last drops of vacation...

Visited the nearby slate mines. 

Always wanted to check them out.

I look like a stuffed baked potato with bangs and a hard hat…

 Wouldn't be the last Sunday of vacation 

without a visit to the beach.

Super bloated dead fish. 

Bigger than my foot (size 7)…..

Just couldn't pass up snapping a shot.

A German anti tank bunker….

Valentine's lunch…..

Japanese lunch for Valentine's Day.

Saw a great bike and E.T. poster.

Next up was a bit of mini golf….

a close game.

A quick trip to Tanger? 

No just a visit to the park.

a bit of green

blue skies…

so an impromptu visit 

to the park and greenhouse

35° and humid in the greenhouse…

we could have stayed in there all day

We had green bananas just like Seb likes

A feast for the eyes….

Seb said "this really is paradise".

My other favorite Seb quote of the day from the park.

 As we're goofin' off laughing and such. 

 "Turn around Mom so I can concentrate. You're invading my thoughts." 

That balance beam sure was a concentration zapper.

15 hours in Paris...

Went to see the Afghan Whigs with Audrey and Arnaud.

Quite the show…..quite the show.

An amazing glass installation in a shopping center 

on our way to the train station the next morning. 

And upon arriving at Gare St Lazare to head home….

the SNCF worker smoking his 10th cigarette under the no smoking sign

 before actually doing some work. So French….

chocolate tasting

 Sleek box design…way thinner than a box of pencils. 

7 medallions of dark chocolate from seven different countries / plantations.

Seb's favorite was from Mexico.

A good way to end an afternoon of testing,

 testing and more testing.

the mad scientist

Thanks to Lynn and Mark's science kit, Seb has been dabbling in beakers and test results.

Yesterday Seb did the baking soda / vinegar

 (lava for the volcano at your grade school science fair).

The results were great…especially the first attempt which went undocumented. 

I was in the pantry getting the food coloring, when I heard a boom.

 I came out to find our kitchen curtains covered in foam. 

The cap had been put on while the reaction was taking place and the pressure was so intense it blew the screw lid right off. 

LUCKILY, no one was hurt, no windows were broken 

and the food coloring had not yet been added or the curtains as well as the rest of the kitchen would have been a mess!

The second experiment was mixing corn starch with water.

 Had the amazing effect to be hard as a brick when trying to pick it up 

and runny as water when not under pressure. 

Fun stuff!

Big Man….

Seeing as the man is now 10, 

he celebrated by having his friend Charlie 

overnight and karting the next day. 

And fresh croissants for breakfast

 ('cause Seb's Mom is soo cool, 

she walked to the bakery at 8am in the cold.

 She doesn't do that for everyone, just ask her husband!)

And it was sunny for a change.

 Freezing cold, but sunny!

Such high speed thrills!

A good time was had by all…..