Day 136 - Easter Sunday in Italy & Expectations vs Reality with Kids

Day 136 and Easter Sunday. After yesterday’s family meeting, led by Maddie to plan out the day, things shifted slightly straight away. Instead of the planned 7am wake-up, the kids were up and moving by 6:30, too excited to stay in bed any longer. Kia and I followed them downstairs where they were already deep into conversations about what the Easter Bunny had brought and what was sitting on the table from us.

We made coffees and sat down together to go through everything. The Easter Bunny gifts were first. We each had a big egg with something inside. Maddie got a keyring, Emmett got a little toy car, Kia got a small handbag-style locket, and I got a QR code that linked to a recipe page, which was actually pretty funny. Then the kids gave gifts to each other. Emmett had bought Maddie a colouring book, and Maddie got Emmett a small travelling sewing kit and an eraser pen from a local San Foca shop. Kia and I had also picked up Lego for both of them, something they’d been wanting since Austria, so there was a lot of excitement around that.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Maddie was disappointed with the keyring, and Emmett wasn’t too happy after realising the Lego set he got was one we already had back home. It made sense given what it represented for this trip, but in the moment, that didn’t really matter to him. The mood dipped a bit. Maddie didn’t want to go for the run anymore and just wanted to stay back and build Lego. Kia, who gets just as excited about Easter as the kids, felt it too, and the morning didn’t quite hit the way we’d all imagined.

We split briefly, with Kia ready to head out on her own, Emmett coming with me, and Maddie staying behind, but I managed to talk Maddie around and eventually we all headed out together. It ended up being a really good run. Maddie and I stuck together, Kia and Emmett ran together, and we made our way to the same coffee shop we’ve been going to. There was a good vibe around, plenty of cyclists, runners, and people out walking. We grabbed coffees, and the kids got doughnuts as an Easter treat before heading back.

Back at the accommodation, Kia cooked up omelettes for breakfast while the kids went straight back into building their Lego. Despite the big list Maddie had put together the day before, all they really wanted to do was sit and build. Kia and I were pretty tired from a late night and early start, so we took half an hour to chill while they played.

We regrouped for lunch and then in the afternoon I took the kids out for a walk to burn off some of the chocolate-fuelled energy. They were both buzzing. After a bit of exploring, we headed back. Maddie went straight back to her Lego again, while Emmett wanted to kick his soccer ball, so we headed to a nearby park. On the way back, we took a detour through the neighbourhood and noticed how much was going on. There were people everywhere.

Just as we were getting close to the accommodation, Kia messaged saying we should probably head out and be part of whatever was happening. Out the front there were hundreds of people gathered, a big stage set up, but nothing actually happening on it. It was more just a big social scene, people drinking, sitting around, chatting.

Maddie wanted to stay in, Emmett kept kicking his ball outside with a bunch of other kids, and Kia and I grabbed a table nearby and had a drink together. We sat there for a couple of hours just talking while keeping an eye on Emmett. He ended up joining in with a group of kids, kicking the ball around and having a great time.

Eventually he came over and said one of the kids was being a bit annoying and he didn’t really want to play with him, and by that stage it was around 8:30, so we called it. He wasn’t too keen to stop, still running on sugar and energy, but we wrapped it up and headed back.

That was Easter Sunday in San Foca. Not exactly how we planned it, a few ups and downs, but still a really good day all the same.