Well, and Flea Markets

So we finally got a break from swim meets. While Frederic was at work, the boys and I went to a flea market in our neighboring town of Montgobert. They hold their flea market on the local castle grounds, so it's a very picturesque one.

Benjamin found "une affaire en or" (a real bargain!) with this brand-new, unopened Lego set. A rare find!

And Noah was equally excited about his free find - and quite proud of having "detected" it without a metal detector in the field where we had parked.

Then, the weather was so nice, we went out for a walk/ride through the fields. (Along the grenade path, if you've followed along.)

No grenades today (whew) but Noah found quite a few treasures, like this authentic... spoon.

He actually spent more time like this than on his bicycle. Digging for treasures.

I'm not kidding, swimming is all we do

Benjamin had another swim meet this weekend. He swam some crazy long and difficult races, like 400-meter medley - that means 100 meters each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and crawl.

Let me say that again - 100 meters - 4 LAPS - of butterfly. Whew!! But he did an amazing job!

Noah came to cheer him on... or something.

After his races, he got to goof off a little bit. Not too tired!

Because if there weren't swimming pictures, there would be no pictures at all

The boys' club swim meet was yesterday. It's mainly to encourage the kids from the "swim school" to see what a meet is like, and inspire them to join the competitive team. It's a small club, so the races are interesting... sometimes you have a scrawny 9 year old and a strapping 15 year old in the same heat. (The 9 year old doesn't usually win the heat.) But then they give medals based on age, so it all works out.

Swim season continues

Noah was pushed out of second and third place by two new swimmers in his category, so he came in with fourth to sixth place finishes in his second competition. But he still had a great time!

9!

Noah is 9!

He asked for Legos for his birthday, but when he gets Legos, he usually builds them once, takes them apart, and puts them away... never to be seen again. So instead, we talked him into a raised garden bed. This is the first time I've ever wrapped up potatoes as a present!

He got a garden bed, potatoes to plant, and seeds for radishes, carrots, and corn. Plus new gardening gloves and some tools. As you can tell by the look on his face, he loved it!

And he decorated his own cake, of course!