This picture is classic! My biggest complaint from Europe is that all of Sushi’s clothes were ruined. The cobblestone ripped holes in the booty of her outfits, the constant eating of “glace” (AKA ice cream) stained many tops, and the washing machine at the Chateau was horrible and made every article washed look like it had been through 100 back-to-back washes. I know I am blaming everything else, but in the end….Icka is the culprit. To this day, Scout has never needed a bib. He is an immaculate child. Conversely, Icka is not. I get her dressed to the nines every day, and within minutes, she looks like an orphan. So when she was running and tripped….and immediately picked her hands off the ground and exclaimed, “DIRTY!”…I had to laugh.
Amongst the many cool things we did in Europe, one of the toppers was catching the Tour De France. We stopped in a quaint little town, got some ice cream and baguettes, hing out on the side of the road and waited for the bikers. Micah was pretty excited to see everything first hand. About an hour after we stopped, and after many support vehicles came along, the bikers made it through. I took pictures, but was amazed at how quickly they rode by, and how few of them there were. In the morning, we were debating whether we should stop or not (we were headed to Paris that day on a very long road trip). But in the end, everyone was very excited that we did. Go Lance!
Notice Tristen as she flirts with the riders as they zoom by.
The leaders.
My kids should win an award on how great they were in Europe. But if truth be told, we also had a our share of reprimanding, talking to, and time outs. The most infamous one went a little like this:
This was after a fifteen minute stand off. She had hit, and was asked to say, “I’m sorry”. Pretty simple right…….not so much. Icka was determined not to say it. But little does she know that I was even more determined to have her apologize. So about 30 minutes in, she finally was quiet for a few moments and then in a sweet little whisper of a voice, she said, “Ssssoooooooorrrrrrrrrrryyyyy.”
And then she got a big celebration, kisses from everyone, and accolades like she won an Olympic gold medal.
“Bella” is known for doling out nicknames…….so I thought I would mention that from here on out….”Sushi” is “Icka” who is “Ickity Dickity Dock” who is “Sissy” who was originally “Sweets” and even more originally “Navy”. Just so you know.
We first noticed this french road sign on a really narrow and windy road that was as lush as I have ever seen … and figured that it meant Hansel and Gretel Crossing. But as the trip wore on, we shifted the sign to mean that it was Scout and Navy Crossing. It is a literal depiction of out trip, as Scout lead Navy through everything by the hand. They were darling with each other the entire trip. Every single morning (keep in mind that “every morning” was usually after a 6 hour sleep — much less than their usual), whichever child woke up first would crawl over and kiss the other child all over. Subsequently, the second child would wake up and smile from ear to ear. I remember my mom telling me as we grew up, “Never be mean to your brothers and sisters….they ARE and will ALWAYS be your very best friends.” And now that I have children, I feel like those words ring true….and am so glad that my kids are each others best friends.
The kissing siblings. My mom told me on the trip that she has never seen a baby who kisses more than Icka. Good now…not so good in fifteen years.
Fois Gras Farm with the geese.
Scout is waiting for Icka up the cobblestone pathway out of our chateau.
One of my favorite pictures of the trip!
Scout is telling Icka why she should wait patiently. She was up and running within seconds.
The two grommets were exploring forbidden paths in their unmentionables.
Scout’s hugs are one of the few things that can put Icka in a stand still.
Scout jumping — his favorite past time. Icka was getting pretty good at jumping by the end — but off of much smaller stuff.
Scout taught Sushi how to pick her nose on the trip. She has become quite the expert.
Every once in a while, I get be in on the best friend action.
XXXOOO
BEST TRAVELER
goes to………..
NayNay was the most pleasant and happy child while we were in Europe. I might be a bit biased, because she was in love with my kids the whole trip. Now if that little hormonal sister of hers could take a few notes!
Just kidding Ka!
(only kind of — not really!)
The Runner Up!
Ashley brought Kylie on the trip, and I was excited for Icka to have her girl cousin around. Unfortunately, Kylie became the “little guy” and Icka became the bully. Thank goodness for Scout who was consistently nice to Kylie. Luckily, we did get one loving picture….
As the french say….”WahLah”. (My mom corrected me — apparently it is “voila”.)
I am so bummed that three of my sisters are heading home tomorrow. Ashley was the perfect little mom/travelor. Especially when she did it solo before we showed in in Paris to greet her. Trilby is always fun on vacations. Especially for Scout as she narrates every second of life to him. Calin is leaving with her, and she might be the most pleasant teenager I have ever been around — plus, she is in love with Icka. And Megan was the most helpful and organized sister to have in a foreign land. I have always said she is the nicest sister — and the proof was in the pudding here in Europe. What a bummer that we will be three short. The good news is that Tristen and my mom plus others are sticking around. (The kind of bad news is that I will have to do all of the heavy lifting from her on out - plus Saint Micah.) I am so glad that this European vacation turned out to be a sisters trip (my mom is considered a sister — in case you were wondering). Sad to see you guys go, travel safely! Especially with those enormous bags full of french/english goodies, that are bound to cost you a pretty arm and a leg on your flight.
I have become the driver of the “fun bus”. Every afternoon we go out to explore the neighboring areas. We are looking for little jewels. Today, we were actually heading to some prehistoric caves when I was at the wheel. I told everyone that even though we had an agenda, we were still searching out those jewels. We came across a cute open air market, a few geese farms, random dinosaur in the coutryside, etc. We were pretty okay with our jewels, until we hit the HOPE DIAMOND of jewels. As we approached Montignac, we noticed some flowers in front of houses. We commented on how cute they were. Then the flowers were more common. And then they were everywhere! Apparently, we had hit them during their “festival of the bees”. The entire town was full of colorful flowers, and it was like we were all in a fairytale. (All of us except Scout — who was sure it “must be their Christmas.”)
Sissy was in the kissing mood!
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