This is the backside of Santa Maria Maggiore church. One of the 4 main churches here.
Behind the church is a famous gelato place. Regan has been dying to try it out/compare it with some of the others. This was mine...fruit mix, strawberry cheesecake, and basically a cookies and cream. I like the cheesecake one the best.
The portion sizes here were huge! And I do like that they added the little wafers to your cup of ice cream, but I don't think I would say it's my favorite place. It was good. We've really only had one gelato place that we didn't care for.
These flowers were blooming as we walked through the park to get home.
We went out with some friends. Benjamin asked if he could get an ice cream instead of fries. So, we ordered him a KING sized oreo ice cream. He was not impressed with the size...especially when they brought out the "free ice cream" for the baby HAHAHA!
This is the kid size? I think they messed up somewhere ;) Silas was super excited.
Well, we have a home! This is our new apartment building!!
Here is the view from our balcony.
Also from our balcony...we are directly across from the school that the younger three kids will be attending in the fall.
We had a couple more nights in the airBNB. Regan made tuscan chicken with rice. Yum!!
Happy 4th of July from Rome! We were all in blues.
walking to church
The entrance to Rome Baptist, an international English service. The kids enjoyed the English service. I'm curious what it is like when it's not summer. In the summer, all churches suspend Sunday school and kids' activities...not sure why.
This lady brings her sand and sculpts out a dog, hoping for donations for her talent.
Moving is exhausting. He looked how we all felt. He couldn't keep his eyes open after our trip to IKEA to pick out beds.
The girls' room
Everyone working together to get the beds built.
Dario comes over twice a week to tutor the younger three in Italian. Hopefully this will give them a little help for when school starts.
This is our bedroom :) Jonathan still needs a desk, but beds come first.
Here's our selfie as we called Grandmommy to sing Happy Birthday to her!
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme...one of the top 4 churches in the city
The first and last time we will take the tram in Rome. I'm glad Hudson got to ride it because it's been on his to do list, but no thanks.
Three Italian Greyhounds. Lauren was so excited to see them "shopping" in the store. She's been wanting one for a couple of years. I thought they would be super ugly, but in person they were actually kind of cute. (Don't worry. We are not getting any more dogs.)
After shopping at Leroy Merlin (like a Home Depot) the kids needed a rest. Three of our rooms had no lights, so we were picking out fixtures. Again. Exhausting. Probably because we have an hour plus commute on either side to get there and home.
Waiting for the bus
Regan took this picture. Like father like son. Both fell sound asleep on the bus...but both denied it.
Our house key...it's about 4 inches long. I didn't know they actually made keys like this.
The "main station" in Rome.
Ikea delivery. I feel bad for these guys. The boxes don't fit in the tiny elevators. So they must carry it up the stairs.
The stairs from our floor looking down
Katherine and Lauren helping us put the couch together.
Hudson and Regan building his bed.
Our table hasn't arrived yet. So, we improvised. The kids ate on top of the box that the couch came in, and Jonathan and I ate on this flat cardboard.
Benjamin and Regan working on the boys' beds.
our pile of trash for the dumpster downstairs. So, we found out that we have to pay a trash tax. I guess we are getting our money's worth! (Bad news for us..the tax is calculated based on the size of your family)
Silas came over to see our new place.
The girls finished the beds!!
WE were eso tired after working all day in the heat to put furniture together. So, we decided to eat out. WE have eaten at this place before because it's good and a good price. We have not eaten here at night though. I'm pretty sure these portions are much larger than lunch!
Our waiter wanted to be in the family picture :)
My laundry room is complete! The two pieces of furniture were left by the owner, but very useful for storage. All of our suitcase fit into the closet!
The boys' room. We still need to order them a comforter, but this is a start. We let them pick out the type of mattress. Hudson wanted thin and hard. Benjamin wanted thicker, soft, but not too soft.
Katherine finally got to unpack her stuffed animals. These little guys have literally traveled the globe! :)
Jonathan and Katherine cooking for the first time in our new place!
On our last day at the ABNB, the host treated us to a coffee and pastry. Well, the kids don't really drink coffee. So I asked for a chocolate cappuccino. I don't think he understood what I wanted. He gave us one cappuccino and two hot chocolate drinks. Not hot chocolate like in the States, but super thick mousse that was hot. It actually wasn't terrible, but super rich!
We got the study are finished in the girls' room.
The intricacy in these carving fascinate me. I wish I could see it up close, but they have is guarded.
An elderly couple asked us out to eat after church. They wanted to know if the kids liked McDonald's because they haven't eaten there in a really long time and wanted to go :)
Hudson asked if I would buy him an Italian flag. He was so proud carrying it home...just in time for the finals match against England.
They all got seats on the metro.
The pigeons invade the park!
We got Benjamin's desk put together. He was working on his painting in his free time.
Our first meal at our table! The chairs will come in August. So we bought some stools to use for now...which will come in handy when we have guests over.
Euro 2020...we watched it in Italian. Katherine made popcorn for the event.
Italy won! The people celebrated by going to get in their cars and create their own parade. The honking and cheering started immediately, but grew louder and more constant every minute.
Here's a picture from 1 AM!!!
The kids have been waiting for 2 years for Black Widow to come out. It was playing at ONE theater in English. Lauren was in heaven when she realized you could get a cup of candy just like you get a bucket of popcorn.
We had to sit 3 and 4 because of Covid restrictions, but had the entire row.
Re di Roma pizza....those little round ones are good.
Haha! It looks like we eat gelato every day HAHAHA!
Katherine and Regan cared for someone's plants for a month while they were gone. They gave each of them a little spending money. SO sweet of them! The girls were not expecting anything! When Katherine was watching the final match, she fell in love with the ball. She decided to look it up online and found out that she could actually buy it. BONUS! It was on sale!! She now has a soccer ball again :)
Proof that Italy won!
The desk chair turned into a car.
Paul and Ruth joined us for lunch. The brought tons of Chinese snacks with them. Look at Hudson and Lauren's face!!
Alfredo. We enjoyed talking with them for a couple hours.
They brought a noodle pack...happy girl!
I grabbed all of these off of Jonathan's phone. He's always taking pictures of the buildings we see.
some super steep steps
Piazza Campidoglio...designed by Michaelangelo
