What were you grateful for this week?Sitting in the front seat. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?Containing my excitement of going home to my family and boyfriend. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.My wow moment is more of one of a “I can’t believe that almost happened” I almost lost the youngest child because she went to go look for her mom who was having a night out without the kids. 

Tell us about your week! Final week in Italy

Monday: We went on vacation to Bled, Slovenia. The host Mom, kids, ex husband, and me drove 3 hours to this beautiful lake in the foot hills of the mountains. There was an amazing castle and a church on an island in the middle of the lake. We rented a boat and rowed out to the church. Afterward we went to a Dino park where the kids ran around and had a lot of fun. 

Tuesday: It was raining in Bled so we didn’t go to the lake but we did go to the castle that sits in a cliff over the lake. The castle was cool and there was a wine cellar and blacksmith that still made their crafts with the same techniques of their ancestors. After the castle we took a walk along a river to go see some cool falls. The walk was mostly a walkway built into the cliffs on the side of the river. The drive back to Lignano was intense. It was raining really hard and at time you could barely see 10 meters in front of the car. I slept really well once we got home because I was exhausted from the days adventures and the rain had cooled everything off and I wasn’t waking up every hour because I was too hot. 

Wednesday: The 15th of August is a big party day in Italy. Something about this day being traditionally too hot to work so the factories were closed for the day and so the people celebrated. So we celebrated. After the kids went to their grandmothers, the host Mom and I went to her boyfriend’s house because his family was having a big barbecue. Lots of good grilled meat and vegetables. Later in the evening she had her own small party at the house where we ate pizza and sang karaoke before watching the fireworks. 

Thursday: My last day in Italy was spent at the airport. I had to be there at least 3 hours before take off to check in and get a seat assignment. On the way to the airport my host mom and I chatted about how she found the experience and if she’ll do it again. She enjoyed it and should have another girl going to stay with her in September. 

My advice to the new girl would be to find a hobby to occupy your free time. Lignano is a small town and during the fall and winter there are not as many people and thus not as much to do. For the kids I would say stack up on picture books and read to them, they like the pictures and maybe they’ll even pick up a phrase or too. Also they enjoyed the classic nursery rhythms that we have. 

Best of luck and ciao!