The Bleicher Family Times: US of A

The last two weeks were a whirlwind. After an eleven hour flight from Rome, we stepped off a less than stellar Alitalia flight with a zonked-out Allison and Ethan. Over the course of the week we spent some quality time with the family and began the Bleicher stimulus package - an intense, Margaret-led spending orgy that must have directly accounted for the S&P going into the black for the year. In all honestly, Italy offers lots to see and do, but nothing offers so much for so cheap as does the Coral Springs Target or the gazillion malls in south Florida.

By week's end we were ready for the main event: Noah and Jackie's wedding weekend. It was wonderful catching up with so many family and friends that we had not seen in so long. Allison and Ethan caught lots of "ooh's and aahs" when they walked down the aisle as flower girl and ring bearer. Allison was intensely focused on her job of spreading the rose petals evenly about, but Ethan just reveled at his chance to run full speed down the aisle to daddy.

Immediately after the ceremony, the kiddoes were whisked away by the babysitter, thus allowing mom and dad to thoroughly enjoy the wonderful wedding celebration. Dan spent much of the evening trying to hide out by the vodka ice luge, but I got him to dance plenty. The wedding was absolutely incredible: delicious food, a band that kept the party going, a great feeling in the air, and fun company.

The following Monday, Dan surprised me with a night at The Breakers in Palm Beach (sans children who more than willingly stayed back to hang out with Papa and Gega). The resort is absolutely gorgeous - set on a 1/2 mile strip of the coastline, the grounds at The Breakers are lavishly landscaped and meticulously maintained with luxury pools (nine of them to be exact) surrounded by palm trees and flowers. We made the "relaxation pool" our little home for two days, indulging in the most extravagant of luxuries: the ability to read books, newspapers, and magazines and not be interrupted by crying, diaper changes, or milk spills.

Overall, we had a blast in South Florida. Ethan became solid "frenemies" with Sadie (Noah and Jackie's cockapoo). It was hilarious to watch their love-hate relationship play out. Allison spent hours catching up with Gega and we got our fill of Publix subs, black and white cookies, Chick-fil-A sweet tea, and Pollo Tropical plantains.

We spent the last weekend in the states visiting Margaret's family in Connecticut before heading back to Napoli. "Luckily" we arrived to a true Neopolitan welcome: the Honda's battery was dead and Alitalia forgot one of our suitcases in NYC. Perfect!

USA, we'll see you again next summer!

Here are a bunch of photos from the past two weeks...