The last week or so we’ve really settled into a routine with school, after school activities, grocery shopping and still heading to new villages and locations for adventures.
The girls are pretty shattered after a full week at school so Saturday mornings seem to be PJ time, watching TV, making pancakes, baking, playing games and getting on top of homework for the week. Loving this change of pace as our Saturdays for most the year are driven by team sports.
Week two of school is still going well. Ben and I met with the head of Middle School to get on top of Hayley and Polly’s curriculum and just have a general catch up. Hayley started trumpet and trombone lessons after school on Thursdays while Polly goes to Drama Club and Audrey to mixed games at the same time. We are planning no other after school activities while over here to give the girls lots of time to just explore after school, go into town, hang out at parks and relax.
Audrey was handed a necklace on day six of school from her friend and said she is now part of the gang as the other girls had matching necklaces, this made me cry a little! Just so welcoming and a lovely place for the girls to be over the next year. Hayley is off to a party tonight which is 2:30-10pm and sounds pretty epic, her whole year is invited (14 kids) and everyone going so will be a fun afternoon for her. Polly is going to a friend’s house and sleepover next weekend. So happy the girls are all making friends and seem so happy over here.
I’ve met the most gorgeous parents already in the last two weeks. So far I have met families from Canada, USA, Amsterdam, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, NZ, Cuba, Switzerland and Italy, and it’s only been a week. We really are in an International School and with such small years everyone knows everyone and kids from Year 7 hang out with kids from Year 10 which gives the kids opportunities to make friends who are younger and older than them.
So with the girls at school and me not working for the first time in my life I’m completely loving it the change of pace! I’ve finished knitting a scarf I’ve been working on for six months, cooking local tuscan meals, spending a lot of time looking for a villa for us to live in from April to July (we drove to 18 villas this week!), exploring new areas, going for walks, binging on TV (This is Us), and enjoying time lunching and exploring with Ben while the girls are at school.
Wednesday Ben and I took the day to hang out in Florence, still cant believe I can go to Florence just for lunch! We walked through the city from Piazza Michaelangelo, had Aperol spritz at the rooftop bar at The Westin, did some shopping and had lunch of amazing sandwiches and wine before heading to collect the girls from school.
Last night we went to dinner in Siena with new friends from Canada/USA and their 2 gorgeous girls. They have been here for 3 years so know a lot more about life in Siena than us and were so helpful with so many of my questions such as what to buy a 13 year old boy for his birthday and where to find something???
This week it might snow in Siena which is very rare so we will get a snow day as school will be closed. We are hoping this happens as it would be an amazing experience to walk around in the snow here and have a snowball fight! Here’s hoping!!!
I have included some photos of our house below which we love. We extended our booking so are here for 4 months until April. We are hoping to come back again next winter from November to January.
