Maccheroni and Olivia's return

We miss Olivia and her infectious smile. It's been so quiet around here without her -- but, it's always quiet when any one kid is missing from the mix. I made a quick visit to AquAniene this morning. The National Team was training outdoors in the beautiful olympic size pool. Apparently they started yesterday. Charlotte is still training indoors. At 68 degrees in the evenings, they feel its still "too cold" to be outside.

Josh and I headed into centro to meet the son of a friend of ours from Chicago. He graduated from Latin (high school) last year and is taking a "gap" year before starting at Johns Hopkins in the fall. He is traveling around Europe (and Italy) with two friends and emailed to say they'd be hitting Rome this week. We'd invited him to stay with us, but for "kids" who are here just a few days, staying in the historical center is probably more appealing. In any case, we took them to Maccheroni, that lively spot in the Piazzetta delle Coppelle, for lunch. I much admit, it seems much more fun to be a kid these days. Who was doing "gap" years, back in 1981? If you didn't go to college right away, it was either because you didn't get in, or you were a loser. Not these kids. All three did a leadership program in the Rockies for 3 months designed specifically for gap year students, then our friend interned in Israel before setting off on this European adventure. One of the other guys, worked on a farm in the South of France making wine and cheese and practicing his french. Come on! Why do kids get to have all the fun? I had to create my own "gap year" by moving to Rome.

After lunch we showed our guests the oldest public library in Europe -- the Anjelica; the Bernini fountain in Piazza Navona; and the ceiling fresco in Sant Ignazio before breaking off to go pick up the kids. I certainly hope my kids are as wise, mature and well-mannered when they are 18.

Once at RIS, we all waited for Olivia's bus to arrive. Not surprisingly, it was late. So Josh took Charlotte and Avery home (Charlotte had a piano lesson), and I waited. It was great to see her when she came off the bus.

In other news, the boiler broke down again and we haven't had hot water in the house since last night. This reminds me of the joke "How many (name your nationality here) does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" We've had a 24 hour circus of who's calling who to do what, and in the end, nothing. Still no hot water. So here I am, boiling water on the stovetop in order to make a bath for Olivia. After her trip, she's stinky and she needs one!

When I picked Charlotte up from swimming tonight, she was upset. One of the girls in the locker room noticed a some marks on Charlotte's bottom. She told Charlotte it was a fungus and that Charlotte couldn't swim anymore until it's gone because it's contagious. Once at home, I did a little web research (love that WebMD site) and it does, in fact, appear to be ringworm. Yikes!

That wet bathing suit, left on for hours in Sicily, probably did her in. So now that I'm done with Avery's butt; I can start dealing with Charlotte's!