Park, Park, Park & Park

C had a full day of stimulation today. He woke up to Romanian scaffolding guys setting up the framework for our loft work, so he developed his Romance language ability. We then went to Winkworth Arboretum for a long walk (half on my back, half walking), so he built up his coordination (see later video). And his taste buds were more than satisfied with Bella's' pasta and meat sauce for lunch here: BTW: Mom notice the fleece that arrived this morning.

We journeyed south out of London on Saturday to a National Trust house- The Homewood . Special because our Southfield neighbors are now living there! The house is modernist and the grounds are spectacular. Here is Isabella with a hand-knitted hat (thanks to C's Grandma Park).

Our friends Matt and Holly had a birthday party for their daughter Elise this weekend. C made a gentlemanly appearance. It did give C a chance to catch up with Rupert, who has been pre-occupied with his new brother Benedict (Ned for short).

I spent a few minutes on Saturday editing some miscellaneous video clips into one strand.

C modeled his new pj's and dressing gown tonight. It was a bit of a bright sight when Nate and I walked in before Indian food for dinner.

C joined Bells and me for my 5 year MBA class reunion this weekend. It was at a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds that one of our classmates had bought soon after the program. C got to meet several new people, but then also catch up with Jack and Philipp . Here he's out for an after-Sunday-breakfast stroll on the grounds.

In the past, we've referred to posts about C's growth as Proportion. Here's the last one . I think it should be labeled Growth in future. Regardless, here is an update: Height- 34 1/2 inches (88 cm) Weight- 28 lbs (2 stone) And, as a bonus, he had the third haircut of his short life today.

As we do once in a while, we all had a good stroll at Richmond Park on Saturday. Bella's Aunt Nettie even pointed out the green Parakeets in the trees (rumor: a residual effect from the filming of The African Queen here in London long ago).

We took this midway through our holiday, but I figured this would be a fitting picture for the last Tuscany post.

I’ve had a few requests to elaborate on our Italian Police incident, so here goes: Lunchtime one day I was driving the entire family around Orbetello looking for a parking spot. Bells spotted one, which I immediately pulled into. Just as we started to pile out of the car, two Italian police officers pulled up behind me. One walked over to the car, speaking angrily in Italian. Bells began to talk to the officer AND translate to us. He didn’t like the fact that I had turned without using my blinker light. This went on for a bit- back and forth in Italian. Then, the officer said that I was subject to a very large, on-the-spot fine. Quick thinking Bells then pretended she didn’t understand any Italian at all. The policeman grumbled and walked off, with a bus honking at him for blocking the road.

In Tuscany, we found a small town at the top of a really high hill- Vetulonia . It had some Etruscan ruins nearby- that's what drew us. But, what we'll remember is the wine tractor. These three old gentleman had harvested red grapes, driven them in this tractor up to the village (not an easy drive even in a 4WD VW Passat), and were pressing them right there in the doorway. There is a tube off the back of their press and the wine was going into the basement of the house. The best part: We showed some interest in what they were doing, so they offered us handfuls of grapes to eat. Which C and Grand-dad did with relish as we walked around the rest of the village.