Tuesday 19 February 2008

Ski-ing and My Birthday

Having been back at school after Christmas for precisely two weeks Alex returned home for a weeks half-term holiday! The more you pay, the less they are there for sure! Anyway, he and his dad arrived home on the Friday night and Saturday morning we picked up a hire car and set off for Abetone near Pistoia for a weekend's ski-ing. For Antonia, below, it was her first lesson ever - this photo is afterwards - she looks pretty confident doesn't she!

This is Alex's 3rd year of ski-ing and the second season he has been to Abetone. He also had a lesson but apparently it was more a fun thing for him, at one point the instructor was ski-ing down on one leg!! Not sure what that was teaching....

He looks very cool doesn't he?

When we returned on Sunday Antonia was exhausted and came down with the 'flu that week. She still isn't right now. We were supposed to ski again Thursday to Saturday but with her being ill and Stephen injuring his knee on the weekend ski we called it off.


We did, however, get to IKEA! The photo is to show what a gorgeous day it was, not of IKEA, honest. Even here in Italy you can't escape its clutches. I came home €300 lighter in the wallet!!


Anyway, instead of ski-ing we hired another car for the day on the Saturday and set off for "The Mall". This is a very small discount designer shopping centre. It was definitely worth a trip, as you can see from all the bags! The bargain of the day had to be my Ferragamo ankle boots - €85! Yup, and they are the real deal! The Sixty shop was also great value. Their brands include Miss Sixty, Energie and Murphy and Nye. T-shirts started at €8 and jeans from €25!


Finally, this is me and my cake. Note only 2 candles. Can't remember if my birthdate is on my profile, but I'm not about to announce my age! You can either think I look good for an old bugger or I've had a hard life! With two kids of vastly different ages and having had my first older than most, you can keep guessing! A small hint is the fact I will have been married 22 years this year..

As a Gadget Girl I was highly delighted to receive my wish list request of an i-touch. The i-phone isn't on contract with anyone in Italy yet and I don't make enough calls to warrant one, so this was the next best thing and boy, is it cool! I have already made purchases off i-tunes with it, downloaded audio books onto it, TV episodes, short films, photo's and of course music and music videos. I only have the 8GB one but I seem to have packed a lot on and still have over 5GB left! If it had a camera attached it would be perfect! Stephen also got me a pink silicon sleeve for it. Pink for 2 compelling reasons - it's Antonia's favourite colour and now Alex can't knick it without removing the sleeve ;)! Didn't stop him surfing YouTube for Top Gear though...

8 comments:

erin said...

Happy Birthday! What day was your's? Mine was Sun (17th). Hope you had a great day.

We've been thinking of trying out some skiing before spring. Somewhere cheap, easy, and close-by (because it will be our first time). Do you recommend Abetone?

courtneyb said...

ahhh, good times. She is so cute with her tiny ski's!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! That cake looks so good! or is it a typical Italian torte? They LOOK delicious but end up being bland?

Alyson said...

Only the best have a birthday on the 17th ;)! Happy Birthday to you too!

For a first time Abetone is great. My son is getting bored of it, but he just needs to get on a more challenging slope. The instructors are friendly and one or two speak English. The apres isn't too bad and the people who live there are very friendly. If you want a decent hotel book at least a week before at this time of year. And yes it is quite reasonable to ski there cost-wise.

Alyson said...

The cake was actually pretty good! I got the Sacher rather than the Torta, plus the place I went, I know they make them fresh everyday so even though I bought it Friday it was still moist on Sunday. I also kept it in the fridge which seemed to help alot!

Paola said...

Happy birthday Alyson =-) I got an iPod touch for christmas and it is great. Just downloaded Close Shave with Wallace and Gromit lol. I cannot see myself ever buying another CD again! TTFN Px

Alyson said...

Paola - ditto Wallace and Gromit! It keeps my daughter quiet, although "A Grand Day Out" is kind of like our ski-ing!!

Paola said...

LOL! Another fav of mine is One Man Banned by Disney Pixar =-)

Delina said...

happy belated birthday!!!