Life in Italy

So I really don't have much to complain about. I mean, I'm living in one of the most gorgeous countries I've ever seen, with a sweet-as-pie family, I have a bicycle to ride whenever I want, there are three children to play with whenever I am bored, and I finally get to cook again! I'll tell ya, it's great having Italian moms cooking for you three meals a day, but I REALLY missed cooking! :) I am taking an Italian class, and doing my best to practice everyday wherever I can. It's so much easier when it's around you all the time; I feel less stressed about learning the language because there's always someone to speak to.
My typical day is pretty mellow. Two of the kids in my family go to asilo (which is pre-school), so they get up and leave before 9. Little Sebastiano gets to stay home, with dad or mom or-on a rare day-the babysitter, so we get a little more time to bond. Sebastiano has gotten really hooked on my Ipod (as the picture reveals), and the past couple weeks, we've been making corn bags together. I do the sewing, and he puts the kernels inside the bag one at a time-keeps us both occupied for hours, it's great. ;) I love to go for bike rides on nice days. Where the house is, there are all sorts of paths every direction around. It's just outside the edge of Vicenza, so the traffic isn't too bad. There's hills all around, and you can venture down into a valley for an hour before you even realize there's still miles to go. The colors have been changing, and everything just glows on sunny days right now. Last weekend, my "family" went rock-climbing in this valley about 20 minutes from the house. It was crisp, but so refreshing and fantastic views. Even the kids love scampering up a rock-and then having daddy pull them up a bit further. That's something I love a lot here in Italy, is being with families when they are all together. I know it's been a while since I was "little," but I still relish family outings on the weekends and meals together.
I've been really bad about taking pictures, sorry. Everytime I think I'm just going out to run errands or something boring, I see the most beautiful things, but never have my camera. And then when I take my camera, I can never seem to find the right shot that I want. I will do better, I promise...as soon as I get back from Egypt. Yeah, Egypt.