As my girls get older, I realize how much easier it was to entertain them when they were little. The occasional arts & crafts project kept them busy for hours. Messy playdough sessions were a big hit. But now… NOW… it’s all YouTube and Apps.

The last two years, I took the girls to Texas to visit my family. We traveled to Utah, California and everywhere in between. We went to the library for art time, went to the movies, the mall, and museums.

I imagined we’d do a lot of the same here this year. However, with the heat wave that we got, that hasn’t been the case. That’s not to say we haven’t had our share of fun, because we have.

Once school is out, a lot of kids head to ‘Estate Ragazzi’ which is essentially, a day camp at a church, park, Rec. center, etc.. Every year, the girls would peek into the gates of our neighborhood Catholic Church and see their classmates having fun then ask me, “When can we go there?” So this year we signed Valentina & Elisabetta up for 3 whole weeks of fun. They were so excited even when we dropped the bomb….. That they would still have to wake up early because the entrance is from 8am-9am. <insert evil laugh>

So while Carlotta had 3 weeks of Kindergarten left, her big sisters would go and get dirty, have field trips and come home EXHAUSTED. They had 2 field trips a week plus Pizza parties on Friday. I also got to tag along as chaperone and I have to admit, I was jealous that I didn’t get to experience anything like that when I was young.

But perhaps my most favorite thing about Summer (with kids) is the curfew or bedtime….. or lack there of. It never ceases to amaze me, I will hear a constant screams and laughter from the playground below… at 10pm, 11pm… midnight… ALL FROM KIDS! I had always wondered what these parents were thinking. Mine would be sound asleep. Then.. I became one of them. Yeah… I. BECAME. ONE. OF. THOSE. MOMS.

The reasoning is that it’s WAY TOO HOT to go during the day so why not head out after dinner. Sounds innocent enough except that after dinner is 9.30pm-10.00pm here. I received a message from one of our friends to meet at 9.30pm. Of course they weren’t tired to play with their friends. That is until 11.30 hit and Carlotta started crying because she was exhausted. Had it not been for her, I’m pretty sure we would have gone with our group for gelato too. Instead we went home. A few days later, I asked what time they had gotten home. 1.10am! That’s when our little friends (and their mom) got home!!

That’s what Summers in Italy (with kids) is like. You party hard!

This post is written as part of the #dolcevitabloggers link up! As always, thanks to Kristie, Jasmine & Kelly! Read this month’s participants here.