A funny trip to Iowa City

Everytime I go, I come back still laughing my head off. Maybe it's the chaos, maybe it's the amount of liquor that disappears, maybe it's the funny things my nephews and niece say, or maybe it's even that I feel better I'm not the only one going crazy taking care of a kid. Either way I look at it, I love getting together with my family...most of the time! :-)

Nick: "I really like Ava", "She's got a big head", "Ava is going to be a good musician when she grows up", "She likes it when I play the piano for her", " I think it looks like Ava has muscles" (politely referencing her fat rolls), "Cecca, I just can't sleep because I can't stop thinking about zombies", "I know, I will think about death pumpkins" (me: "WHAT, how is that going to help")...can you tell Nick likes to talk! lol

Harris: "I can't come Dad, Ava has tackled me and I can't get up" (me: "are you saying she is heavy duty" ha ha) , he taught me how to play that tuba, and the rest of the time he picked on Nick.

Anna: really shy at first but watch out once she opens up, super sweet with Ava and likes to baby talk to her, "everyone plug your ears"...followed by the loudest blood curling scream at the restaurant, I guess at least she warned us!

Samuel: super serious, but about the cutest 9 month old little boy you will ever see!

Ava: Hardly slept a wink during the day, fell flat on her face for the first time...her dad seems to think she can sit by herself, smiled a ton and can't wait to go back!

Pictures from our visit: (Mark will be happy, we didn't cut him out of any of them)

I need to mention Ava loves sitting at the table with us at dinner time...this girl loves food!

Something worth remembering

I should have written about this sooner, but I was still trying to "understand" (I quote that because I really didn't understand anything anyone was saying) the whole experience. Dejan doesn't talk much about his family, but I know he was thrilled to see his Aunt and Uncle...or was it the Whiskey they brought... who came from Serbia to visit for the first time. His Aunt is his Mom's older sister.

Let's set up the scene for each visit. Ava crying because every thing was too loud and everyone was in her face (poor thing took after me- we don't like anyone in our face and hate it when people talk too loud...wierd seeing as I grew up with my mother always talking WAY too loud on the phone in Italian and clapping her hands and opening our curtains to get up in the morning), me dead tired from getting everything packed and dealing with the crying and a "happy" husband (referencing the whiskey again), everyone talking in Serbian assuming I can understand (reminesent of all my summers in Italy), and finally there was Dusan, kind enough to translate EVERYTHING for me! If he wasn't around I would holler for him, "DUSAN. what are they saying?" He may have even taught me a couple new words in the process...all bad words of course, but words none the less. In the end, it was really neat to meet them and to see Dejan enjoying his family so much (again maybe it was the whiskey). It is our hope to get Ava to Italy and Serbia as soon as possible so she can meet more of her relatives. Plus, we want her to be as international as we have been able to be, and she's gotta have all those passport pictures to laugh at!

You can see Ava liked hanging out with her Uncle Dusan...must be because he is so funny and talks really silly to her. She likes people that make her laugh! We have had an amazing summer!

What's up with this weather?

Okay, so there are two weeks of summer left....why is it only 54 degrees!?!?!? Besides the cold weather, Ava and I have had an enjoyable day inside napping and cooking. You can see Ava loved sitting on the counter watching me make some yummy southern style cooking...I am craving a trip to Charleston! We made Sausages w/Red Beans and Rice (remember this dinner Rosy?) and will sautee up some Kale once dinner time comes around. My ultimate goal here, get Ava to cook for me!

Let's hope Ava will stop crying out in her sleep tonight so we can all get some good rest. What's up with that anyway? It makes me shot straight out of bed everytime.

A couple trips....

First to Nonno and Nonna's for Labor Day weekend and then a day trip to Iowa City for Harris' 11th Birthday (I can hardly believe he is that old already). Ava has had a few busy days...explains why she has taken two three hour naps today. There was way too much going on to get any sleep on those trips! It took me a little while to get up the nerve to start traveling with her, but I think it paid off because she is an excellent traveler. We had a great time on each trip and came home with fresh greenbeans, the best peaches from Uncle Dale that Dad picked himself, a bag full of pumpkin blossoms that we promptly fried up and ate in one sitting (still not as good as Mom does, but pretty darn close), a trunk full of clothes for Ava...THANKS JENN (and Anna for helping me load it all up...she stood behind the fence and handed me things--cute), and the realization that Ava LOVES hanging out with her cousins...they are so animated, loud and interesting to watch! She must think I am so boring after seeing all of them. Can't wait to go visit again!