Birthday Recap

We had a little party for Emmi with all her nursery friends at the park near our house. The kids had a great time playing in grass, wood chips, rocks, dirt, ashes, and with garbage cans.

Emmilene's cake, after she stepped on it.

John won the prize for dirtiest, followed closely by Emmi.

The only game I brought that the kids had any interest in were the snappers (is that what they are called?)

And on Sunday, her actual birthday, we had a family dinner and cake and ice cream with Emmi's grandparents (via Skype).

Her gift was a scooter, which she started to get the hang of...
Hopefully now she won't steal other kids at the playground.

So much for our little baby Emmi.... she is growing full-speed ahead!

Memorial Day in Mass

We had the chance to visit Jay's sister, Joanne, in Boston over the three day weekend. She graduated from Harvard and although we didn't get there in time for the ceremony, we arrived just a few hours before Emmi's grandparents left.

We did lots of fun things, like ride the Swan boats, go to a Red Sox game, and visit several historical sites.

Flags in honor of those Bostonians that have died in combat.

This cop just happened to turn around just as I snapped the photo.

Beautiful Boston Temple


We followed part of the Minute Men trail.


Waldon's Pond. Interesting since I read the book for Book club.
(ok... read some of the book).

Above is the little cabin Henry David Thoreau lived in and the pond below really was beautiful.

Boston Conservatory Gardens

Walking with a toddler is sometimes too slow. Another reason we are great parents:

Science Museum

Bunker Hill.
We climbed it, but our view was obscured from a forest fire in Quebec. Dang those Canadians.

USS Constitution

Emmilene took the tour seriously ... she manned a cannon, got dressed in the uniform and learned to rest like a sailor.

Water Taxi. One of E's highlights.

There were lots of street performers at a festival, but this is the only guy we saw. He was doing some get-out-of-locks-while-hanging-upside-down tricks. I must say, I have never seen this in the NYC subway (but I have seen everything else).

Thanks Joanne for hosting us! And for the great birthday cupcake.

Rome II

We finished our trip in Rome again, and visited Vatican City.
Uh, there must be something interesting they are staring at.

In Vatican City, the two major things to see are the Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica. The museums contain very famous artwork including Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

Jay took these pictures before he knew it wasn't allowed. It took us awhile before we realized what the guard was shouting in Italian.

The Raphael Rooms

St Peter's Basilica. One of the largest in the world and possibly the most beautiful cathedral I have seen.

The dome is built in fashion after the Pantheon.

Michelangelo's Pieta

'Angels and Demons' had a lot of scenes here, just in case you care.

Emmi found friends... and then dragged them around.

Don't we look excited for Church!

Our last afternoon, we took a walk around town. There are orange trees everywhere.

We walked by right when the Bride and Groom excited from this church. I have never actually seen people throw real rice before. Maybe Italians aren't as concerned for pigeon welfare.

We couldn't figure out why everyone in the city was honking. There was a football (soccer) match that day and there was a little parade through the streets. If you look carefully, the paraders were actually not even Italian, and didn't appear to speak the language. Nice of them to show support, though.cx

Our last stop, the Spanish Steps. Sometimes you win when you ask strangers to take your picture... and sometimes you lose.

And that, my friends, is finally the end of our trip! Now on to other things...