One thing that we have learned here in Italy is that when the kids are in school, that is about all that they do, school work. We (try to) leave the house at 7:50 every morning, Monday through Saturday and get to school between 8:05 and 8:10. The boys are in classes until 1:00 in the afternoon. By the time we wait for most of the other people to clear out of the school grounds and we walk home, it is about 1:45. Then we eat lunch and the boys get started on their homework. Homework can take between one and a half hours and four hours, but usually it is about two and a half hours of work. This is what we have come to call, "The Grind". 
Monday February 9th was a different day though. After five weeks and 30 days of school, we were all tired and needed something different; so, we had a "snow" day for the boys. After the boys were in bed Sunday night, Melody and I cut up a bunch of paper and made some snow flakes to hang on their door for the next morning. (See picture to the right) Each "snow flake" said, "This snow flake good for one day off from school. Bring it to Mom & Dad when you want to use it." All three were used on Monday!
The day was a relaxed one to be sure. Much of it was spent at home doing some fun stuff together, reading, games (Ugly Doll is great!) and just enjoying the fact that we really did not have anything that had to be done. We had pushed the boys to get their homework done on Saturday so that they would not have to work on Monday. After lunch and a nap for Isaiah, we all piled into the Multipla and drove down to Polignano a Mare. For those of you who have visited with us, you will recognize the name. It is a beautiful seaside town that we are learning to appreciate more and more as a place to just get away for a little.
We got there and enjoyed throwing rocks into the sea and watching the waves crash against the rocks. The wind was cold but it was still fun to be able to walk along the coast with no one else around and enjoy it all with the boys. It was beautiful as always.
We stayed for about an hour and then headed back home for a relaxed evening to finish out the relaxed day. We stopped by "Blockbuster" (yep,we have them here too!) and got the movie, "Over the Hedge". Once we got home we ordered pizza and enjoyed pizza and a movie. It is nice to be able to order pizza for everyone now. There is a pizzeria that we know that delivers fresh made gluten-free pizza. It was a good end to a "snow" day.