Harper and the Tangly Hair

While both our girls are redheads (more auburn-heads), Harper has more curly hair than Hudson.

It can be super cute but it also super difficult to manage. It gets snarled up all the time and Harper (being Harper) is not good at managing it. It results in many mornings before school and church, trying to untangle Harper's hair on the way.

[caption id="attachment_1846" align="alignnone" width="300"] On our way to school, trying to untangle Harper's hair.[/caption]

France Top Ten

France was super fun. Paris was full of interesting things and outside of Paris was absolutely stunning. Here is a list of the top ten favorite/most memorable things from our trip.

1. The Food (duh). I quickly grew accustomed to the healthy, rich (but not too sweet) and delicious food we regularly consumed. There were a few awkward food moments; first when Megan mistakenly ordered tripe (cow intestine) and escargot. Or, just after Megan finished extolling on the virtues of green salad, she found a larva crawling on her lettuce.

[caption id="attachment_1741" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Breakfast at the Chateau de Villiers[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1751" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Can you spot the larva from Megan's salad?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1754" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Megan in heaven at a fromagerie (we picked up some cheeses for Tate).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Megan contemplates eating escargot (but didn't)[/caption]

2. Château de Villiers: This was such a quaint, charming, place to stay.

[caption id="attachment_1745" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This is the quaint Chateau we stayed at.[/caption]

3. Etreta: If I'm not mistaken, this means elephant in French, because these arches resember elephant trunks.



[caption id="attachment_1752" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Funny enough, here is Megan looking at an impressionist painting of Etretat[/caption]

4. Hanging with the Roberts: Not only did they allow us to crash their trip, they were super fun to hang out with. They are some of our favorite people.




5. Mont Saint-Michel: regardless of how touristy it is, it is amazing.




6. Biking in Paris: while slightly dangerous, it was fun to rove all over the city.



7. Abbaye de Jumièges: These abby ruin are called the most beautiful ruins in France. I think I agree.


8. Pont Du Hoc: of all the Normandy stops, this was my favorite. It was so humbling to read about the courage and sacrifice that took place here.


9. Luxembourg Garden: I loved hanging out in this garden and watching the Parisians being Parisians.




10. French Oddities: Weird Signs, Weird toilets, and weirdly labeled food.

[caption id="attachment_1755" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I believe this means "sour patch kids"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1753" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Still not sure if I can go #2 in here or not[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1750" align="aligncenter" width="300"] took me a minute, but apparently if you pee, they'll upload the video of it to youtube[/caption]

11. (bonus) Driving in France: While I did like that the French adhere strictly to the 'passing lane is for passing' practice, there were a few stessful moments like when we drove into a toll booth line that only accepted coins (and we didn't have any). But by far, the worst moment was attempting to return the car back to the rental stop before 6 PM, and having to drive around then Arc de Triumph in rush hour traffic (insane!).

Tate's birthday

We went to Tepanyaki for Tate's 15th birthday. This was a first for most of the kids. After some initial trepidation (Reece got scared at the beginning and Gideon wasn't sure about someone throwing shrimp in his mouth), they loved it.

The Lion King girls

Hudson and Harper were both in the annual school play this year; The Lion King (the organizers put on an incredible production). Hudson got a lead part, Zazu and Harper was a bird. They both did great, but to put it mildly, there was a lot of singing around the house for the last few weeks.

[caption id="attachment_1806" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The costumes were amazing.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1805" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Here's a scene with both girls (harper is one of the red parrots to the left).[/caption]