Easter Mass

It was really fun to go to Easter Mass with our friends. The kids have gone to Mass here in France once before, maybe 5-6 years ago. They don't remember much of it anymore. I love the music, the beauty, the pageantry. My friend's daughter is doing catechism in that church (not the main cathedral of Old Nice, but another one not too far away) and we saw some other friends of ours there as well.

There were also two baptisms, so the service was extra long. One family was French and they all wore white or cream. The other family was Italian and, besides the baby in white, the family all wore black or dark colors. My friend was a bit shocked. "I have never seen people wearing dark colors for a baptism!"

Dio came out and said, "The music was AMAZING!"

The rest of our day was relaxed. It was raining and Eric and Inga were still at the tournament. We painted Easter Eggs, watched more Doctor Who, and not much else!

Inga's team did amazing again. They tied their first game 0-0, the only game that Inga didn't play in. Then they won 1-0, 3-0, 1-0, and the final 1-0, with that last goal coming as a header in the very last second. Inga scored one goal and lots of assists. They got home around 9 pm tonight.

And there's no rest for Eric! Ivy has a tournament tomorrow all day!

The party is over

I cooked the girls (and our kids) a pancake breakfast. I think it was their first time trying pancakes! We had various jams, whipped cream, maple syrup, and powdered sugar.

They spent the rest of the morning working on a 1,000 piece Harry Potter puzzle that Ivy got for a present. Still very little done after all those hours!

I sent the girls home with extra cupcakes. I definitely baked way too many, but that's ok. We'll eat them sooner or later.

Eric left first thing this morning for Inga's tournament 4 hours away. She played 4 short games this afternoon, with her team winning all of the games. She scored in one of the games and had many good assists.

They have more games tomorrow and should be done by 4 pm, which means they'll be home around 8 if the traffic is good.

We've been having some strange weather lately, a "couche d'air saharien" that brings fine particles of sand from the Saraha desert. Even during clear skies, it looks hazy and brownish. I remember this happend a few years back, bad enough that we had an advisory to stay indoors because of the air quality.

I took the kids to the beach late in the afternoon. We'd been indoors all day and it was time for a change. Despite some grumbling, they enjoyed themselves once we were out.

We're thinking of going to Easter mass with some friends. We have lots of cathedrals to choose from, but we'll probably go to the one where Ivy's friend is doing catechism. I brought the kids to a Pentecost mass years back, but it's been so long that they only vaguely remember it.

Happy Harry Potter birthday!

Well, weeks of preparation ended in a fantastic birthday party. It was smaller than expected--several friends couldn't come--but Ivy was just as happy.

All of the girls are tucked into bed and (hopefully) sleeping.

We redid many things from Inga's 11th birthday and added a few new twists this time. Ivy's brick wall turned out amazing.

Inga is gone this weekend at a big soccer tournament. Eric is joining her tomorrow morning. It's a 4-hr drive. He couldn't convince Dio to come along.

My plan is to make a pancake breakfast for the girls tomorrow, then get them set up with crafts.

Oh, and I also got tons more book chapters done! I'm starting to feel like I'm nearing the end.

Exam time

I felt like I was back in high school or university today. Eric and I had to take our language exams (again, since they are only valid for 2 years). It's required for the visa that we're going to apply for this year. It's not that it was terribly difficult, it's just that horrible stress of being under pressure and knowing you're being graded. Ugh.

Good progress on the book and Ivy's birthday prep.

It's almost midnight and I need to get to bed.

It's been a busy two days! String quartet rehearsal and performance...painting...tons of book writing and editing...picking up my visa...

Zari and Dio have now finished their bac blanc / brevet blanc, which is a graded practice test in advance of the real thing later on this spring.

We're deep in birthday party preparations for the Friday sleepover. The plan is to do the party, dinner, and Harry Potter movie Friday night. Then pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, followed by games and crafts until noon.

Ivy went shopping with me this morning to get the rest of the snacks and supplies for her party.

Happy birthday Ivy!! 11 years old

Well I can't believe it--Ivy is 11. The day flew by for me. I had renovation work first thing, breech book work until 1, string quartet rehearsal until 3 (during which I broke two A strings!!), more breech book work until 4, then frosting making and cake decorating.

Ivy got home at 4:30 and we got the house ready for her party. Inga went to the little grocery store nearby to buy blueberries and strawberries. It was a quick way to decorate the cake but Ivy was thrilled.

She got a set of iridescent paints, a women's national team soccer jersey, and a new pair of summer sandals. She has presents from Inga and my mom still coming in the mail.

Zari and Dio both had their bac blanc / brevet blanc exams. Zari's lasts 3 days, 4 hours each day. Dio had two big exams today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and more tomorrow. Poor kids. I never had to do anything this intense in high school or middle school! I suppose the worst were SAT/ACT exams but at least that was not part of school.

Zari was able to use some of her sources from her big presenatiton on wilderness for her philsophy exam. One of the questions was "Do we have an obligation towards nature?" Despite missing about half of all of the philosophy classes due to being in the US, she's doing her best to catch up and try to fill in the gaps.

We have a dove that started sitting in our pot (4-leaf clovers) today. When we went to close the shutters, it didn't move! I think it had decided that the pot was a great place for a nest, but so far no eggs.

Birthday prep!

We made chocolate frogs, a few dozen cupcakes, and a 3-layer birthday cake this morning. I'd like to get the marzipan sculpting done next for the sorting hats and the baby mandrakes, but I haven't yet bought the pâte d'amande.

I spray painted 100 large decorative nails and our iron door knocker. I started with a dark gray hammered paint, then lightly dusted with black spray paint just to add a bit of depth, then finished with a clear matte laquer. I think it will look good. I wanted to avoid plain black as it looks a bit tacky and too "new."

Ivy had a soccer game today and Eric said it was one of her best games in terms of how well she played. Her team won 8-1! She scored one goal and did many assists.

Inga babysat again this morning for 2 hours. She had so much fun with the two girls, ages 1 and 5. She video called me at one point. "Mama, I have a dirty diaper. What do I do?" It was sooo messy! I walked her through how to change the diaper.

Inga spent the afternoon with her friend, who just got a pet rabbit. They went to a pet store and then went to her house to play with the rabbit.

After Ivy got home, the rest of us, plus our guest, went to the beach to read and relax. Ivy swam of course!

Eric made flat beans and 2 kinds of quiche for dinner. We went on a walk with our guest while the kids watched more Doctor Who. He let the kids stay up late to watch a women's soccer game.

I went grocery shopping, the first time doing a big trip myself since my parents arrived in early January! We were really spoiled.

The girls and Eric all had soccer this evening, and then Eric went to play with his team. He'll be gone until close to midight. The rest of us watched more Doctor Who.

Eric and I went out for lunch with our guest, his former student, who is staying in Le Chateau. We tried a new restaurant called Peixes and it was amazing! I'll definitely go back there again. I had the 20 Euros 3-course menu:
- Tartare de Thon avec Wakame, Mayonnaise Wasabi, Tobiko, Petits Pois Wasabi, Chips de riz
- Espuma de Topinambour, Beurre Noisette, Menthe, Sauce Yakitori, Chips Topinambour
- Glace Coco, Granny Smith, Grenade, Crumble Noisette, Gel Pomme Verte

I made more progress on my book, getting one chapter finished and making headway well into the next one.

I also hit a wall this afternoon and basically had to lie down and nap. It's rare that I get hit with a wave of fatigue like that.

Up for tomorrow: making chocolate frogs and cupcakes for Ivy's party.

Big book writing & editing day! This one chapter alone has an obscene number of tables and references, every one which needs to be tracked down and cited correctly. Oh yay. But it's nearing completion and I am so excited! (The chapter...not the book).

Inga babysat tonight. For her first official job, it was the easiest possible type: the kids were sleeping when she arrived. She did homework and listened to music. She's hoping she can watch the girls again when they are both awake. Apparently one of them peeked out of her bedroom door becuase she wanted to see the babysitter 🙂

Ivy is making progress on birthday party decorations. We have lots to do, though, but at least she has a to-do list to keep us on track.

Our clim person who abandonned us mid-project has never shown up. (This is the 3rd company/installer to abandon us!). We finally hired our plumber, who also works with heat pumps, to finish the job. He did almost everything today and it all looks great. Now there's just a bit of work left up on the roof to hide the lines under the roof tiles. We are all super impressed with him and his helper. I wish we'd known he also did heat pump systems 3 years ago. We could have saved ourselves so many headaches.

Eric has a former student visiting us in Le Chateau. They went spearfishing today in Cap Ferrat.

While Dio was showering tonight, he was singing a song he's learning in music class. Nice, loud, and perfectly in tune! We told him that we loved his impromptu concert. I wish I could remember the name of it but my brain is fried. Good night!

Well, we're back on our own now! My parents left at 4:30 am and are well on their way home at this point.

We have guests coming tomorrow--a former student of Eric's and his wife. I'll have to put the door decoration and other small tasks on hold for a few days.

Inga had her x-ray and ultrasound appointment today for her shoulder. The doctor at the imaging office suspected a hairline fracture on the top of her femur, so he sent her for a consult with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon to be sure. That necessitated going through the ER of the children's hospital in order to see someone. Not a big deal here. I wouldn't do that in the US unless my child were on the point of death because of the cost!

Fortunately, Inga does not have a fracture! Whew. She may even be able to play soccer this weekend if her shoulder feels good enough. I had a meeting in the late afternoon so Eric got to take Inga to the hospital. It was Inga's first time ever in a hospital in her entire life!

Inga has a babysitting job tomorrow night, her first "official" one. She's been asking me for little lessons and tips. I think she'll do just fine.

Last day of grandparents...

We had to say goodbye tonight since they are leaving at 4:30 am tomorrow. They'll be back next January! My dad is already eager for the next renovation project (kitchen).

We got the new front door hung today and the latch plate installed. Now to decorate it and turn it from boring to amazing. We cut and fit a new threshold. I'll start working on finishing it tomorrow. In my copious free time of course.

Ivy and my mom came with me for a quick trip to my favorite consignment store in the hopes of finding some antique door knobs. No luck. But on the way home, we stopped to watch the demolition at the Acropolis. It was so much fun! I want to go back and bring a bucket of popcorn. It is really that entertaining.

Ivy is prepping for her 11th birthday party, which will be Harry Potter themed. Today she painted a brick wall for her friends to run through (Platform 9 3/4). I think it turned out amazing! 

We have already printed out scrolls on tea-stained paper, wrote an invisible mesage with UV ink on top of the invitations, sealed the scrolls with sealing wax and a velvet ribbon, and attached a ticket to the Hogwarts Express. She also made a stack of envelopes and sealed them with sealing wax, for decoration the day of the party.

Next up: making the chocolate frogs and boxes and creating labels for the food and "potions." I'm sure her list is much longer than this one!

I helped my dad start making a website. He does backflow testing and wants to get more of an online presence. I think he has the hang of it now!

Doors and doctors

We almost have the new front door installed in Le Chateau. Almost being the key word...We mortised the lock (no easy feat--it's narrow and deep and quite tall), rebuilt the door jambs, filled with wood filler, sanded, primed, and painted. The final coat of paint is drying where the hinges will go, which means we can hang the door tomorrow morning.

Eric and I had a coffee date with another family (Canadian/American/Taiwanese) who are doing something similar to us, but with much younger kids. They had questions about doing the back-and-forth life. It was fun to have a break from work to just enjoy being with other people and talk about how we love Nice so much 🙂

Inga got pushed during a soccer game yesterday and hurt her shoulder. It was bad enough that I made her a doctor's appointment this afternoon (although I think it will probably be fine, given some time to heal). We saw a new doctor because the ones we usually see weren't available.

He was super friendly and funny and told us all sorts of stories about his cousins who are physicians in the US. We commisserated over the state of healthcare in the USA and agreed that the system here is so much better, despite some of the bureaucracy involved with French life in general. He also speaks excellent English (not that we spoke it, but in the course of his stories it came out from time to time) so now we have a great doctor to recommend to visitors.

He ended the visit by telling us we were welcoem to come back, but only if we sang the American and Canadian national anthems for him. And for Inga, he requested the Marseillaise.

As usual, we came away with multiple prescriptions: xray, ultrasound, and 2 medications (tylenol and an anti-inflammatory). Anything less would be shocking!

Only 2 more days...

My parents' visit is coming to an end. What can we do the next 2 days? Not all that much, since we have school. But we will definitely miss them!

My dad is determined to hang the new front door tomorrow. We have to re-build the door jamb and quickly, otherwise we will have nowhere to hang the door! So that will be the first thing to do tomorrow.

I stayed home today while everyone else went out; I wasn't feeling well and wanted to give myself some down time. I did a lot of work on the breech book and a bit of planning/sketching for the front door.

I'm looking for a lot of decorative elements to make it look like an old medieval-ish door. It's a bit of a compromise because to truly make a medieval door, you'd take ginormous slabs of wood, nail them together with massive hand-forged nails, and hang it on massive forged hinges that embed into the wall. Well, we have a modern, square door jamb so that wouldn't really work. It is using more contemporary materials (custom butcher block countertop, in fact!) but with an old twist. It's the best we could do with the budget and time constraints we're working within.

Zari's box spring broke a few days ago. She has been complainign that the bed makes funny noises and dips down in the middle. I pulled it out tonight and the whole thing was just coming loose and falling apart. It was fastened with big staples that had worked loose--not exactly durable construction! So we pounded everything back into place, used a lot of screws to stabilize and strengthen the joints, and repaired a broken slat. Good as new, and probably better!

L'île Sainte-Marguerite

We had an amazing day drop to L'île Sainte-Marguerite, an island off the coast of Cannes and home of the famed prison of the Man In The Iron Mask. We had to be out the house by 8 am--way too early for a Saturday, according to the kids! But we made it. We had a brisk 30-min walk to the train station, caught the 8:45 am train to Cannes, took another 20-minute walk to the far side of the port, and then caught the 10 am ferry. A short 15-minute ride later, and we had arrived.

We first visited Fort Royal, home of the famed prison and also a museum about ancient Phonecian and Greek maritime trade, complete with all sorts of ancient shipwrecked items found just off the coast of the island (as in, an easy swim away!).

We had a lovely picnic lunch outside the prison and then started exploring. We walked across to the other side of the island to look at the underwater ecopark, accessible by swimming and snorkeling. The kids really want to come back in the summer so we can do that! Then we walked around half of the island, taking some stops to play on the rocks and thick matts of dead seagress, which can reach several meters thick. It's soft and springy and makes a great place for napping. (Yes, I speak from first-hand experience).

We made it back to the ferry dock right before 2:15 and so we caught that one back. They come every hour. The wait at the Cannes train station was long, since the first train we were supposed to catch was cancelled last minute! We walked over 22,000 steps in all.

We got home and I had a breech live session about 15 minutes later. I listened to it on headphones while we all ate dinner.

My parents are at another concert (they went to one last night as well).    

Oh, and I'm still feeling quite sick! But I decided to just set that aside today because it was a very important, and very fun, excursion. I promise I will take it easy tomorrow.

I have videos but it's too late to edit them tonight. The kids took my phone for much of the day and there are lots of weird/silly photos.

I still felt pretty terrible today but I made myself be a bit more active. My dad needed help with the doors we are building so I helped him as much as I could.

We're going on a family day trip tomorrow! I'm quite excited as it's rare we have an entire Saturday with no soccer matches. We have to get up early to catch a train and then a ferry.

Sick

Eric and I are both down with a fever/chills/cold/aches. Dio came home early from school, complaining of being very tired, and took a nap.

I've stayed in the same spot on the couch all day, except meals and bathroom breaks. I got a lot more of the book written, though!

It's been a busy day in just about every area...soccer for Eric and the girls, breech work and renovation work for me, running errands for me (3.5 hr trip to Leroy Merlin). And now Eric and I are both feeling a bit sick. I should probably go in bed soon and rest.

My friend and her daughter left super early this morning, catching the 4:45 am tram to the airport.

I wish I'd been able to get outdoors today. It was a gorgeous day.

Hike, cook, eat, walk, eat

I went on a hike to Eze with my friend and her daughter. We were on a schedule because we had to get back for a lunch reservation. But we did the whole hike up and down, plus visited the botanical gardens, and still got home on time.

We all hustled to put together a lemon cheesecake before our lunch appointment. We chopped, smashed, zested, mixed, and stirred like mad and got it in the oven right as we were heading out the door. Eric took care of turning the oven off 🙂

Lunch was delicious of course. Then we walked home, changed, and walked over to my bank to help my friend get started with setting up an account. We hit the typical French resistance ("it's not possible, go away" in so many words) but then with some more talking, it all became possible. It's magic!

We also had to walk to a hardware store. I am still on the hunt for some kind of finish that will darken wood without making it look horrible. I have already tried 3 types of stain and they were all ugly. I think I found a winner; it's a treatment that gives wood age and patina.

Anyway we had dinner (fajitas, thank you mom!) and then lemon cheesecake, which had barely cooled enough to set up.

Oh, and our fridge broke today. It's only 3 years old and we've already had it repaired like 6 times. The part is arriving in a week (assuming it's the right part).

Busy day! I was laser focused on my book all day until late afternoon. I finally came up for air when my friend and her daughter returned from their outing. The occasional "break" was going downstairs to photograph my baby doll for the book chapter I am writing.

She and I wired the 10 kitchen outlets--it was a fun lesson in French electricity.

We're going hiking tomorrow morning, which will be so nice after an intense day of mental work

More rain, then sun

With rain most of the morning, walking up to Cimiez was not a great option. But the skies were mostly clear by noon. We had lunch, watched an episode of Doctor Who, and then we all got out for a nice walk. We were going to visit the chateau, but all of the parks in Nice were closed today due to bad weather!

Instead, we walked around the cap de Nice over to the lighthouse, then walked along to the very tip of the lighthouse. When we were standing at the end, watching the waves crash against the boulders and concrete blocks, we got hit by a rogue wave and inundated head to toe! My friend and I got the worst of it.

Eric and Dio and my dad were gone all afternoon at a soccer match in Puget-Theniers. Dio's team was ahead 1-0. With 10 minutes left, Dio subbed out (he was tired) and the other team scored 2 goals in those last few minutes!

We had a fun game during dinner that my friend introduced to us, involving asking any random/silly/weird question and trying to guess the most common answer in the group. Mine was, "what is the aweseomest substance a snakebite could inject, rather than venom?"

Well it's late and school starts tomorrow about our 2 week break. Bonne nuit!

Friends arrive, rain comes again, lots of soccer

My friend and her 2nd oldest arrived today! She was the first guest to stay in Le Chateau and helped me with an enormous shopping trip to Ikea last year. It's fun to show her some of the changes: light fixtures, countertops, upholstery, and other decorations.

Soon after they arrived, I had to leave to bring Inga to a soccer game in Mandelieu. I got the car out of the garage with some hair-raising maneuvering (it's definitely a tight fit!) and then we had lots of traffic jams on the way, plus intermittent downpours.

It sprinkled on and off during Inga's game (tied 1-1). The wind was also blowing and we were cold! We popped inside the buvette during halftime to get crepes and to warm up.

Ivy had a game at Cavigal at the same time, and Eric was gone all day in Monaco with the Wabash soccer team. They had a friendly match against the U17 team (winning 6-3). Then in the evening, he and the whole team at at Chez Palmyre, a wonderful restaurant just down the street that is owned by our neighbors.

We've been working on homework and Zari is having to make choices for French university applications. It's so hard to narrow things down!

More rain!

Eric and the 3 youngest kids are watching an OGC Nice game with the Wabash soccer team. They had to bundle up in tons of layers since it's cold and rainy tonight. I might go to a mid-day game when it's sunny. But no thank you for cold, dark, and rainy!

My dad and I installed the backsplashes this morning and it went very well. I was so relieved that I truly had measured everything correctly, down to the last millimeter. We'll let everything cure for 2 days and then we can finally have a finished kitchen.

I went for a walk today and could hardly stay warm, and this was before the rain started.

My parents brought Ivy and Inga to the Grotte du Lazaret, which my parents had never visited. They all had a great time.

I have a friend and her daughter arriving tomorrow--so excited! I think we'll have Zari sleep down in Le Chateau on one of the daybeds and put my guests in Zari's room.

It's a big soccer day tomorrow. I'm driving someone in one direction, my parents are taking another person on the tram, Eric is off in Moncao with the Wabash soccer team as they play a friendly match with AS Moncao, probably their U18 team.

Just 9 months late

We were supposed to get our countertops and backsplashes in July 2023. Well, they finally arrived today! They are a light gray-veined quartz. A bit less veining than I would have thought from the pictures...but sitll beautiful.

We got the 3 countertop pieces installed today. Tomorrow morning we'll put up the 3 backsplash pieces.

I've done all sorts of things today, from going running to carrying and installing countertops, finishing the drawers in our sink, working on the breech book, running errands, installing the wood surround under the shower base, going to online meetings, making flyers...phew.

Eric brought the Wabash students to the Grotte du Lazaret, a prehistoric site where homonids used to live several hundred thousand years ago. He then brought some of the more adventuresome students snorkeling! It's definitely chilly for swimming this time of year.

Wabash v Cavigal, Ivy still sick, fancy dinner

Wow, yesterday was another day full with fun and interesting activities, and I realized as I was falling asleep that I forgot to write in my journal!

Yesterday afternoon, we attended a friendly match (match amical) between the Wabash soccer team and the U18 Cavigal team. It was an intense game with very good levels of play on both sides. Wabash ultimately won 4-0, which I think everyone was pleasantly surprised about! They are a bit older on average than the Cavigal team, but the level of techincal play here in France is much higher than in the US, on average. So it ended up being well-matched.

All of us went to watch the game. It was also beautiful: cloudless, sunny, about 16 C.

Ivy is now on her third day of fever, feeling worse today than the 2 previous days. Poor girl.

Eric took the Wabash soccer team to St. Paul de Vence and showed them James Baldwin's house (or former house--it got torn down and turned into luxury condominiums). They rented several sets of boules from the tourism office there and had a great time playing.

Eric and I went out to dinner with the two Wabash coaches and had delicious food. Sometimes I wonder how they come up with these amazing ideas and flavors!

Lots of progress has been happening on both the breech book (working on Ch 10) and our bathroom (got the whole sink plumbed today, plus a thresshold shaped and cut for the new front door in Le Chateau). We also did some major organizing and decluttering, finally getting all of the bags of ski supplies back up in the attic ready awaiting the 2025 ski season.

Monaco

We took a half day trip to Monaco, spur of the moment. Eric was busy in Monaco with the Wabash soccer team and we didn't cross paths. Their group went to the rock, saw the changing of the guard, walked around the Old Town (palace, church, etc), and visited the casino (where the students won 200 Euros!). Then they went to Le Diagonal of AS Monaco, a soccer training school and center. Apparently it was an amazing visit and experience. It's where Mbappe was trained and still comes back every year.

We just did one thing: the Musee Oceanographique! It's an aquarium and an oceanographic museum. I haven't been for many years. The kids had so much fun rediscovering the museum and exploring the temporary interactive display about the North and South poles. We decided to buy annual passes since it was just the cost of two visits.

We rode the bus there and back--going, it was nearly empty. Coming back, lots more crowded. Ivy was feeling sick during the afternoon in Moncao and complained about being cold. This girl is NEVER cold so we definitely knew something was wrong. She was feverish by time we came back home and spent the rest of the evening huddled in blankets.

Eric had to go out again in the evening because the soccer team had a practice at Cavigal, in preparation for a friendly match tomorrow.

It's quite late so pictures and videos will have to come tomorrow!

Happy 13th birthday Inga!

Inga's birthday was such a big day that I didn't have any time to write about it!

After lunch, we headed to Caranval. We have actually never gone since we moved here in 2014. It used to be held out in the streets, but after the terrorist attacks, it became a closed event. I had never quite been motivated enough to buy tickets, wait in line, go through security...until this year. We finally decided it was time to go at least one time. We went to the Bataille des Fleurs. Ivy and I dressed up because why not??

We had to leave early to make it to the movie theater--Inga wanted to see Dune 2. (We got ready for it the night before by watching the first Dune movie!).

We got home, had a late dinner and birthday cake, and then headed back to to the the burning of the king on the beach. We accidentally arrived 30 minutes early, which turned out to be a good thing otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see anything. Right before they lit the king on fire, it started raining!



Today was a massive tempest--rain, hail, thunder, huge waves. There were huge bursts of thunder in the middle of the night. Gusting rain today, so much that you got wet in all directions at once. Eric took his Wabash students around to see the Musée Masséna and came back soaked.

Chamonix ski week, Day 6: Change of plans...and back in Nice!

We originally planned on skiing a half day and then driving back to Nice in the afternoon/evening so that Eric could be in to prepare for the soccer team he is bringing to Nice. But...we woke up to rain! It was probably snowing higher up, but there was zero visibility on the ski cameras. So we decided to just pack up and head home in the morning. We were on the road before 10 am. I'm glad we did; it gave us some time to unpack and settle in.

I drove in our car with Eric, Dio, and Zari. We got home at least an hour earlier than my parents and Ivy and Inga. They had more stops, plus Ivy puked, plus my mom was driving a bit slower (understandably--it's in a foreign country and it was raining).

Right when we got home, I built some big shelves in our basement storage area so we could put our cartop carrier and all of the skis up on the shelf and off the floor, making more room for our bikes. I got the whole thing done, with some help from my dad!

We have loads of laundry to do...so many things to put away...

Oh, and tomorrow morning we will officially have THREE teenagers because it's Inga's birthday! How did that happen?