Week in Review: Slipping, Visiting, Zooing, Cooking, Relicing and Hiking

Let's start this off with an exciting new development.  I got some orthotic slippers to wear at work because I wear slippers 40 hours a week and was having some foot pain that I think may have been caused my old worn out non-supportive slippers.  

Is it sad that comfort insoles comfort my soul?  

Don't answer that.

Speaking of exciting, Declan's Friday soccer practice AND Saturday game both got cancelled due to the rain.

 

We were looking for a Sunday Funday activity to do with the littles and also needed to drop off a car at the airport for JP to have for his late flight home from visiting friends in college:

So we decided to visit the Roger Williams Zoo and it was a beautiful day!  They kids were delighted to see that they had "real" animals there - giraffes, elephants, cheetahs and sloths - in case you were wondering what qualified.

We thought he was a mammal

My pumpkins

 I made chicken pot pies for dinner on Saturday night.  I also made Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins that morning and Chicken and Wild Rice soup for our weekly lunches.  Turns out I don't hate cooking, I just hate cooking in the summer weather.  Give me a cool morning and I'm a regular Julia Childs!

I baked it for longer than this, I just wanted to get a photo before we headed off to Mass

The elementary school kids had an exciting moment when they got to touch a relic of St. Padre Pio on his feast day at school:

But once again, Andrew is having the most exciting experiences as he continues travelling through Europe.  Last weekend he went to Milan, Italy with eight guys and hiked into Pollone just as Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati used to do.  He'll be canonized in 2025!

Blessed Pier

Andrew dressed as Pier Giorgio Frassati for All Saints Day in  2016, 2017, 2018:

Was it because he has a great devotion to him?  Or was it because it's the easiest saint costume to choose for a middle school boy?  We'll never know :)

Following in his (literal) footsteps

Born on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and has a way with wild cows.

They woke up really early to start the hike and were in the dark for awhile but got to see the sun rise:

Andrew said the hike was long but he felt really great doing it.  I think it's because he's been running a lot over in Austria.  He's been running a lot because he's been eating a lot of wafer cookies he says, which is exactly why I run too :)

Milan's Cathedral

Can you spot Andrew?  He cut his hair again!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  We will be celebrating our newest adult in the family (Happy Birthday Eamon!) and have a fundraising soiree, a baby shower, a get together with a friend, and possibly apple picking all on the agenda.  Introverts need a three day weekend just to have a day to themselves after all the weekending, can we vote on that this election?