Arrivederci Sicilia

Our tribe has spoken. After five years and four months on the island, we've been voted off Survivor Sicily. Tune in next season for Survivor South Carolina... A whole new adventure!

12 Hours Before Our Flight Takes Off

And Paolo gets into some poisonous mushrooms at the pet potty area outside the Navy Lodge. Paolo had explosive diarrhea, was foaming at the mouth and breathing heavy. Mom called Meagan in hysterics and Meagan rushed Mom and Paolo to the emergency vet in Motta (the same vet that saved Paolo's life when he was hit by the car!). We really thought we were going to lose him... again! Paolo is on an IV drip in the hotel room and should be feeling better in the morning... just in time to be put in a kennel that will go in the baggage compartment on three separate flights that will eventually get us all to Charleston after 26 hours of traveling. UGH! Poor Paolo!

Ella

Today I had my final lunch/playdate with Ella. After lunch we went to the park and she once again shamelessly hit on me. I keep telling her that I'm not ready for a serious relationship. I warn her that I don't want to break her heart but really it was my heart that was breaking when I said good bye.

Dinner, Beer and Pool

Last night we had dinner and drinks with Meagan at Days Inn Pub across the street from the military base. It's an Irish pub with excellent bruscetta and decent pasta. It's actually the restaurant my parents ate dinner the first night they arrived in Sicily so it was only appropriate to eat our final Italian dinner there as well. After dinner Meagan and I played pool until we were told no babies or beer allowed on the pool tables!

Bina & Antonio

Last night we had a farewell dinner at Bina and Nino's house. Bina made homemade sciaciatta, pizza and cipolinas. It was delicious comfort food and just what we needed as the countdown to our departure from Sicily is just two days away now.

Today I spent the whole day at Bina and Antonio's house. As predicted, it was very emotional saying good bye to them. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that it was excruciating to bid farewell to the people who helped raise me. I'm crying as I type this so I think I should stop here as I am at the community center and people are starting to stare!

Epiphany

Today is Epiphany, the Italian holiday that marks the end of the holiday season. On this day, Befana, the good witch brings candy to all the good boys and girls. This morning I woke up at Bina's house and had candy for breakfast and then my parents took me to see Befana and she gave me more candy. I wasn't afraid of Befana and didn't freak out when I sat on her lap. She is much prettier than Santa! It's been rainy and cold in Sicily for the past couple of weeks. Mom says that she's glad that the weather is crappy right now because it makes it easier to say good-bye to Sicily, but today the weather was gorgeous and we felt compelled to take one last trip up Mt Etna. It was the perfect day for such a trip.

When we reached the top of the volcano, we collected some lava rocks to take a little piece of Sicily back to America with us. Of course we asked the volcano God for permission first. We don't want any bad luck for taking without her approval.

Following Sicilian tradition, we made a little snowman and placed it on the hood of our car to watch it melt on the drive back down the mountain. We named the snowman Gufo which means owl in Italian. As we descended into warmer temperatures, Gufo lost his head and then slowly melted into a puddle.

Happy Birthday Dada!

Yesterday was Dad's 36th birthday so we celebrated the best we could for a family living out of suitcases in a hotel room. After we ate our "fancy" cakes, my parents went downtown Catania to celebrate Dad's special day with Meagan and Chuck and I got to spend the night at Bina's casa.

Sir Thomas The Tank Engine

Santa brought me a Thomas The Tank Engine DVD for Christmas and since we've checked into the Navy Lodge, I have not stopped watching the DVD over and over and over again. I am completely obsessed with choo choos right now. Thomas is slowly driving my parents INSANE with his "buffer up and share" song. They can't stop humming the catchy little tune and if given the chance they would love to strangle that cheeky little engine!

Happy New Year!

Mom came down with a nasty cold on New Year's Eve, so we were forced to cancel our party plans with Meagan and Chuck and stay in the hotel room so Mom could sip tea and eat chicken noodle soup. Mom was in bed and in a NyQuil coma by 10 o'clock. It was a really wild night! On New Year's Day Mom felt a little better so we met Meagan and Chuck at Applebees for a little post celebration. We didn't party like rock stars and we didn't set ourselves on fire lighting off fireworks like Uncle P.J. but we did wear our party hats and we did embarress Chuck by repeatedly blowing our party horns. Happy New Year! May 2008 bring you lots of happiness!

Bye Bye Big Yellow House

The movers came and carefully wrapped all of our belongings in bubble wrap, boxed it up and placed the boxes into giant wooden crates. The wooden crates will go on a boat over the Atlantic Ocean and will arrive in Charleston in 45 to 60 days. Right now, we're staying at the Navy Lodge on base until our departure on the 11th. Although it's a little cramped in a hotel room with 2 adults, a toddler and 2 dogs, it's pretty fun and it marks the beginning of our new adventure.

Buon Natale da Sicilia

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, The Balents

Christmas Day

It's orange season in Sicily so for Christmas breakfast, I made fresh squeezed orange juice and used up every orange in the house. Dad cooked ham & cheese omelets, bacon and toast and Mom sat on her butt and fueled up on Dunkin Donuts coffee (she has it shipped here!). Since we move into a hotel tomorrow morning, my parents decided it was just too much to decorate and put up a tree when the movers are coming tomorrow to take all of our stuff away. Imagine my surprise this morning when I found that Santa brought us a little wooden tree and surrounded it with gifts.

I'm crazy about anything with wheels so I was super psyched to get a lot of cool cars, trucks and motorcycles from Bina, my Mimi and Papi and my cousins from Florida.

Santa gave me a portable DVD player along with this funny t-shirt for the LONG airplane ride to Charleston, South Carolina...

It was a nice Christmas. Now we have to get packing. It's finally time for the big move—YIKES!

Christmas Eve

The rain kept us cooped up in the house all weekend so today Mom and I HAD to get out of the house before we drove each other CRAZY. We visited Dad at work, we checked out the last minute sales at the Navy Exchange and then we went to Piazza Pizza for lunch. After lunch we ate lollipops, worked on our skee ball skills and rode the merry-go-round until we ran out of quarters. It wasn't our idea of a traditional Christmas Eve but it was still a good one.

We're Not Dreaming Of A White Christmas

but we're hoping for a dry one. It's been rainy and windy with temps in the 60's here in Sicily. We try not to complain too much since we know we're better off than those being pummeled with snow and freezing temps in the Northeast of America... Burrr! We hope you have plenty of spiked eggnog and a roaring fire to keep you warm through the holidays.

Joyeux Noël Meagan

We had an early Christmas celebration with Meagan last night because she won’t be here on Christmas day—the brat is ditching us for a romantic holiday in Paris (insert gag sound) with her husband. Meagan did however bring me the most amazing gift ever, a Radio Flyer trike/chopper, and thus her absence on Christmas day is forgiven. Tis the season! I can’t quite reach the pedals, but that doesn’t stop me from spending every waking moment on this bad boy.

I’ve known Meagan since I was an infant. She has witnessed many of my milestones in person (Also via this blog! She is quite possibly Bambino Balent’s #1 fan!). Meagan likes to swing me around until I’m dizzy and she tickles me into hysterics. I love Meagan! Being stationed overseas, our friends become our family. Meagan is our family. She is my aunt, my mother’s sister. Meagan works at the same travel office where my mom used to work but that’s not what brought them together. It was their love of dogs (Meagan’s dog Jack and my dog Paolo are total B.F.F) that sparked their friendship. And their friendship grew as they learned they had so much more in common… Tap-dancing-Irish-beer-drinking-jazz-hand-buffoons! Meagan not only makes us laugh but also is someone we can always count on. We’re going to miss you most of all, Meagan. We wish you a Joyeux Noël in Paris. Hurry back to Sicily so we can share some more good times before our departure from the island. Tick tock tick tock we leave in 20 days!

Christmas Party At Ella's

Yesterday I went to Ella's house for our regular scheduled Monday morning play date, but this play date was anything but regular. Ella and I built and decorated a gingerbread house together and exchanged gifts while our moms chugged sipped mimosas.

Ella got me a Cabbage Patch Baby Doll named Leo Xavier to help bring out my nurturing side and I got Ella a Little People School Bus to help man her up a little. Of course I wanted to play with the school bus and Ella wanted to play with the doll. Aside from the sippy cup fight (I always want what Ella is drinking!) and a couple of toy fights, it was a cheerful morning. We are officially in the Christmas spirit!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

One reindeer holiday Baby Gap sweater= $30.00
Four cups of coffee and one apple juice while you wait in a 2 hour line to see Santa= $10.00
Completely freaking out when you sit on Santa's lap= PRICELESS!

What You Talkin' Bout Willis?

This doubles as my "Gimme a kiss" face or my "I smell a fart" face.

Those Last Few Moments Before Bedtime...

are filled with roaring laughter when my dad tickles me while shouting, "Zizzer! Zazzer! Zoo!"

What's Cookin?

This is my latest discovery. The oven door can also be used as a trampoline! Can anyone recommend a good anti-anxiety medication (besides whiskey) for my Mom?