More School Pictures

I'm not going to be writing a lot now but here are some pictures of the second week of school. I still like school. On Tuesday I'm having a math test. Next week we're doing a humor fest which means a funny fest. It's not going to be boring. I think it's going to be exciting!!!!!

Here are my pictures.

This is a picture of me and my teacher, Mrs. Henetz. I really like her. She has a twin sister named Mrs. Menetz. She comes in when all the kids are being naughty and she is the exact opposite of Mrs. Henetz. She's mean and yells and goes whack, whack, whack.

This is a picture of me with my favorite backpack. It's my favorite because I got for my birthday at Fattoria Viticcio and my tutor, Valentina--or in other words my BIG sister, gave me this backpack.

tThis is me with some kids in my class. There are 18 in my class altogether.

First Week of School

My first week of school was AWESOME!!! I got my favorite teacher, Mrs. Henetz. My math teacher is Mrs. Johnson. She's really nice too and I like her. But, by the way, I'm in middle school. I know I'm nine years old but I am so smart I skipped 4th and 5th. Do you believe that?

I saw all my friends. Well, actually everybody in my school went to middle school. We are just too smart. Scherzo--(just kidding in Italian.)

This is my friend Ryan.

This is my friend Ryan.

At school yesterday when we did PE, we played baseball but with bouncing balls. It was fun. I got really sweaty. It's mainly kickball but it's like baseball because you kick the ball and someone tries to catch it. In Italy I missed PE. All we did there was run around inside and get very hot.

I really like Mrs. Henetz because she's really nice and she doesn't yell. She told us that if she is angry she will tell us. Last week she read a story called The Chocolate Touch. Have you ever hear of The Golden Touch with King Midas? The Chocolate Touch was very similar because King Midas in The Golden Touch liked a lot of gold. John Midas in The Chocolate Touch liked a lot of chocolate. One time King Midas loved gold so much that he wished that everything he had was gold and a fairy was there and heard what he said and poof everything he touched turned to gold. When his daughter came, he hugged her and she turned to gold.

And with John Midas, one time he was walking along and he saw a silver coin that had his initials on it--JM. And he saw a candy store. He said to the store keeper, "I only have this coin." And the store keeper said "That's the only kind of coin we take." And the store keeper gave John a box of chocolates. Then John went home, tiptoeing in the house and slipped the box under his bed. John felt sort of tired so he went to bed and he grabbed the box of chocolates and opened it. But, there was only one chocolate. He ate it and the next morning when his mother called him down for breakfast, he saw eggs, bacon, orange juice and I think that's all. He didn't like any of those things but when he put the eggs in his mouth, they turned to chocolate and so did his bacon and so did his orange juice. He was very surprised and very excited.

He asked his mother to go outside and play. He went to his friend Susan's house. Susan was a girl that John sort of liked. And Susan showed John a new silver dollar coin. John said "Are you sure that it is a real coin cuz it might be chocolate." And Susan said "No, it's a real coin." And she also said to John, "'Bite it if you think it's chocolate." So he bit it. His teeth went right through it because the coin turned to chocolate because he has chocolate itis. Later the day he was at home. He went over to his mother and kissed her and, guess what, she turned to chocolate.

He went to the store where he bought the chocolate and said to the person "Turn my mother back and get rid of the chocolate touch in my mouth." Then he went home and he was rid of his chocolate touch and his mother was no longer chocolate.

The moral of these two stories is to care about others not just yourself.

In Italy Camilla and I always went to the gelateria for gelato for merenda (snack). But here I get ice cream.

My favorite ice cream is rainbow sherbet.

I still miss Italy. I think about it everyday.

I can't wait until the next week of school cuz I really like school. The best thing about this school is that none of the teachers yell except for Mrs. Murphy. Good thing that I don't have her.

The weird thing about school here in San Diego is that I have never had a man teacher. Actually, I've never had one anyplace.

See you next time which will be in about a week.

Doggy Time

This blog entry is about my dog, Scratch. Right now I'm sitting with my doggy. He is so cute. He really likes to play.


Every morning at 6:30 I take him for a walk down at the park to meet with "my group." My group is a bunch of adults that take their dogs for walks but they get up at 6. My dog is the only dog in the world that doesn't know how to shake hands. That's true!

Sometimes I forget to walk Scratch-O. Then my group misses me and Scratch gets sad. And there's this man who speaks Italian. He isn't part of my group but he is there sometimes. When the italian guy is at the park I talk with him a little in Italian. But then I don't see him for a week or two weeks, actually. There's another guy from Iraq who talks low and slow. He's been here for 50 years. The park's right across the street from my house. Sometimes I just play there or ride my bike.


When school starts I'm going to have to get up at 5:45 and walk him. School starts the day after Labor Day.

Scratch is the cutest dog in the whole world.

This is a movie of me riding my bike in the cul-de-sac. You can see the park across the street.

Ciao Ciao

Here and There

I really miss Italy but I'm having a good time here in San Diego too. I really miss Camilla and Pimpi and Nicoletta and Alessandro and Signoria Franca and Beatrice and Arianna and Tommi and.... I think you got the point of it.

This is Me and Signoria Franca--Camilla's Nonna. I like her because she is nice and she makes VERY good lasagna and pizza. And she is taking care of my cactus for me.

What I really miss about Italy is seeing the pretty blue skies and being able to run around by myself and take walks by myself. If I did that here, I would get run over. I miss the piazza, all my friends, the Grog Shop. And I really, really miss Bruno cuz everytime I went into his shop he gave me a hug and kiss on the head and a free piece of bread or something like that. Here's a picture of io e Bruno.

My Friend Bruno

I really miss my school and my teachers but I'm also having fun here.

I went to Zoo Camp this week. We saw a lot of animals like a python and a milk snake. They call that snake a milk snake because when they first saw that kind of snake in a barn with the cattle, they thought that it was there for the milk. But it actually was there to eat the rats. And the milk snake is not poisonous. It's colors are red and then black and gold.

This is a meercat.

This is an ant eater

Here's a picture of my counselors at camp.

I went to soccer camp two weeks ago and I don't know what I am going to do next week. That's a hard question. But on Tuesday Ryan one of my best friends in San Diego, is coming over. I wish my sister could come over tomorrow. She can't come because she's in Italy--actually, she's going to Elba.

But the most exciting thing about being home in San Diego is going to Sunday school. I really missed it while we were gone. In Sunday School I learn a lot about Jesus' travels and miracles. Last week I learned about Daniel and then about forgiveness.

Well, at least I get to go back to Italy next summer but I can have fun here, too.

My Friend Valentina

Valentina was my tutor, my friend and my big sister. She is my big sister because she calls me her little brother. The reason I learned Italian so good and did so well in school in Greve was because of Valentina, or should I say my "big sister."

This is Valentina and me studying.

She came two times a week and she was a good teacher. In Italy we have a lot of homework to do and gramma and papa couldn't help me so I had to have a tutor and one of my teachers, Maestra Annamarie, recommended Valentina for a good tutor. And now, I speak very good Italian. Gramma just put on Craig's List for a tutor here.

I really liked her because when we were working we had fun. We laughed a lot. She helped me with the language (lingua) , science (scienze), math (matematica), geography (geografia), history (storia) and everything else.

One time she took me inside the ambulance to look at it. She was a volunteer ambulance driver. But now she works for the Red Cross.

The last week with her she took us out to dinner. Her boyfriend was with her--named Ricardo. She took us to a restaurant called Malborghetto which means "bad borgo." Borgo means little village. It's called Malborghetto because a long time ago bad guys used to hide in the little village. This was in the Renaissance times when Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were alive and they were painting.

This is the restaurant with Valentina and Ricardo in the picture.

Across from the restaurant was a park where I got several mosquito (zanzare) bites.

I miss her. But the good thing is that next summer I am going to see her again. I hope I get a good tutor here--just like Valentina.

This is me with Ricardo and Valentina.

I MISS YOU VALENTINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Last Time at Cantinetta di Rignana

A week ago was the last time I went to Cantinetta di Rignana. But next year we are going back. I might even work there. Here's a picture of everyone there with me. They let me use the cook's bandanna for a few minutes.


We went there with Brad and Palma, the Skittle lady. When my grandparents and Brad and Palma ate, I was playing in the playground with the boy in the picture. I didn't eat anything. Joke! I had pappardelle al cinghiale.

See you next time when I tell you about Valentina, my friend.

My Newest, Newest Best Friend

Sorry Palma and Judith but you're no longer in first place.

Here's a picture of my newest, newest best friend.

This is Max. I think he is a Golden Labrador. He's Diana's and Micha's doggy. We were at Diana's place in Piemonte for three days.

Diana let me do some work with clay because she makes stuff out of clay. She makes pottery.

Breakfast at their house is spectacular. There is berries, melon, French toast, eggs, cereal, yogurt and bread fresh from the bakery. The plates were made and painted by Diana.

Max was really, really fun. He listens to me very well. Tell him to sit, he sits. Tell him to lay, he lays. Tell him to fetch, he fetches. Tell him to stop, he stops and right away sits down.

Here's a picture of a little monster thing I made with the clay.

And here's a picture of a cup I made.


Next year when we come to Italy, we are going back.
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My Super Cool Sunday

Today was the best Sunday ever--in the pool. Here's three pictures and two movies of me and Camilla in the pool and one of Alessandro and me playing ping pong. Alessandro is il babbo di Camilla (Camilla's daddy.)

Camilla and I have really a lot of fun in the pool together. I am going to miss her when we leave and she's going to miss me. And you're going to miss my blog when I go home.

Here are two videos of us playing in the pool. We had so much fun.

Meet My New Best Friend--Palma

See why she’s my new best friend?

She gave them to me when we went to lunch in Buonconvento. She brought them all the way from California.

Camilla and I really, really, really really, really like them.

Thank you, Palma.

This is Palma and Me.

The Orthodontist and the Madonna

Yesterday when I went in to Florence to go to the orthodontist, I also went to the Uffizi which has the Ognissanti Madonna. Signore Giotto painted it. I wanted to see it because I have a little model of it which you have seen on my blog--here.

I saw also the Tondo by Michaelangelo. It's a circle painting with a picture of Mary, Baby Jesus and Joseph. They don't have very much paintings by Michaelangelo. They are very old and so most of them have been lost.

I saw the La Nascita di Venere and also La Primavera. Those two were painted by Botticelli. I saw several annunciations. One was painted by Leonardo da Vinci--da Vinci means from Vinci and I have been there. An annunciation is when the angel is telling Mary that she is going to have baby Jesus.

We saw hundreds of others and I don't know who they were. I like going to the Uffizi. Lippi knew how to draw very pretty Mary's.

At the end I bought a puzzle block with a lot of the pictures of things. All the ones I talked about already. I also got one little drawing book and a regular size one. One has a picture of David on it and the other is Leonardo di Vinci. I am learning to draw. I also got a book about the Ognissanti Madonna.

Papa also got me a Fiorentina hat. My birthday is tomorrow so these were all birthday presents but I'm allowed to use them now.

Here's a picture of me with my Fiorentina shirt and Fiorentina hat.

Dr. Floria, my orthodontist in Florence, is really nice and here's a picture of him. I'm not going to see him anymore because this was my last time to the orthodontist here. My orthodontist back at home is Dr. Hirsch.

This is Dottore Floria.

I'm going to miss Florence. This is at a little fruit and vegetable store in an alley there.



PS: Today we went to Buonconvento and papa and gramma bought me a nice watch for my birthday.
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