After being up all hours labelling and hemming, kids all set for their big first day!! After meeting his teacher yesterday- Zac so excited he'd said he wanted to go straight to sleep so his first day would come quicker! Sooo cute. He looked a little nervous in the morning though but was all smiles once his lovely teacher took him inside (Miss Harrison). (Had to sneak a peek through the window to be sure!!!). Zoe had met another new girl yesterday so as soon as ...

Had a lovely Father's Day chatting to Dads and family at home and visiting the local fair. We were very late from battling to find the supermarket but got a delicious plate of choc brownies for 50p as they were packing up! Great playground there and kids had fun running through the fields and Zoe even collected Adam a bunch of wild flowers. Its been a frantic week trying to get sim cards, look for a car, stock up on groceries and buy the 6 pages (!!) of require...

Woke up to be amazed at our wonderful "Stable House". So exhausted on our arrival last night, we had only a quick look in the dark before collapsing into bed. Opened the curtains to discover a tennis court, pool and trampoline outside not to mention the beautiful lawns, pony, gorgeous little squirrels and Doris the dog! Go Airbnb!!!!! Wishing it wasnt just for 2 weeks!!!!! What a shame it's not available for longer. Will be hard to leave! The ultimate house feat...

The alarm went off at 5 am and we all rushed about cramming the poor car to the hilt with all our bags before hitting the road for the 3 hour drive to Rome airport. After Italy having a drought of 5 months and being in the grips of a heat wave dal'Diavolo (from the devil), the last thing we expected was rain. The heavens opened and it just thundered down. It was so heavy and so much lightening and thunder that we couldnt see more than a few meters ahead of u...

Our last full day in Italy - Noooooo!!! Had another wonderful meal with our smiley Beppe and bustling Angelina and this time also Maurizio, Letizia and Valentina (now 18!!!- where has the time gone!!?). The little cousins were again inseparable! It's so special that the next generation also get along so well and that despite langauge differences and distance, continue to be close. Ahhhh FAMILGLIA!!!!!!!!!! Spent the afternoon racing about packing, present buyin...