I’m still going through the 700+ pictures from our extended-family weekend.  My mom is anxiously awaiting her photo book, the next best thing to being there.  This one has almost all of us in it.  I miss being in a house with 13 people.  A big part of me loves having a full house.  I love having my sisters and cousin to share the cooking, cleaning and parenting.  It makes any chore fun to share it with a fellow babbler.

Something everyone comments on when they come to Europe, whether to live or visit, is the daily ice cream ritual.  Daily might be exaggerating a little, but not a lot.  Especially during summer.  Everyone, and this completely & totally includes grown-ups, loves to get a scoop of ice cream after dinner.  I’m particularly fond of a double-scoop of coffee & walnut.  Those two taste amazing together.  A scoop here is much smaller than in the US, and at €.80 – 1.00, it’s a very affordable treat.  Of course, most ice cream parlors also have big ice cream dessert concoctions.  Most of those are big enough to be a meal all in itself.  We’ve only indulged once and decided we prefer the small scoops.  Frequently.

Today is a quiet day at home, my big boys are off with our friend Emmett.  They’ve decided they’d like to become knights in the SCA:  “The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our “Known World” consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.”

I can’t wait to go to a battle.