Cameron's First Swim Meet

August 24th Cameron had his first swim meet. It was considered a fun meet which means they were learning what was expected for them for a real meet. Cameron did very well and now has his personal times, so he can see his improvement.

Caltigirone during the day

We went to Caltigirone on August 23rd looking for the Farmer's Market. We never did find the market, but we did tour a beautiful city. The city has so many sites to explore, we ended up staying 4 hours just walking around looking and of course lunch at a Gastronomia with some Expresso.

Back to the Days of Old

We found a lawn mower by the trash out front and decided to use it. The only thing is, it is a push mower. I can remember using one like that when I was a kid and now it is Cameron's turn. We don't have much of a yard, so it is not that tough!?!

Pack in

Cameron's birthday, August 12th, was also pack in day. 8 crates of JUNK was emptied into our house. This was about 10,000 pounds worth of stuff. It was hard because the military didn't come remove the loaner furniture until hours after the movers left. Because of this, the movers didn't put together any of the furniture and they didn't empty boxes because there was no room. This has left us emptying all the boxes ourselves. This wasn't so bad because I love getting rid of stuff when it comes in, but it was bad because it took us 3 hours to put together Cameron's bunk beds. Not fun. Here is a small picture of Pinky enjoying the move. I will say, this was the worst pack-out we have every had. More things were broken and packed incorrectly than any other of our other 8 moves.

Cameron's 10th Birthday Party

Friday we had Cameron's 10th birthday party. We seem to always around Cameron's birthday so we have to be creative for his parties. This year, with none of our own furniture, only a few things of ours and 109 degree weather, we went back. Way back in time to the 1960s to a sprinkler party. It was a blast! The kids had a couple water guns, the hose, sprinklers spraying and balloons with water. I forgot how fun the simple times were. We had an egg toss with REAL eggs, Cam was fascinated with that. We even made his cakes and decorated them ourselves. Yes cakes! We made two, one regular cake from a box and one with ice cream sandwiches. Of course there was a pinata, you can't have a young boys birthday party without bashing something around!!!!!

The rule was if you have a water weapon you are fair game and I had a weapon so Mommy Got It!! It was refreshing, the heat is quite oppressive here right now.

This was a success with many new friends here to celebrate. Another great just moved birthday!

I told you "Clean Off Your Bed!".

As usual when you are not prepared, things happen. Cameron was jumping "into" bed, which he had not cleaned off, and jumped right onto a pencil. I, of course, freeked and Randy who was not feeling well ran to his aid. I left the hanging pencil in until I could call a doctor. Randy, calmly and smoothly pulled it out. The doc said no big deal tonight because of the 30 mile drive to the hospital, just when we are on base tomorrow morning have it looked at. Cameron was OK with it until he saw the pencil hanging from his side, then he started crying. Now he can't wait to show his friends. The pencil in the picture is the offending instrument. The entire tip went in all the way up into the wood. The good news is, it came out whole.

Cameron's 2nd Biathlon in Italy

After a late night in Catania Friday night, Cameron had an early biathlon Saturday morning. He did very well. He is getting much better especially in his running. The MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) department keeps us very entertained and busy. They are quite helpful for adjustments and keeping us entertained and active in our new communities.

Catania Operetta

Friday night an MWR bus picked us up from our housing in Mineo to take us to Catania where we had a few hours for dinner and then to watch a performance outside the opera house. It was wonderful. We enjoyed a drink, then dinner and then watched the performance. The city of Catania the second largest city in Sicily and we can't wait to go to a real opera there.

Altar Boy

Cameron's first day as an altar boy at the Church service here in Mineo was on July 27th. He was so happy and proud to participate.