In-Laws in Italy: Day 2 part 2

More Palermo. Patrick's only memories of this trip might very well be chasing the birds and looking at the castles.

































Outside view of the featured church.












Inside view(s)













































This tree was pretty neat, the roots grow from the branches down into the ground.

In-Laws in Italy, day 2 part 1

Palermo. Zach, wanna help me out with captions? While I absolutely love tours and traveling, I'm not so good with the remembering what I've seen, especially if I've forgotten to bring my camera and have 2 babes in tow. Sorry!

click to enlarge.
17th c. carriage, Prez Palace:















amazing church (all the sparkly bits are gold):




















Mt. Etna (notice that it is actively smoking!) and an Italian funeral parlor. Probably only funny to those in WNY, but we ALL noticed it:








PS: did you notice the quilt inspirations post on the mountain blog?

moose on the loose

oh yes. loving the new camera.

looks can be deceiving

These socks are the crafty project I worked on while the in-laws were here. Other than a few spots when I had to refer to the directions every row, they were relatively mindless knitting. I got to use brand-new wool/bamboo/nylon yarn and my bamboo needles, and I was even able to try out the nifty ball winder my mom sent me (could use some practice there...). Fun little project that went pretty quickly. End of story, right?

Not exactly. I snapped the above picture not long before starting the heel to the second sock. Word to the wise: when you think you are having at least a modicum of success with a new skill, don't screw it up by knitting the toe and heel of one sock at odd angles to each other!!

oops. They still work, but every time I put them on I have to laugh. Well, that and twist the sock around until the heel is straight and the toe is sorta straight. Good thing I have enough yarn for a second pair!

have SPOC, will travel

this is how we roll (through Sicily):




ps: can anyone guess what the acronym stands for?

(home)school(ish)

...the important thing to realize here is that HE is reading ME Are You My Mother, not the other way around. Complete with proper inflection and timing....we are just beginning to play actual games, wherein one follows directions and takes turns. Funny aside: When we were done playing I said, "Look at that long train of dominoes!" and tonka immediately ran to get his train for the track. Ever the literalist.
...About once a week I run the dishwasher and tonka's job is to sort the clean silverware. He does a pretty good job, and is NOT happy if I try to do it myself behind his back.
...This was supposed to be a lid matching activity, but after matching all of the lids to their respective containers, tonka decided it should become a pouring activity. Next time I'll add water and get out the little ceramic pitcher.
... P is for Patrick. First time I've ever asked him to trace a letter, and I am quite impressed. He decided to use every color marker--blue first and brown last--and his attention span was exactly 8 markers long.

the inlaws in italy: Days 0 and 1

en route:








dinner at our favorite pizzeria:

Em's new toy.

Here's the first few pics that we took with the new camera:

The very first pic







EP playing on the floor







'Fer's "scrunchie" face







'Fer and momma







Dad and the "killer dog"







The sad thing about this photo is that every one in it is stone sober. Just because you have a good camera doesn't mean you take good pictures.

some pictures from the visitors

at the Amphitheatre in Taormina

View from the Amphitheatre

Eating paninis

Mom and Dad in the Godfather church

D&E in front of the church

Dad and Adam in front of the Godfather Bar