Carlotta was at a party at her friend's house and came home with nail polish and nail stickers on her toe nails - This week we enjoyed the company of a cat family in our garden. On Saturday a black cat had given birth to 4 kittens behind Daniele's ping pong table. The mummy cat kept moving the kittens to different places in our garden and even tried to move in to our house once. Even if we gave food to her, in the end of the week she decided to move away from our garden with the kittens. - On Saturday our dear friends from Finland visited us and we had a nice afternoon in our garden - On Sunday Carlotta had a nice club competition at the riding school.