While recently on vacation, I had daydreams of sleeping in for a bit (when i say "sleep in" I mean, past 7:30 am), and waking up to happy kids - still slumbering in dreamland and slowly adjusting to what the day will hold in store for us. Some coffee, some fruit. Maybe a bit of reading of the local newspaper, reviewing the activities for the day at hand.
However ... one of the mornings in Rome, I awoke to a little bitty standing next to my side of the bed. Blankie in one hand, the other set of fingers gingerly tapping at my shoulder.
"Mama. Mama. Mama?"
One eye opens to acknowledge that I see her. The same eye closes, as I say "baby girl, please go back to bed?"
"Mama? The sun is up. Can we go for a walk?"
I open both eyes and my hands stumble all over the nightstand that is not familiar to my touch. Looking for my phone to see what god-awful time it must be.
5:45 am Rome time. (in her defense, her little body thought it was about 8:45am, I think). Sheez. Really?
"Mia ... seriously. Please? Can you go back to bed? It's not even 6:00 am."
"Mama. The sun is up and we're on vacation."
Okay, okay ... I thought to myself. This IS her vacation just as much as it is mine.
"Mia - don't wake the boys up ... let daddy sleep. Go sit in the bathroom quietly and we'll get dressed and go for a walk."
(with both eyes open and now sitting vertical, I realized that the little punkin' was 100% dressed and ready to go already!)
Throwing clothes on, water on my face, camera on my shoulder and the hotel key into my pocket, off we went. 6:00 am still hadn't seen the hands of the clock. She was right though, the sun WAS up.
A quick right out of the hotel gate, and a left soon after. We talked about the pigeons and the flowers in the windowsills. We listened to the quiet and she asked if anyone else was awake. We came across a delightful pink moped. Do you see the sweet little tippy-toes, making sure she gets the picture just right?
Everywhere we walked, she snapped photos with her little camera. Pink, of course.
Another left .. at 6:05 am ... and we came across this.
The locals ... setting up a short farmers' market ... right in the middle of the street. Supplying the nearby restaurants with deliciously fresh produce and fish.
We were salivating. Drooling actually. The thought of picking a strawberry out of one of those baskets and plunking it straight into our mouth was so appealing. We didn't need to sterilize the fruit in bleach solution for an hour before enjoying.
Problem was, I hadn't imagined we'd happen across a smorgasbord of delicious-ness. I fast-talked and explained to Mia that the fruit would still be waiting for us after we got back to the hotel and Daddy woke up.
"Mama ... can we get some flowers after we get Daddy's money?"
Yes baby ... he would LOVE to buy you flowers!
We snuck back into the hotel room and quietly tapped Daddy's shoulder this time. "Daddy ... the sun is up and your baby girl would like to take you for a walk", I whispered.
Like the super-star dad that he is, he immediately got up, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and off we went.
We ate cherries, spitting the seeds onto the street. Dug into the strawberries and bought an extra basket, just in case. Peaches for mama and some apples for the boys.
Now at the flower stand, we soon found out that the roses were a smidge bit expensive, so we opted for a single sunflower.
Mia paid for her flower - nearly as big as she was ... and we headed back to the hotel to see if the brothers were awake.
Walking back with the Colosseum in view.
(still can't figure out how to balance the light for photos like this ... to get the Colosseum right, Mia/Husb are way dark. Hmpfh.)
I'm not sure that Little Miss was checking to make sure I was coming, as much as she was making sure I saw that SHE had her daddy's hand ... walking the streets of Rome ... all before 7:00 am on vacation.
When you take advantage of the opportunities that you are given, most often, you are surprised by the results!
This morning was a fantastic reminder for ME to take advantage ... FULL advantage of the lessons, experiences and enjoyment that the littles (and the big one) are wanting to share with me.
A reminder to continue "getting up" to participate ... the rewards are plentiful!
