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| Easter Kids Table |
The kids had two weeks off for Spring Break in April. We visited Budapest the first week and then flew home and celebrated Easter with Erik and close friends. Easter turned out to be a cold rainy day but we had a lovely brunch nonetheless. Unfortunately we didn't get to hide Easter eggs out in the garden as we had hoped, so the kids ended up hiding them in the house and on the balcony. I was fearful an egg or two, would be left unnoticed for a few weeks but so far so good.
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| Family Selfie |
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| Serious Bed head |
We had a few days of cold rainy weather during our 2nd week of spring break, so we headed down to one of our favorite warm spots in Ticino where the weather is always nice. We really enjoy this location, easy access on our bikes to Lake Maggiore, a fun river the kids can sit next to in the morning, great playgrounds, and close enough to Italy to enjoy authentic gelato and Italian Cuisine. This trip was a bit lackluster. For starters there were forest fires up in the hills which honestly didn't bother us, meaning we couldn't see or smell the smoke BUT the helicopters were scooping up water less than 100 yards from the tent. This was a bit loud and annoying to say the least. Of course the kids were thrilled for the first 15 minutes as they watched 3 different helicopters take turns scooping and carrying the water to the hills but this went on all day long until about 8pm the first night. The second day we were awoken at 6am with same helicopters scooping beside our tent, but luckily later that day it stopped being constant noise, UNTIL - a flare up at 1:30am - yep helicopters scooping water less than 100 yards from our tent at 1:30 in the morning. Now, I love everything about camping except the sleeping on the ground part. I just can't get comfortable and all the sounds and noises bother me - well amazingly enough our kids slept through what sounded like a make shift air base that night while I cussed and tossed and turned and looked at my phone.
In addition to the crazy wake up call and constant helicopter noise, it was also really cold at night and into the early mornings. Let's just say we weren't quite prepared for temperatures to drop to freezing at night. Some nice tent neighbors across from us mentioned that they were impressed we weren't using a heater and offered to let us borrow their extra one. Thank goodness for these nice people because I was freezing and kids were sleeping with a silly amount of layers.
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| Slow Up |
But then Ticino redeemed itself on our last day, the sun warmed us up and we were able to participate in the local Slow Up. A Slow up is a well organized bike event where they close some of the roads to car traffic and have make shift parties every 5 or 8 km. It is also very family friendly, with bouncy houses and endless treats and games for the kids. This one was really nice and one of the stops was at an organic (bio) farm where we had some of the best cheese, polenta and gelato I've ever tasted. It was a beautiful day of biking And Ali, holy cow that girl rides a bike almost as big as mine now - no complaints, just frequent breaks for 20km. Could not be prouder.
All in all a great April. It's already shaping up to be a warm summer. (Maybe I can finish our May adventures by the end of June).
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| Easter Shaninigans |
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| Natural Egg Dying attempt |
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| Easter Egg fun |
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| Thanks for all the goodies and cards from the US |
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| Looking handsome in his Easter outfit |
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| Introducing the locals to Peeps |
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| Helicopter |
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| Sleeping beauties |
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| Beautiful Place |
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| Creating a magic potion |
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| Creating memories |
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| Look at that water |
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| Air show practice in Ticino |
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| Falconaria |
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| Camping helpers |
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| Cold morning breakfast |
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| Breakfast with a view |
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| My Loves |
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| Ali's big bike (she is only 6) |
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| Ready for the slow up |
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| Delicious organic food |
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| Miles needs a haircut |
