CARNEVALE!!!!

Carnevale is really part of Easter Celebration. Carnevale is usually supposed to be on Fat Tuesday the day before Ash Wednesday which is 40 days before Easter. Those 40 days are called Lent. During lent people give up things (sort of like New Year resolutions.)

But here in Greve it's much different. It seems to be a big party for kids with costumes and confetti and cans of liquid string which blast this sort of weird stuff--most people don't wear masks like in Venice.

The celebration was last Sunday in the piazza in Greve. They had some people on stilts, a candy stand, and a band with a little boy playing a drum and one little show. During the middle one of the people on the stilts fell down and got hurt so the ambulance picked him up and went away.

This is me getting some candy.

See the little boy?

The one that fell isn't in this picture.

At one point someone let go of a balloon and Camilla, Carlotta, Alessandro and I were watching it going up. Fifteen minutes later another one was let go. I wonder where they are now.

I saw some of my friends from my class. We all had fun together doing stuff like dueling with swords, squirting each other, throwing confetti, blowing paper streamers and just running around and catching each other. Camilla and I were putting confetti in Tommaso's shirt.

Me blowing a streamer at Camilla--who was a mermaid.

Tommaso is squirting liquid streamers at us. I am protecting Carlotta.

This is Tommaso.

This is Yonathan and me dueling.

There was tons of confetti all over the piazza.

When I was in my costume, I was Bibleman.

Here's a picture-again!

Happy Birthday, Mamma

Hi, Mamma

Happy Birthday! Too bad I can't send you a card. I hope you see this. I miss you.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I love Italy
and
I love you!

From Little Casey

Yellow Belt--Yellow Belt

Back in San Diego I did Martial Arts and here I do karate which is much, much different. Here in Italy, I just earned my yellow belt about two weeks ago. Hurray, I'm a yellow belt!!

Here I'm a Yellow Belt

Do you like my new move?

This is the karate routine I need to master to get to yellow#2. I hope I am an orange belt when I go home. I'll beat you instructor Eric.

My favorite instructor here is Michele. He was a 4 time world champion. This is when I was a poor, poor white belt. I have four other instructors. They have all won national or world karate competitions. I know that Greve isn't very big but there are a lot of karate fans here. I'm lucky.

Bye

La Cantinetta di Rignana e me

Last Saturday night with the Nyenhuis’ that came to visit us from San Diego, we went to the, well you can see it on the name of the title, restaurant. It was really fun. I got to go in the kitchen where everyone was working but I didn’t get to help them because I am too young. They called me a principe which means prince.

This is the chef.

The waiter was really funny. He knew how to whistle his stomach out and also he knew how to do jokes. He pretended to spill coffee on my gramma. It was fun there. At first I didn’t want to go. If I didn’t go, I would have missed all the fun. It wouldn’t have been as fun if it weren’t for me.

When Jan and Keith were here, Keith was so hilarious. He tried taking quite a bit of my toys and little figures. And his singing is more hilarious than his acting. He taught me this song: I love coffee, I love tea, I love the java and the java loves me.

And also Jan made this very good recipe while they were here—potatoes and very good chicken. I hope my gramma makes it. That would be good. I wish they didn’t leave. They left this morning. I miss them. I prayed that they would have a safe trip home.

I hope that I can go back to the restaurant with my Uncle Jeff.

This is Jan and Keith.

(Note from gramma: La Cantinetta di Rignana is a very special restaurant--wonderful food, great service, delightful atmosphere, just good in every way. If you can plan it into your itinerary, you will be happy that you did.)

.

The Bad Old Internet

Hi Folks
We do not have an internet connection right now. It went out a few days ago and gramma says "who knows when it will come back." I have a couple things to write about when I can. I got my yellow belt in karate and have a picture. And we went to a fun restaurant I want to tell you about. And friends from San Diego just left today.
I will write about it when I can.
Casey