Georgetown, Texas

Our next stop was Georgetown, Texas, to visit my aunt and uncle. Noah couldn't get enough of Aunt Claire's pottery shed.

Benjamin was finally persuaded to try it out, too. 

One day, Aunt Claire took us to The Thinkery, a children's science museum in Austin. Their favorite part turned out to be the arts and crafts room, where Noah made a house, and Benjamin made a tank.

Benjamin also made a stop motion video at one of the exhibits.

While we were in Georgetown, we visited Blue Hole.

Benjamin found a dry-ish spot to sit and was building a dam. 

"Dry" is not a word Noah thinks very much of. 

So Uncle Curtis knew Noah would also enjoy the small splash pad right in the center of downtown Georgetown.

Other Texas highlights:
Seeing cousins, eating Texas barbecue at Rudy's, and catching up with friends J.L. and Emily Gray in Austin. We went with them to a city-run aquatic park and then had dinner at their house. I tried to tell Benjamin that J.L. and I met at about the age he and their son Zachary are now, and he yawned and told me J.L. had already told him that. Ha.

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Our next stop was Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to visit my grandparents, my uncle Jim, and the adorable new dog, Cookie. It's always nice to catch up, and they always feed us well when we are there.

Mountain Home, Arkansas

After a short weekend in St. Louis, we took off for our first stop on our crazy 2800-mile trip (4500 km). Our friends Wayne & Betty Nunnery had invited us to their lake house in Mountain Home, Arkansas. 

The boys both got to drive their pontoon boat, and go fishing, and we visited a nearby fish hatchery. It was a quick trip; we only stayed two nights, but we had lots of fun and were happy to visit with our friends.

Benjamin's invisible fish

America - in the summer?!

Frédéric was missing America, and by some miracle had vacation in August. So the day after the boys returned home, we took off for our grand tour.

The traditional "train to the terminal" photo

The upside to jet lag is the beautiful sunrises.

I warned them, but somehow Noah was still surprised it was so hot. 

However, America was not quite ready for us... this happened at immigration in Chicago.

Immigration officer: Do you intend to move here?
Me: Not anytime soon.
Immigration officer: Good!

Summer Camp

The boys went off to church camp this year as usual. A day or two before they arrived home, we got this letter from Benjamin. 

Rough translation:


"Dear parents,

Camp was great! At the theme day, we almost won. I'm sorry, because I didn't take pictures, because all during camp, it felt like déjà vu, and, I will remember this year! And also, I didn't have too much time... Anyway, I hope to come back to camp, but I can't wait to come home! I miss you a lot.

Love,
Benjamin

(P.S. I hope this letter comes home before me! Coming soon!)"