Summer's winding down

One last Parental Mythology picture before school starts... and trust me, it's definitely all mythology. The summer has been non-stop fighting from dawn to dusk - or at least from the time they woke up til the time they went to bed, seeing as how dawn comes pretty early and dusk pretty late here in our northern climes.

But I have amazing (and especially extremely rapid) Grab the Camera Quick, Don't Miss This Moment!^TM skills, so I was able to capture this little gem on film to look back on in my old age and pretend none of the arguments or fighting ever happened.

And.... only 2 months until our trip home! So we made the official Countdown Calendar! Actually, we hadn't yet decided on the exact departure date, so I'll need to update the calendar now that we have decided.

Heat Wave!

I know you haven't seen many of these pictures yet this summer. We wore long pants and sweaters all through July, and all of a sudden the heat wave hit a couple of days ago. The boys have taken full advantage of the pool since then, no matter how much their teeth chatter in the frosty 71°F-even-after-having-been-heated-by-the-sun-all-day well water in the pool. 

This is my Aquatic Parental Mythology picture. So I can pretend it wasn't all trying to splash or drown each other.

Sunday, our friends came over for the day. We had house church, lunch, and let the kids play in the pool all afternoon.These four take some great pictures together.

The Fun Parent (aka Frédéric) set up a waterslide for them.

When your goosebumps get too big, and your teeth chatter so much you can't talk, it's time to take a break in the sun, on the swingset.

Look at those handsome guys! And yes, they do wear their swim caps to swim in the pool in our yard. By their own choice. What can I say, they are French!

Frédéric made Benjamin an inner tube out of the two pool noodles. Looks pretty relaxing!

The Puiseux-en-Retz Natural History Museum

is now open! Benjamin finished construction (with Frédéric's help), and you are welcome to come visit. I believe he is only charging around ten euros a ticket.

Tintin's School of Aviation

Noah (playing with airplanes): Put on your seatbelts.
Me: Wait! I don't have my seatbelt on!
Noah: No, you have to put your seatbelt on.
Me: Wait, who is flying the plane?
Noah: Me.
Me: You are? You know how to fly? Where did you learn?
Noah: On Tintin.

(If a real pilot ever tells me that, I'm getting off.)

Landlocked Beach

We thought we were about three hours from the nearest beach... until they started "Villers Plage." Several years back, the concept began as "Paris Plage" (Paris Beach), where they bring in truckloads of sand and dump it along the banks of the Seine, in the attempt to provide a "vacation" atmosphere for those who aren't able to go to an actual beach during summer vacation. 

Well, who says you have to go to the seaside or to Paris to have the "beach"? We have our own right in Villers Cotterêts now, complete with bouncy houses. Benjamin was not even remotely interested in the sand, as it turned out, and spent his time in the bouncy houses and on the nearby playground.

But Noah spent almost the entire time in the giant sandbox, happily playing with toys other kids had brought and abandoned.

High Tech Children

With a little help from Frédéric, Benjamin sent me his first email:

mummy,

can you print my picter please

benjamin

He sounded out the words by himself, and ran into my office, all excited to tell me he sent me an email.
Not to be outdone, Noah also had to send me an email:

Ae leul U

noah

Clearly he also sounded out the words by himself. Frédéric says that says "I love you." (And Noah added a picture to be printed, too.)

Maintaining the Myth

I am in desperate need of some Parental Mythology photos this summer, this long, long, long summer. A whole month left of summer. And yes, we only have 2 months here. Thank goodness. 

Fortunately, the boys complied this morning when they got out a game to play together.

With these pictures, I can now pretend they played nicely together the entire time, and didn't squabble over anything. (Let it be said that there is a reason I only take photos, not videos.)

My Fierce Little Gaulois

Actually, I guess they should be Romans, since those are Roman shields. But they prefer to be Gaulois, out of loyalty to Astérix. 

Frédéric came up with this summertime project for them today.

These are their scary warrior faces. I mean... I'm sure you could tell that without my caption. Right?

Obviously we lived to regret the swords about 30 seconds after they were finished.