Talkin' and Hoppin'

Today has been one of those days that I really wish Ava didn't have to be buckled in a car seat each time we have to drive somewhere.  Very often I feel compelled to say "Hop in the driver's seat with me, kiddo, and let's roll!"  Haha...I know, I know...after the ranting and raving about using her car seat on the plane, here I am contradicting myself.  Well, obviously I would never do that.  Sometimes I hate the whole process of opening her door, climbing in, buckling up, making sure cup/blankie/toy are in reach then closing the door, getting in myself, buckling up, driving wherever, getting out, opening her door removing the cup/blankie/toy in her lap, and crawling out of the seat and door at a snail's pace.  It just makes any set of multiple errands turn into an eternity.  This is what we experienced today, having to go to literally 7 stops which included this whole process.  And I'm an organized mommy who only makes necessary stops, tries to multitask in a certain store, and then drive a route with the least amount of backtracking!

Anyways, these were all errands for the trip.  One errand was going to get my International Driver's License at AAA, even though I'm not a member.  What a deal: to drive anywhere in an allotted 150 countries, I just needed to show my US driver's license, get 2 passport photos, and pay $15!  This will be valid for a whole year, and should I ever be stopped in a foreign country this little booklet contains all my driver's information translated into 10 languages.  It is just a good way to be able to communicate with foreign authorities should there be any cause, and will probably help me be in a better position for driving legally outside of the US.  And for being a law-abiding mommy to a 3 year old in the back seat : )

Ava was a trooper, running in and out of stores with me and making all the sales clerks smile as we walked by as she talk, talk, talked and hop, hop, hopped.  Sadly, all this talking and hopping resulted in a couple of little blisters on her toes, due to her new Old Navy Jelly shoes.  She has been wearing the pink pair all summer long, and one of the straps cracked.  So, thanks to the sale's rack, we found a new pair of the pink ones, and a pair of the green sandals.  Poor girl has to learn the joy of wearing shoes, means the pain of breaking them in!  

Also, with all her talking and hopping, I think most of the city now knows we are moving to Italy.  Even the other day we were in the shopping mall, and were talking to a sale's clerk who was from Bari, Italy!  Ava proudly said her two favorite Italian words for him, "gatto" and "ciao" and everyone was impressed.  Last week at the dentist, Ava was getting her teeth fixed and the dentist asked "So where will you go after your teeth are all better?  Will you go to the park, or to the movies?"  Ava promptly said (with the nitrous oxide still sitting on her nose) "I'm going to Italy!!!"  All three of the dental assistants looked up at me "She said Italy!"  and I was like, "Yeah, we're moving there in a couple of weeks"  Haha!  Sometimes I forget how blessed I have been to have the opportunity to travel so much.  Some people never get on a plane in their lives...Ava was on her first plane at 3 weeks old!  It just makes me realize what a special time this will be for both of us.  How many kids really will be able to say "Yeah, when I was 3 I went to live in Italy with my mom, just because we wanted to."  Well, we might be crazy, but that's okay.  We'll just keep talkin and hoppin, even when we're in Italy.