Home from Rome

We're back!  And I took hundreds of pictures (literally).  Today I'm going to share a few from the Roman Forum and such.  Tomorrow I think I'll show some of Ostia, but that's for later.  Anyway, our Roman holiday was awesome.  I saw all these things that I've always read about in books.  And best of all, it wasn't crowded practically anywhere!  Really.  Go in March, if you ever have the chance to go.

in the forum

On Tuesday, we got into our hotel around 1:00.  Nathaniel surprised me by being up to walking around all afternoon and evening.  He took me on an obelisk tour, because you know I like Egyptian stuff.

And we toured the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.  The Trevi Fountain was amazing, but it was very crowded.  We went to some piazzas and saw artists painting and just had a very pleasant walk.  I also got my first gelatto and fell in love with the dark chocolate. 
On Wednesday we went to the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Capitoline Museum.  I was surprised by the lack of signs at the forum, but I really enjoyed it.  We took our time (translation: Nathaniel followed me around for hours).  We saw the Palatine Hill and house of Augustus, which we were allowed to go into to see the frescos.  I was able to peek into the house of Livia, and the paintings in there looked incredible, but it wasn't open to the public and was hard to see.  Everywhere I turned, I saw something from one of my old Latin or history books.  Heaven!  Then we headed onto the Colosseum.

On Thursday, we went to the Vatican.  We bought tickets ahead of time so we could get in fast, and it really paid off.  We got in before it's actually open, around 8:30, along with a lot of other people.  But all of those other people went to one side, so we went to the other and had the entire Paintings gallery to ourselves.  I mean, other than the security guards (who are understandibly placed in nearly every room) Nathaniel and I could view works by Raphael, Carravaggio, etc BY OURSELVES.  And this was room after room after room. There was a tapestry room, too, with enourmous tapestries depicting Jesus's life.  All of the paintings were from the twelfth through seventeenth centuries, and I recognized several, although I couldn't have told you who painted what most of the time without reading the labels. 

Then we headed to the early Christian sarcophogus rooms, which we had to ourselves, too. 

After those two galleries, we did encounter other people, but there were only a few places that were truly crowded (like the Sistine Chapel, of course, and the Map Room and Raphael Rooms).   The Vatican Museums are amazingly huge and labyrinth-like.  We spent several hours there, and then headed to St. Peter's Square.

in front of St. Peter's Basilica (the square was partially blocked off due to preparations for the holy week masses that would be coming up the next week)

We wandered through St. Peter's and then back onto the square.  We went into a free exhibit on the history of the bible that had several old bibles and related artifacts on display, including a fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls.  One of the most interesting things in that exhibit was the biblical papyrus fragment found in a mummy case in Egypt. 

I'm going to stop for now, but you can see how amazing Rome was!

Chicks go wandering

Under the protection of mama hen, the chicks have decided to flee the coop.  They all enjoy the yard, and Sol (the hen) is very protective of them.  She allows us (the people) to pick up her chicks, but she doesn't allow any other hens or the rooster near them.  I saw her run the rooster off of the treats I brought out this morning, and then she and the chicks devoured the muffin crumbs while the other adult chickens clustered in another area.

Here Sol is clustering the chicks in the corner away from the neighbor's loud lawnmower.  As the lawnmower receeded to the other side of the yard, the chicks were out and about again.

Lydia is very good at catching chicks.  She loves them!  She's trying to be gentle, although I have to remind her of course. 

Around the yard today

Lydia and I have really been enjoying this weather.  She's loved being able to play outside "barefeeted".

And check out this gorgeous tree by our deck:

And now that it's been warm, I've been using the clothesline again.  (Yes, those are cloth diapers.  Lydia's been potty-trained for months, but she still wears diapers to bed at night.)

It surely doesn't feel like March around here. 

In one week...

I will be in Rome.  Wow. 

I've been trying to get everything done, shopping, birthdays, consignment sale, etc.  I'm almost done with my medicine for the poison ivy (and it's healing nicely).  We have had several projects around here that I'm either wrapping up or stopping until we get back.  Whew.  And Nathaniel leaves in the morning for Missouri for a couple of days. 

It's just a bit crazy around here...:)

New Floors

Our hardwood flooring came in, and Nathaniel and his coworker Bill picked it up today.  I love it!

As you can see, it's a lot of flooring, since we're going to put hardwood throughout the upstairs.  We also have butcher block counter tops, but one of the two we ordered was cracked, so they had to reorder that one.  I am so excited to finally have hardwood floors!

Creativity

Yesterday at church, the kids in my class were given foam blocks, popscicle sticks, and small wooden figures of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to make their own nativity scenes. 
What, can't you tell that this is a manger scene?!!  Look closer, and you'll see the people inside:

Yes, this was Malachi's version of the nativity.  He very excitedly constructed it, and when he was done, I asked him to tell me about it.  His response?  Mary, Jesus, and Joseph are inside the temple of doom and have to be rescued.  There are lots of booby traps, and you have to be careful and brave to get to them and get them out.
Can you tell that they've been playing Indiana Jones Lego Wii lately?  And that he's a bit obsessed? 

P.S. I really did tell them the Christmas story, and it did not make any references to temples of doom or booby traps.  Just in case you're wondering. :)

Spring Day

Well, it may not be officially spring yet, but it sure looks like it around here.  It's hard to believe that we had snow a week ago.  Lydia had a blast in her rain boots:

Right now our yard is heaven for mud-loving toddlers.  You can hardly walk across the yard without slipping because of all the mud.
 And the flowers, oh, the flowers!

The hyacinths are starting to bloom and smell heavenly.  And, of course, you know about our little baby chicks:

So it may be early, and winter may yet decide to come back, but for now, it's spring.