Pinocchio the Imposter

Yesterday was a pretty normal day without any big news. Ruggie went to school until noon and then Filippo went to his grandmother's for the afternoon. Ruggie and I stayed at home and played and he took a nap while I read my book. At five we went to the park and met Fil and nonna Deana. We got home at 7 and started to prepare dinner because Balbina, the girl from Houston, was coming over. She arrived at a little past 8 to a house of chaos. The boys were hungry and restless while music blarred in the background. Dinner was simple, pasta with bread crumbs and a plate of five different kind of cheeses and gelato, but very tasty. Balbina said she like my family and they seemed very interested in her.

Today went like Tueday until lunch because I had both boys for lunch. I fried chicken and made grilled cheeses (I know a weird combo). Fil asked me if I made the chicken and when I said yes he was suprised said, "Wow bravo che buono!!" I smiled....and they didn't think I could cook--well I didn't either. Fil went with a friend to the swimming pool and ruggie took a nap. At 5 we went to the park to play. After 30 mins or so a guy dressed in funny colorful clothes with fake nose and carrying a bag shaped like a large sneaker came parading through the park asking the kids to watch his spetacolo (come to find out it was an infomercial to get some birthday party gigs). So we sat down to watch this "clown" thinking we were in for a treat. I know I'm not a clown expert but I'm pretty sure this was the worst preformer I have ever seen. It was horrible. He took out a magic wand and was getting the kids to shout spells at it. I was expecting flowers to pop out the top but instead he pulled out a minature chair (for a doll house) and stuck it on the end of the wand and then pretended to balance the chair while singing. Give me a break!! But the finale came when he told the kids they could buy a suprise for 3 euros. The kids went begging for the money and when some were lucky enough to succeed all they received was a puzzle piece and a plastic disk that entitled them to a balloon animal (he could only make a dog and a sword). Some of the parents became outraged and luckily the police were in the park. I was with a grandmother when she called them over and told them what this man was doing. Later I saw two more parents giving the police an ear full. They couldn't really do anything to the guy but for a minute I thought things were really going to get interesting. The guy called himself Pinocchio but he didn't look like a real boy, just a clown school dropout.

When we got home we got ready for dinner and met Pat's two sisters, their husband and boyfriend, and Nonna Deana at a quaint little restaraunt tucked away in the hills of Torino. We had a great time talking and eating the amazing food. We were celebrating Louisa's and Ruggero's August birthdays so we topped the meal of with fabulous deserts.

Exciting news...I have a hot date for tomorrow!! I am going to take the boys to see a movie and then out for pizza :-) Sorry didn't mean to get your hopes up but it should be fun to take them somewhere in public where they can't kill each other. I will have all the wonderful details of my night out on the town so tune in tomorrow.