Two weeks and a fresh fall of snow later, we are back at Sette Termini!

This Sunday we went on a fantastic morning walk around Sette Termini the mountain just behind our house (literally!)

Now I know some of you were hoping for a boat, but unfortunately Arlo (who is director in charge of box ideas) had other plans.

Our Spotty Otter sock box managed to survive its sled adventure relatively unscathed, and now the snow has melted we wanted to transform it into a new mode of transport. We also wanted to recycle our used Christmas wrapping paper, so we eventually settled on a papier-mache hot air balloon.

Watching the ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ award this week has reminded me what a fabulous year of sport we have had. It has certainly inspired the next generation of our family.

There has been much excitement in our house since the arrival of our Spotty Otter socks. When would the snow come? When could he wear them?

Although I love interesting sticks as much as the next person, they are beginning to take over the house! So this week I’ve been trying to think of interesting ways to repurpose our ever-growing stick collection. Let me introduce you to the stick Christmas tree.

... A really interesting stick.

All this talk of the Peak District has brought back very fond memories of our first proper family holiday with Arlo, so we thought we’d take you on a trip down memory lane with us.

One of the best ways to go green is to get on your bike and we have certainly been inspired to get cycling after reading so many fabulous blogs from our fellow Little Trekkers.

This weekend we set our pitfall trap. We had intended to leave it overnight, but after a forecast for rain we decided to check back later that day to look at and release anything we had caught.

This weekend Arlo and I are going to be garden bug detectives.

...I can do too (unless it involves eating green vegetables)!

After an aborted boat trip this morning due to the wind, we thought we’d head to Germignaga for a quick swim.

Living in Italy it would be easy to get caught up in the idea that children should be spotlessly clean, stylishly dressed and wrapped up snugly at even the slightest hint of “aria” (or breeze to you and I).

We are huge fans of Moors Valley and the Gruffalo, so when we heard about the Gruffalo trail we swiftly added it to our holiday must do list. Moors Valley never disappoints.

We have just come back from a very rainy two weeks in the UK. So while the rest of the country was watching Andy Murray in the final, we weren’t about to pass up the opportunity of a rare break in the clouds and headed for Bournemouth beach.

The sun is out and potty training season is upon us. This week we have mostly been avoiding the chilled aisle in the supermarket and instead exploring some of the many walking routes close to home.

I’ve been on many a school trip in my life, but nothing quite like today. Today was the annual nursery school summer outing. We all met at Laveno bright and early for our short boat ride over to the park of the Villa Pallavicino on the other side of Lake Maggiore.

At even the slightest hint of sunshine the Teva hurricane shoes come out. When you are two years old there is nothing, and I mean nothing, more exciting than having a pair of shoes with dinosaurs on!

The trouble with having two biology teachers as parents is that Arlo gets roped into lesson planning on the weekends. Yesterday we went down to our local river to see what we could find in preparation for some fieldwork. Arlo got stuck in having mastered his skills in the rock pools of Cyprus a couple of weeks ago.

Number 37 on the on the list of 50 things to do before you’re 11 and ¾ (National Trust) is – check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool.

Like many toddlers, Arlo is a fan of In the Night Garden (or ‘the evening horticultural programme’ as is its code name in our house!) His favourite character is Makka Pakka, and Makka Pakka’s favourite pastime is collecting and arranging stones (he also like washing, but somehow this has failed to rub off on Arlo!)

It's not just trees and bushes that make great nesting sites for birds, tombs are perfect too!

Wondering what to do on a slightly overcast day in Paphos? We can highly recommend the Tombs of the Kings.

This Easter we headed off to Cyprus for a wedding. The Italians aren’t very keen on Cyprus, so, incredibly but true, the fastest and cheapest way to get there was to fly back to the UK and then out again!

Yesterday we went skiing in Splügen, a ski resort in the German part of Switzerland. Arlo was desperate to have a go like the big boys but at 2 years and 3 months we thought he was a bit too young for proper skis and boots so we bought him some of the little plastic play skis.

We’ve had a very snowy weekend here in Italy. When you're little, it seems that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to pack in all the fun and excitement that snow generates.

Well, if you ask Arlo, he will tell you with great certainty that this is where ‘Mike the Knight’ lives.

In Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman with a broomstick who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on the night of January 5th. Befana fills up stockings with treats for good children, but if you have been naughty she will leave you a lump of coal.

We’ve had some amazing weather so far this winter; so on a particularly glorious Thursday before Christmas we made a trip to Beaulieu in the New Forest. The motor museum was deserted and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, which is just as well with three car mad toddlers in tow!

This year we decided to take the Swanage railway Santa special. Whilst flying is second nature, Arlo had yet to travel by train so the excitement levels where off the scale! Despite the bad weather we thoroughly enjoyed our hour long steam train ride through the Purbeck countryside.

Autumn has been long and lovely here in Italy. Our favourite game this autumn has been a special version of hide and seek.

...you’re sure of some big and small surprises!

This week I took some of my students down to the stream to see what we could find, and here is just a small sample of what we discovered.

As is the case with toddlers, I suggest an activity and then Arlo takes it in his own direction.

….. a cable car, the Monte Tamaro cable car to be precise. We decided to make the most of the autumn sunshine today with a trip to Monte Tamaro in Switzerland.

….. a beautiful view across the lake just for starters. We took a picnic, although there is also a reasonably priced (for Italy) restaurant at the top.

This weekend we decided to take a ride on the bucket lift.

This weekend we went to the ‘Festival delle Sagre’ in Asti, the Monferrato region of Italy. The festival celebrates the life, traditions and food of rural Italy. It begins with a parade involving around 3,000 people and showcases their traditional clothing and farming equipment together with lots of livestock.

Inspired by one of our fellow Little Trekkers love of trucks, I thought I’d share some of Arlo’s favourite trucks, cars and bikes.

We are lucky enough to live on the border of Italy and Switzerland, so we can often be found popping to another country for the afternoon. Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Lugano, Switzerland. Arlo loves Lugano.

This week we have been staying in Mulazzo, Tuscany. It’s a beautiful, walled, Tuscan village with some wonderful castle ruins.

Even on holiday in Italy, the sun doesn’t shine every day. So on a gusty, damp day we headed to Genoa. Our first stop was the aquarium, which was brilliant (and as a biology teacher I’ve been to a fair few aquariums in my time)! Arlo particularly loved stoking the rays, although there were a few times when I thought we might lose him in the tank!

We have spent the last week at the sea in Liguria. It was Arlo’s first trip to the sea and he loved it. He discovered the fine art of wave jumping with a little help from dada.

Arlo has spent the last few weeks testing his Teva infant psyclone sandals. He loves them (and so do I)!

This week we visited Lake Monate in Varese. It is smaller, shallower and crucially much warmer than Lake Maggiore!

….if you’re lucky enough to be wearing a Splash About neoprene wrap. For the rest of us it was more than a little chilly!

We’ve had a couple of stormy days here in Italy. The perfect weather for giving our Spotty Otter suit a thorough test!

Earlier in the week, Arlo and I were out in the garden when we heard a very familiar bird call coming from the wisteria.

This weekend we took the boat across to the beautiful Cannero Riviera. Summer feels in full swing here in Italy and the streets were filled with people enjoying a ‘passeggiata’ (an Italian afternoon/early evening stroll).

Inspired by the garden pursuits of 'Squid & Me', we have decided to try and grow tomatoes in our Little Trekkers post bag. This time we read the labels very carefully in the garden centre so that we were sure we had tomato plants and not chillies!

Moors Valley is a country park and forest in Dorset. I was a frequent visitor there when I was a child and I absolutely loved it. On a visit back to the UK this Easter we decided to take the next generation. To be honest, I was afraid that it wouldn’t live up to the amazing memories I have, but it exceeded all my expectations.

On our recent trip back to the UK we visited St Catherine’s Hill (or Grandma’s back garden as it is otherwise known!) It’s a beautiful area of heathland and coniferous forest in Christchurch. It is home to loads of wildlife including sand lizards and adders, and the Friends of St Catherine’s Hill run various events throughout the year if you want a helping hand spotting wildlife.

Arlo was so excited to see the huge towable water ring at the boat park this morning. Last year it mostly served as his playpen whilst we got the boat ready, but this year he definitely has that look as if to say, “I’m ready to go large with the big boys!”

We LOVE Christchurch in Dorset. There is nothing better than taking your own children back to your childhood haunts.

This week we’ve been out and about in the vegetable garden. This year we’ve decided to try and create raised beds, which are just perfect for a toddler who wants to copy mummy in the garden. Faced with such enthusiasm, there was only one thing to do, buy a very small watering can and set him to work!

There’s only one thing to do on a sunny Saturday morning and that’s take to the water.

Spring has well and truly sprung here in Italy. Many people would describe our garden as overgrown and unkempt, however, we prefer to think of it as an explorer’s garden ;-)

Flying with babies and small children – a sentence that all too frequently strikes fear into the hearts of parents. Arlo’s at that awkward age where he doesn’t want to sit on my lap for 5 minutes let alone a two-hour flight, and is partial to wiping soggy biscuits on men in smart business suits! 16 months and 16 flight segments later I’ve got it down to a fine art so I thought I’d share my tips with you.

What is the best thing about living in a country with a tradition of eating, drinking and socialising late into the evening? At 8.30 on a Sunday morning Lake Maggiore is ours and ours alone, well apart from the odd eager duck ready to please its first visitors of the day.

I guess we are an unusual family in that we spend part of our time in the UK and part of our time in Italy. This means that every product we buy for Arlo has to make the grade if it's going to take up precious luggage space on one of our many adventures. In the last year Arlo has been carried around The Peak District, sledging in the Italian Alps, and sailing on the Italian lakes.