The heat in August is just too much for Hudson. He can barely go a day without falling asleep! He loves the dog. I couldn't help but chuckle seeing them both snoozing away on the couch.
Watching some of the Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) Olympics
The kitchen is pretty much finished. We now have shelves underneath for our "pantry" and 4 trash cans because we have to separate trash here...compost (small one on top), plastics, paper, and non-recyclables. I'd still like to get a toaster at some point because it's a good quick breakfast for the kids, but we are still waiting to find the right one. Normal ones are usually sold out and I just can't see buying a Kitchen Aid for toast...seems a but pricey.
Jonathan's desk. He's very happy with it. It's adjustable so he can stand and work or sit when he needs to.
We saw these Chicken Tikka Masala chips and had to try them. They got mixed reviews from my family. They taste just like the name, but that's kind of the problem because we usually do chips with sandwiches and we felt like we needed to be eating other Indian food.
Katherine hadn't had a haircut in over a year. I didn't realize how much it had grown!
Haircut finished! She rarely wears it down...
How her hair looks in her normal ponytail.
The Vatican has a strict dress code. As we were leaving, Regan said the four of us should get a photo because we were wearing nearly the same outfit :)
approaching the Vatican...it is walled off since it's it's own little city inside Rome
We wanted to eat before we went in, so we had an early lunch at McDonald's. Hudson said he was doing an air nap. Funny kid.
Heading to th eVatican Museum and Sistine Chapel first.
We are ready to go explore. We each got an audio guide so we could learn about different things in the museum. It's definitely the way to do it.
Probably one of our most fun and interesting sections was seeing all of the Egyptian artifacts
You could type in the number next to the display and her the story behind the art.
A real mummy! Katherine said this was her favorite part. It was so interesting!
They would often bury people with 365 of these little statues to be their servants in the afterlife...it sounds so similar to Xi'An when we saw the Terra-cotta Warriors.
So many different coffins on display
This was pretty amazing...It's one really long piece of papyrus. I can't remember all the dates on these things, but from a LONG time ago ;)
the courtyard
Hudson studying the strange statue
Again. An Egyptian Pharaoh statue from soooo long ago!
Even their animals had little coffins. Each of the little boxes underneath a cat holds the remains of a beloved pet
I don't know what or why...but it made everyone smile ;)
Inscribed cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar II (605 BC)
Benjamin had just read about this in his English class!
Hall of statues (they have tried to "cover" some of the men with a small leaf in an attempt for modesty... but they didn't modify them all)
mosaic tile work on the floor
This was interesting. So many statues had the serpent on a stick. In the audio guide it talked about how it was part of a religious medical sect...but what I found more interesting were the dates they gave...after the Israelites wondered around in the wilderness...no coincidences there
Just a bit strange. This one had something to do with the Nile River.
Julius Caesar statue...the only statue in military attire. Apparently came from his home.
Cool piece of artwork in the courtyard
for taking showers
The artwork on the ceilings is incredible. Many things were painted by Michaelangelo or one of his students.
view of Rome
I'm not sure why, but there were several statues with children and they were usually holding or squishing a duck.
The mad hall was one of our favorites. Jonathan could have spent the entire time in this room. All of the maps were done with so much detail and how they thought the world or city looked at the time.
They even put ships in the bay
And even showed where the armies would come in
This one has Rome...hence the picture.
I wish you could see all the detail in the pictures
The Vatican Gardens
Regan showing Hudson where things are
Entering the Sistine Chapel...no pictures or talking allowed. Pretty cool to see. It was really busy (artwork wise) and really not possible to take it all in.
Jonathan went here as a kid in Indonesia
part of their "native peoples" museum
brought a smile to our faces
This might have been Jonathan's favorite part....if not number 1 then really close to it! Love my architect husband
The exit....Wow! It was super steep!
The piazza in front of St. Peter's Basillica
St. Peter's
Hudson was hoping to see the Pope ;) but he has no idea who he is or what he looks like...just that he lives at the Vatican.
WE were amazed at how big it was inside! All of the gold trim throughout is real gold!
The tomb of Peter
The guards
It's been a long day, but fun!
A statue of migrants trying to make it to Italy
The kids hard at work in Italian class. Dario gave them an assignment...he loves the dogs and they love the attention, too, in between conversations.
I got a new haircut as well! It's a little shorter than I intended on them cutting it, but I really like it!
Regan's haircut....I had to look twice...not used to seeing her with straight hair...it's curly again :)
Selfie
The girls fixing dinner
YUM!!! This is 95 percent veggies and so good! I love this new side of the girls! I am really getting spoiled with all this yummy cooking!
Before Lauren's haircut
After :)
She was wanting it a tad shorter, but everyone else who went before her ended up with shorter hair than they said. So she said a hair longer just in case. It's pretty.
It was so hot waiting on the bus that the asphalt melted! Do you see Regan's shoe print?
This is what happens when Mom has a headache and Lauren asks to go to the store. I give in with little argument to all her requests for sweets. haha! She said, "Dad never lets me get all this stuff."
They were having everyone write the same sentence then went around having everyone guess who's was who's
Well, she said it's not officially her start of school so she didn't want her "first day of school picture" yet. She did start one class because she is trying to do the entire thing in a short time during the summer so that she has one less class to take when school starts.
Awe! My cute Shadow. He wants to play.
Asleep again.
Lauren writing down some of her favorite recipes.
