Ray's 4th birthday came and went with just a small celebration with Nonna and a spiderman cake. He is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch him dress himself, brush his teeth, etc. and in addition, anything I do (such as unlocking our front gate) that he intended to do has to be repeated so that he can do it (whew, makes for tedious days sometimes but pazienza).

We went back to the agriturismo to celebrate our 6th anniversary on May 24th. It was just as lovely as it was two weeks earlier. Franco, the owner, though covered in green grass as he was weed wacking when we got there, took us off immediately in his serious off-road Range Rover to show us around his property and then to two abandoned housese that are for sale. This pink one is enormous and has ten acres for €100k (or $142k). Franco has 40 acres of mixed woodland and fields and the week before had taken on two mares and their foals for boarding. We went to visit the Dream House and then hiked down to an abandoned house which is the one that initially got us exploring that area. This particular ruin (the first photo) is on the hillside in a stunning position and is more beautiful than I expected. But it needs not only major work (there are huge gaps in the roof) but the driveway is a half mile long and no doubt it needs electric run to it. Anyway....enough about the abandoned farms of Italy...

Ray had his little school celebration among a slew of birthday parties to attend. Here he is with his best friends Davide and Francesco. We have been out a lot as well - here are some photos of recent events, including a lovely crescentina with prosciutto eaten at a recent festival and one of Giro Italia - the Italian bike race that Lance Armstrong participated in for the first time. Here is a photo I caught of the head group - the second and main group were more than two minutes behind. we stopped in a small town where there were about 20 people waiting for the race to go by. I don't know why but one can't help but shout out when they fly by!

I am gearing up to begin packing for our long summer in the US. Mom and Keiko will pick Ray and I up on at JFK and we will stay in Manhattan until the 4th of July when we head to Bordentown. The I will shuffle between there and NYC until Ray, Mom and I depart for Montana on the 16th. Can't wait to see everyone and head over to Princeton for some of the old haunts.