In Comes Nanny!

What a fantastic way to celebrate Dieter being 1 month old than to bring in a little help. It's like a birthday present that was really intended for myself. :)

So here we are just 3 days away from flying back home to the States for the summer and I'm just now getting to documenting our exciting adventures that we had with Laura, our nanny.

We really hit the ground running as soon as she got here. No jet lag time!

Corralling kids at the library 

The kids took to her right away and now by the end of her stay here, they many a time wanted "Lola" over Mama

Playing with blocks.
Because the books are in Italian.
(Ok, not all)

It was really nice being able to run into a store quickly while Laura played with the kids in the Piazza just outside. For once Stella was getting out of the stroller.

"Wait. Where did Mom go again?"

I made it my goal to go out and see as much of Rome as possible, both to to give Laura a good show and also to see the things I hadn't ventured out to do yet because I didn't have any help.

We really crammed a lot into the first few weeks and it was good, because by week 5 we all got sick and didn't get out half as much as I wanted to.

Laura's first lunch out.

We were walking through Trastevere on one of her first days here and picked out one of my favorite lunch spots. They have fantastic pesto and unique sandwiches for Rome with olive pates and the like.

Of course, with the girls (mostly with Emma) it's all about the bubbly water. Because it makes you giggle.

"Must drink all the bubbly water...I possibly can!"

Although, the giggling didn't really happen this time. We had been walking far to long and the cranky monster was coming out. I managed to get a picture of her "very cranky, not smiling at all" face.

The "Don't Look at Me" Look

We were briefly serenaded by an old violin player. One, that I later learned from my friends who live above a pizza joint, plays the exact same super high speed version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" medley almost every night outside their window. This is his neighborhood I guess.

Violinist

In Laura's first week here we also attended Giacomo's 6th birthday party. Emma, of course was the only kid who didn't speak Italian. And it had been a long day with no nap, so this is about as involved as she got in the game.

Right before the "Go."
But Emma didn't go anywhere.

Fortunately for me, a couple of the other parents spoke some English. There was Spanish man who spoke very English very well, and another Italian mother who knew some.

Stella had just gotten her new cast back on, and so Laura helped a ton with just trying to keep Stella from killing herself on the playground. That's a big job in and of itself.

Playground, food, and strollers = Family party

Here's that little one-month old we spoke of :)

Dad and Dieter

~

We were also very grateful to have Laura help us with all the end-of-the-year banquets. Some the kids could come to, like this New England night, held on the roof terrace. 

Unlike anyone else at the NAC, the Griesbach take up almost an entire table.
Only a select 2 additional people get to be blessed with our conversation.

 It was a pretty casual night and after a while Emma and Stella just started wandering through the kitchen/couch area.They of course kept their perfect manners the whole time. *ahem*

"Does anyone mind if I like the glass?"

Speaking of manners....

I wasn't even aware, until the end of the dinner that there was a Cardinal in our presence. If you look closely, directly behind Leon, you can see Cardinal Law sitting at the table next to us. I did notice that every time Emma went between these two tables she bumped into the old man behind us. I did feel bad about that, but she was gone before I could keep her from doing it again. 

Kids helping themselves to the horderve table.

But it was at the end of the dinner that our friend Nick came up to us and asked if we knew what Emma had said to Cardinal Law. Apparently it went something like this:

Emma:   "Why are you so red?"

Cardinal Law:  "What's red?"

Emma: "Your face. Why's it so red?"

He played if off like he didn't know what she was talking about and I think in the end she decided he had a sunburn. I should have told her to say, "Your Eminence has a sunburn"... you mustn't forget to say "Your Eminence."

Kids do say the darndest things.