Family Day at the Park

We had a lovely family trip to Villa Doria Pamphili last Friday and we took a lot of pictures. As we were walking in, we got hit by a nice fresh breath of air, one of the first we've gotten in the big city.

 Not far in there was a playground. We made our mandatory stop there.

 Emma and I came to this playground once before. So she wanted to show Dad her awesome climbing skills.

 Then she wanted to be caught at the bottom of the slide.

 Leon got a workout on the see-saw...look at those squats!

 Stella was also very excited to be there. Estatic really.

 First thing Emma says on the swing, always: "Really big"...meaning really high.

 She's getting so big it's crazy!

 Leon insisted that he take a few pictures to prove that I live here too.

 So I got a turn pushing.

 Stella is just out of control when it comes to swings. We had to restrain her.

 She was a little challenging at the park. I don't know if we'll bring her back

 The little ham.

...with the big ham.

 How many pictures did you want of swings?

Ok then. Just a few more. :)

 I think these ones make it worth the wait.

(Guttural) "Aaaaaaaaaahh"

 "OH NOOOO!"

 Aaaaand we've lost contact.

Juuust kidding.

 Then horses...

Time to move on. We saw lots of neat things at the park. It was such a lovely day.

The pond was filled with wildlife, living wildly.

This man was throwing bread into the water and at first you think it's for the fish. But there are dozens of turtles poking their heads up.

I think that man actually had pitched tent there, beyond the "Do Not Tresspass" iron gate.

I really was facinated at seeing so many turtles at once. I don't think I've ever seen such a big bale of turtles in my life. (Yes, that's the official word...not flock)

This one I'm adopting as my guard turtle.

"What is it, boy? More turtles?! Holy reptiles, turtle boy!"

We'll mark this shot as "3 and a half months pregnant, not fat"

And we saw big fish.

And more turtles.

And cool, cave-like bridges.

New Facebook profile: check.

Watch me move this big rock.

Amazing shrubbery. I want some like this but about 7 feet tall in a maze. The kids get bored and I'd send them out into the shrub maze and then not have to worry about them until dinner.

Oh yeah. Our stroller can handle that.

The palace of the rich family that the park is named after. (I'd make a great tour guide, dontcha think?)

Their personal chapel! So beautiful!

A great mosaic on the top

And we could even come here for Sunday mass.

So we did get a little "lost" on the way out. We had a few almonds, but no lunch, and it was nearing two o'clock. I wouldn't say we were desperate or anything, but now that I think of it, I may reconsider that garden maze idea. That's just cruel. And lovely. 

Immigration and Zuppa

After spending the entire afternoon in the Immigration office watching a video about living in Rome (1-4pm) we were all exhausted and ready to go home. I was actually interested in what some of the video had to say but unfortunately the volume was just a little too low. I could hear questions about medical care, schooling, and visas, and blah blah blah, but the answer came from a person with a low drone voice that blended into the background of chatting people. The kids did amazingly well. We brought a blanket to spread out on the nasty tile floor and threw out dry erase markers, dolls, and books. After a while, Emma went and sat with one of the Dominican sisters' lap and tied her forever long rosary into tiny knots. That's an integral part of their relationship, I think. After an hour Stella took her nap, putting herself to sleep in the stroller. Meanwhile, Leon and I are trying to stay awake in a baking hot, sweat-smelling room. It was really quite lovely.

Then we got home pretty smoothly, me with a headache, probably from lack of food and boredom. Emma was without a nap and just as exhausted as us and so nearing nuclear melt down. I tried the nap, but since my patience was just about as long as a broken toothpick I had to give up the effort and save face. Instead, I decided on an early dinner and bedtime for everyone.

But this was my biggest joy of the evening: A new recipe pulled off with almost all the right ingredients and it was delicious for everyone. And it was picture perfect. So I took a picture :)

A successful dinner!

Isn't that pretty? Its a red lentil soup with chickpeas, with a cumin and tomato base and finished with fresh cilantro. It really is amazing that I had all the ingredients for a randomly chosen red lentil recipe. And that it tasted good! Who'dathunk? Emma ate it up until her arm was so tired she couldn't feed herself anymore and she fell off her chair fast asleep. At least that's how I hoped it would go. We actually did reach nuclear meltdown point. But we won't talk about that. We'll just remember the soup. Mmmmm, soup. How pleasant.