Funny Story

Gianluca met Kali, Jeevan and Jordan
Gianluca gave Dhania some cheese and then she fell in love with him.
Picnic at Greenlake

Funny story. So today Mason and I got up early to finish preparations for Gianluca's arrival. I asked Mason to clean out the car and I gave him a spray can of carpet spot cleaner. An hour later we got in a very clean car only to discover that Mason had used the entire can of cleaner and the car was TOXIC. By the time Mason and I got to the orientation we were both sick from the fumes. Thank goodness Gianluca's "zia", Valerie, showed up to introduce herself and rescued us by driving Mason and Gianluca home so they would not have to be exposed to the fumes. She stayed and had a lovely visit with us and I prepared our picnic for Greenlake and then she piled all the kids in her car once again and we drove to 7-11 for Slurpee's. On a hot day a Slurpee is the best! She then drove them the rest of the way to Greenlake so that they could be free from exposure. By the time we headed home the smell was a little bit better but it was still pretty overpowering. We had a nice little picnic at the beach, thoroughly overwhelmed Gianluca with mostly MY talking, and it quickly became apparent that he was exhausted, so we headed home. He has showered and fallen asleep. He was a very good sport with our loud, obnoxious family (okay, I'm mostly the loud one). I think once he gets to know us he will be able to better appreciate our way of being. We can be awfully silly! At the park he was able to meet my sister Karyn, my niece Kali, Kali's boyfriend Jeevan (who will go to school with Gianluca) and one of her best friends, Jordan.

It was very hot in Seattle today and I'm not a fan of this heat. I'm hoping tomorrow is a little cooler. Tomorrow we will go to Pike Place Market to pick up some gifts for Noah's host family and then we will head out to Bothell to see the grandparents. Noah will say his farewell to his grandfather Fred and his grandmother Nancy. I'm sure it will be a bit sad.

Welcome to Seattle Gianluca. Roberta and Mauro you have a lovely son. Thank you for sharing him with us.