May Day: Parco della Musica and dinner in the garden

Avery had two poops before 9am but still refused to take his medicine -- it was a real circus.

Charlotte slept in -- she was so tired from her week in Sicily. But, she committed to meet her Girl Scout troupe (ie. the other two girls) this morning, so I had to get her up by 10am. Still, she had a hard time getting herself ready by the appointed time of 10:40. It caused a bit of an argument because I refused to take her late. Kindly, one of the other (grand)parents offered to pick her up since they really wanted her to join them. The girls were taping a commercial about the environment in a recording studio. Afterwards, they were able to try out some Segways before heading to the Parco della Musica.

I had miscalculated our return to Rome. I realized it was May Day but failed to think through the consequences: ie. everything, including grocery stores, will be closed. We had invited some friends for dinner tonight and we needed provisions -- for them and for us too. We were tipped off to a store that is always open so Josh and Avery ventured out in search of it. Not only was it open today, it's open everyday, 24 hours -- Josh said he felt like he was in New York City again. Of course, everything is three times the usual cost, but I guess that's the price you pay for convenience.

After lunch, the four of us rode our bikes (Olivia on her own; and Avery on the back of Josh's) to meet Charlotte in the Parco di Musico which is just near our villa. It's adjacent to the Renzo Piano Auditorium. Today there was a farmer's market "fair" of sorts in the park with live music. All types of purveyors from various regions of Italy were offering samples and selling cheeses, oils, fruits, tapenades, etc. The Scouts were having a picnic and we joined in. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

Since we were near the Auditorium, I picked up a program and Josh immediately noticed that Wilco was coming to Rome for one performance on May 30th. He bought two tickets. Unfortunately for me, I will be in Cambridge attending my 25th college reunion, so he will undoubtedly have another date for the evening.

Everyone took a rest this afternoon. Charlotte went to her friend's house. Morris came over around 6pm to help with dinner. I had also asked Charlotte to help me by setting the table outside, but she got lost in her room. Forty minutes later, after I thought she should be done unpacking, I found her room in disarray and no effort on her part to honor my request for assistance in the garden. Needless to say, it was not a pretty scene, and Charlotte promptly became uninvited from our dinner party.

Meanwhile, our guests arrived and I tried to lower my blood pressure by having a glass of prosecco. It was already 8pm by the time we realized that Avery never woke up from his nap. He'd been asleep since around 5 0'clock. We took a chance by not waking him; but it more or less paid off as he slept through to 6:30am the following morning. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the wine, the weather, and a nice meal in our garden with our friends, their two boys, and Olivia. (I was informed that Charlotte ate in the kitchen).