In case you were wondering...

how Mom was handling her three boys on her own while Dad is in Bahrain for a couple of weeks... We're doing just fine even if the Italians in our neighborhood look at us like the circus just strolled into town!

The Park

Mom has been taking me to the park a lot lately to wear me out. The spiral slide is my favorite and after about an hour of constant sliding, I do get pretty sleepy and then she gets a little break.

The Grocery Getter

The little car-carts at the commisary make grocery shopping fun!

Ghiaccioli To The Rescue

It's been a serious "scorchaahh" in Sicily for the past couple of days and there's no sign of relief any time soon. The temperature has been hovering around 110°. If you have never experienced this kind of heat, it's like blow drying your hair in a sauna. Bina introduced me to ghiaccioli (freeze pops) for a little relief from the swelter and I'm completely addicted. Bruco and Paolo dig them too!

Skee Ball

Mom is teaching me how to play skee ball. She claims to have been the Salisbury Beach Skee Ball Champion. I think she left her mad skills back in the 80's with her big hair, blue eyeshadow, acid-washed jeans and Flashdance sweatshirt.

If Babies Ruled The World...

Swim Lessons Continued

This morning at swim class, we put on life jackets and floated on our backs. As you can see, I hated it!

I did like the BIG water slide after class though. This makes going to class worth it!

I only flinch when I first hit the water then I laugh and want to go down the slide again and again.

Baby Einstein

Mom doesn't feel as guilty when she parks my butt in front of the television with a video if it has the word "developmental" attached to it. The people in the Baby Einstein marketing department are the real Einsteins here!

Granita Festa Alla Casa del Bina

Yesterday afternoon, Bina had a granita party at her house. The gelato/granita man, Orazio, came to her house and served his homemade frozen goodness. Orazio's truck is a familiar sight in my town. He drives his delicious truck up and down the steep hills of Motta blowing his whistle and stopping for anyone who waves him down for a refreshing treat. It's hard to describe granita, but I guess it's comparable to Italian ice in the States, but of course it's different and so much tastier in its native land. Granita is only made in the summer months and it's what Italians typically eat for breakfast. Yup, ice cream for breakfast! You should visit my friend Nicole's blog Pinch My Salt to read the post she wrote about this wonderful Italian summer treat.

I got mezzo limone e fragola (1/2 lemon and 1/2 strawberry). Granita is commonly served along side a brioche (buttery roll). Although the granita and brioche are supposed to be savored together, I gobbled down my granita first and then I nibbled at my brioche.

These are the children that Bina babysits—not all at once (although she’s so good with children she probably could handle all of us at once). Some of the children have already moved back to the States and have come back to Sicily for a visit because they missed Bina so much! Some are leaving in a few weeks and some in a few months (Me). At any rate, we all got together to celebrate this wonderful woman who has been like a Nonna to us. And what better way to celebrate than with granita!

Disneyland Visits Sigonella

As part of the on-going 4th of July celebration, the Sigonella basketball court was filled with all sorts of inflatable fun. You would think it was Disneyland with all the excitement it brought to the military kids stationed here.

My favorite was the BIG slide. I wanted to go down it again and again and again and again...!

Happy 4th of July

Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare, The bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there. Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave.Or the land of the free, and the home of the brave?...

To celebrate America's birthday, we went to my buddy Dawson's house in Motta for a BBQ. We lit sparklers and watched the Sigonella fireworks from his balcony. It was a good time until it was past our bedtime and Dawson and I started fighting over toys.

First Dental Check Up

This morning I went to my first dentist appointment. The dentist just took a quick peek at my teeth and swiped them with a fluoride treatment. She said my teeth looked healthy and she discovered my 1st primary molars are coming in, which explains why I've been a little cranky lately. I got a Eeyore sticker and a toy car for being such a good patient.

Camping In Portopalo

We went camping in Portopalo this weekend with our friends Meagan, Chuck, their dog Jack, and the dog they're babysitting Mocha. On the way to Portopalo, we stopped in Brucoli to get a picture of Bruco in the Sicilian port for which he is named. Our dog Paolo is also named after a Sicilian port and it's also where my parents found him as a skinny little puppy who had been hit by a car two years ago this August. We headed back to Paolo's old territory for the weekend and stayed at Camping Residence Capo Passero. The campsite is located right on the ocean, was impeccably clean and the owners were friendly and kind enough to let us stay there with four dogs! This was our first time camping and we really roughed it... Okay, really... we didn't rough it at all! The Italians that slept in this tent roughed it! We rented two bungalows on the campground. The bungalows had fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms and my Mom and Meagan packed every imaginable modern convenience such as fans, ipods and four coolers stocked with enough food and beer to feed an army of drunks. Meagan cooked breakfast burritos for breakfast, Mom served chicken and pasta salad for lunch and Dad grilled cheeseburgers for dinner.

By the end of the weekend, I'm sure we were known to all the campers as the loud Americans in the corner bungalows with four crazy dogs and a silly baby...

The campground had a pool and a playground but we spent most of our time at the beach playing in the sand and ocean. I was the happiest kid on the beach...

The dogs and I can't wait to go camping again!

Heat Wave Continued

It's a "wicked scorchaahh", as Mom would say with her Boston accent. I spend every waking moment submerged in acqua just trying to cool off.

Trying to Keep Cool

Over the weekend, the temperature got as high as 108°. If we weren't at the pool on base, I was cooling off in the tub or the sink.

Water Filled Weekend

I started swim lessons over the weekend. Class is held every Saturday and Sunday morning, so there is no sleeping in on the weekends for us. After class, we hung out at the pool playing, splashing, sliding and practicing what I learned at swim class.

The First Rule of Fight Club Is...

You Do Not Talk About Fight Club!

Il Mio Primo Taglio di Capelli

Today Bina gave me my first haircut. I’ve been sporting a mini mullet for months but my parents have put off getting my haircut until after my first birthday. Italians believe that cutting a child’s hair before his first birthday is bad luck. As a matter a fact, cutting the hair of an infant will cut his life short. Although my parents are not superstitious at all, they still weren't going to risk my life over a haircut?!

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we let Dad sleep in and then we went to the pool on base to cool off (temp is already soaring in the high 90's). In the evening, we went to Capomulini-Acireale to walk along the water and have dinner at Dad's favorite seafood restaurant. According to local legend, the three cone-shaped islands in the background are the very same stones thrown by the Cyclopes at Ulysses. The islands are called "isole dei ciclopi". My dad goes scuba diving there.

Il Porticciolo has the best seafood in Sicily, especially the fried calamaretti (baby calamari that melts in your mouth!), lobster linguine and mussel linguine.

It was a great day in honor of a great man, my Dad.

Play Time With Ella

There's a new play area at the gym on base. Ella and I play here after our stroll around the indoor track. We love it here!