Wales, day 4

We visited several family-related sites today, starting in Abersoch, where Eric's grandma was born and lived until she emigrated to Canada when she was 4. We found her home and the current tenants were super friendly and let us come and take pictures in the backyard (which is actually where the front entrance is).

We then wandered through town and down to the beach, over a long stretch of rocks and hidden inlets, and back over to the main beach. There are rows of beach huts which apparently sell for something ridiculous like 200,000 GBP even though they can only be used during the day and not for habitation or sleeping.

Next, we drove to a church in a village 1 1/2 miles away, Llanengan, where Eric's great-great-great? grandfather was the choir director for many years. We picked up the key to the church at a nearby inn and enjoyed having the church all to ourselves. Eric's mom organized a Freeze Family Choir, several songs with everyone and one with just the Freeze siblings. "I know where I get my choir directing genes from!" she said.

There were wool blankets folded on every pew, likely from local sheep. A nice touch for what is probably a very cold church during the winter.

We also found several ancestor's grave stones in that church yard. We had a picnic lunch in the shade of a big yew tree, sitting right next to a line of gravestones.

Inside the red telephone box, we discovered a little free library. Inga took home a Stephen King book. I discovered a hilarous book called "Fifty Sheds of Gray" which Zari almost took with her. Just like it sounds: black & white photos of sheds interspersed with funny text, such as, "You never forget your first shed."

We also drove past a few more acestral homes in Llanengan.

We headed home, ready for rest and/or play. The kids all hopped straight into the pool and played for 2 hours! I read a book and supervised. 

Eric got bored and finally went to the nearby beach and discovered some great areas for snorkeling. He even caught a large spider crab but let it go because he wasn't sure if it was off season to catch.

I made a stuffed roast chicken and roast broccoli for dinner.

We had a quick but energetic game of Capture The Flag after dinner, then ice cream for all the kids.

We finished the evening with a walk to the beach (adults). Most of the kids are in another cottage socializing.

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Wales, day 3

We all headed out at 9:30 am towards Aberdaron. The drive there was...hair-raising. The roads became progressively narrower until we were on a tiny single-lane road, sunken deep in the ground between earth banks and hedgerows. One late, but two-way traffic = children who are worried we'll crash into an incoming car. "Papa, slow down!"

"Ca va," he would always reply.

(We did not crash into anyone, although we had some close brushes with the bushes along the side of the road.)

We pulled into Aberdaron two minutes before the church service started. It was a big event: a visitation by the Archbishop, which apparently hasn't happened for a long time. It was a bilingual service in Welsh and English. Very interesting! And the Archbishop's sermon was quite entertaining and engaging.

We stayed afterwards to chat, eat lunch, and get access to the parish records. Eric's great-grandfather is buried in that churchyard, and with some assistance we were able to find the headstone.

Some very nice church ladies stopped to chat with us, and we got invited to come back tomorrow evening for a sing-along. "We only have 3 people right now so you'd be a welcome addition!" It would be fun, but I suspect we'll be too tired to make a 1.5 hour round-trip drive just for some singing.

Next, we took another "interesting" drive up to Mynydd Mawr, an old coastguard lookout point on the westernmost tip of Northern Wales. Such a gorgeous area.

We were blessed with another day of full sun and warm temperatures (for Wales). Many of us came away quite sunburned by the end of the day.

Our last stop was Traeth Porthor or Whistling Sands Beach, where the sand indeed whistles when you step on it the right way. I didn't have the courage to swim, but Eric, Ivy, and Dio all jumped in. Eric said the size and number of fish were incredible, and he wished he had his spearfishing equipment (he only had room for a mask & snorkel).

We drove home in the late afternoon, very hungry. By time dinner was done the hunger had gone up to ravenous! We had some leftover mushroom ravioli, plus an Asian vegetable stir-fry and barbequed spareribs.

A few of Eric's family put on a family history lesson in the evening, going back about 5 generations through the families that all lived in this small area in Wales. Eric's grandmother emigrated to Canada when she was 4 years old in 1924. Now his immediate family is scattered all oll over the US, Canada, and EU.

Ivy is in bed now, and the other kids are watching one of the women's Olympic soccer games. I'm exhausted so I'm going to read a little bit and then get to bed.

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Wales, day 2

We were up at 8 and out of the youth hostel by 8:30. We had breakfast at the grandparents' airbnb and then were pulling out at 9:30 am. We didn't have far to go--just the parking lot for the local castle/tower and the National Slate Museum.

The Dolbadarn Castle is one big tower in partial ruins dating back to the 1200s, give or take. Very picturesque. I didn't take many pictures today but I saw Inga and Dio taking lots of them...which means they liked it! Even the walk to the castle was so beautiful--moss and ferns and trees, and rocks covered with moss. Vivid shades of green on top of the purple-gray shale.

Next stop was the National Slate Museum, which was very fun. Until this family reunion, I knew nothing about the history of slate mining in Wales. Llanberis is the site of the Dinorwig quarry, which was open until 1969 and was the 2nd largest slate quarry in the world. It's an open quarry on the side of the mountain. Very impressive.

The slate museum is situated in the former workshop/foundry/forge and it was amazing to see all of the various industries taking place in one site. The entire thing was powered by an enormous waterwheel, one of the largest in the world. It's still turning today. (There's a much smaller, more efficient water wheel that was installed in the 1920s that is now powering everything, but the old one is still going!) I loved seeing how all of the machines were connected to the central drive shaft.

We had a picnic lunch, enjoying the weather that became progressively sunnier, and then took a short hike around Vivian quarry, one of the quarries that makes up the larger Dinorwig quarry site.

We drove through some very narrow roads--Zari was stressing out--down through the Welsh mountains and towards the sea. We were hoping to make a quick stop at Beddgelert, site of the grave of the dog that was (infamously) murdered by its owner, who thought it had killed its baby, only to discover after killing the dog that the dog had killed a wolf that was trying to get to the baby. (Who knows how much of this is folklore. But it makes for a good story.) But...the village was so crowded that there was nowhere to park!

So we continued on to Harlech to see the castle. Again, nothing really preserved, just the shell and the exterior walls. It's a shame that all of the interior parts are gone. I would love to have seen the original living quarters.

Ivy got a treasure hunt and enjoyed finding all of the clues, which spelled out "water gate." At the bottom of the fortified hill, there used to be an inlet from the sea. It has since silted over and is now roads and houses and sports complexes. But previously, the castle could get supplies directly from the sea, allowing it to outlast sieges.

We also went to the world's steepest street, or at least tired to because we walked down what was supposed to be the steepest street but I think we were on the wrong part of it. It wasn't that steep at all. We shrugged and got back in the car. Oh well.

Our next destination is the farm that we are all staying at, only we had to make a grocery stop on the way. 130 pounds later, we came out of the store with food for the rest of our stay. We bought Magnum bars for the kids, who were waiting in the car. I opened the door and exclaimed, "We have an ice cream emergency!" This startled Zari, who had just fallen asleep against the car door.

And then finally...we arrived at the farm. There's a big farmhouse and many small outbuilings made into cottages. We're in 3 units among all of us (20 or so in total, I think). There's an indoor pool, a game room, lots of very quiet, beautiful outdoor spaces. There's a lake further down the road and about a mile away on foot, the ocean.

Zari, Eric, and I took a long walk right before dinner to find the lake and the path to the ocean. Our legs are sore from yesterday!

We made dinner (tortellini with mushrooms, cream, & parmesan cheese, plus Caesar salad). The kids minus Zari took a walk to the beach with the cousins and some of adults. We stayed back and relaxed, since we had already gone there. Eric looked up clams and other seafood that we may be able to catch. Razor clams look like so much fun to catch! I hope we can find some.

Anyway it's late over here and we have a busy day tomorrow. Bonne nuit!

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Wales, day 1

Friday, July 26

We arrived in Liverpool after midnight on Thursday. By time we walked to our hotel and got into bed, it was 2 am French time, 1 am local time. We had 4-5 hours of sleep before we had to be up again to pick up the rental car.

Because we had a tight schedule for meeting the rest of Eric's family, Eric made us get there 30 minutes early to ensure we'd be the first in line to pick up the car. We waited...finally the employee showed up at 7:30. She looked at our booking. "I'm sorry, your car is not booked until 9. I have 13 other car rentals before yours. Come back in an hour and a half."

Never mind that we were the only people there at the moment. We had to wait our turn.

The kids were super hungry, so we walked back to the airport and bought food at a small grocery store. Each of us got a "meal deal": sandwich, snack, and drink for 5.50 pounds, which in an airport was actually not a horrible price.

We were on the road shortly after 9 am in our toaster van, a litttle box of a Vauxhall that has about 6" of luggage area in the back. Even with us just having one backpack each, the car is overcrowded!

Our destination on Friday morning was Llanberis, a little village at the base of the highest mountain in Wales (Snowdon Peak or Yr Wyddfa). Our objective: to hike the mountain! The rest had already started on an alternate trailhead, but we chose to start in Llanberis itself on the Llanberis path.

I hadn't done any research prior. I was expecting an easy-to-moderate hike because we were going with other family members who aren't really big hikers. But no! It was a proper hike that even kicked my butt at times.

Length: 14.5km
Anticipated Duration: 7 Hrs (it took us 4 hrs 15 min, including a lunch break!)
Ascent: 3,199 Feet (975 Metres)

We were in short sleeves for the first half or more of the hike. 3/4 of the way up, we hit wind, clouds, and rain. I was so sweaty that I delayed putting on a jacket until the last 30 minutes before the summit. And then I went from being too hot to really, really cold. My fingers were numb and my head and ears super cold (I was the only one who didn't have a hood of some sort). We had very little visibility on the last part of the hike, which is really a shame. All that hiking and no view from the summit.

We pushed the kids really hard and didn't stop to eat on the way up, even though we had gone well past lunch time. I think Eric kept expecting we'd be able to eat the summit or something...but it was so cold and windy and wet up there that we just turned right around. Inga hit a wall: she as so hungry and cold and crying and wanting to stop. But it was so cold that stopping wasn't a great idea.

We did find one place for a few minutes. But then all we could do was keep on going until we were low enough that we were out of the wind and clouds.

It took probably 45 minutes of hiking down before we found a reasonably sheltered place to stop and eat.

After that late lunch break, the rest was great. We were back in the sun, out of the wind, and going downhill. We kept a very quick pace--some of the group running, the rest of us keeping our feet light and fast as we descended from rock to rock. Layers came off until we were back in short sleeves again.

I was definitely not expecting such a dramatic change in weather and temperatures! If we were hiking on the coast near Nice, even in the winter, a similar elevation gain wouldn't make that much of a difference in temperatures.

When we were well over halfway down, the clouds lifted and we saw the peak for the first time! (See the blue arrow)

We were the last ones to start and the first ones back and we took the longest path. We sat in the sun at the Llanberis train station and enjoyed not moving. Some of us even put our heads down on a picnic table and napped.

It was dinnertime once everyone had reached the bottom and we were SOOOOO hungry. Our family hurried off to check into the youth hostel and then came back to order Indian takeout and eat it along the shores of the lake.

Ivy and Eric brought swimsuits and yes, they went swimming! I was very happy to stay warm and dry.

I think we all ate too much too quickly, but we were so hungry after that big hike. As soon as the sun reached the horizon, we all headed out. We were tired and needed to get settled and into bed. We had two rooms in the youth hostel, one with 4 bunkbeds for the kids and one with 2 bunkbeds for us. I took the top one because I don't tend to get disoriented at night. (Eric....well...let's just say there's a lot of sleeptalking and/or waking up and being convinced that something from his dream is actually real, etc. Best to keep him off of a top bunk!)

I read a bit once I was in bed, even though I was so tired. I'm reading the Murderbot series, which is quite fun. And then I got a good amount of sleep despite the not-super-comfortable bed and the other inconveniences of a youth hostel (noise of other guests, having to use a communal toilet in the middle of the night, etc).

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Cleaning, packing, more cleaning, some swimming

We're in full upheaval as departure day arrives (family reunion in Wales on the 25th). The house looks like a mess even though it's mostly clean and packed, because all the last things are out everywhere. Sleep is elusive for me--it happens during periods of stress like this.

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Tour de France videos

Saturday drone & fireworks show with 1,500 drones (really amazing and hard to describe the scale of the 3D drone show)



Sunday's final race...honestly we had just as much fun watching the pre-race parade as we did the race itself! We were next to a very enthusiastic group of Danes.

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I have lots of vides from today's Tour de France final...but my computer is tied up encoding a breech video so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I've never seen Nice so packed with people.

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Goodbye, wisdom teeth!

We had a brutally early start to our day at 5:30 am (and of course I had insomnia the night before! Of course!). We arrived promptly at 6:59 am, got checked in and settled into the room.

Zari dressed in the ridiculous ritualistic medical clothing: paper slippers, paper underwear, hospital gown that snaps up the back, and a hair net. And then...we waited...and waited. We had been told that the surgery would be at 8, but she didn't get taken back until close to 11:30 am!

After a rather long wait, some nurses came into the room and asked, "Do you have the x-rays?"

"No, I gave the x-rays to the surgeon a few days ago."

They asked who the surgeon was and then left. That didn't exactly inspire confidence on my part! And why would I have the x-rays on the day of her surgery? I'm not the one doing the surgery!

But I assume the x-rays were located because Zari eventually showed up again, smiling, with her cheeks nestled between ice packs. She was remarkably happy and even a bit energetic (was it the drugs?). I was expecting her to be tired and loopy. But this was the more confident, less inhibited, and more carefree Zari that got unleashed.

We had to wait another 2.5 hours to be released. Zari napped on and off--lots of drugs to work out of her system, I suppose, plus a lack of sleep the night before.

By 2 pm, I was super hungry. I hadn't eaten anything all day, and the day before was my fasting day so I had very little. I took a quick walk down the street until I came across a small grocery store. When I came back, the nurse came in to release us back into the wild.

We picked up a prescription for antibiotoics after we got off the tram and were home by 3 pm. I didn't get to eat, though! Eric had an interview with a newspaper reporter and I joined them down in Le Chateau. Finally at 4, I was able to grab a bite to eat. Phew!

I'm glad it all went well. Zari is in some pain, as to be expected, managed with ice packs and Tylenol (or "Saint Doliprane," as my friend calls it!).

Ivy is still in pain from her blisters. Eating and brushing teeth are particularly difficult.

I made country tomato bisque, along with baguettes and cheese, for dinner. We cooled Zari's soup in the freezer until it was just barely warm. They recommended staying away from hot food for the first day or two. She should be cleared for swimming by Monday, as long as she's not in too much pain.

And it's after 11 pm and I am soooo tired.

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Hand, foot, mouth...and butt disease? Really?

Last weekend we had a beach picnic with some friends. Her 4-year-old was recovering from hand, foot, & mouth disease. My friend said, "And he even got it on his ass!"

Well, I'm 99% certain that Ivy now has the same aflliction. Last night she noticed a few small red bumps on her hands and one on her butt, thinking they were just zits. But this morning: they were on her hands, feet, mouth...and butt! Lots on her butt. They are painful to the touch and it hurts to walk and to eat. Yep, I'd say that's 99% certain.

The rest of the kids keep freaking out when she comes near or touches something. I keep telling them, "It's just a mild virus and not a big deal at all. You probably already have it, too, but just don't have any symptoms."

We spent all morning and much of the afternoon packing and organizing. We made good progress, but at this stage it means that the house is in total upheaval. The kids also worked on filming a stop-motion animation up in the attic, which now has one completed scene that is quite charming. I supervised, helped out quite a bit at certain moments, all between hopping back on the computer to do my "real" work.

We headed to the beach for late afternoon. Eric had already left to do treasure hunting. Inga and Zari set off as a team and came back loaded with "treasures." Eric found a Samsung phone and children's snorkel mask. Zari and Inga found 2 pairs of swim googles, another swim mask, a beer bottle, a water bottle, a fluorescent green wig, a hair bow, an underwear gift card, a Carrefour card, several bits of random trash, and half of a crab shell.

Zari and Inga were out for 2 1/2 hours! I finally had to swim out to them (they were way out near the point) and tell them it was time for dinner. I hadn't eaten all day and it was close to 7 pm by then. I was ready to go home and eat.

I had a live session late this evening. Zari and I have an early start for her wisdom teeth extraction. We have to be at the clinic by 7 am, which means leaving her by 6:15 am!

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Prefecture

We had an early wakeup to get to the Prefecture, otherwise known as "The Place Where Hopes and Dreams Go To Die," by 9 am. We were picking up the kids' DCEM paperwork. While we were there, we inquired about the status of our own application, which we had done in May and never heard anything back from, despite two inquiries from our immigration attorney.

The woman looked up our files and said, "Hmmm, your applications haven't even been opened yet. Go to desk 1 and they will help you."

So we went to desk 1, took our number, waited in line, and got to another clerk behind another glass window. We explained our situation and she looked it up in her computer. "I'm sorry, I can't even access your files from my computer. Go to desk 2."

So we went to desk 2, took a number, waited in line, and arrived to the clerk. We explained our situation, and she said, "I'm sorry, this is the Ukriane desk; we cannot help anyone else. Come back in the afternoon and see if someone can help you then. But we warned--there will be tons of peope in line."

So we got into line--yes, in line at 10 am waiting for the Prefecture to open back up at 1 pm! We were not the first ones in line. We were outside, no water, no shade except a pexiglass cover that probably heated as much as it protected.

I sent an email to the immigration attorney because without the paperwork that they had requested (twice), we wouldn't be able to return to France after our family reunion next week in Wales. I let her know that we were waiting at the prefecture and that, almost 2 months in, no one had even begun to look at our application.

And then...mysteriously...we got an email notification from the visa & immigration website at 10:51 am. After some crazy rigamarole to access the website--involving walking Ivy through the process over the phone--we learned that the temporary travel authorizations that we had been waiting for had arrived! I think this was not coincidence. We quit the line and headed home (we had sent the kids home long ago--no sense in making them wait, too). We are good for a few months, at least!

I had intentions to go for a swim this afternoon but I got caught up in work. Then I had to bring Zari to her anesthesia consult in advance of her wisdom teeth extraction in 2 days. She came down with a fever today and was miserable...but we decided to go and we'll reassess tomorrow afternoon.

We watched Zoolander with the cousins tonight. I haven't seen it since it first came out. Quite fun.

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I had to run errands twice to Zari's oral surgeon who is going to take her wisdom teeth out, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It's a 35-minute walk each way. I walked in the morning and took the tram in the afternoon--it was hot!

The family went snorkeling and diving while I was gone. They enjoyed visiting La Vierge, a submerged statue of the Virgin Mary off the point of Nice. Here is what they found during the excursion:

Inga: hairpin, hairclip Zari: 3 masks, a jacket, underwear, towel, hotel card

Dio went with his cousins to 3 perfume stores because one of his cousins likes cologne. They also looked at fancy watches at a fancy store. They were getting hungry by my SIL said, "I bet Rixa is making something good for dinner, so let's wait!" And indeed, it was a delicious dinner. I made spanikopita, this time in little triangles, which the kids loved. We also had Toulouse sausages, broccoli, and a delicious walnut-pear-raspberry-gorgonzola salad that my SIL made.

We adults went on a lovely post-sunset walk. I love living here surrounded by so much beauty.

We have an upcoming family reunion in Wales, and the forecast is 15-16C and rainy! That is winter weather for us! Eric bought rain jackets because we don't have any and will probably need them. Inga's is bright yellow and she loves it so much she's been wearing it all day.

I just heard Dio say, "He is an egotestical dude" and I think it was meant as a joke but if not, it was still really funny.

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Haircut, swim scare, and more

Inga wanted a hair cut, so I took about 3" off. It now falls right below her shoulders. She took lots of before and after pictures (but not on my phone).

Dio and the cousins went on a bike ride this evening. He also went along with his cousins and aunt and uncle as they went suit shopping.

Zari, Ivy, and Inga worked on a stop motion animation this afternoon, but they only got as far as designing one of the set pieces! It's very elaborate.

Zari, Inga, Ivy, and I went to the beach in the late afternoon. Now that Zari has disocvered how to dive deep and equalize her ears, she is obsessed with diving. She was out for at least 2 hours...and for the last hour, we didn't know where she was because she had apparently swum around the point and out of sight. I finally started freaking out--quietly--because she is still fairly new at diving. I finally sent Ivy to run along the coast to see if she could spot Zari, and I also callled Eric to come look for her.

Ivy arrived running several minutes later, saying she had just found Zari (she was way around the point and quite far out, looking at the statue of La Vierge, which is about 45 feet / 15 meters down. Eric arrived at the same time and we could see her coming around the point. I think I'm going to insist that if she swims out of sight, she needs to have a partner with her. Fortunately Eric is just as obsessed with diving so she won't lack for a dive partner.

Eric cooked up four fish for dinner that he caught this past week. It was my fasting day so I had to defer until tomorrow (my meal today was a green vegetable puree, 2 squares of dark chocolate, and scrambled eggs with onions and bell peppers).

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Bastille Day, picnic, Euro Cup, improvised ping pong

It's Bastille Day but all focus is on the Tour de France arrival this coming weekend. The normal fireworks were cancelled because there's a fireworks/drone show on Saturday night as part of the Tour de France celebrations.

Ivy wasn't feeling well (again) so I stayed home with her in the morning. I don't doubt that she is unwell, since many of us have been feeling under the weather, but letting her stay up late the last few nights hasn't helped either. I told her she had to be in bed by 9 pm tonight, period.

Because we knew we'd be swimming later one, we decided to watch a movie in the afternoon with everyone. Well, not Eric--he went spearfishing and caught a mulet! (currently in our kitchen sink waiting to be cleaned).

We had a picnic & swim at the beach this evening with Eric's sister and her familiy and some friends of ours. Now that Zari has figured out how to equalize her ears, she is super gung-ho to learn how how to dive. Eric took her out and said she could go almost as deep as him, albeit her breath holding is much shorter. She even found a very nice Mares dive mask that is now hers!

We headed back in time to watch the Euro Cup match, England vs. Spain. The kids and cousins have rigged up an improvised ping pong table with painting tape and barbeque skewers.

The game was quite exciting to watch. We have crowds of (now very disappointed) English people at the Irish pub at the corner. It's an Anglo ex-pat hangout.

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Change of plans, Monaco, miroir d'eau

I hardly slept last night--a combination of stress and not feeling well. So between that and Ivy still feeling icky in the morning, we abandoned plans to go to the Pont de la Cerise. Instead, Eric took Dio, Inga, and his sister's family to Monaco. Zari, Ivy, and I had a relaxing day at home and then went to the miroir d'eau in the late afternoon to meet up with friends.

All of us took a late night walk. It's almost 11 pm and the kids are still out--they got treated to ice cream. Eric and I passed because we're tired and not hungry. They are under instructions to come home and go to bed as soon as they have finished the ice cream.

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Return from Camping, Inside Out 2

The campers came back at dinnertime! We have loads of laundry and lots of camping gear to pack away.

Ivy and I took her friend to see Inside Out 2 this afternoon. They spent so long dressing up in colors that represented the various characters. Ivy found me a Joie ensemble (yellow and blue!) so I got to join in the fun. Ivy was Dégoût and her friend was maybe l'Ennuie?

We have plans to go hiking and wild swimming tomorrow, but Ivy was feeling feverish this evening. So we may have to be flexible...plus all the other kids are totally exhuasted. We'll see in the morning.

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Another pretty chill day...Ivy hung out with her aunt, went out exploring, and bought fun treats. I did lots of video editing again.

Ivy and I went to the beach after dinner. Another gorgeous, calm day with clear water. When we were drying off, there was a man nearby who got stung by a jellyfish. We hadn't seen any until then.

I talked to Eric briefly this morning but he was so busy he didn't have much time. Kids are having fun and I wish I could be there. In retrospect Ivy and I could have rented a little cabin to stay in but we didn't know that beforehand.

We made vegan dark chocolate cupcakes in the afternoon, not because I am ideologically vegan but because I had all the ingredients on hand. I had leftover frosting from Ivy's birthday party stored in the freezer, so it was a good excuse to use it up. Our fridge is so packed because I did a huge grocery shopping trip but hardly anyone is eating the food! That will change tomorrow evening once everyone is back.

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I talked to Eric this morning to see how the camping was going. He was a bit grumpy because he was asked to be a night guard (to ensure the youth didn't get into trouble, I guess?) and he finally called it quits at 1:30 am because he was so tired. He's volunteering as a chaperone and I think it's crazy that they're asking the adult volunteers not only to help out during the day, but to stay up all night in shifts. He was also too cold at night, despite bringing an extra blanket.

Ivy and I exercised together in the morning, then she went with my SIL to buy pastries and walk around. I did video caption editing all day today, with a short break to run an errand. Ivy got treated out to ice cream wrapped in a bubble waffle, topped with oreos and whipped cream and strawberries. Wow! Having aunts and uncles around is amazing!

We made spicy crab sushi for dinner and had 12 rolls left over after we finished eating! I cannot cook for a small group. (And I made a big batch on purpose, because I know that the teenagers are coming back on Friday and they will demolish it all in about 5 seconds.)

We went swimming after dinner in the sea that was lake calm and perfectly clear. Ivy swam for at least an hour and a half. She is part fish. She and a group of kids found an octopus near shore, so they were looking at it for about 30 minutes. It turned spiky at one point and at another time, it released its ink.

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Camping & semifinals

We got everyone off and the car packed (barely--Eric had to work to shut the back hatch). Now it's just me, Ivy, and Eric's sister.

Ivy and I went grocery shopping in the morning to stock up. I really tried to buy for two people...and failed! I just can't do it! It was way too hot hauling all the groceries home in the unrelenting sun. Summer weather is definitely here.

Ivy spent some time with my sister-in-law while I did video editing (Breech Pro will soon be available in Italian!!). Then we all took a walk, equipped with a spray bottle to stay cool, to the local furniture consignment store.

I made a huge batch of masaman curry (adding sweet potatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers) and red rice. Ivy crafted a delicious fruit salad. We have enough curry lefovers for another meal, so that's now tucked away in the freezer.

We're watching the Euro Cup semi-finals, France vs. Spain. France scored right away, but then Spain scored twice, all fairly early on. We're now into the second half with Spain still ahead 2-1. I hear the campers are watching it, too (because campgrounds in France are way more luxurious than in the US! theirs even has a heated pool).

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Too much sun

After lunch we took cousins and Eric's sister to the rocky beach area right after La Reserve, which we call Coco Beach. I was already sunned out just walking there. I was done. Unfortuately the kids weren't! I much prefer going out in the late afternoon or early evening.

Everyone but Ivy and I are going camping for 4 days (big youth camping trip for ages 12+). I think we have all the gear out of the attic.

I felt well enough to do sprints this morning. It's getting HOT!

Eric's sister bought pizza for dinner tonight. Eric caught 3 fish and decided to put them in the freezer after cleaning them.

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Goodbye friends, hello cousins!

Well, the sadness of saying goodbye to our friend was offset by the arrival of Eric's sister, one of her kids, and one of her nephews. They are both right around Dio's age or 1 year old. It's her nephew's first time in Europe and definitely different from the small town in southern Alberta that he has grown up in!

They arrived mid-afternoon, so of course we went to the beach. It's so gorgeous right now--warm air but not too hot, water that is just slightly cool.

I ended up cooking all sorts of things: sausages roasted with fennel, mustard, thyme, and red wine; a big vegetable and flageolet bean salad with balsamic dressing; plum tart; dark chocolate almond cookies.

My day started suuuuper early due to a conference presentation in Australia. My 7 am session was afternoon for them. I was still feeling just a bit off, so I stayed home to watch the rest of the conference.

We were surprised by a huge and VERY NOISY street parade with drummers and dancers. It seemed to have lots of people from Brazil but also other places like Madagascar. I'm not sure what it was, but it was the loudest street parade I've ever heard in my life. When I edited the video, I had to turn it down by many decibels and it's still plenty loud on my computer.

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Water park, movie, dinner with friends

Dio was gone all day at a birthday party, and everyone else headed to a water park with giant inflatable structures floating on the sea. (I went there 2 years ago. It was fun but I think once is enough for me!)

I had a quiet morning at home. I'm feeling better than yesterday but still not great. I did get Zari's new door latch and handle installed. For the first time in 10 years, she can actually close her bedroom door!

We watched the second movie in the Musketeers series--Milady. It was filled with one plot twist and intrique after another and frankly it was hard to keep track of who was doing what for which side. But you just have to set that aside and not take it too seriously.

As if the 3 hours in the water wasn't enough for Eric, he went swimming again right before dinner to treasure hunt and came home with a snorkel mask.

We had another potluck in Le Chateau with our friends. She made a zucchini tart and green beans, I made socca (regular and rosemary), and we also had bread, cheese, saussicon sec, madeleines, cherries, and cardamom-infused hot chocolate.

Ivy is at a sleepover and the house seems way too quiet.

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Catching up...

2 nights ago we went to an outdoor movie (D'Artagnan), last night I was sick. Hence the lack of updates. Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Ivy has been doing different hairstyles every day this week. I was too sick to do it this morning so Inga helped instead (a ponytail with lots of little braids). Here are pictures from some other days.

Inga tried pin curls for the first time. Here's a picture right after undoing them.

I'm still sick today so I didn't go out and do anything (fever, body ache, etc). We had our friends from downstairs and another set of friends come over for dinner and the Spain-Germany soccer match.

The kids have a fun day tomorrow at a water park! Well, Dio will be at a friend's birthday party instead, and he's disappointed that he will miss the water park. Then Ivy has a sleepover to go to right after she gets home.

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High school graduate! Middle school graduate!

Zari left early this morning for her last exam, the grand oral. She has oficially finished the bac and ended her French high school career!!

When she arrived, her examiners chose which of her two subjects she would be speaking on. She had prepared one presentation about the significance of Silent Spring in the US environmental movement, and the other one about how Banky's artwork critiques contemporary social, economic, and policial issues. They chose the one on Banksy. She thinks it went really well. One of her two examiners was her teacher from seconde (10th grade).

Dio has also finished all of his exams (brevet) as of this afternoon!

Zari's door is back on its hinges, awaiting one final coat on one side of the door. I painted one side in the basement, but it's so humid down there that the door was still wet after drying overnight (and it's water-based paint, which usually dries in a few hours).

I had a lot going on today between work and some stuff with rental apartments back in the US...didn't sleep well last night because of it...but I did have time for a quick dip in the sea before dinner!

Inga went hiking to Eze with our friends. The forecast said overcast skies, but it was sunny most of the day. The hike was much warmer than expected.

Dinner was poluck; I cooked creamy herbed pork chops over red rice, foie gras, and a plum tart for dessert. They brought salad and a few different kinds of shredded vegetables in sauce and some ravioli with tomatoes and lardons. And bread and cheese because we're in France!

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I am feeling out of things to write about, since it will be a lot of the same (exercise, work, food, family). Blah. Anyway here goes...did sprint intervals in the morning, got 2 coats of paint on one side of Zari's bedroom door, did loads of breech-related stuff, went sports bra shopping with Inga, went on a walk with Zari, Dio took is first 2 exams, Zari studied a lot for her big exams tomorrow, potluck dinner with our friends, a game of Loup Garou with the kids...that's about it!

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