"do you love me do you want to be friend, well if you do, then don't be afraid to take me by the hand, if you want to. i think this is how love goes. check yes or no."

what a fabulous song about love by george straight. if only everything were this simple, and life always worked out the way it does in fairytale songs. makes me smile thinking about it.

kid sick.

right now i'm missing my children so much. it's so easy to fall in love so quickly with three year olds, and even harder to be so far away from them. i know they're all having a wonderful summer running around in the parks near their homes and eating huge italian meals with their families. here are some photos that make me smile but miss them even more.

hugs for tomas on his birthday.

marco all washed and tucked in for lunch.

rrrrricardo being silly.

simona being precious! look at those eyes.

fancesco trying to stir the cookie batter. hahaha i LOVE him!

antonio looking so innocent, not the case. but he is a sweetheart.

haha davide is totally alfalfa.

flavia (simona's twin) with her face full of chocolate pastry.

alessia picking daisies for me on the playground. she said "good morning" to me everyday, and everyday it made my heart melt.

fillipo, ivan, silvana, ilaria, and emmanuel playing dress up.

this is perfect.

time goes by

father of the bride is one of my all time favorite movies ever, i think i cry more every time i watch it. really i cried just watching clips of it online. i think it's because getting married means you're growing up, and leaving your dad; the man who has loved and protected you your entire life. i think that's why it makes me so sad.

anyways, tonight my family watched home videos. not your typical friday night before the 4th of july weekend but it was so great. this clip reminds me of how we used to play basketball in the driveway with dad. boy did we love it. i can hear him now yelling or laughing, he has the loudest laugh. tonight it was strange watching those videos, it gave me a weird feeling of how quickly time is flying by. that little girl with the bow in her hair no longer exists. it made me never want to take for granted those nights just laying around with the family, remembering the old times. dad turned to mom and said "mom, those were the days weren't they." i think it made us all a little emotional to realize how much we've all grown up. it made me feel even more lucky for the wonderful home i was raised in. the love in that room was high tonight, the laughter was endless but inside of all of us i think there was a little sadness.

whimsical

-adjective

1. given to whimsy or fanciful notions; capricious

2. of the nature of or proceeding from whimsy, as thoughts or actions

3. erratic; unpredictable

"there's nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."

- the wind in the willows

here's all the boats speeding in for the drive by of the pier right before the ski show.

ah the seafarer marina, what a wonderful place. did you know that seagull and seafarer's combined fleet is the second largest in the nation next to the navy's. cool huh?

the pier. i long to watch the sunset over the pier everyday.

right now seafarer is really tugging on my heart strings. i want to be in raleigh this summer since i'm never home for long, but finding a job has been a huge challenge. and out of the blue camp offered me a senior in charge, motorboating staff position for six weeks. an offer that is hard to refuse. i have to admit making this decision has been very hard, i have until tomorrow to let them know. these pictures take me back to the neuse river, the place i love more than many things.

i was so sad on my last day of school. i had to rush out of the classroom, after i hugged everyone before their naps, because i was about to cry. i don't know what i'm going to do without their cute little faces everyday. my children made me so happy!

here's a quick glimpse of them dancing. my favorite move is the superman, because they get so excited when they do it.

the graduate students have to make a documentary to receive their course credit. so we filmed one of my kids counting to 10 in italian and one of caitlin's kids (quattro anni) counting in english. so cute!