Frédéric's cousin Manu and his family invited us over for an end of summer lunch before back to school time. Coming from the farthest away, we managed to arrive before everyone else.
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| Mélissa, Frédéric, Axel, Noah, me, Sophie |
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| Mélissa, Sophie, Axel, Manu, Kimberley, Pascal me, Frédéric, Noah, Sandrine, Christian, Sheila |
After we returned to France, Frédéric left for Normandy for ten days to make some progress on the house. The goal of this stay was to finish the kitchen.
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| He painted it |
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| Gaudeline helped lay the floor |
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| Then they added the kitchen cabinets, fridge, and dishwasher |
Benjamin sent me his first day of school photo as he starts his sophomore year at Missouri S&T as a mechanical engineering major.
Frédéric, Noah, Elyse, and I drove to Chicago to fly back to France.
We got to fly back in style, too.
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By some miracle we managed to get our timing right so we could move Benjamin into his campus apartment at Missouri S&T, and he got to show Elyse around the campus.
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| Benjamin's new apartment building |
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| Elyse and Benjamin |
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| Originally Missouri School of Mines, then University of Missouri at Rolla |
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| Checking in on the solar car |
The Ballwin highway patrol office makes it impossible to get in for a driver's test, with no appointments available online and lines around the corner at least two hours before the office opens. Fortunately, Festus allows people to make appointments online, so Benjamin was able to go there for a test, and at long last, his Missouri driver's license achievement is unlocked!
And he has a new (to him) car to go with the new license, thanks to his grandparents!
Back in St Louis, we met up with my eighth grade science teacher, Claudia Uccello, for lunch at her senior living residence, and then visited the Butterfly House right across the street.
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| Noah and Claudia, deeply regretting that we missed the corpse flower's bloom |
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| Elyse and Benjamin |
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| Claudia and Benjamin |
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| Elyse, Noah, Frédéric, me, Claudia, Benjamin |
After Arkansas, we drove down to Alabama to visit the farm.
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| Grandma Crowe reading to Caleb and Molly, Noah in the background |
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| Grandma Crowe and Molly |
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| Benjamin, Elyse, Noah, and Levi playing Rummikub while Riley and Caleb watch |
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| Grandma and Travis chatting |
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| Noah, me, Grandma Crowe, Benjamin, Elyse |
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| Benjamin and Elyse played "Dinosaur Tea Party" with the cousins |
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| Noah always helps with chores on the farm, like collecting eggs |
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| This year, he got to learn how to milk a cow |
Benjamin and Elyse didn't want to be left out of that fun, so they got up early the next day, before we left for St Louis, to try it out.
Frédéric and Elyse arrived in St Louis the night before we went to pick up Benjamin and Noah from camp.
We gave them a day to recover from jet lag, and the boys a day to recover from lack of sleep at camp, and then we went on vacation with my parents, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Mark, and Aunt Claire and Uncle Curtis in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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| Nice firepit not far from the dock |
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| Elyse and Benjamin kayaking |
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| playing Molkky |
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| Noah kayaking |
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| Eating possum pie - delicious local speciality |
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| playing a generation trivia game, questions for everyone |
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| Noah digging for crystals |
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| digging for crystals |
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| Elyse and Benjamin digging for crystals |
