We are still here

It's August, the time of year when the rest of France is on vacation and the entire country comes to a grinding halt, but we are still here. Frederic doesn't request vacation in August since it would be a miracle were such a request to be granted, and since the boys aren't in school yet we don't need to take vacation at school vacation time yet anyway. (Time will tell what skirmishes will ensue with the school teachers and administrators over Thanksgiving in the years to come.)

The temperature got up to about 28°C (82°F) yesterday which is about as hot as we can hope for around here in the summer. (Note long sleeved shirts on the boys in the picture below. I never really get to put away all the winter clothes.) Not really quite warm enough for the swimming pool, but we have to take what we can get and the boys (and Frederic!) enjoyed splashing around yesterday despite all the shivering when it was time to get out.

We have walked down a couple of times to see the ducks - and had scary run-ins with dogs both times. The first occurred when a very large dog that legally is supposed to be muzzled in public was not and came to say hello to Noah about a centimeter from his face, to which Noah responded by having a screaming fit. The second was when we were almost home and another large and unleashed dog came charging at us from its home and I swept Benjamin up in my arms - as if that would make him higher and out of reach. Ha. Let's hear it for responsible dog owners! Oh. Right, we don't have any in our village, apparently. Or cat owners, for that matter. We're thinking of getting a pet bear that we would allow to roam at will also.


We've also been enjoying our vegetable garden this year. Benjamin was happy to help me make the zucchini bread... not so happy to eat it, because "there's zucchini in it!" Uhhh... yeah.

Our next round of company is about to begin, with 2 ladies from church (one in Paris, one in Marseille) coming for lunch on Monday. Then my friend Becky arrives mid-August, Frederic's cousins will come for lunch while she is here, and Emily and Brent will come in September after their wedding. Time for another round of good house cleaning!