The road to hell is paved with good intentions... Our Easter.

For the last week we have been so excited about going to San Severino to visit Paul and Barbara. We thought we would rent a car, take a nice scenic route and enjoy our time with them outside of Italy.... well.... we made it about two blocks before this....

I'm getting ahead of myself though.... It really starts with all that procrastination. I ended up forgetting to pack Mike's shaving kit, any and all food for Veronica... and some other things which I can't remember but those were the two big ones. 

Mike left work and went to pick up the car we rented... a Fiat 500. He arrived home and in all the excitement I looked away from Veronica for a couple of minutes only to find she had pried off the 9 on the keyboard and was happily working on the six. Oops. From here we packed our car and headed off. We were happy and excited!!! It lasted 2 blocks before Veronica started crying.... We pulled over and I got in the back seat with her and after a little cuddle to calm her down we were off!!! Again!!! 

The car trip lasted about 5 hours. We got lost - but actually weren't. Veronica was distracted for a little while with our directions...

The first time we pulled over so I could comfort her.

The big problem with paper that it when sucked on enough it goes all gooey and ends up stuck to Veronicas tongue which is oh so fun to get off :) Miss also ended up sleeping for about a half an hour which was wonderful.

POOP!!

And then she woke up.... I spent alot of time and energy trying to keep her happy. We played, we sang, I even nursed her without taking her out of the car seat - giving cars quite a show. Towards the end of the trip she had a bowel movement. We pulled over so I could change her. I handed mike the diaper and he somehow managed to drop the poo out of the diaper onto the ground... All these things gave us a temporary reprieve from her crying... and cry she did. She managed to cry so hard she threw up  just as we were entering San Severino. We pulled over, I tried to comfort her... She cried, I cried, Mike called Paul. Paul very kindly came to show us to their building.

arriving in San Severino

What a beautiful apartment they have. It was so wonderful to be welcomed into their home. I like our apartment but because we aren't staying I haven't done much to have it be very homey so it was nice to go to someone else's home. Paul and Barbara greeted us with open arms, prosecco, and delicious food.

We set up Veronica's portable crib and put her to bed and were able to have a meal like adults... with only adults. That night with Veronica it didn't go so well with her sleeping. She cried alot and wanted to be held alot. She also got up early much to our unhappiness. That morning though I walked into San Severino with Paul. Veronica and Mike had a nap and Barbara was walking with dixi in town. It was so nice to get out and have a walk on my own. They showed me the town square, and a few different markets. It was lovely to see a genuine Italian town where tourism hasn't touched it. 

Beautifully set table

When we got back to their home we discovered Mike and Veronica had only slept 15 minutes and played the rest of the time. After lunch we all had naps. That evening Barbara's brother and his girlfriend came for dinner. We had lively conversations, ate well, and just enjoyed everyones company. Again, it was wonderful to be with adults, as Veronica went to bed. Veronica managed to sleep until everyone left... and then she cried for an hour and a half. Who knows why but she did. That was not a fun night with her. We ended up bringing her to bed with us just so I could nurse her to sleep and not have to move her. This worked for a bit but still managed to wake up and cry every 2 hours!!

Barbara's Dad!!

The next morning Mike and I were exhausted. The Easter bunny had found me and left a nice big chocolate egg and Mike and I (and Veronica) ate it in bed together. That afternoon we were kindly invited to Barbara's parents place where they had prepared a meal. It was AMAZING!! I had no idea food could ever taste that good!!! Her parents were just lovely. They welcomed us with open arms. After our meal we decided to head back to rome. We hadn't planned on returning until Monday but the lack of sleep was too much.




We also thought leaving at night would be good because Veronica would, hopefully, sleep the whole way home and not cry. We felt badly leaving because we wanted to spend more time with Paul and Barbara but it was the right thing to do. We took the highway this time and got home in 4 hours. Veronica slept almost the whole way home only waking up and crying for the last half hour. To top it all off.... when we got home the horrible people below us were having a party... ugh... They are in wheelchairs and I am telling you it sounded like they were ramming themselves into the walls downstairs... until 4 am. Luckily we were all so tired we slept and didn't notice. 

We spent Monday taking turns napping, relaxing, and cleaning up the apartment.

And so concludes our weekend. We are grateful to Paul and Barbara for putting up with us and our crying baby and hope we can get out to see them again soon!!!

Dancing!!