Not quite as good as America, but it'll do

Ciao bellissima! (or bellissimo, if you're a dude)  I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July.  I had a very American day, considering my location.  Only thing missing was some boiled peanuts, roman candle war, and my husband. 

On Monday and Tuesday, my little kiddos made an American flag and wrote letters to soldiers.  "Thank you for protecting the world." was just one of them.  It's a very interesting time to be a teacher on our base.  I'm pretty impressed at how resilient kids are. 

It was so nice to sleep in on Wednesday.  The last week has been so crazy compared to what I'm used to.  I like routine and schedule, and it was everything but routine and scheduled!  

I didn't want to sit in the house all day Wednesday, but I never had time to really plan anything, so Wednesday morning we just decided to jump in the car and head to the beach.  I'm glad we did for several reasons.  First, I had to drive the car on the autostrada.  I was nervous about this, but I was glad I had two people with me to provide emotional support.  I only had a few little hiccups, and only one of them involved us almost getting run over by a bus.  So, all in all, I would say it was a success.  Second, the beach was so relaxing.  Exactly what I needed.  The beach chairs were awesome and the water felt great.  It was a great way to just let my mind calm down. 

We left the beach early enough to come home and catch the fireworks show on post.  I was so impressed!  They were synchronized with music!  They weren't quite as big as the ones they have on the lake, but they were still really cool.  I'm a sucker for anything that has music and is half way entertaining.  I think I've said it before, but I'm one of those people who thinks everything is "the best thing ever".  Well, obviously I thought this firework show was the best thing ever. 

All in all, my holiday was pretty great.  I missed John Ralph, but I think he would be proud of me for driving and keeping myself busy.  We might do the beach again this weekend, and on Sunday, I'm going to have a dinner with some other wives.  I'm hoping I can get caught up on a lot of things (like laundry...except my dryer is broken) this weekend, and get a few more posts written about other happenings around here.  But, ciao for now!