Thank you!

Gosh, you guys are so good with all of your prayers, good thoughts and well wishes. We sure appreciate it. Josh's dad made some great strides today as he was able to get off the ventilator and be weaned from the sedation. He has a long way to go as the brain injury was significant but hopefully the memory and cognition issues begin to resolve. The kids have held up amazingly well but will be happy to go off with my mom and dad tomorrow for the weekend so they can get away from the hospital and from their worried parents. Keep the good thoughts coming our way!!

Prayers Needed

This morning we got a phone call telling us that Josh's dad had fallen and suffered a head injury. He is now in the ICU in Lafayette. We are taking turns sitting with him. Any prayers would be appreciated.

Notre Dame

We are currently hanging out on campus at Notre Dame for our annual pilgrimage/brainwashings session for the kids. This is the closest to camping that we like to come - sleeping in the dorms and eating in the cafeteria is fun for awhile. Josh and I are thrilled to discover that we can still manage to share a twin bed and sleep quite comfortably - maybe we aren't so old afterall! (When making our reservations, we forgot that we would have 7 of us here instead of 6 so we had to make do with the beds we had available!) Anyway, Josh flew safely across "the pond" on Friday and we were finally all together again. We enjoyed a very nice evening with friends in Batesville before driving up to South Bend on Saturday morning. Since arriving here, we have been biking, kayaking, walking, eating, climbing trees, etc. My parents joined us for a day and yesterday, Quincy and Benjamin split from our group to join the summer basketball camp on campus. They will stay there until Thursday and were quite excited to improve their basketball skills. I hope being surrounded by 500 teenage boys all speaking loud English is not too much for Benjamin! Quincy knows 3 other boys at the camp so I'm sure they will all have a great time. Tomorrow will be off to West Lafayette to visit Josh's dad and to pick up Benjamin's brother who will join our family for about 5 days.

Out of Touch

Sorry that I haven't been blogging much this trip.... I have had very little accessibility to a computer these days. This trip hasn't been quite as relaxing as we had planned but life is never smooth sailing, is it? Unbelievably enough, while in the funeral procession for my friend, Teresa's dad, I was called and told that my sister's husband's father had died very unexpectedly. So, we have rearranged our schedule again and will go to another funeral today. What a hard time for so many people.... We are so sorry, Cliff. The kids and I have been in Batesville for the past several days however and have managed to see lots of friends and have a very nice time. This morning, Calvin woke up with the chicken pox just after Max's were beginning to clear up!! So much for that chicken pox vaccine that they all have had, eh? Thank goodness that Josh arrives tomorrow.... I'm ready for a break.

Almost All Together Again....

I am like a snowball rolling down a hill and gathering more and more snow in the process.... Today was a day of just gathering my kids.... We changed our plans for the next few days so that I can be in Ft. Wayne for the funeral of Bill Roeger. So, this morning, Calvin and I left West Lafayette and drove to Brookston, IN where Taba was finishing up her horse camp. We picked her up amidst lots of hugs, tears and the exchanging of email addresses with all of her new buddies. We also had to walk out to the horse barn before we could leave to say good-bye to her horse named Ug who she rode all week and the baby donkey that was just born a month ago and loved by many girls. We then drove the 2 hours to Ft. Wayne to pick up Max from Grandma's house. Max leapt into my arms and hung on for dear life for about 5 whole minutes so I think it is safe to assume that he missed me. He had a great time with Grandma however and even managed to win 4 prizes in a drawing at a breast cancer fundraiser last night. A massage, a package of coffee, a Longaberger basket, and a Vera Bradley candle.... just what every 7 year old boy longs for!! Fun, nonetheless!
We then drove on to my parents' house for the night where we have picked up Quincy and Benjamin. It's nice to have everyone under one roof again! Now, we just can't wait to see Josh and Coco on Friday....

Heartbreaking....

I picked up Calvin from asthma camp today in southern Indiana before driving up to West Lafayette to visit Josh's dad. Calvin had a great week and filled our driving time with all sorts of stories. We were also able to spend time with some old friends today so we both had a great time.
Unfortunately, the father of my very good friend, Teresa (the one that I stayed with in Indy just last night) died today. This has been a very, very hard time for them and I feel lucky that I am at least in the country and able to go to the funeral and lend my support. Please keep them in your prayers....

Bad News!

I finally have time to sit down with a computer and blog but I have now realized that I packed the wrong cable to upload my pictures! You may have to just read for now until Josh can bring the right cable. Sorry! You can see Taba's cabin photo from her Equestrian camp, however.
I am now in Indianapolis after 4 wonderful days in Sedona, Arizona... I flew back here this afternoon and staying at the home of a very good friend. Leah and I had a great time in Arizona and managed to squeeze in all sorts of adventures. We started out with a visit to a wonderful spa for some massages and facials. We then enjoyed the beautiful scenery and comforts of Leah's aunt and uncle's amazing house, complete with an observation deck to enjoy the surrounding views and a clear view of the stars and satellites at night. On Tuesday, we drove up through a gorgeous canyon to Flagstaff where we tried to enjoy the aboreteum and some shopping but were rained out. We drove back down to Sedona where it was drier and did a little shopping there. On Tuesday evening, at the suggestion of Leah's aunt, we took a cooking class at a local Inn where we learned how to make some fantastic food and enjoy some good wine and some good conversation in the process. On Wednesday, we stepped out of our "comfort zone" and participated in the "toning of our chakras" after hiking out to the "convergence of three vortexes" where the "energy could rain down upon us". We then hiked to a beautiful little creek in the red rocks of Sedona and did some yoga and meditation.... Hmmm.... not exactly our cup of tea but the views were amazing. It was a good workout for our self control however as we tried to maintain straight faces for the full 3 hours!! Wednesday evening, we hopped into a pink jeep with 6 other people and drove out into some rugged land and up some steep hills to enjoy the beauty of the area. Gorgeous!!

My vacation (3 day weekend) was pretty good too and you'll like reading about it more because it's mostly pictures

July 14 is Bastille Day in France, which is a holiday in France that celebrates the beginning of the French revolution.  Clearly, the goal of the revolution was to become more like the Americans by overthrowing their king. This cultural export of "American" continues today as you can see in this perfect replica of the Starsky and Hutch car I saw the other day while walking the dog.

For the diehard fans, here is the link to the number 1 fan site in England: (the English all secretly want to be American also but would never admit it)
www.starskyandhutchonline.com

Here is a link to a brief explanation of Bastille Day:

Bastille Day

As everyone knows (except everyone in Batesville who was trying to get ahold of me and others on Monday) Bastille Day is a government holiday making it a 3 day weekend which allowed me to go to the 2008 old boat show in Brest. My friend in marketing has a beach house there so he let me sleep in his yard and sail his boat in the bay. I also attended his family picnic on Saturday. There were 43 people there of all ages. More than last year, but fewer than the year before. That was a record year of 68. The way they do it is fun, because he just tells the whole family on his mom's side and his dad's side the date and they just see who shows up. It is a picnic, so they prepare nothing and ask for no responses.  It was just like any other family reunion but in French.  Just as with everything else, it was totally different but exactly the same at the same time. Oh, there was a lot more wine and a lot less beer than an American get together.  The bottle his dad brought costs $300 now in the US, but his dad bought it in '87 for approximately $7.

Anyway, went to the boat show. Here is the official site:
Check it out, it is in English.
www.brest2008.fr/en/

I did not think to take pictures of Remy's house, so please go to his website and see it. He has a web site because he also leases it out to vacationers.
www.gite-marin-breton.com

Here are my pictures of the beach outside of Remy's house:

Here are my pictures of the Brest show:

One small section of the show.

This thing was actually sailing.  

Wish I had gotten the sails, but I was on our boat and just missed it.

Several hundred boats on the water of the 2000 boats at the show.

Russian Navy trainer ship. above

French Navy boat.

Don't know why there was a dragon there.  But it was cool.

Now This is Vacation!!

I successfully dumped all 5 of my kids at various camps and grandparents and then took the earliest flight possible out to Arizona this morning. My college roomate, Leah, picked me up in Phoenix and we drove to Sedona for the rest of the week. We are staying at the gorgeous house of Leah's aunt and uncle. Amazing views and fantastic weather! I'll try to include some pictures tomorrow, I'm just too tired today.... Anyway, after grabbing a quick lunch and dropping off our luggage, we went out for a facial and massage at a local spa. Fantastic! Calvin is at asthma camp, Tabitha is at equestrian camp, Max is with Grandma and Grandpa, Quincy and Benjamin are with Grandma Greene and Josh is in France. Everyone is doing well. Josh actually enjoyed a long weekend (it's Bastille Day, you know) in Brest, France with some French friends. There was a huge sailing exhibition and race that he got to enjoy while camping out in the backyard of a co-worker. He said it was very fun.

On U.S. Soil

We have arrived!! We landed in the U.S. yesterday afternoon about 3:30, got through immigration, customs, baggage claim, car rental, etc and arrived at our hotel at about 5:30. It was a little tricky with bringing our French friend with us into the country as he always need to go in a different direction than us since he is not a U.S. citizen. Poor guy seemed to hold up well however and after a good night's sleep, he seems ready to enjoy our country. I know that he enjoyed the big hotel breakfast buffet this morning!! Max's fever is finally gone although he seems to have the chicken pox! I can't believe it since he was vaccinated a couple of years ago! He's feeling good though and raring to go! We are planning a big American cookout with my brother and family today which we are all looking forward to. Extreme Home Makeover is filming and building just down the street from their house so we are hoping to introduce Benjamin to some American reality T.V. today. That should be fun!

New Friends!

We welcomed another American family to Vannes today. Very fun to finally be the experts in SOMETHING! Dave and Susie arrived with their 11 year old daughter, Meaghan last night from Indianapolis. They will live in Vannes for about 6 months. We all went out to lunch together where we were able to give some mini French lessons. The kids loved showing off their skills and giving all kinds of hints about what to expect in France. Susie and I then hit the grocery store so I could try to make the shopping adjustment as easy as possible. The kids all got along well together so it was all fun. After the Garriotts headed off to settle into their new lives, the kids and I finished up our packing so that we will be ready to leave at 4:15 a.m. tomorrow. Yikes! Max has now starting running a fever so our usual m.o. of having at least one child sick on every trip is good to go! Sigh..... what can you do?

Getting Ready to Go!

Today was all about packing for our 4 week summer vacation in the U.S. We leave at the crack of dawn on Friday (the kids and I) so we are getting everything ready. Everyone will go off in different directions to various camps, etc when we first arrive so it is an organizational feat to get everything and everyone ready. Today, we needed just a few things from the grocery store and I could easily send Calvin and Quincy by foot to pick it up for us. Gotta love that!

Hydrangeas in Bloom

It's summer, so our time is spent lazin' around the house and watching the kids run around outside. We are enjoying all of the hydrangeas in our yard as they bloom. Quincy spent the day at a friend's house. I have begun to realize how often Max, Calvin and Tabitha speak to each other in French - and how often I don't understand them!! What a dangerous weapon this could be if they realized it. I even noticed how Max now usually says "aye" instead of "ow" when he gets hurt. That is such a French thing and honestly not something that I ever thought of us taught. I thought we all just said "ow" naturally....

Little House on the Prairie

Today was a very quiet day at home. It was rainy and cold and since I am still not feeling up to par after being sick last week, the kids and I just spent a lazy day in the house. We did watch an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" in French which was quite fun. Max also modeled his Tour de France gear.

Tour de France

No time for lying around and resting after our party... This morning, we got up sort of early and took the train to Auray. It's only a 13 minute train ride from Vannes but we thought that would be far easier than trying to find a parking place to watch the Tour de France. The 2nd stage left from Auray today - we felt like this is something we had to see. We arrived about 2 hours before the race and watched a steady "caravan" of cars and floats go buy from all the various sponsors of the event. The floats threw all sorts of trinkets out into the crowds so the kids loved it. We waited around a bit in the cold, windy, rainy day but then got to see the official pack of cyclists start out. It was very quick but pretty exciting! We then headed to a little pizzeria to warm up, get dry and eat some lunch. After walking around town a bit, we caught the train and headed home. Two things really stood out for me today.... One, was that despite all the souvenir trucks and event tents and booths during the parade, there were no food booths! People were there to simply enjoy the event, not stuff themselves full of junk food. Second, when we were back in a small room in the pizzeria, the big family at the table next to us were from Ireland. The waitress spoke to them in English but to us, she spoke French! We thought that was quite a feather in our cap!

A Big, Fun Party

Today, we introduced our French friends to an American 4th of July party! We had about 50+ people over this evening for pasta salad, fried chicken, taco dip, lemon bars, and so on and so forth. We really all had a great time. The kids ran wild while the adults stood and talked. It was really fun. The temperature was only about 60 degrees with a stiff breeze blowing and an occasional sprinkle of rain but nothing that drove us indoors or kept everyone from staying for more than 4 hours. Our only cultural snag was getting everyone to help themselves to food and drink, they are really more accustomed to being served but my couple of really good French friends helped to set an example and we got that ball rolling fairly quickly.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th to all of you Americans out there! It is so weird to have just a normal day on a day like today where you know you should be celebrating the Holiday with a cook-out, hot weather and fireworks. It was a regular day at the office for Josh and the first day of the summer (without school) for those of us at home. It was cool and rainy all day with the temperature never getting much above 70 so it certainly didn't feel like the 4th. I went running with a friend this morning and then really spent the remainder of the day getting ready for our 4th of July party that we will host tomorrow evening. The kids just relaxed and enjoyed a day of no school and no pressure. When Josh got home from work, we did cook up some brats on the grill - we felt like it had to be done!

Good-Bye Séné!

I was feeling a bit nostalgic this morning when I took the boys to school and realized that since this was their last day of school, this was the last day that I would have to make the trek to Séné.... However, as soon as I realized that the draw bridge was closed and the traffic was backed up for at least a kilometer to get me through the port and on my way home, I didn't feel too badly at all! Ughhhh! I am sick of that drive. The roads were eerily quiet after school however as most people seem to have just given up on this last day of school and took off for their vacations early. Max and Calvin had a great day at school however, filled with play time and movies. They were a bit sad when I picked them up since they will go to a school closer to home next year and were therefore saying good-bye to some good friends. I also said "good-bye" to some friends today - two women make sure to speak to me before and after school each day and help me to work on my French while I help with their English. We did exchange phone numbers and emails however and hope to continue our acquaintance in the fall. To celebrate the end of a very successful first school year in France, we ordered Domino's pizza and watched a movie tonight. Very exciting! Unbelievable how quickly a year can go by..... I can still clearly picture the worried faces of all of our kids on that first day of school in the fall when they couldn't speak any French and couldn't even recognize the sound of their names when they were called out by the teachers.... We've come a long way....

Rainy Day

Of course, as I type this, the sun has finally come out and it looks beautiful! However, we had rain, hard rain much of the time, all day long today and much cooler temperatures. I don't think that it ever got above 65 degrees and was breezy all day. Not a great day for keeping the kids entertained since no one had school today. We managed okay however with multiple games of Tripoly followed by Yahtzee. Max is like a Yahtzee genius! I don't know how many times he beat me and then Quincy. After lunch, Quincy had a couple of friends come over to play. I heard Quincy speak more French than I have ever heard before - his friend, Vincent, really speaks minimal English so it was all French, all the time. Even though some of these kids speak very limited English, they are exposed to English on a daily basis. Music is probably 70% American, movies are often American, advertisements often have some English on them as they are advertising American products, t-shirts are often adorned with English phrases... It's just really interesting because even though the kids might not speak a lot, they know that they are seeing or hearing English, they recognize it as such. Thinking back to last summer before we moved here, I realize that our kids (like most American kids) wouldn't even know that they were seeing or hearing French. They would have known it was a foreign language but not what it was. In fact, Max just said to me the other day...." Hey, did you know that Notre Dame is French? It means our lady. Why did they use French words for a college in Indiana?" Calvin's class was allowed to watch a movie in school the other day... just to kill time until the end of the year. They watched "Lilo & Stitch" in English! I asked Calvin what the other kids in his class thought about that and he said a few grumbled a bit but then admitted that they have watched many movies in English before.
I got Quincy's hospital bills for the broken finger scare. 54 Euros covered all the x-rays, the radiologist and the ER visit with the doc. Gotta love the healthcare system here!

Pontiac?

Max and Calvin had a full day of school today, have their usual Wednesday off tomorrow and will then have their last day of school on Thursday. They are so excited, it's getting hard to stay focused! Calvin had a field trip all day today and came home just exhausted. They went to a museum where people recycle junk into art and robots, and then went to an insectarium to look at some bugs. I love this language where you stick -arium onto the end of any word and it automatically makes it into a museum or you stick -erie onto the end of any word and it immediately explains the type of shop that you are seeing (ex: creperie, tarterie, sandwicherie, etc, etc) Very practical!
Quincy and Tabitha were my little helpers today as we tried to make up for all the errands that I didn't get accomplished while I was sick. They are pretty handy to have around since they are big and quite capable. They are also very capable of translating for me in the stores, so much so that I sometimes have to tell them to stop and to give me a chance to listen and respond. While we were out and about today, we saw two "funny" cars. Two very unusual cars for France.... We saw a late model Pontiac Firebird which had everyone stopping and pointing (the first Pontiac I've seen on "this side of the pond") and we saw an old US Army jeep, straight out of "M*A*S*H". Some old guy was driving it with an American flag proudly displayed out the side window. Don't know what that was about....
After picking up the boys from school, we took the opportunity to enjoy some of the beautiful walking paths along the coast in Sene and took Coco for a long walk. The tide was a bit low but it was still pretty....

I'm Back!

Whew! Sorry about that! 5 days of a fever really laid me low there for awhile but I am much better today and ready to get to work! We have 50 people coming over for a 4th of July party on Saturday and next week, we have to be ready to leave here for a month so I have plenty to do. Calvin and Max are finishing up their school year this week and Quincy and Taba are enjoying their first week of summer. It was about 82 degrees yesterday and supposed to be even warmer today. I love it!