Do I really have to do that?

Yes, you do.
But. . . I don't. . .
Hush.Go.
My conscience gets me every time.



The kind, considerate, giving, friendly, funny Italian neighbors of ours who at this very moment are entertaining Miss Maddy in their home thus giving me an hour of uninterrupted time after work (a highly coveted thing for me these days), who invited us to be among their family and friends for il battesimo, who have just been - Plain Nice -- those people said:
"Hey, let's go to Gardaland! Let's pack the kids in the cars and start out early Saturday morning so that we can make the most of a full day at Italy's premiere amusement park."

A date was set. Mr. Duncan was again away in a foreign land, a different foreign land, but a foreign land nonetheless.

After the date was set, Signora R looked me in the eye and said, "Mi Raccomando." This means many things, but in this case it meant -- "Don't let me down," in a very serious "or I will be disappointed in you" kind of way.

Saturday morning at 9:15 we departed with 1 dad, 3 moms & 5 children. (The other dad was also away in a distant land.)


A highlight of the day for me was the Autumn decor: lots and lots of pumpkins.

Maddy is quite proud of this picture; it cracks her up, in fact.


"Look Moma. Look what I can do," she screamed before dropping it right on her toe.
They screamed so much that the older kid to the left of them had his fingers in his ears towards the end of the ride.
Yikes! It's called Magic Mountain.

Ragazzo C, aged 9, conquered Magic Mountain. This is his post-roller coaster reaction.
Again, Bambino D is perfect.

That's me and my girl.

Maddy's favorite was the Tea Cup ride. This ride makes me vomit, so I opted out. Vomit makes me want to vomit more. It's a viscous cycle, you know.

Signora T got cheated out of riding with her kids by the rigid ride director. She visited with a nice family from Milan instead.

No rigidity here. . . I don't know this strange man, but I thought this site fascinating. By the way, the ride is in progress.

Signore C was prepared. . .he had two one liter bottles of water, a sleeve of plastic cups, some homemade chocolate cake, . . . and those were just the things that I saw him pull out of his magic hat.
Note: Toys Shop
Love you, Young One. Love you like crazy.

We ended with a train ride around the park. Everybody is still (relatively) happy.
The End.

And, oh yeah, grazie mille, wonderful new neighbors for sharing these life experiences with us. I promise I will try not to be resistant ever again. I truly appreciate your unending kindness and acceptance of us and most importantly that my child has the chance to be a part of something, a part of a community.