Birthday bar-bee-que! The weather is hot and sunny so the boys wanted to get me special treats from our Irish organic butcher to cook up on the coals. They went this morning with The Mommy to each select a particular item. I got a herbed pork chop from Frunty and a spicy beef skewer from Pit who was extra keen to point out that my skewer had zucchini. We also had wonderful gluten-free hamburgers, lamb skewers and spicy Italian sausages. Pit wanted to eat the sausages but was in for a surprise just how spicy they were. He almost guzzled my glass of Mercier champagne. Afterwards, we were able to roast marshmallows on the hot coals. Actually, I roasted almond nougat which I think tastes better but it has soy and gluten so I was the only one enjoying that treat. The boys also made me special crafts and drawings for my birthday so all in all it was a great day.

Poor Pit – he's down in the pits. He had a very restless night that caused him (and us) to wake up several times for various reasons. At one moment he’s thirsty but then the next moment he needs to throw up the water he just drank. He doesn’t know if he’s hungry or needs to go to the toilet. The Mommy dealt with him the most because I had a human blanket called Frunty wound so tightly around me that I simply could not move. Thanks to the close contact, I now have the same dry cough and sore throat that is bothering him.

The boys are amazingly resilient though. Despite their poor health, they still are eager to go to people’s houses to play or go to the park on their bikes and run around, OR go to the chocolatier for fine treats! Luckily, the weather is cooperative and makes it easy for outings.

I couldn't get in the door! After a 6 day business trip, the boys were anxious to have me home but when I returned, I simply could not get past the entrance way. The reason? Mattresses, bedding and pillows had been piled up at the entrance so the boys could be super ready for my homecoming at 7:30am. I eventually managed to push my way through without waking up a single soul.

Later in the morning, around 9am when the boys started to wake up, they found me in their bed as if it was the most natural thing and we snuggled for a little while until their patience for gifts could not last any longer. So I crawled out of bed and we unpacked my luggage to give them various small gifts from America.

It was a slow start to the day, particularly since the morning was grey and drizzling but the afternoon was splendid so we went out to the street to bike and draw with chalk. Then our friend Shells arrived to babysit the boys so that The Mommy and I could go out for a little homecoming of our own.

We went to see a movie and later had drinks at the institutional Irish Pub before hitting another Brussels institution – Fritland. We took our cone of fries to the Grand Place just in time for the sound and light show displayed on the Town Hall - pop music in classical style. May sound cheesy but it actually was quite well done. That, and the fact that you can’t really go wrong when the setting is the Grand Place.

We're back to the civilized world. It was hard to say good bye to the area in Corsica known as Barcagiu. The trip home was a little difficult because of transportation and accomodation. Since it's peak season it was difficult to make sure we had seats on the bus and a camp site for the last night. But, we were able to figure things out and the only casualty was a forgotten lunch bag with fixings carefully prepared by the Mommy. We eventually made it home just before midnight on Saturday. On the plane on the approach to Brussels, Pit announced that he wanted to sleep and just moments before touch-down, he was snoring away. He was transfered from the plane all the way to his bed and didn't wake until 10am the next day. Frunty, instead, was energetic as usual and helped with luggage carts, baggage, and so forth. The boys are happy to be home and the next day they were thrown into the bath tub with a heavy duty scrubber. It's a cloudy, rainy, cool day in Brussels and I think everyone is nostalgic for the hot clear days and carefree lifestyle of camping in Corsica. Ah well, maybe next year!

Tooth Alert! Frunty lost a tooth at lunch today - twice! While munching on a dry cracker, his tooth lower left baby tooth seriously dislodged itself. Moments later it was proudly being displayed in his hand. It was put on the table since no one has pockets in their bathing suits but at some point I noticed in wasn't there anymore. We all figured in had fallen off the table in the dry dirt mixed with small pebbles that annoyingly have almost the same size, shape and colour as teeth. After 20 minutes of hunting in the dirt, we gave up the tooth as lost for good. The children finished their lunch and scampered off. Pit hadn't finished all his chicken so I lept his plate and reused his plate to eat my lunch. When I crunched through the 3rd last fork full  of salad, I knew the tomatoe or cabbage had an extra something mixed with it. When I removed the offending object from my mouth we were all surprised to find Frunty's tooth!

Today, we ate more sea urchin fresh out of the water and ate Giovanni's catch of the day sashimi style. The boys spent all day hunting for sea creatures, mostly tiny glass shrimps, amongst the rocks at the shore edge. Leonardo and Frunty have become best friends and do everyhting together. Too bad we need to move onwards tomorrow.

Arrived for the surprise! The Mommy and the Bello Boys sure were surprised when I jumped in the water to swim with them. And just in time too - Frunty had cried for me the night before I showed up for the first time in 3 weeks and Pit has clung to me since I've arrived and randomly tells me he loves me and plants big wet kisses on my cheek. Good thing I made the effort despite the difficulties of juggling various responsibilities. I booked plane tickets 30 hours in advance.
The setup is very nice and we take it quite easy during the day. So much so that the children don't eat supper until almost 9pm and the adults after 11pm. Today, Frunty has gone off with the Mommu for a hike to another beach and Pit is helping me tell this story. We're going to play Lego and generally stay out of the blistering sun.
Our little tent area has been tidied up and Frunty and Pit even won a prize for Best Setup. We grouped heavy rocks to make a round pit area for story time, a bunch of rocks make a little "sink", and Frunty and Pit had an idea to setup a tombstone for the Ghost of Pirate Giovanni, the protagonist during story time.
The water is crystal clear and a little cool getting in so it's refreshing swim after some hot sun and beach. The beach is made of tiny pebbles, the kind you find in fish tanks, so it's reasonably soft and we prefer it to fine sand because it's easier to stay clean.
I just asked Pit if I missed anything in this update and he said, "I like Mommy and Daddy!" There you have it - todays update.
* Claudio Scarabello, mobile: +32 477 27 97 10. Sent using handheld email device.

Like clockwork and with a certain amount of luck. I arrived last night in Ajaccio and found out that the next bus from the airport to the town would be 2 hours later. Luckily at the bus stop was a young woman who also needed to go to town so we split a cab and headed off. As it turns out, my hotel was exactly next door to the place where she needed to go. She was meeting 2 other girlfriends for drinks so I checked in and then went to meet them for drinks and dinner. Today, I walked 5 minutes from the hotel to the bus terminal and bought the 3rd last ticket to get to Sartene. I should arrive in about 15 minutes and hope to hitch hike the next 20km to Tizzano where I hope to find the rest of the family. Almost there!