Europe 2025. PDX to Rome, Day 1.

This trip was many months in the making. I actually love making travel plans and this one was no exception. The difference here was that there were 7 of us going and it was for Jude's high school graduation, which felt like there was an extra layer of expectation- whether real or perceived. My mother in law had never been to Italy and it was a bucket list item for her. This trip's main focus was WW2, military and generally anything to do with battle (for Jude, who will be entering the Air Force in the fall). I could reason Italy into that because of the Colosseum. Florence, however, was a bit of a stretch and I just chalked that up to the kids needing to be cultured with art 😀. 

Our flight took off from PDX at 7 am and flew straight to New York. I always forget how nuts JFK is until we are there and each time it makes me sorely miss that city and make an instant promise to myself that I will be back within the year. Juliet has a goal of going to NYC at Christmas time, which I'm pretty sure I can make happen. We landed in Rome at 6 am and after grabbing a bite to eat, headed to the Vatican straightaway. 

This picture below represents the mountain of clothing I choose from to pack into a backpack for 2 weeks. I later came to regret not bringing a suitcase due to the sheer weight on my back from books I collected at each city of our trip (they were my meaningful souvenirs and if you know me at all, you know I have a book problem).

At PDX ready for our long day of travel to Rome:

 

JFK:

On the train to Rome from the airport.

A view of the Vatican.

This picture below sums up one of my favorite parts of Italy- a "cafe."

We had a gourmet dinner our first night in Rome.

Before this trip, Boss had a pretty big fear of elevators. The places we stayed in Europe had insanely small elevators - usually 2 people only - and by the end he was riding elevators like a champ!

Gelato in Italy is a thing!

All trips we take involve stopping to get groceries so we can eat in at least one meal a day to save money. This trip was mostly only breakfasts in the condos.

Week in the Life 2019 - Saturday

I love that this girl loves to be in the kitchen. Here she makes sourdough waffle batter. It's currently something we serve about 2x per week.

This was a day for cooking. The kids headed off to be with friends the bulk of the day and I had promised a friend that just had a baby a lasagna dinner.  Luckily I had Brandy around to help me shop and prep. Roasted broccoli, lasagna, Olive Garden copycat salad and a lemon loaf.

I woke early to run 90 mins up in Happy Valley before 7 am Pilates. What a workout.

The crew enjoys dinner before we head off to church.

Brandy helping with all the lemon squeezing.

I have been capturing some quotes this week and this one really took the cake. Juliet: "I have to put toilet paper all over the toilet." Me: "Why?" Juliet: "Because Boss just pooped there." My fav part of that was that she didn't even use the toilet after she prepped it. She forgot.

Week in the Life 2019 - Sunday

Ahh, Mother's Day. It's one of the two days a year I don't cook or clean and it's spectacular. Colin came home from work and took over. It was his idea to host Joel's fam for a BBQ and the men folk did all the things.

They did take a break to watch the Blazers game while I napped.

Italy is at the forefront of research - we are hoping to make a trip late September.

I loved this intense game of chess between Jude and Brandy. This kid has strategy. He also gets really frustrated when he loses. I think he won this round.

Coffee. It's my lifeblood. The story here is the table that hasn't been properly wiped - something that happens often and I have to let go of.

Jude learned how to make mayo - we ran out and he needed to make coleslaw. Necessity is the mother of all invention, as my mom would say.

These drinking vessels and all the space they take up is the bane of my existence.

At the end of the evening, Colin lit a fire and the kids had smores. They attempted some scary stories, but really it was a couple of bad jokes from Jude and that's about it.

Sis helped prep fruit salad.

Of course, anytime Uncle Joel comes over, Samuel insist on a basketball game on the Playstation. Or Xbox. Or whatever current gaming system he has.

Colin spent a little bit of time planting the tomatoes that Karen gave us. I sat with him for a bit of it.

These were the gifts from the kids. Sis bought my favorite kombucha and Samuel got me a much needed hairbrush and movie gift card to see Pet Semetary.

Joel was in charge of prepping the elk burgers.

Colin helped Jude make the mayo - I love this pic.

Brandy spent a little time going through my Barefoot Contessa cookbook to get copies of recipes.

We walked to Grocery Outlet to get smores stuff and stopped at the park on the way home for maybe 45 mins. The little kids played on the playground, while the olders and adults played basketball.

Earlier in the day, Colin had made appointments and paid for pedicures for us. It was such a nice treat.

I spent some time working on the Desta Girl project and even Boss stepped in to clip threads.