Living his best doggie life :) He was so happy that we were home and had sat down to watch a show with the kids. He couldn't stop smiling and we couldn't stop laughing.
Lauren got a birthday gift in the mail..."Without Dance, What's the Pointe?"
These two fur balls got a bath. We skipped the haircut this time to save some money, plus it's still been chilly outside, but it sure makes them look fat!
snacks after church
One of the groups in town
The azaleas and and the tourists have returned to the Spanish Steps. I always saw paintings of the steps with flowers, but didn't realize that flowers were the norm. I'll be interested to see how often they change them out and rearrange.
So, big chocolate eggs are what they do for Easter in Italy. Seriously, they are huge!
Rome got it's very FIRST Starbucks this week! I really wanted an Italy mug to go with my China one. So, Regan and I took a girls trip. Our friend drove us out there because it's not in the city center and difficult to get to without a car.
This was a splurge. I figured this was probably the only time we would be out that way, so we tried the cinnamon twist....YUM! It was so soft and tasted great! The hot chocolate was ok. I was expecting it to be really hot, but it was just warm. I forgot that typical Italian coffee is closer to room temperature and not scalding hot. We enjoyed it all the same :)
Like I said....girls trip :) Ruthie didn't mind not getting any coffee/hot chocolate. She enjoyed jumping in Regan's lap.
My mug :)
We met some new friends for dinner. I didn't pay attention to what the kids ordered. Hudson got plenty of seafood! He was apparently getting sick here, but we didn't know it until the next morning. He just said he was tired.
Look what arrived in the mail!!! I can't believe she is about to graduate! They won't send her honors cords until after she finishes her last class, so we don't think it will arrive overseas in time for the ceremony, but she has worked hard and will graduate in less than 2 months!
Lunch date with one of the moms and Lauren's friend from school. Greek Salad. It was good, but I literally could not finish it all. It was very filling.
Giorgia and Lauren finished before the moms did and got a head start down the road. They stopped by our house to pick up a volleyball and then got ice cream.
Returning home from the Good Friday Service. Katherine loves full moons and was determined to try and get a good picture of it. This is in the piazza near our home.
Hudson in quarantine. Scout was so nice to go to the door for a visit.
Shadow blends in in this picture, but he's getting lovin' from both girls.
Well, the day before Easter, I decided to buy the kids a treat. The chocolate eggs were on sale. So we got them each one. They were so excited to try this new Italian tradition.
Each egg has a theme so that you have a hint as to what the surprise toy inside will be. Monopoly just made sense for Hudson.
Cute little tigers for Lauren with a yellow wrapper
Light blue wrapper that said white chocolate for Regan
Smurfs (i puffi) for Benjamin
Kung Fu Panda for Katherine
Woah! These eggs are ginormous! :)
What will be inside???
Lauren's egg was a hair smaller, but that's ok :)
I think Hudson's egg was the biggest.
Travel size Monopoly for the win!
So, it ended up being more of a cookies and cream egg.
Benjamin wasted no time smashing his egg.
The three younger kids were out of school from Thursday to Tuesday. Katherine decided to make a homemade popsicle. She went a little overboard and used a 1 liter bottle to make it. I'm glad she enjoyed it ;)
Watching a show together
Katherine used some of her extra time away from school to make this necklace out of teeny tiny beads. I still have no idea how she did it. It's so cute! She's giving it to one of the teachers at school.
We did get to boil and dye some Easter eggs.
We let Hudson come out of his room for a few minutes to join in the fun. Hopefully, he will be better soon!
When I went with my friend to the Starbucks, we found a store that was similar to a dollar store. It had random things throughout. I found 3 little baskets that matched for a euro each and then 2 little baskets for the boys. The kids always enjoy getting some surprises from the "Easter bunny" that they cannot buy in the country we are living.
Happy Resurrection Day! Because the rest of us have tested negative, we can go to church, but Jonathan stayed home with Hudson.
Hudson
Regan
Benjamin
Katherine
Lauren
Hudson made me a gift when he was at school. It's the perfect little basket to hold some candy in on my nightstand.
The girls and I before heading in to the service Easter morning (Benjamin arrived earlier by himself because he is on the media team and runs the powerpoint)
Regan helping me split up the big bags of candy. She is making sure it is as fair as possible, down to the amount of each color each person gets :)
Regan enjoying the processes of sorting them out...Torture for Lauren who wants to eat them all right now.
I didn't want to hide real eggs in the house and thankfully I found a few styrofoam ones at the store. I got a kick at how everyone was walking right past the "easy one" right in front of them.
Congratulations to Regan! She couldn't figure out why no one got it before her :)
Annual Easter selfies with Mom :)
Katherine makes me look so short :)
Regan
Benjamin
Lauren
On our way to dinner....we just had to stop and smell the flowers!
Piazza Cavour in the Prati District of Rome
Ha! This girl loves her candy and couldn't resist the after Easter sale of chocolate eggs (especially one with an Italy's Got Talent Buzzer inside) haha!
