Halloween 2018

Again we had many pre-Halloween celebrations before the actual day. Maybe not as many as in previous years- only one Boo at the Zoo; only one fall festival; only one Halloween party- but still plenty of pre-holiday fun.

Our family at Boo at the Zoo

Kids at the zoo

We went to DC and went to Boo at the Zoo at the National Zoo. They give out lots of really good candy, and they have great displays. Before we went, we met my sister and her fiancé for a walk and then dinner, where we also met up with my friend Alissa and her family. Then the two families went into the Zoo for an evening of fun. We spent the night at Alissa's house, and then had homemade waffles for breakfast before heading out to Cox Farms.

Charlotte and me, cuddling to stay warm

The kids at Cox Farms

Our family at Cox Farms

The weather at Cox Farms was surprisingly cold, and we were unsurprisingly underdressed. We didn't end up spending as much time as we had in previous years because it was just too cold to be comfortable. This year's triumph was that Benjamin went on the hay ride and through the corn maze, which he had been too nervous to do the prior year. We left the farm and went out for Thai food for lunch before heading home. I won Wife of the Week, because I let Eric ride in the back of the van and stream the Patriots game on the TV while I drove all the way home, in traffic.

This past weekend, we had our Halloween party at my friend Nancy's. The kids go in costume, and she always provides enough sugar for 5 times the number of people in attendance. We play mummies, and the kids played Halloween bingo.

Charlotte pretending to be afraid of the mummy (Benjamin)

Benjamin wrapping me

 Finally, today was Halloween. I am the room parent in Asher's class this year (I had asked to be in Benjamin's class, but I got placed in Asher's. And Charlotte's class has no room parent at all, and she had no Halloween party!), so I had to go in to school at 9:45 to get his party started. We decorated mini pumpkins and played Halloween bingo, with prizes. The kids loved the prizes (not shocking!). Then we got ready for the parade. I ran across the field in order to make sure I got pictures of all 3 of them, but most of the pictures weren't any good.

Charlotte as Moana 

Benjamin came out of the building dancing 

Charlotte was the 1st student in the whole parade

The boys had a half day, and Charlotte had her enrichment program, so I had a few hours just the boys and me. We couldn't decide what to do, and Benjamin wanted to "chillax," so Asher and I picked up lunch for him, and went to eat outside at the playground. Then I had to get busy with our Halloween prep- carving two pumpkins, cleaning at our house, and making homemade mac and cheese. 

We hosted 3 other families for an early dinner and then went out to trick or treat. Although I had purchased a Chewbacca costume for Asher, he decided that he wanted to wear his green monster costume from last year. It is a very versatile costume, because he stuck a Santa hat on it and suddenly became the Grinch! Charlotte wore 3 costumes this year- her Belle costume in DC, a dance tutu costume for the party, and her Moana costume today.

My sweet boys

 The kids are much more independent- they don't need any help with their "trick-or-treat" or "thank you" at the doors, and they can hustle between houses!

The group of kids in our annual photo

We were out for about an hour and a half, and they got a lot of candy, including some full size candy bars. This led to later tragedy- when our candy bowl at home ran low, Asher kindly refilled it from his own candy bucket, and he accidentally put his full-size Twix in! When a trick-or-treater pulled it out, his face lit up. Poor Asher went to bed exhausted and crying because he had lost his candy bar. I promised that I would replace it for him tomorrow. Just what I want to do: pay money for candy the day after Halloween, when I have more candy than I can handle in my house already!

This time of year always feels like the crest of the hill: after this, it is a mad rush until the year ends. I am leaving in 11 days for Israel, I return at Thanksgiving, and then it is the holiday season. New Years is 2 months away, but it will be here tomorrow. I love this time of year, even if I dread the coming winter. And I didn't win the mega millions last week, so I don't have $1 billion to take a vacation to the Bahamas in February! 

Paris- June 2018

On Friday morning, we packed up our country house and took off to drive to Paris. It took us about 4 hours to get to the southern edge of the city, and then an additional 1.5 to get through town. It was hot, we were cranky, and we were LOST. My dad was driving our huge van through the small streets of the city, which were full of bicyclists and motorcycles who all seemed to be following their own rules of the road. 

We were looking for the management office for the Airbnb we had rented, and my dad missed a turn, and then we couldn't get a location because google maps couldn't find us... We dropped my mom off to find the office, and then looked for the apartment itself. Turns out, they gave us a false address, and we ended up in a dim alley in a not-so-hot neighborhood (well, turns out the apartment itself was also in a dim alley in a not-so-hot neighborhood, but it wasn't THAT dim alley). While we tried to find our way back to our apartment, we paused on the street.  Later, Benjamin asked me, "Mommy, remember when we were lost in Paris? There was a lady by the car, and she had handcuffs, but she didn't look like a policewoman..." Yes, that's right, there were prostitutes outside the car! 

Finally we were able to find the apartment, drop off our bags, and we walked over to the Pompidou Center to take the caterpillar escalators up to the top and get a view of Paris. We were quite relieved to be out of the car and in Paris. My parents met us there and we walked to get some dinner, which we ate in a park while the kids played. I think we were all a little bit grouchy and tired, unfortunately. We had been so excited to get to Paris, and then were too tired and grumpy to enjoy it.

At the fountain near the Pompidou Center

Our Airbnb wasn't in a great neighborhood, and it was 3 small stories stacked on top of each other. There was much regret that we weren't in our own apartment in our own wonderful neighborhood. We tried to figure out sleeping arrangements- I agreed to sleep with Benjamin and that was a big mistake- he is a wiggle worm even in his sleep and I had knees and elbows in my back! I ended up taking Asher out of bed with Eric and shoving him in bed with Benjamin.

On Saturday, our only full day in Paris, we started by going to the Eiffel Tower. My mom refused to come, but my dad came. We waited in line after line after line, and finally got to the top. Eric and Benjamin went to the middle, but Asher and Charlotte wanted to go all the way up, so we did.

At the top, with the city spread out below

After our trip to the Eiffel Tower, we were very hungry, and went to meet my mom at a nice cafe near the Place St. Michel for lunch. At the end of our lunch, there was a protest marching down the street- it was against psychiatrists, for their misuse of mental institutions, medication, and electroshock therapy. There is always something worth protesting in Paris! 

We then walked to the Conciergerie to see the prison where Marie Antoinette lived her final days. For those of us who paid attention, we also learned about the French Revolution. After that, we walked over toward the Marais, stopping for a photo op at Notre Dame, and had a cold drink at a cafe. 

Charlotte by the fountain in the Place St Michel

Drinks at the cafe

We stopped in at BHV, our favorite department store to do some browsing and to buy some sparkly plastic spoons (Charlotte's favorite way to consume her yogurt). We went back to our apartment before going out for Vietnamese food for dinner. Benjamin ordered pho for dinner, and slurped it up. After dinner, it was bedtime, and packing for our return the next day.

Our travel back to the US was uneventful- the kids were just as wonderful on the plane coming home as they were going over. I napped, but I think Charlotte stayed awake and played video games and watched movies the whole way home. We landed in Newark in the afternoon, and then drove back to Philadelphia for dinner at Jane and Ed's. The kids handled the time changes fluidly, and seemed to suffer no jet lag at all. The ease with which they traveled was encouraging- if only we had the finances to do it more often!

Now that I have finally completed our trip to France, I hope to write about my trip with Eric to California, our trip to Maine, and our trip to Cape Cod. I am only 3 months behind, no big deal.

France 2018

In June, we took a 10 day trip to France. The trip was planned around the wedding of my 2nd cousin, Henri, and we started planning it last year.  When I say "we," I really mean my mom, because we leave all travel arrangements to her. We spent 2 days in the town of La Bourboule in the region of Auvergne, and then we drove over to the Dordogne for 5 days. We ended our trip with a day and 2 nights in Paris.

Our trip began with a flight out of Newark on Wednesday, June 6. The kids were excellent travelers, and the seat back screens certainly seemed to help. After we ate dinner, the kids settled down and went to sleep, and slept until they woke us up in the morning. I, on the other hand, slept zero minutes.

My traveling buddy

We landed in Paris, and it took forever to go through customs, then my dad needed coffee, then we had to rent our 9-person van, then we finally got on the road toward Auvergne.

We stopped about an hour into the trip for lunch in Fontainebleau, which was an adorable town. We had an ok lunch at a cafe in the main plaza in town, and the kids played in the water there and got totally soaked.

Elana and her boyfriend Alec were at lunch at a fancy restaurant in town, and we poked our heads in to say hello before we continued on our way to our house in La Bourboule.

Elana and Alec 

The car ride to La Bourboule- jetlagged and quiet

 When we got to La Bourboule, it was cold and rainy, and our house was on a steep hill, where my dad needed to parallel park our gigantic van. By that point we were all exhausted, crabby, and hungry. Our house was 5 stories in all, with a few rooms on each floor. It was excellent exercise going up and down the stairs incessantly. The house itself was spacious and sunny, and the kids slept in a room under the eaves which they loved. We went out to buy some food for dinner, and by the time we got back, Elana and Alec had arrived in their own car. We cooked and ate a simple dinner, then went to bed and slept for almost 12 hours!

The next day, despite predictions of rain and thunder, the sun was shining. After breakfast we headed out to the park nearby, which turned out to be full of excitement and surprises. There were tall and twisty slides, little trampolines, a little zipline, hiking trails, and more.

On her way to the Parc de Fenestre through the hilly streets of La Bourboule

Little Charlotte and Big Charlotte on the trampoline

The bright and sunny morning turned cloudy and rainy at lunchtime. I went with my sister and mom to a farmer's market and we picked up food for lunch. By the time we had all eaten lunch, the sun had come out again. We walked up our street to my mom's cousin's rental house, which was really a gated villa with an indoor pool. The kids all went swimming in the indoor pool, and the adults roamed around and ate cheese and drank wine.  My 3 kids met their cousins (my first cousin Noa's 2 children) who have lived in Prague all their lives and they all hit it off. 

Charlotte swimming with her cousins

My cousins Hannah and Noa with Charlotte and Noa's daughter Lielle

Between our house and theirs was a horse farm

The whole town knew Fanny, the bride, who is on TV in France. Everyone in town knew the Americans were there for the wedding. Fortunately, they were welcoming and hospitable. The town was like something out of a story book, nestled in the mountains with houses all up and down the hills.

The view to the right from our living room window

The view from the kids' room in the attic- Asher took this picture.

That night it was Friday, Shabbat. My uncle Richard and aunt Esther hosted us- my mom, her sister, my 3 cousins, my sister and me (plus spouses and children).

My mom & her siblings & families

Saturday was wedding day. The wedding began 2. In the morning I took the kids to the playground and to a cafe for lunch, and Eric went for a hike with Elana and Alec. They definitely got the better end of the deal! The wedding was in City Hall, in a room that was a theater, with a stage set up like a talk show. The ceremony included a music video, a comedian as the MC, the real mayor of the town, and several speeches and poems. The ring bearer was a falcon, who apparently didn't like crowds, and refused to deliver the rings for 10 minutes. The ceremony took a total of 2.5 hours, and outside of city hall, all of the town residents who hadn't been invited gathered to catch a glimpse of the bride (she is famous in the small town, because she is on TV in France). The bride and groom left the church and were pelted with tennis balls and then got on to a cart pulled by cows to take a trip around town. The wedding reception didn't start for another 1.5 hours, and we were all hot and hungry. We went to my uncle's place and had a snack while we waited for the party to start.

Outside the city hall after the ceremony

We arrived late to the party and apparently missed the bride arriving on a black horse. The cocktail hour was 2 hours and included some local folk dancing.

Sophia with Charlotte, who is holding one of the tennis balls from the ceremony

Asher with Kyle, who he loves

the ring bearer

Hannah, Noa, me, Elana

The dinner part of the reception didn't begin until after 8 pm. The kids were starving! The reception then began with a potato peeling contest, and the bride and groom making an entrance to the song "The Final Countdown," complete with dry ice.

The only food the boys got

Charlotte with her cousins Charlotte and Sophia

Dinner was served around 10 pm, and Charlotte wouldn't eat any of it. We ended up leaving around 11, and we went home and fed Charlotte yogurt and strawberries. We missed all of the dancing, which apparently went on until 5 in the morning!

The next morning we woke up around 9, and my mom realized that we had to vacate our apartment by 9:30 am! A mad rush ensued, where we threw our things into suitcases and moved everything into the apartment my mom was staying in. We ate breakfast, packed up, and left for the wedding brunch, which took place at the Chateau de Val, a medieval castle on a river. The bride and groom arrived by boat, and the bride got stung by a bee- she is allergic and had to be given an Epi pen on her way into the party. Unlike the wedding the night before, there were endless amounts of food. The day was bright and sunny, and the kids had a wonderful time exploring the castle and talking with all their cousins.

The kids waving from a window in the tower in the castle

Charlotte and her admirer's- Kyle's girlfriend and Sophia

True love. Charlotte is very similar to Sophia when Sophia was a young girl

The family on the steps of the chateau

Eventually we had to leave in order to drive to the Dordogne, where we would stay for 5 days. The ride seemed to take forever, and it seemed so frustrating to spend a beautiful sunny day in the car. We got to our house around dinner time, and after unloading our bags, we went into the center of the small town for dinner. We ate at a small restaurant where the chef was very friendly, but got annoyed when my children requested only noodles for dinner. 

The next day, it was gray and rainy to start. We drove into Sarlat, a medieval town with narrow, winding streets. to look around. The kids were kind of hungry and grumpy, and it was raining, so we ended up spending the majority of our time there having a big lunch at a cafe, which is too bad because the town looked very interesting. Every store sold foie gras, a specialty of the region. We didn't buy any of it.

Our days in France were divided by what beverage we consumed- coffee the first half of the day, wine the second half, with overlap during lunch. I always ordered a café au lait at lunch, even though real French people only drink that at breakfast time. 

In Sarlat

As we finished lunch that day, the rain stopped and the skies lightened. We drove to a chateau, Chateau de Commarque. We had to park about 1 km away from the chateau and walk through the woods to get there. In the hills surrounding it are cave dwellings, and then the chateau itself is large. The sun was out, and by the end of our walk around, we were sweating. The kids got ice cream treats to cool off.

Ice cream treats with cave dwellings in the background

The walk back to the car from the chateau

That night, we cooked a simple dinner of chicken and potatoes at home. My mom swore she saw a supermarket somewhere near our rental house, but when we drove to find it, it couldn't be found. There was a small market in town that had enough for dinner, but she complained about how awful it was. The real problem was that the bakery in town was closed the whole week we were there- it was their vacation, too! This meant going out for a drive every morning in order to have bread for breakfast. Elana's boyfriend, Alec, is very kind and offered to drive Mom since she wasn't on any rental car contracts.

The following day, we piled all 9 of us: My parents, Eric and me, our 3 kids, Elana and her boyfriend, into our gigantic rental van. We drove to the caves at Lascaux- the site of some of the oldest known prehistoric cave paintings. The original caves are too fragile to support the tourist traffic, so they have been recreated completely, and there are guided tours to explain what you are seeing. The cave paintings are intricate and detailed, quite impressive considering they are about 20,000 years old. It was interesting for my mom and me to compare these cave paintings with the ones we had seen a few months prior in Arizona- the ones in France were much more clear in their depictions.

After our tour through the caves, and a 3D movie that was existential in nature, we had a snack in the cafe, and then decided to go to lunch. After lunch we stopped at a distillery which sold fruit and nut liqueurs of all kinds.

These poppies were outside the distillery, but bright poppies were all over the countryside

Then, we visited another castle, Chateau de Castelnaud. This was a castle at the top of a medieval town, and the town is now part of the tourist attraction, with souvenir shops, cafes, and archery paraphernalia. Benjamin was quite taken with all of it, because he is fascinated with weapons of any kind. The castle itself was filled with weapons and armor of all kinds, including a trebuchet. The tour gave you a good idea of how the castle was used, including a ramp up into the kitchen to let the horses in! No concept of hygiene.

Benjamin trying a weapon we wouldn't buy

On the twisty streets leading up to the castle

The view of the valley and the Dordogne river from the castle

Charlotte admiring her knight and nobleman

That night, we ate dinner at the other restaurant in the town of Daglan- Le Petit Paris. This one was a little more fancy than the one we had eaten in two days prior, and they stuck the 9 of us upstairs, and no one else was seated on that level with us! The kids were mostly behaved, but were shocked that the menu contained no pasta at all! They tried some new things, and Charlotte enjoyed a whipped goat cheese, and the boys ate lentils with bacon and duck samosas. The grownups ate everything and it was delicious.

After dinner, Elana and I took Charlotte and Asher for a walk in town. The sun had just set at 10 pm, and the light was beautiful. Down a street, we found a big park by the river- no one was there. On the way to the park there were two underfed horses and what looked to be an abandoned property. 

A very quiet town- few cars drove down the narrow streets

The sun has set- at 10 pm

The next day, our last day of predicted good weather, we went kayaking and canoeing on the Dordogne river. Elana and Alec got kayaks, Eric got a canoe with the boys, and I got a canoe with Charlotte. Within moments, Charlotte and I got marooned in some bushes on the riverbank. Alec came to our rescue and suggested that perhaps he, as the more experienced and stronger paddler, could take the canoe with Charlotte, and I could take his kayak. Great idea!

Elana and I kayaked off a little bit ahead and she revealed to me that the night before, Alec had asked her to marry him! I couldn't believe that after a day packed in the van, all 9 of us, he would want to spend a lifetime in our family, but that is how happy he is with Elana. Elana and I talked about how exciting it was, and they had started looking at wedding sites already.

We survived the ride on the river, and Eric and I got out with the kids and Elana and Alec carried on for a few more miles. Charlotte enjoyed being paddled down the river while she ate cookies and crackers and rambled on to Alec.

Safely getting to the edge

Princess Charlotte in her boat chariot

After a mediocre lunch, my parents, Eric, the kids, and I went to Chateau Milandes, the former home of Josephine Baker. The chateau is as she left it, and is filled with costumes and memorabilia of her life. The chateau also details the sad end of her life, where she died without a penny. That part was heartbreaking.

Outside the chateau is a birds of prey show, which we went to observe. Charlotte allowed a falcon to land on her arm, and I tried to play it cool, but failed- I am so afraid of birds!

Charlotte with the falcon and me leaning as far away as possible

Chateau Milandes

That night we had a final dinner all 9 of us at our rental house. We had a perfect light meal on the patio with more wine (always, more wine). The following day, Elana and Alec planned to depart for Burgundy to meet with friends. 

On our final full day in the Dordogne, we visited our final castle, Chateau de Beynac. 

Elana and Alec through the window

Benjamin on the chateau latrine

The 9 of us, with the valley behind us

The chateau was at the top of another hilly medieval town. This one had some slippery stones in the streets, and walking was a little precarious. At the bottom of the town we ate lunch at a local cafe, and then parted ways, with Elana and Alec headed west, and the rest of us went to tour the cliffside town of La Roque-Gageac.

A tiny house tucked in the corner of the street, with roses climbing over it

La Roque-Gageac

The town is so steeply built into the cliffside that years ago, a piece of it broke off and tumbled down. Presumably what is left is more secure, because we walked around. We had delicious ice cream to refresh ourselves as well.

Then we went back to our house to swim in the pool, and I went on a short run- 1 mile straight uphill and 1 mile back downhill.

Cows on my run

A dog guarding a vineyard on my run

For dinner that night we went back to the restaurant where we ate on our first night in town and ate outside. The boys ate duck again, and loved it. We took a sunset walk down to the park by the river, and then said goodbye to the little town of Daglan.

On the swings in Daglan

The rest of our trip continues in Paris (or, well, getting to Paris), and I will write it in another post. I am now FOUR MONTHS late in posting about this, and in the meantime, I haven't written about many of our other summer and fall adventures. So, to be continued...