Day 2: Train Ride to Italy and the Duomo

 

We woke up Tuesday morning and headed to the train station for our trip from Zurich to Milan to Turin.

The train from Zurich to Milan had scenic views through the Alps.

We arrived in Turin in the early afternoon.

Our hotel had a cool looking elevator:

After leaving our bags at the hotel, we headed to the Duomo, Turin's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is buried here.

There is also a relic of St. John the Baptist:

And, the Shroud of Turin is in the Cathedral.  It is not on display, which I knew, but it was still cool to be where it is.  I studied history under Dr. Scavone, a Shroud scholar, so I have heard much about the Shroud.  You will see the Shroud pop up periodically during our trip.

European Vacation, Day 1

This weekend, we've got two birthdays to celebrate, Lydia's and Elijah's.  So I've been doing a lot of cooking.  And I'm still recovering from our vacation, and catching up on laundry and such.  

 Nathaniel and I went on a little vacation to Italy!  We've been calling it the "honey, I'm glad you didn't die" trip.  Originally, we had planned to go to Europe for our 20th anniversary, but there were still a lot of Covid issues then, so we decided to postpone it.  Then, I ended up in the hospital.  I've spent the last 2 1/2 years trying to get better, so 23rd anniversary trip it is.  We used Nathaniel's points for plane tickets, which took us first to Zurich, Switzerland.  Here is our day in Zurich:

We mostly walked around town.  I got my first hot chocolate, which I ended up drinking every day at least once.  It's not hot cocoa, like we drink at home, but hot chocolate, liquid chocolate.  So very delicious!

I love this picture of Nathaniel by Lake Zurich:

We wandered up to the Catholic Church, Liebfruenkirche.

It was very pretty.  It was built in the 1800s.

We had a good dinner at the Swiss restaurant in our hotel.  The hotel even had a big bathtub that Nathaniel was able to soak in to loosen up his back. We headed to bed ready for the next party of the journey: a morning train ride to Turin, Italy! 

This n That

 Nathaniel had a birthday.  Elijah was bummed that he picked cherry pie for dessert instead of trifle.  Malachi is home for spring break.  Pilot is in Florida for same break.  The animals are doing pretty well.  Nathaniel and I are getting prepared for our big vacation.  Gyunay continues to get better at swimming.  Lydia and Emry are still doing their sports, but the season has changed from winter to spring.  Hopefully, Lydia will get in quite a bit of pole vault practice this week with the nice weather.  As you can see, the updates are pretty much same ol', same ol'.   

I have been planting seedlings in the sunroom, and right now I'm soaking pea seeds so I can plant pea pods later today.  It is absolutely gorgeous outside!  

Achievements

 The boys have had some achievements lately that I never posted.  First up, Emry and Gyunay participated in the Knights of Columbus free throw contest.  Only one other kid also competed.  Emry won and got to go on to the regional competition.

At the regional, he ran into kids that really practice free throws, so now he knows what he needs to do if he wants to do better next time.  He enjoyed it.  He also enjoyed his game Saturday, where he played really well.

Gyunay just finished his side-by-side art class, where an adult or teen pairs with a special needs student to create art.  He had a gallery display on the last night.

He was excited to show off his pottery and painting.  Also, they had cookies, so that was appreciated by all of the kids.

Goodbye, Sheep

 

My sheep went back home Saturday.

 

We are all sad, including the dogs, who can't seem to figure out where the sheep went.

We really enjoyed having the sheep.  If I had a pasture and a barn....

February Harvest Totals

 Eggs - 102

Jalapenos - 2

Lettuce - 1 cup

Peppers, Bulgarian - 2

Beauty

It really is remarkably beautiful.  We've had a lot of snow this winter, and this week has been very, very cold.  Still, the animals are all doing well.

Buddy Bean is intimidated by no animal.  The sheep were curious about this little flockmate.

And here is my flock following me across the yard.

 

Little Lambs

 

The boys' neighbor friend really loves the sheep, and he is very gentle with them.  He's excited when he's here at feeding time.  He and Gyunay enjoyed feeding the lambs.  His mom told him not to get any ideas; they aren't getting sheep!

They are growing and becoming more agile.  They have lost the newborn baby wobbles.  They are still adorable, and they come running when they see or hear me, because they know I have food.

Emry likes to sing, "Angel has two little lambs..."

Their shepherdress is going to come by on Tuesday to give them a vaccine and to band the boy.  I wonder what she will think of our sheep set-up.  Lydia calls it our "ghetto sheep pen".  It doesn't look great, but it keeps them dry and out of the wind.  When it's not raining or snowing, they do like to run around the yard.  They also like to lay against the house when it's sunny, because the bricks are warm in the sun.  

A Little Too Much

 It's been quite the week.  We still love the lambs.  Emry and Gyunay have fed them, too, but I haven't gotten pictures of them with the lambs yet. The sheep have been such a big hit here with everyone.

We brought them up on the deck for feeding so Malachi could see them.  We had Elijah go collect him Thursday, because he had his big toenails removed that morning.  He has spent the long weekend with us, recuperating.  Elijah took him back this afternoon, and Pilot will help watch over him (and drive him to class) for the time being.  

Unfortunately, Malachi was not the only family member down this weekend.   

Gyunay took a hard fall in the driveway and banged his head on the brick stairs.  He now has 2 staples on the top of his head.

Nurse Aunt Natosha was helpful in telling us to get to the ER, and she sent Gyunay this turkey snuggie, which he loves.

On the plus side, Acorn has absolutely loved having Malachi laying on the couch the last few days: