On this day we left Rome and headed north for a little over two hours.  Our HomeAway host had a friend who was going to meet us and check us in.  She was unable to meet us at the time we were arriving so she sent us very vague directions with photos (see above) of dirt roads and a few trees to help us figure out where to go.  We have noticed this along the way in almost every country we have traveled to.  Such vague directions and yet somehow manage to figure it out. THANK GOODNESS for technology!!! We fumbled a few times but we eventually made it to the house.  We were greeted with a huge iron gate. The directions said to open the gate….Well, we couldn’t.  So the kids both jumped over the brick wall and I soon followed.  We somehow managed to get it open to let Mike.  We found the key hidden in the laundry room and scoped out our new home for the next month.  The apartment was beautiful and had a lot of room for everyone.  The home was decorated in the quintessential rustic Toscana décor with antiques, exposed beams, tiled floors and wooden shutters.  We decided to run to the nearest store and then come back and unpack and let the kids swim.  They were completely happy to have found a frog in the pool, meet the neighbors beagle, Lily, along with a few cats and barn swallows.  They were in animal kingdom heaven. We met the care taker and her two sons around 5:30. She showed me the ropes with the laundry room, kitchen, the 5 different trash bins, etc.  The kids finished up watching Captain America and then went to bed. I will say that one of the best features about this home is that there are air conditioners in each of the bedrooms. When it is 95 degrees outside this is truly a treat.

GETTING SETTLED

We had high hopes of visiting one of our favorite places in Pienza today but sadly found out that they were closed. Whyyyyyyy La Fonte? Why today? We had our hopes set on visiting your brewery and then scooting over to your restaurant for the best food ever! Okay so it did not work out like we planned so we went to Montepulciano and had lunch.  The kids managed to talk us into getting them a raft for the pool and gelato.  We were done after that and headed back to the house.  The kids swam in the pool while I was trying to read about new hill towns to conquer when a beautiful summer storm moved through.  It lasted for about 2-3 hours and brought the temperature down so much that it was actually a little chilly.  The storm was by far my favorite part of the day. We spent the rest of the afternoon working with the kids with reading and math, making dinner, going on an evening walk and then hitting the hay.

FRIYAY! Yay because the boys FINALLY got a much needed haircut AND because our friends who live right up the road in Montepulciano were coming over for a cookout! Sienna wanted to go for a walk along the gravel road to meet them so off we went.  Not more than 15 minutes later we see the most beautiful vintage Fiat make its way down the lane! We were all SO excited! Their son jumped out of the car and ran with Sienna all the way up to the house.  We grilled out by the pool while the kids played soccer and swam and then moved everything inside for dinner and catching up.  It was the perfect Friday and the kids were on cloud 9!

Lazy Day; Saturday.