Civitella del Tronto, Abruzzo

My girls love visiting this old fortress town nestled between the hills of Abruzzo. Tiny, cobblestone alleys winding there way through the old town. Visit during the afternoon and you are certain to have the streets to yourself, aside from an alley cat or two.

There was a storm brewing the day of our visit...but the view from the fortress is still amazing. 

 

good times...

Amazing long weekend and we all are still tired and happy to prove it. I'll let you know how we're doing by the end of the week if we're all still happy and caught up on sleep. Long weekend started off Thursday with the Kindergarten Field Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo and despite some rainy weather, we had a great time. Lots of fun hanging out with Olivia and her schoolmates and parents.

This kid. His face when he saw the giraffes for the first time.

Friday was a day off for the girls so the three of us made our way back into Philadelphia to check out the Academy of Natural Sciences. So.Much.Fun.

The Big Dig. Very cute and since most schools were still in session, felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Dinner with great friends and a great place, The Shake Shack in King of Prussia. A must if you're into good burgers and fries. Which we totally are.

Thank you to Nonna Maria and Nonno Mario for tickets to take the older cugini to see The Lion King musical at the Academy of Music.

Stop off at Tony Luke's afterwards for some Philly eats...cheese steaks and fries! Delicious!

Great few days in Philadelphia followed by family and friends for a total of 3 BBQs. We took the kids to Valley Forge on Monday for a walk and picnic which turned out to be the perfect day for it. Go, Go, Go was our mantra this past weekend and we had fun, fun, fun!!!

Chambray, stripes and RED!

What I wore to a rehearsal dinner last weekend. I think I could live in this top and the skirt has pockets! A skirt with pockets is worth it if you ask me.

1. Chambray top from Loft with little rolls.
2. Striped skirt from J.Crew Factory, comes in a range of colors. And don't forget, it has pockets!
3. Red coral necklace. Sorry, purchased this from a African vendor in Italy a million years ago and still one of my favorite necklaces.

Italia!

As we are fast approaching our annual trip to the motherland, I decided it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane of my children's first trips to Italy. First of all, I can't believe how many pictures I take and secondly, I just love going to Italy with my family. The girls are so excited and can't wait for school to be over and go. Mommy is excited too but I need to begin planning to pack. Yes, I plan my packing. Traveling for 7 weeks and taking only one suitcase will do that to you.

Sofia Vincenza's first trip to Italy:

Sofia was 4 months old when she went to Italy for the first time. Some of my favorite highlights was of course her meeting her great-grandmother Nonna Linda and going to the festival for the first time. She met two of my great-aunts in Mesagne along with a million other family members and friends from both sides of the family.

Olivia Maria's first trip to Italy:

Olivia was 2 months on her first trip over. A little peanut! Olivia also had some one on one time with Nonna Linda and a trip to the beach. She met her cousin Giuseppe born only a couple weeks after her too. This year we went to Italy after the festival so she didn't experience it until the following year.

Mario Luca's first trip to Italy:

Mario was my oldest baby taken to Italy at 6 months old. He spent the most time there on his first trip and got to meet so many family members and friends. He went to the beach numerous times (and napped there too) and got to experience the festival in Mesagne.

Birthday fun!

We celebrated Olivia's birthday with Anthony's family the night before with the birthday girl's request of pizza and cake for dinner. Easy and delicious! I like it! She picked out her own cake to make and I'm bummed I didn't take a picture of the inside - pink camouflage! Cute and yummy!

Getting sung too...

Birthday morning with gifts from her sister and brother, one very smiley little girl. While she and Sofia were in the bathroom brushing their teeth, we overheard her ask Sofia "Am I going to know what to do when I'm 6?" She keeps me smiling day in and day out.

Sweet, sweet girl opening her presents on her birthday morning.

Home from school and spending some one on one time with mommy. I love having them all together but I really enjoy the one on one time too. Can't believe my baby girl is 6 years old already!

go ahead, make a wish...

at least that's what my girls do the second they pluck these "flowers" from the ground. and I know, I know, you're not supposed to pluck and let their seeds fall to the ground for fear of making new "flowers" but they just love them so much. I don't have much of a green thumb so I'm partial to just plucking them up too.

very busy last few days and some pictures to post but not tonight...off to dreamland.

buona notte!

Olivia Maria turns 6!

At 10:36am on Friday, May 15th, 2009 we welcomed our second child, Olivia Maria and man were our hearts happy to have her with us. I had a great pregnancy and delivery and we couldn't wait to get home with her to begin life as a family of 4.

We had no idea what we were in store for...

Our Olivia...

She's an ORIGINAL for sure. No other like her in this world and she gets so proud when we tell her she's one of a kind.

She is LOVELY in every way. She is lovable and loving.

She is IMAGINATIVE and we love to hear the interesting things that she comes up with every single day. Some things I have to repeat out loud to make sure I got it straight but I love the things she comes up with on her own.

She is VIVACIOUS. Our little bubbly girl that I love to see skipping around the house or down the halls at school, a smile lighting up her beautiful face showing off two sweet dimples.

Olivia is INQUISITIVE and asks all sorts of questions. I am thankful for the immediate use of the internet for some of her questions. I love that her favorite show these days is How's it Made? and she will sit in complete silence soaking up that show on how rubber boots are made or how to make crayons.

Simply put, Olivia is AMAZING. She is the peanut butter to our jelly sandwiches and our sunshine on a cloudy day. She has a tough job, to be a good little sister as well as a good big sister and I think she's perfect at both of those roles.

Your family loves you so much Olivia bella, happy birthday!

new life

Each year since we've been in this house, we hang potted geraniums on our side porch and after a couple weeks we have some feather tenants. This year is no different with robins taking residence in one of our hanging pots and we have some new members to their family chirping about.

Mama robin does not like us being on our side porch at all and squaks at us the second we are out and about. It's annoying but I understand, the mama in me knows where she's coming from but it is my house afterall. Here she is giving me a mean eye while I wanted to snap a quick photo of her little ones.

She's much more content when we're peeking in on them from inside the house.

We all have grown to love these little birds and like keeping an eye on them.

dreaming of Italia...

I can't wait to go. Only a few more weeks and we're there. And it really will be here before we know it, must begin planning to pack. Yes, plan to pack since I pack for all in one suitcase and one carry-on. The planner in me loves this though!

Mother's Day

We had a great weekend in Maryland with my family celebrating three very special occasions...Olivia and Chaela's birthdays and Mother's Day. We have celebrated these together for so long now that I just love the tradition it turned into for our family. Olivia loves to celebrate her birthday alongside her Zia Chaela and the moms love an excuse to not have to cook and BBQ and order food for Mother's Day.

My sweet sweet girl. I love that picture above so much. She was so happy to pick out the ice cream cake for her and Chaela and even happier at how tasty it was!

After lunch and cake we were outside for a bit taking pictures and marveling at how much fun the kids were having with caterpillars. Sofia really took to this one. He is now living on our porch. For how long I have no idea but she check on him before and after school yesterday.

You give a kid a camera...

Happy Mother's Day to the best mom! We love her so much and thank God everyday for someone so amazing to call our mom. She loves our kids so much, is always there to talk to and is a really good cook. But seriously, blessed to have her in our lives.

Apparently, it was comedy hour at the Pitocco home.

These kids are incredible. And play incredibly well together. can't wait for baby #6 to arrive in November.

It's all about the moms.