Fun times at LPSI

Skyla started going to Spazio Gioco at La Piccola Scuola Italiana and we just love it!  The school has beautiful classrooms and yard with a garden; the teacher is energetic, loving, and warm; she is learning a great deal and making friends; and I get lots of chances to practice Italian!  Unfortunately, most of the other parents don't speak Italian, but they all try to pick it up and I do my best to translate.  Since we started going, she has learned how to walk, which has made it a lot more fun for both of us.  She is also slowly learning to warm to other kids and adults, which is another great part of us going there twice a week.  Here are a few shots of some of our favorite moments:

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We love it so far and are looking forward to lots more fun times!  La amiamo adesso e non vediamo l'ora da quando potremmo divertici di piu'!

Trip to the Big Apple Part 2

We only had a little bit more time in the city, but we made the most of it!  Again, we ate our way through the city and relived old memories.  We walked all through our old neighborhood, then made our way through Union Square, where we checked out the awesome new playground!

From there, it was on to Washington Square Park and our favorite old vegetarian restaurant Red Bamboo.  Skyla liked trying some of the treats and we loved eating all our old faves.  You can probably see from the pics that it was flippin' HOT but Skyla was a very good sport.

Finally we made our way back to Union Square for dessert at Melissa's Cupcakes, a cute new spot Natalie told us about.  

Last stop in NYC: Shake Shack!  Skyla wore her onesie given to her by her Uncle Nan just for the occasion.  It's hard to read, but it says, "If crying, insert burger" :) Leona met us and we had a nice time all hanging out.  As usual, the line was crazy long so Tory and Nan took turns.  The shroom-burger was just as marvelous as we remember!

From there, Erin met us after work and we made our way to the Padova Reunion!  The first night we just chilled out, catching up and munching on snacks.  We did have our first game of Kings (of course!) and it was a great time.  We got up the next morning for the first of many amazing meals.  Katie came up with the good idea for each couple to take over one of the 6 meals while we were there, and it worked out great! Angela and Brendan made the first breakfast and it was delicious!  After that, it was time to hang out by the beautiful pool.  

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Katie and Kyle made us an awesome lunch, and we had a great time just drinking, chatting, and laughing by the pool.  That night: pizza party! Erin and Paul got tons of amazing ingredients for make your own pizza, including fresh dough from Erin's brother's pizzeria!  We decided to grill them outside, which was delicious and so much fun.  We also relived our "Guiness-off" from Russ and Ali's wedding in Ireland when Brendan and I each had 14!  (Now that we're older and one of us has a baby, we did not come close to the record).  

As you can see below by how happy we all were, the pizza party was a huge hit!  We ate, we drank, we were merry.  And then we went inside to drink yet some more while playing yet another game of Kings.  Russ found out the hard way what happens when you leave the game early, and Tory was happy to deliver this message).

 Not fun: waking up at the crack of dawn to an extremely energetic toddler after being up super late.  Luckily she's so cute we didn't mind taking turns watching her.  We couldn't sleep in too much though cause we were up for breakfast!  We made french toast casserole and frittatas.  We kept saying how we kept one-upping one another with the meals.  After our feast, we decided to go on a little hike.  Erin's house is located very close to the Appalachian Trail, so we headed out for a little adventure.

 If you look closely, you see that Paul packed a diaper bag ready for anything.

 Not only in the house close to the Trail, it's also right near the border of New York and New Jersey.  We all freaked out crossing the border, and laughed about how crappy the roads were as soon as we crossed over.

  Awesome group shot! What started as a casual forest stroll turned into a competition to climb trees!  Katie started it and looked great doing it.  Tory claimed he was wearing a baby so he couldn't be bothered, but the other guys showed their strength.

 After the hike, more pool time and mini golf! (Seriously, her dad's house is AMAZING).  Matt and Jenny kept the awesome food going with a taco bar and smoothies! And since a few of our group had to leave that evening to get back home, we had one last mini meal all together.  Ali made tiramisu (she was obviously the "one-upper" winner!) and we toasted one another with prosecco.  All the girls made great speeches, especially when Erin talked about how special our group is and that we need to keep having these events so we can all remain big parts of one another's lives.  Tory stepped up with an idea to do our next reunion in Italy in 2017 (YES!), and I went last.  I tried to address the group but it was hopeless, so I just quietly talked to my girls about how much they all mean to me.  I talked about how you always think when you go to college you'll make your life-long friends.  I didn't really find that until the summer before my senior year when I went to Padova and made the best friends I've ever known.  Thank you ladies for being there for me through some of the best and worst times of my life.  I hope I've been able to do the same for you.  I love you all!

That night we settled in for a more intimate dinner inside.  Ali and Russ made an awesome dinner that was super veggie friendly, and we finished off the night with a fantastic game of Apples to Apples.  It was like the one we played at my 30th birthday, but of course it was even more fun.  We spent a good amount of time making the cards, and included some of the gems we made up/made popular during the weekend.

The next morning, we said a long goodbye to the beautiful home, and to Angela and Brendan.  I was sad that the reunion was over, but thrilled that it was so much fun!

We returned to Jersey with the Rooneys, then set out for yet another trip!  We visited my family in Connecticut and had a great time.  We hadn't seen them in a long time, and they had never met Skyla so we were very excited.  They also served us a delicious vegetarian meal, and even borrowed a high chair from a neighbor for Skyla!

Our next adventure the following day was out to Long Island to visit Brad, Jaime, and their adorable little girl Jade.  She is bigger than Skyla but they were instant friends.  We played at their apartment for a while and then had a picnic in the beautiful park across the street.  One of the highlights: Jaime putting Skyla's hair up just like Jade's!

We finished off this amazing trip with one last great night with the Rooney fam.  We played with Elliot, ate dinner together, heard all about their time living in Singapore, and just enjoyed being with them.  As the last picture (taken at the airport as we awaited our flight) reveals, it was a very relaxing, fantastic trip!