October 24, 2010
Even though our flight didn't take off from Munich until about 1pm, we decided to get a relatively early start. The R's knocked on our door around 8am for breakfast. Having eaten a large dinner, followed by munching on yummy German sausage the night before, Sam and I weren't up for another breakfast buffet. Instead, we helped B load up the car and stayed downstairs for some coffee. When we were all done, we checked out and piled into the car once more. Having grabbed the directions to the airport from the hotel, I got the coveted "warm butt" seat in the front, so I could navigate. Even though we managed not to get lost, some of the directions still had us feeling a tad confused.
We got to the airport with plenty of time and turned in the rental car. After some very minor wandering, we relaxed at the gate and watched G play with a water bottle and a pair of plastic forks. We took turns sitting at the gate and exploring. At one point, Sam and I grabbed some beverages - Lemon Bitter Schweppes and Mezzo Mix, an orange cola. Both were pretty tasty.
When boarding time arrived, an announcement informed us that there would be a slight delay due to a toilet issue on the plane. People were initially displeased, but the delay lasted all of five minutes, and boarding was super fast. Sadly, we were on Lufthansa instead of Air Malta for this flight. Still, while not as magical as our flight into Munich, the flight out was still quite pleasant. Sam, once again, played video games, and I, once again, worked on our journal. We were served a meal of half a ham sandwich and a small Mars bar (apparently, the European airlines can't couldn't stop feeding us!). The flight went smoothly, and B and D's friends picked us up from the airport in Catania, with no incident.
D needed some ingredients for dinner that night, so Sam and I joined her at the commissary, while B stayed home with G. D was on a mission and flew through the store, grabbing vegetables and shoving them at Sam and me. I really liked the produce system. You take your veggies to the scale, enter the code, and it prints out a label right there on the spot. After stocking up for dinner and the next day's game night, we rushed home.
We had D's famous meatloaf, which prompted her meeting B, and a yummy salad. After cleaning up from another tasty meal, Sam planted himself in front of the television for football. Yes, even halfway around the globe, he somehow manages to watch the game. B watched the game with him as he assembled G's birthday present. I alternated between hanging out with the boys and helping D make some really cute hamburger cookies. Overall, it was a pretty low-key night.
October 25, 2010
After our vacation within a vacation, Monday was a super low-key day. Sam and I got to sleep in a little bit, and then just hung out a bit. Since there was downtime, I to to working on our journal, and got a decent amount of writing done. Somewhere in the course of that time, Sam went from video games to uber nap. He was out for about three hours.
As the afternoon continued, D started preparations for that evening's game night. We both tried to help where we could. I don't recall what I contributed to the mix, but was put in charge of bacon-wrapped scallops, which turned out quite yummy. People started showing up around six. There was Chris and Crystal, Aubrey and Owen with their daughter Amelia, and Michelle and Rick, and their super polite daughter, Celeste.
The dining room filled with everyone, enjoying tasty hors d'oeuvres and good conversation. When bellies were content, we split into two groups - a larger one in the dining room engaged in a rowdy game of Pit, and a smaller one in the living room playing Smarty Party. Sam and I were in the smaller group, introducing people to the aforementioned Smarty Party, as we had been the ones to buy it for the R's. Sam may or may not have exclaimed, "There's a game in the other room that involves rubber pants!" After a full game and many laughs, our small group got to talking while the Pit crowd finished their game. It should not come as a surprise that the conversation turned to Looney Tunes. As this most serious discussion was taking place, Celeste (the super polite child) came to ask Rick a question. He said to her sternly, "Don't interrupt. I'm talking to adults right now." I totally LOLed and pointed out how hilarious it was that a child was being reprimanded for jumping into a conversation about cartoons. The others laughed with me, and Rick piped up, "Okay, now back to Daffy Duck..."
Eventually, the Pit game finished (not before B snuck a bear into the deck and confused Chris like whoa!), and some of the crowd dispersed. Those of us that were left played another round of Smarty Party, introducing a few more people to the game. The night wound down after that, with some discussion of traditional Sicilian foods.
October 26, 2010
Tuesday was G's first birthday. He started his celebration by eating waffles while Sam and I snoozed. When we arose, D proposed a trip to the local mall, so we could get some of our shopping done, and she could get G some winter coats.
Etnapolis wasn't much different from any American mall. It was smaller, but definitely similar. One thing I thought was brilliant was the inclined moving sidewalk, instead of an escalator. This made navigating with the stroller much simpler. Anyhow, our first stop was the toy store, where we spent more time than a bunch of adults should, looking for just the right items for a couple of people on our shopping list. After some general wandering, and after D found some coats for the baby, we started to head out. But not before stopping at the Illy cafe for some traditional grub. We had some paninis and arancinis (filled and fried rice balls). D took G outside while Sam and I chowed down, where to proceeded to rearrange some chairs.
When we got back to the house, it was time to work on birthday dinner stuff. Even though I'd never made one before in my life, I was put in charge of the banana cream pie. Thankfully, the recipe was super easy and I was able to produce an acceptable birthday dessert. Dinner that night consisted of enchiladas and tacos, plus the pie. Chris and Crystal joined us to celebrate the baby's special day.
After dinner, the guests went home, G got a bath and went to bed, and the rest of us played Smarty Party once more.
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