Quickest Farm Visit Ever

Another aunt and uncle stayed at the farm with my grandparents over Thanksgiving, so we weren't going to get to see them. So we decided to do a quick trip through Montgomery on our way back to Atlanta to fly out.The boys didn't complain, as that gave them another chance to drive the buggy!

Conversations with Benjamin

Our family Thanksgiving camp is two days. In the car on our way to Montgomery yesterday, Benjamin said: "Two days is not long enough. Why can't it be three days? When I was young, it was three days."

I said, "It's always been two days, for more than 30 years."

He said, "When I was a spirit, it was three days."

I said, "It's always been two days, for more than 30 years."

He said, "When I was a rock, it was three days."

I said, "You have never been a rock."

He said, "Yes, when I was a rock, it was three days."

I said, "Maybe you should write a book about when you were a rock."

He said, "It was very dull. The only exciting part was when I was thrown from hand to hand. So it would be a dull book."

So there you have it.

Thanksgiving Camp

Then we headed down to camp. Frédéric still had to study for his test coming up at the end of our trip, but he managed to find a little time to play boules.

And to go fishing.

On Friday, some friends of Uncle Vance and Aunt Aimee's delivered a bench they had made in Uncle Vance's memory, so we all went over to dedicate it. We sure do miss him.

Visiting Grandparents

As we do every year, we stopped in to visit my Lundy grandparents on our way down to camp.

The boys had a blast with the remote control cars that do flips.

Noah was happy to share his fried-egg skills at breakfast, and not to be outdone, Benjamin made scrambled eggs for us, too.

Tourists in St Louis

To justify our trip for the French schools, and also just because we love St Louis, we play tourist a little bit when we're there.

This year, we started out with the Missouri History Museum, where we visited a Toy exhibit (kind of horrifying to see some of the toys from MY childhood in a museum), a Route 66 exhibit, and a 1904 St Louis World's Fair exhibit.

My dad said the boys really needed to have some Ted Drewes'. Somehow we never seem to make it over here in the summer, so concretes in November it had to be.

My dad also thought that since we were halfway there, we ought to go take the boys to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which fit in neatly with our Route 66 museum exhibit visit.

So we walked all the way across the Mississippi River on foot. (To Frédéric's dismay - but now he has some small understanding of how I feel in an airplane.)

Va te faire cuire un oeuf

That's a French expression, meaning, "Buzz off."

But now we can say it to Noah, and he will do it. He learned how to fry eggs, and he will be more than happy to oblige if anyone wants one! Or even if no one wants one!

Winter Wonderland

We visited our lovely hairdresser, Peggy, for our annual haircuts, and she gave us tickets to the Winter Wonderland set up in Tilles Park. It was chilly, but fun!

Not All Vacation

Some of us were hard at work over vacation. Benjamin, in 6th grade, had a LOT of work to catch up on. And Frédéric had to study for his FAA flight dispatcher test.

Noah's Itinerary

Noah was our trip planner. This is what he had on his list for after we left the farm:

Stop = Taco Bell. (Priorities.)
Grandad Grandma Normal. (as opposed to Crowe or Lundy.)
Grandad Grandma Lundy.
Camp.
Marc Roof. (Uncle Mark & Aunt Ruth)
Aéroport. (back home, sniff.)

I guess that about covers it!

The Farm

We started out our US trip with a few days at the farm in Alabama, so we could spend some time with my grandparents. We had a great time metal-detecting, gathering eggs, driving the buggy, fishing, and visiting with family.

The boys found all sorts of treasures in the fields, like rusty hinges and pieces of chains, and stove covers.

We caught enough fish for dinner, though Benjamin was upset that we were going to eat them rather than release them.

Great-grandparents and great-grandkids: priceless.

A trip home starts with

a view of Greenland as we fly over it.

Interclubs Swim Meet

Benjamin had an "Interclubs" swim meet today, which is a team competition between local clubs. His team came in second. Benjamin took 6 seconds off his 50m freestyle, and 7 seconds off his 100m backstroke. AND he had a great time!

Noah came along to cheer everyone on.