After a good week of playing/resting/taking care of Samuel, we went on vacation to Malcesine, Italy. Villa Olivio, as it was named by Silke´s grandfather, is a lovely villa just up the hill about half a mile from the center of town. It´s a good walk down to the bus station, but very worthwhile when one hikes down the hill for some ice cream. :)

   We´ve been having a lovely time here in Malcesine...and Samuel has added some important words to his growing vocabulary. This trip, he is putting two or three words together! A new thing for him, which we´ve all been excited to see. Example: Many Boats! or Leslie´s tall bed...etc. It´s been fun watching things evolve.

   We´re just about to drive back to Munich in about 2 hours, and we´ve all been madly cleaning the house. Well, not madly. Just zipping about the house with brooms, dust-busters, vacuums, and all manner of cleaning supplies. All while being mindful, however, that Samuel doesn´t happen unbenocedly upon any yucky cleaning supplies.

   Over this week-or-so in Malcesine, we´ve seen much of the lake and it´s little towns, driven through beautiful mountain villages, and even seen an Opera in Verona! Samuel reminds us daily that there are, indeed, many boats on the lake. :) We also took a special boat-hunting expedition down to a little town called Peschiera del Garda, where we looked at “many boats”, and went to a boat warehouse, where all the salespeople were on vacation. Corvin was more than a little annoyed, but he also found it amusing, as the company he runs seems to do business the same way. In the summer, all the salespeople go off for 4-6 weeks at the same time as everyone else has vacation. So, when people come to buy a plane, no one is there to help them. Humorous, no? Needless to say, no boat was purchased on this little venture, but Samuel really enjoyed scrambling aboard several boats, and investigating areas he probably shouldn´t have been investigating. Funny little fellow.

   I should probably get back to cleaning, but I will write more very soon. :)