Week 42 - Chocolate delight

On week 42 Daniele's friend from Finland came to visit us for the week-end. He brought some Finnish chocolate to the children. I wasn't at home so much during the week-end because Sofia had show jumping both on Saturday and Sunday quite far from our home, so we spent almost the whole day there. She did well and got third prize on Sunday. In the evening we all went out for a pizza on Friday and to a Chinese restaurant together with some friends on Saturday. Armando took the boys to the centre of Rome on Sunday. I hope Daniele's friend had a good time here in Rome with Daniele.
The photo of the week is of Carlotta with the chocolate. A delighful moment! 

Layouts about San Casciano

I did some digital layouts about our day in San Casciano. Here they are:

Week 41 - Day trip to S. Casciano

This week we had two birthday parties - one for Sofia with her riding friends at the barn restaurant and one for Carlotta with her classmates at Mc Donalds. We had promised her a birthday party with her friends in Italy (her birthday was in July) and finally in October we did it. But the nicest thing of the week, I think, was our day trip to S. Casciano dei Bagni in Tuscany together with our friends. It's a small village with a lovely scenery over the Tuscan hills and there are hotsprings, both free ones outside in the nature and a spa. We went to the free baths and had a pick nick lunch there with red wine and it was so relaxing. We spent a few hours there in the warm water in good company chatting and laughing. Then it started raining, so we went up to the village and waited for the rain to stop drinking a coffee in the bar. We had a walk in S. Casciano and went to a wine cellar to buy some wine and then we went to see another village called Cetona before driving back to Rome. The only bad thing about the day was that, unfortunately, there had been a car accident on the motorway which had caused a traffic jam so the trip back home took quite a while.
In the photo of this week we are going down to the hot springs. The scenery is so beautiful!

The children's Best in Finland

It's always a bit sad to leave Finland and I'm already thinking about when we will be able to go back. Next time would be for the christmas holiday, but the prices for the flights are really high now. I asked the children which were the best things of our summer in Finland. They all liked the days at the cottage that we rented together with my parents. Carlotta's favourites were also her birthday and when her friend Hilma slept over, Daniele liked his time spent with his friends in Lovisa and Sofia her riding camp and going to the wood to pick mushrooms and blueberries. I think these are things they always will remember, although they are getting bigger and soon might not want to spend so much time of their summer holiday away from their friends here in Italy. Carlotta keeps asking me when we will go back to Finland and often says that she misses Finland and her grandparents there.

Week 40 - Sofia's birthday

This week was Sofia's 12th birthday. It was on Tuesday so we only celebrated it with the family and will have a party with her friends later on. In the evening we went out for a pizza in our favourite restaurant near our house. It was a nice warm evening so we could eat outside. In the photo of this week Sofia is opening her birthday presents in the restaurant. She got horse things that she needs for her riding competitions. She got a pair of spurs from Daniele, a small brooch with a grey horse (like the horse she usually rides) to put on her competition jacket from Carlotta and from us a shirt for the competitions. From her grandparents in Finland she got a new riding helmet that we still have to go and buy. At home we ate the birthday cake that I had made together with Sofia. 

As a treat for her birthday she got to stay at home from school today, which her father wasn't too happy about. We also made a chocolate cake to take to the riding school when we went riding in the afternoon.

Week 39 - Meeting place

Before we go to the show jumping competitions we always meet at a café where we eat breakfast if it's early in the morning or otherwise just have a coffee. Then we drive to the stables were the competiton is held and distribute the girls in the cars so that everyone is as happy as possible and no one has to be alone. This period is very intense with lots of competions for Sofia. This week-end we had to meet very early as the competion started at 9 o'clock in the morning. It was a yearly competion that's called Coppa Lazio where different riding schools of the Lazio region partecipate with their own team. Our team didn't do too well this time, they became sixth out of seven teams. It's not so strange though, because one of the horses from our stable (not in the pony team) hurt his leg badly in the trailer on the way to the competition and we were all really upset about it and felt so sorry for the horse and his owner. We really hope the horse will get well again.

Week 38 - Aperitif at the beach

A good start for the week was an aperitif at the beach with my friend and the girls. The weather was so lovely and I love the golden hour before the sun goes down. It's especially beautiful at the beach. I think this is the best time of the year to enjoy the beach here in Rome. It's still warm, but not crowdy anymore as people are already tired of going to the beach and everyday life with work and school has begun. We should do it more often!