Roman Adventure

This past week has been busy.......the Thursday after Billie and Amelia's arrival on Memorial day we went down to Rome for a few days. The weather was perfect...in the 80's during the day and the nights we just as comfortable. We did a lot of walking and saw all of the touristy sites. We arrived in the morning and checked in to our hotel room then we were off to see the city. First things first, before we went to the sites we thought we would go watch Angels & Demons, in Rome....and in English! After that we headed back to our room for a good nights sleep. Norah as you will see in here picture below, was not used to sleeping in the bed with Dennis and I, her first night was more difficult than the rest of us.

Everyone in bed......can't wait to get some shut eye.Dennis took Norah to breakfast with him, and came back with a girl who was trying to tell us she was ready for some cereal.....I told her we would try once we got home from out trip.

The entrance to St. Peters Basilica

There are two fountains, one on each side of the Basilica Norah trying to fall asleep in the sun while we were waiting in a LONG line to get into St. Peters Basilica.

St. Peters from where we were in line.

On each side of St. Peters they have a jumbo tron so you can see the Pope when he comes out to visit, or do mass.

This is in the center of St. Peters Square

Dennis Norah, and I in front of St. Peters Basilica A close up of St. Peters

This is the entrance to the Pope's tombs, we couldn't take pictures while we were down there...sorry, but I was able to get some great pictures as we were walking towards the door.

Does this look familiar........Angels & Demons

This is what we saw as we left the tombs and entered the Basilica. The alter is huge!

A statue above a door depicting life and death. The artwork is exquisite......the paintings look as if they were just finished.

A place to stop and pray.

This altar has great detail, and thought I would give you a little history behind it.

Another view of the altar

This altar has was used to tell time of year by the sun coming through the glass.

The detail and the size of the statues was breathtaking

This was one of my favorite in the Basilica

And the door is very Greek/Egyptian

The ceiling of the Basilica (in the long hallway leading up to the alter from the front doors)

They were setting up two cameras....the Pope was coming to visit on Sunday

Here are all the chairs they had already set out for his visit., and they were putting more out.

This is the dome over the altar This is Pope John Paul II

La Pieta by Michelangelo (the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus' dead body)

Billie and Amelia in front of the fountain

This is the courtyard of the Vatican Museum an Sistine Chapel

In there they had a hallway dedicated to sculptures......and as in Angels and Deamons all the men /boys had fig leaves for coverage.

This was called the round room, and in the center was a HUGE bathtub.

A celing of a hallway

The Creation of Adam....no the best picture but I am lucky to have been able to take one.

The Spanish Steps

The most expensive stores in Italy, Gucci and Cartier

We took a horse and buggy ride from The Spanish Steps to Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

Billie and Amelia in Front of Trevi Fountain

Then there's us.....

The Pantheon.....

from the center of the roundabout looking outward from the Pantheon

looking towards the Pantheon

There we all are.....

Tomb of the unknown

Amelia with one of the guards This was right inside the Pantheon....gorgeous

We all had to get a picture with the Colosseum behind us....it was such a beautiful view.

The view from the top of the Pantheon

Amelia having a glass of wine atop the Pantheon

Ruins next to the Pantheon and on the way to the Colosseum

The Colosseum

One of the entrances to the first level overlooking the floor of the Colosseum

It is HUGE, Dennis and I were discussing how many people they could seat in the stands when they were intact, and where exactly Ceaser sat. We love history.

Looking down from the second floor

The placed partial floor so you can get and idea of how big the Colosseum is and where they kept the animals and prisoners until they battled.

Norah was getting ho so Dennis was held her in a wind tunnel.

Then they started to play....

Daddy and Norah at one of the many entrances to the Colosseum.

The chains St. Peter was bound in.

What an adventure we had. We didn't run into any snags and thank God we didn't get pickpocketed. We were even able to eat at the Hard Rock there in Rome. Now, it is time to visit the one in Venice sometime this summer.

16 weeks and what a busy week it was!!

This past week has been a busy one...... I played bunco with the spouses group (they are all very nice ladies and not caddy at all), then Dennis found out his test results and that made a nice end to that day!! The following day Dennis had to get up early to roast a pig for the squadron birthday party, get a haircut, volunteer at the bazaar, and go for drinks with all the other Msgt selects on the base!! Saturday we had a going away, a promotion party and I had a baby shower to attend!! Boy was it nice to see Sunday come so I could sit down and do my schoolwork. Dennis took Norah with him grocery shopping so I could knock out my Conflict Resolution paper before Billie and Amelia get here on Memorial Day.
Somehow during the wee I found time to take pictures of our precious little girl. She still sucks her thumb on occasion, but most of the time its her entire hand! She doesn't like to be on her back much, so I have been propping her up on the couch next to me. Moments later I get the joy of watching her tip over (timber is what I say) and her rolling over to her tummy. Look Ma....No Thumbs!

I wonder what she was thinking when I took this picture.........any thoughts?

I could not stop laughing after I looked at this picture.

Norah, was really trying to tip over.

Here she goes.....

she's down for the count...

Look Ma......Super Norah!

AAHH, is what she is saying.

Nope, no teeth yet......

Just smiles!!

I swear she is a spitting image of Den

Just chillin'

She started to get tired....

"Mom, I wasn't sleeping, I was resting my eyes."

"See, I am not ready for my nap, I am still playing."

I was playing peek-a-boo with her, and she still isn't too sure about it.

Well, that is it for this week, I will be posting again before our trip.....I will tell you next week where our next adventure is going to be. For now, we love and miss you all very much.

Promotion Results

I wanted to tell all of you the great news..........after being in the militray for 13 years and testing for the second time, Dennis made Master Sargent(E-7)!!!! I am so very proud of him!!!
This calls for a celebration!!!

Weeks 13 and 14

It is amazing how the time sure does fly. These past two weeks Norah has really made strides in her development. She is combining vowels with consonants, she is smiling more and has even made what I think could be the makings of her laugh. Oh, I almost forgot, she has even found her hands and those thumbs. She only starts sucking on her thumbs when she is tired of doing tummy time on her play gym. Norah's first suckle on her thumb

Norah has been putting anything she gets her hands on in her mouth....including her own burp cloth.

I love this picture....I cannot believe I was able to get one of her smiling......she gets shy from time to time and stops smiling when I pull the camera out. But this.....is perfect!!

I got another smile!!!

Now that summer is near we are looking forward to seeing Billie and Amelia the end of this month for a few weeks. We will be doing some sight seeing and hopefully it will be nice enough for us to hit the beach and get some sun.....