Fat Tuesday - Carnivale

We went to Carnivale in a city a bit north of the base, Archireale. Wow what a time. Not as nasty as Marti Gras gets, but fun and crowded. There were floats and people dancing in a parade. The biggest and best thing is they spray silly string and throw confetti. Cameron had a BLAST doing that. It took me weeks to stop finding confetti all around our house.

Woman's Retreat

A friend of mine, Tricia, and I went to a Womens Retreat in Syracusa about 100 miles south east of here. It was a very refreshing retreat. We spent the night in a nice hotel and had some time to explore the rest of the day.

Motta cycling

Randy's not too big for the bike?!
Cameron with Motta Castle.
Randy and Mitch enjoying a coffee at the bar.
Kids chilling after riding.
No we don't ride on the roads.

Cam and Randy
Up the hill
OOPPPSS Mud.
Randy and Cameron
I the city of Motta about 10 miles from base and about 30 miles from our house there is an off -road track. Randy, Cameron and some friends went Motto cycling.

Parade of Presidents

As homeschoolers, we Cameron does not always have a chance to make presentations. So I organized a "Parade of Presidents" so the kids could make a presentation on their favorite US President and aligned it with Presidents Day. It was a great time, but I forgot how much work was involved in making the presentation boards. We had a great turn out and even our local TV station covered it interviewing Cameron and I.

Mt. Etna after a snow

Boy we love our mountains. Here was a fun day at Mt. Etna. We took the cable way up and we all know Anne hates it. What a Mom will do for her kid!!! We have a favorite little restuarant we stop at up there, they make the BEST hot chocolate. It is almost like a melted chocolate bar. mmmmmmm

Randy in Romania and Transilvania

Randy's trip to Romania and Transilvania to Dracula's castle. He said Dracula's castle wasn't much at all. He did have a good time, though. Here are some pictures.

Orange Picking and Lunch

Since Randy is in Romania this weekend, I took my Valentine (Cameron) out for a day of picking oranges and then lunch at Emilio and Mariska's. What a wonderful day. We picked oranges for the first hour, then off to some ancient cave about a mile up the road, which had some beautiful views of Mineo, the Valley and Mt. Etna. After a couple hour out, we went back to Emilio and Mariska's Azienda Agricola Infantino (http://www.siculolio.ch/). They cooked a wonderful lunch for us with olives, artichokes, etc for the antipasta, then the lunch of pasta, beef, artichokes right off the grill, sausage, orange salad, and of course fresh squeezed orange juice. As usual they had fresh wine and olive oils. Cam and I had a wonderful time.