A nice big fat bumblebee enjoying our beebalm garden. (No internet connections yet, so no photos from Italy from the singers yet.) This little guy was pretty cute, however...and he had about twenty friends with him!
Well, they are all there, and having a great time! Sunday night the last of the ICC singing crew arrived and by breakfast everyone was busy greeting one another and catching up with all the travel stories. After a short trip to Pisa, "nothing much going on there" (except this thing called the Leaning Tower where they all had their pictures taken), they went on to Lucca where they had a wonderful time sightseeing in the walled part of town, shopping, getting photos taken with Puccini's statue, singing, etc. Today, Tuesday, they boarded the buses early to go to Florence. Mark said it was so beautiful, but very crowded with tourists, etc., very hot, and when he comes back to Italy again, it is definitely not going to be in the summer. He also said it was worth every moment and everyone was having a fantastic time sightseeing, going to museums, shopping, and singing. Kids were all being fantastic.
Matthew is loving every minute. He has been running in the mornings on the mountain paths at Montecatini as the pools don't look that appealing (there is no one pickier about swimming pools than a swimmer, let me tell you) and the spas in Montecatini haven't passed muster either. He is loving the food, of course, as Matt loves trying anything new (well, I think he passed on the bird's head soup in China, but that has been it so far in his travels). Maria is having a bit of stomach trouble with traveling, but still able to tour and sing. Alea and Ali are having a ball...Ali taking endless ribbing for bringing SIX PAIRS OF SHOES (oh, you know those CARMEL chicks!)...Matthew H. is not eating as much as the other guys in Mark's group, but the others are all in growing spurts, so that might account for some of it...the other guys are putting away the food but walking it all off every day (which Coach Ian will be happy to hear). Today was a long day and they did not return to the hotel after the concert until almost midnight, so they all went straight to bed with no silliness. I think age is catching up with Mark a bit...chasing after all these kids all day who go non-stop is starting to tell on him...he sounded very tired (but happy) tonight. And, he said he misses me a lot...how cute is that? Comments like this score major points in the husband department. In truth, I am missing the two of them a lot also. It's fun when they get back with all the photos and stories and we make the scrapbook. In the meantime, I am happy that they are off together making lots of memories and having such a great time...and, if truth be told, it is also nice to have some time to do some things I enjoy doing myself...chick flicks being high on the list as they are so rarely patient with that when they are home. MNO last night was a lot of fun...I think Shelley's husband, Brian, probably has a new appreciation for all of Shelley's MNO friends. Tomorrow is Carmel Fest and Fireworks...wonder how the ICC group will celebrate our 4th of July in Italy!