Relaxing

     Today was a relaxing day. We spent all morning in our pajamas. I layed on the couch and watched TV, Connor played with ALL his toys and made a huge mess, and Aaron played games on his computer. It was so much needed since it's always go, go, go these days. At lunch time, we picked up lunch and went to our friends new house. We spent the whole afternoon there and didn't get back to the hotel until close to 7. We had leftovers for dinner and then went to sleep pretty early.

We found this big snail in our friends yard.

Catching Up

     I have been slacking, BIG time. I think I have a pretty good excuse though. We have been really busy. Since my last post, we have both passed our drivers test and got our Italian drivers license (I got a 100, but I am still scared as heck to drive here), we signed the rental contract on the town home we are going to live in for the next 3 years, we bought a car, we celebrated our 3 year anniversary, and we have started to venture away from the base. 

    We have been living in a hotel for 29 nights, and still have 13 more to go. We are ready to get out of here. We have tried to help Connor adjust by making it feel like he is at home. We put his suitcase on the ground with all his toys so he can play whenever he wants.

 He likes to sit in it.

Moving=Lots To Do!

     I love productive days! We opened up an account at the Italian bank here on post, got a cashiers check to buy Aaron's car tomorrow, picked up Aaron's social security card, got a new ID made for me, switched our insurance to Tricare Prime Overseas, and went grocery shopping all before 3pm! It was a lot of walking, but we checked a lot off our list.

Enjoying a lollipop that he got from the ID card office.

Our Saturday

Downtown Vicenza

    We spent the day downtown with some friends. Since none of us have a car, we took the bus downtown. It was a new experience and easier than I thought.

I Love Italy!

     I really do! I just wish my family and friends were here too, then it would be perfect :)

     Here's how our day went: Our morning was pretty busy. Aaron passed his driving test and then we rushed to the housing office for our 10:30 appointment. We made it just in time! We went over our pre-negotiations and it went well. We meet the landlord and sign the contract on Wednesday :) After everything goes through, I'll post pictures of the house. I think it is going to be perfect for us!

     We brought lunch back to our hotel room and then Connor went to sleep for his first, and only, nap of the day. It's okay though because we both napped for 2 1/2 hours. I guess that's what happens when you are up all night! After we woke up, Aaron took Connor and Kylie outside to play. When I went outside, I found both the boys dropping rocks in the water drainage hole (can't think of the proper word). 

House Hunting and Drivers Class

    It has been a busy couple days! We went and looked at a couple houses yesterday with a taxi interpreter. We didn't drive around in a taxi like I thought we would, it was a regular car. The man that drove us to both appointments was very nice and informative. After several hours of discussing the pros and cons, we chose one that we think is going to work best for our family. We went to the housing office this morning and setup a meeting for tomorrow to discuss per-negotiations. There are a few things that we would like for them to change, so we hope they agree.

   I also had a 2 hour driving class this afternoon. It was crazy how much information I have to learn and how different things are here. No driving and eating or drinking, you can't leave your car idling for longer than 2 minutes, tickets are super expensive, there are over a 100 signs to memorize, and parking spaces in different colors mean different things. Looks like I'll be doing a lot of studying before my test on Friday!

 

Our First Week in Vicenza, Italy

     We have had a great first week in Italy. It is so beautiful and I can't wait to see more of it. We have been adjusting pretty well in all aspects except for our sleep schedule. I guess it's more like Connor's sleep schedule. Aaron and I can sleep all the time, Connor on the other hand is having a hard time staying asleep at night. He likes to wake up at midnight and play. He has also been sleeping with us for part of the night, every night. I usually wake up with a foot in my back or about to fall off the bed because Connor has pushed me to the edge.

My Second Mother's Day

    My second Mother's day was pretty wonderful. It started with breakfast in bed with Connor, Aaron, and Kylie. It was pretty messy,` and I'm sure I will find crumbs in the bed while I am trying to go to sleep, but so worth it!

Connor: Thirteen Months Old

*What you eat: You drink 4 bottles a day of cows milk and really like apple juice. Mommy hasn't been cooking for you very much because we have been living in a hotel, but you like most of the food we eat. We just share ours with you.You have started throwing your food on the ground when you don't want it and you like to feed Kylie.

Traveling to Italy

    I am so glad we finally made it to Italy! The trip here was exhausting, but exciting. I will start with Monday morning. Connor kept us up throughout the night (surprise, surprise) so we were tired when our alarm went off. We got ready and packed up our many suitcases. Aaron's friend from work picked us up and we checked out of the hotel. We dropped off our friends car that we borrowed for a few weeks and said goodbye to our good friend Karen and her son, Connor's best friend.

 Playing with his friend just one last time.

Goodbye North Carolina

      One of the hardest parts of being an Army family is having to uproot every few years. With that comes having to say "see you later" to some lifelong friends that you meet along the way. They literally become your family away from home. They are who we spend holidays with and celebrate birthdays and the births of new babies. Last night, we had a going away dinner with a few of our closest friends here in NC. I am going to miss each one of them so much!

What a week!

     It has been a very busy week for the Olson's. On Sunday, Aaron and I spent the entire day getting ready for the packers. We took everything down from the walls (artwork, cameras, nails, and curtains), we finished packing our clothes into all of our luggage that we are taking to Italy, and Aaron had to prep his bike for transport.

We will be living out of our suitcases for a couple months until our furniture arrives.