The Incredible Hulk

Seb had his finger stepped on at soccer. (And he was wearing his goalie gloves)

This shot was a week later…

but the first few days it it was really looking green like the Hulk, super tough!

ho ho ho...

My annual Christmas wreaths thanks

 to all the green at Chenedouit…..

10 years old or 16?

Alice and Franck were visiting from the Czech Republic.

 The boys….

 The ladies….

The little wood burner that could

The existing original open fireplace

The wood burner with back wall of stone covered 

Burn baby burn…..

a sunny day….

 Kite flying 101

A bit of stunt football

Paris...

 Christmas Parisian style…..

 THE COOLEST GLASSES EVER…..

too bad I don't wear glasses. 

Well actually it's a good thing, because I am sure I couldn't afford them anyways.

 One of our favorite art/design shops in the city. Had the chance to discover it with my Mom and stumbled upon it again this visit. Always amazing stuff…. 

 The staircase of our hotel….

Shot of the menu from the sushi restaurant where we had lunch. 

LOVE the crazy Japanese fisherman.

And lastly….this "pedestrain tunnel" . There was a moving crew shuttling office furniture up to the 8th floor of the building and apparently if a big bag filing cabinet came crashing down, you would be protected. You could see it swaying in the wind…..

The Magic of Halloween….

So…although we didn't go trick or treating, 

we did carve pumpkins and give out candy. 

Above is Seb's cyclop with dental issues.

 I love those teeth, I can just imagine the exposed nerves and excruciating pain.

Here you have Stephane's cat carving. He made the most of a rotten bottom by amputating the lower jaw and the final product looks better than any certified reconstructive surgeon could have done. 

And here is my butt pumpkin. Kind of a butt face, but hey…

I did what I could, not like we have a huge choice in picking pumpkins here in France. We hit three stores in order to find these.

And as a final parting gift, the remains of one of our pumpkins which someone stole and then smashed on the sidewalk. Did I mention the little twat stole the pumpkin immediately after I gave him some candy and closed our door? 

No, really, it must be the age, because really, pretty daring. 

I hope he got pumpkin guts smeared all over him!

 Anyhoo…..As Seb has said since,

 "That's the magic of Halloween".

 I love that my child has inherited my sick ironic sense of humor. 

And last but not least…

a perfect last day of our two week vacation spent soaking up some sun and playing frisbee.

Chênedouit

Here's what three weeks of no visits gets you on the lawn and garden front. The lawn was limit limit, thank God it hadn't rained or we would have been up a creek with no lawn mower and weed wacking the whole yard by hand.

And no, that is not grass on the foreground of the above shot. That is the unweeded half of my garden. The dirt section took about three hours….but I was smiling the whole time. And still got to harvest some zuchinni, enough rhubarb to make 6 jars of jam and also scored on a impressive score of fresh walnuts on our drive back to Caen. Not bad at all and sunshine to boot!

More finds from our last vide grenier

got to enjoy some live music

Couldn't pass on my €.50 household guide. 

Because how much has really changed in a decade after all? 

There is some good stuff in here.

Although we did pass on the taxidermy, 

we did take home the wood carved crooked eyed man.

Happy Birthday to Us !

 The clowns were announcing the big news

 all over town!

And quite the happy celebration it was,

 drinking, laughing, launching balloons

My birthday dinner of crab cakes (made with love by the boys) over salad

 followed by paupiettes de veau (veal cutlets stuffed with a pork filling….yum. 

I was soo busy enjoying my dinner I didn't get a picture of the main course. 

super decadent chocolate cake for dessert.

And although this photo doesn't by far do it justice, wanted to share one of Stephane's gifts. Super photo collage about 2 1/12 x 3 feet. Can't wait to get it hung. 

Strike !

THE find of last week's vide grenier. The umpire mask / or catcher mask (shows what I know), the ball and the glove all for 6€, now that's a steal. And the nice young french woman who sold it to us was also a fan. Her parents had given her the mask when she was younger. 

Needless to say from my sketchy posting, I no longer have time to take photos. I am too busy pitching and running after balls with Seb and the kids in the neighborhood.

CM2

Seb's fist day of school as a 5th grader. 

Yes, he let me take the photo, but really, 

this might be the last year I get away with it. 

Our little fish

Proof of Seb's week filled with water sports. There were only eight kids in all and had the chance to do sailing, windsurfing, standup paddle and one and two person kayak. They were in ocean as well as here in Caen on the canal and the river. Seb had a really, really, really good time. (In the pics he just has that, "really Mom, pictures?" face, but he really did love it.) 

Potatoes and pitching

While Sebastian practiced his pitching 

(a bit outside but jolly good form),

 I dug up the rest of my potatoes.

 Then the three us us pulled out/cut wild blackberry vines

  for two solid days.

 You can actually see the side of our shed now

 as well as the big rocks and two chestnaut trees that I had forgotten about because you could no longer see them. Doesn't look like much in the pics, but it made so smile.