Ciao Motto Anastasia

   This is our 2nd full day in Motto Anastasia.  The kids were fabulous the whole trip to Sicily. The plane rides well too! On the plane from Philly to Roma we were the only family with small children, and that is out of about 300 people! There was an older lady who was to sit next to "Lil Man", and she did everything not to sit by him. She stood near her seat, hunting down stewardess' to ask to find an empty seat to move to. Hilarious! She did accomplish her goal, little did she know, that it just gave our family more room! Daddy sat w/ "Punk-a-butt" and "Lil Man", while I sat with "Tytie". The couple beside "Tytie" and myself was a newly wed couple, on their honeymoon. Oh, the look on their faces wehn they realized they'd be sitting beside a toddler! Little did they know, he was going to be so well behaved the whole trip, the whole 8 1/2 hrs to Roma.
   About 4 1/2 hrs into the flight the kids fell asleep, til about the time we landed. We had a 4 hr layover in Roma, which was a stressful 4 hrs. Our cell that the hubby's company sent us, didn't work; we couldn't connect to the airports wireless (for some unknown reason); and the plane to Catania was going to be an hour late. We had no way of getting a hold of someone in Catania to pick us up. The hubby's boss was to pick us up.  "Tytie" fell asleep waiting in line to board the plane. we then found out while finally boarding the plane to Catania, that "Tytie" was not allowed to sit in his carseat. He would have to sit on my lap. Not so much fun, I might add! Thank goodness the flight was only about an hour and a half.
    After landing, we located our luggage, car seats, and stroller. The car seats were damaged, thanks to a particular airport, who's name I will not mention. We were finally able to get a hold of the hubby's boss via my Kindle, thank god for the 3G! So, his boss Ian walks us from the airport in Catania, to the car rental building.  The hubby came out to inform me that the travel woman from his work never made reservations. Because we had no reservations, we couldn't rent a car. In addition, the rental company's computers were down. If we had a reservation we could have gotten a car. So we put all of our things in Ian's car, and just as I suspected, no room for anyone else but "Tytie", the hubby, and Ian. I wanted to cry, and I did.  Right in front of the hubby's boss. Such a great first impression. I turned around and noticed taxis sitting in front of the airport, so for 70Euros, which is about 110USD we made our way to our hotel. We thought all was well. NOT! We also did not have hotel reservations! Damn that travel lady. Here we are in a foreign country w/ no car, nor a place to sleep!  Thank god Ian was there, because he took us to another hotel that had an open apartment! YAY!  Plus, Ian bought us some starter groceries. So, the family and I had Cheerios and bananas for dinner and went to bed at 8p. We were up for almost 31hrs. We were exhausted to say the least!
  The next day went a lot better, we made sausages for dinner and had a yummy fruit salad. After dinner, we went for a walk in the neighborhood, a stressful walk. The cars fly up and down the roads, and there barely any sidewalks, so your walking on the road! Geez! I was nervous the whole time, holding the kiddos hands and trying to keep them safe.  Today we went for a chilly swim in the pool. The pool is to die for! It reminds me of a pool you see on a travel channel, all luxurious. We are all well rested now, and on a good schedule for sleep. I am hoping for an awesome 30th birthday/6th wedding anniversary weekend here in Sicily!  Ciao! (Pics later, I promise)