School Starting

Tim and Maddie are supposed to start school next week. All along, I have been thinking that they start next Thursday, the 4th. Why did I think that? Well, at the end of the school year last year, I got a school memo saying that school would resume on "Tuesday, September 4." The problem with this of course, is that Tuesday is the 2nd, not the 4th. But I assumed that they would be more likely to get the day of the week wrong rather than the date.

Yes, I know what assuming does....

Anyway, by the grace of God, Tim was invited over to a friend's house to play today. I asked the mother if school started next Thursday, and thankfully, she corrected me.

This leads me to another big difference in American vs. British schools. When Tim was getting ready for Kindergarten at Joppatowne last year, I received so many fliers in the mail last summer which included calendars, school supply lists, and forms to be filled out. I have not received one piece of paper from the school here... not even a first day reminder!

If I hadn't asked that mother today, I probably would have received a phone call on Tuesday asking if Tim and Maddie were attending school this year. Or worse yet, my kids would have started on the 3rd day of school!!

I guess it could be worse... My friends Brian and Victoria Chapman recently moved to the country of Jordan. They brought their son to school on the scheduled first day, which happened to coincide with Brian and Vic's first day of full-time language classes. They found the school to be under construction, with no definitive date as to when school would really start (and with no child-care for their son)!! So, I won't complain....

Local Traffic Jam

As we were retuning from Fountains Abbey the other day, we got stuck behind this traffic jam!

Wilberforce or Bonaparte?

As Rebecca mentioned, we had some time to reflect on our values while away at Paris. One of my reflections was outside of Napoleon's tomb. “Here kids – sit on the cannon's used for killing people and smile for the camera!” And then we saw Napoleon's statue, with his iconic pose, hiding one hand inside his shirt. I thought to myself, is this the type of man that deserves a statue? Yes, there was the Napoleonic code, and certainly the French Revolution that he was part of was seeking to obtain a more just society. But when you come right down to it, he is remembered for his military conquests. Did those conquests take courage and intelligence? Of course. But what if he had focused more on social justice than conquest? Now contrast his life with his contemporary William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was born 10 years prior to Napoleon, and spent years in the British House of Commons fighting for the abolition of the slave trade. The movie 'Amazing Grace' was based on his life, and in it there was a quote from Lord Charles Fox that sums up my thoughts: “When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon - men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who's achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.” Wilberforce happened to be motivated by his Christian faith to fight for abolition, but in my opinion – justice need not be motivated by faith. We may disagree on matters of spirituality, but as fellow humans, we can agree on matters of justice. I believe that if we spent more of our collective time, energy, creativity, intelligence and courage on matters of equity and justice, then the world would be a better place. Do I know exactly how to do this? Not really. What are the issues similar to the slave trade that in hind-sight will seem like obvious atrocities? And Wilberforce did not fight his fight alone. What part will we play in this fight? I'm not sure, but it is something to ponder for a time, and something to act on soon.

Leaving Paris

Our last day in Paris began with a hurried pack-up and clean-up of the apartment. We had to be out of there by 9:30, but fortunately, we could keep our luggage there until later, as we had a 5:30pm train.

After getting ready, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower to say "au revoir", stopping at the Patissier along the way. It was such a lovely morning, sitting there on a park bench with our croissants, looking up at the Eiffel Tower.

We had some time to kill that morning, so we decided to bite the bullet and get in line to go up the Tower. We were in line for an hour, and bought tickets to the first floor. (You could go to the first floor, second floor, or all the way to the top!)
The view was incredible. It's amazing how white the city looks from up above. Here are some of our best shots.
The Parc du Champ de Mars, that extends from the Eiffel Tower.
If you look carefully, you can see "the other Statue of Liberty" in this shot.
This is a picture of Sacre Coeur, another famous Paris landmark that we didn't have time to visit.
Napoleon's Tomb and the Parthenon (we didn't get to visit the Parthenon either... I think it just holds a lot of tombs, etc.).

It was well worth our time to go up. It really was an incredible view.

So, after a nice lunch on the market street of Rue Cler, we headed back to the apartment to collect our luggage. Then it was back to the Metro and then to the train station.

In the midst of all of this, I was wondering what was going on back at my parents' house on Long Island. I had spoken to my mom the night before, and she told me that my sister was having some beginning labor pains. When we got settled in the train station, and I checked my cell phone, it said that I had a voice mail message, but I wasn't able to check it. I started getting upset at that point, not knowing what was going on, and feeling pretty tired. Poor Ethan didn't know what to do with me... I was crying right there in line in the middle of the train station. I eventually tried calling home on my cell phone, and it worked! I spoke to my dad who said that Cassandra was at the hospital and due to have the baby any minute. You'd think this would have made me feel better, but then I got upset because I was missing all of it! More tears... poor Ethan. Anyway, to make a long-story short, as we just got off the train in London, my mom called to tell me that I was an aunt! More tears, but happy ones this time!!!

Our layover in London was quick! As we were heading to the connecting train station, we came across Platform 9 3/4. If you know me, you know that I love the Harry Potter books, so this was such a treat to see. (My kids have no clue what they're doing in these pictures, but they'll appreciate it someday!)When we walked into the National Rail Station, we still didn't know what platform to go to to find our train. We finally found a huge board with about 200 people standing there, staring at it. As it turns out, you have to watch the board for your train's arrival, and then make a bee-line for it. It was so funny watching this, because all of a sudden, something would change on the board, and a hundred people would rush toward a particular platform. Anyway, we made it onto our train just fine, and had an uneventful ride and then drive back home.

I'm really glad that we went to Paris for our anniversary, and although it wasn't as relaxing or romantic as we would have liked, I am so glad that we took the kids. Paris really is an incredible city. We really enjoyed seeing all the sights, but I think we most enjoyed just walking the streets, and getting a feel for Parisian-life.

We were truly affected by the things that Parisians value that are different than Americans. First of all, beauty. Everywhere we turned, there seemed to be an incredibly ornate historic landmark, or a beautiful fountain or statue. Even the apartment buildings were lovely. Secondly, Parisians seem to value their time to "just be". In Luxemborg Gardens, there were people everywhere, just sitting... just soaking up the sun or playing a game or whatever. At the cafes, it was not fast food. People just sat there and enjoyed their food and their company. We also noticed that almost all the stores were closed on Sunday, and many were closed for the whole month of August, as the owners were away on holiday. That just doesn't happen in the States. Anyway, it just made Ethan and I evaluate our culture and lifestyle a little. What would happen if we put more of an emphasis upon beauty in our lives. How can we prioritize time for ourselves in a busy-workaholic American culture? Anyway, just a few reflections.

It's funny... when we were originally planning our trip to Paris, I told Ethan, "This is it! This is our trip to Paris, so we need to do it all." Then of course, as we were leaving I told him, "I'm sorry honey, but I think this trip only whet my appetite for Paris. When are we coming back?!"

Poor Ethan....

Paris- Day 4

Day 4 was dedicated to the Louvre. I felt like pinching myself when we stepped into the courtyard with the glass pyramids. The Louvre! Amazing!This is a seriously huge art gallery. There is no way to see everything there in one day unless you literally ran through it. The pyramid is surrounded by three large wings of the gallery, each with 4 floors! Really huge!

When we got in, we looked at the map and chose a game-plan. We wanted to see the Mona Lisa of course, and then make our way to Pharaonic Egypt, and finish up with 18-19th century French paintings and sculptures. It really was just a fraction of what was there.

We thought it would be best to go to the Mona Lisa first, to avoid the bigger crowds later. It was so surreal stepping out of the elevator, walking into the next room, and there she was. There was already a huge crowd in the room, so we basically took a photo and got out of there. I call this photo, "Tim and Mona."The Mona Lisa was in a wing of French and Italian paintings from the 15th-17th centuries... a lot of "flying babies with wings" paintings, as Ethan refers to them. We made our way over to the Egypt wing, stopping to see The Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Venus de Milo on the way.The Egyptian wing was remarkable, with many ancient artifacts, hieroglyphics, tombs, etc. Really incredible!! This is the Seated Statue of Ramses II.We went to another wing with 18th-19th century French paintings, and were refreshed by a few Monets and other Impressionist works. Then after lunch, we finished up our time with French sculptures. At that point, we were officially Louvred-out!

I was astonished that we actually got a nice family photo as we were leaving. Maddie actually cooperated, and the French stranger who took our photo knew what he was doing. This one is definitely getting framed.
After the Louvre, we decided to get back on the Metro to go see the Arc de Triomphe. Again, it was so surreal stepping out of the subway, and there it was. The Arc de Triomphe was in the middle of a HUGE round-about, quite busy with traffic. We kept looking around wondering how people had gotten over to it. We saw a few crazy people actually cross the street, but there was no way we were doing that with kids. Finally, after walking about a third of the way around, we saw a sign that there was a tunnel underground that you could walk through to get to it.... exactly back where we started. So, we walked all the way back, and then under the street to it. The Arc de Triomphe was pretty neat. It was built in the early 1800s to honor those who had fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic wars. You could pay extra to walk up to see the view from the top. We just decided to enjoy it from the bottom.

We finished up day four by finding a few souvenirs for the kids, trying out French fast food, and heading back to the apartment to rest and start packing up.

Paris- Day 3

Last Saturday started as the previous day had, with a delicious pan a chocolat from the patissier. Yumm! Ethan also tried a quiche, which was great.

This day was supposed to be the best day weather-wise while we were there, so we decided to go to Luxemborg Gardens where we heard they had a children's playground.

Luxemborg Gardens was just beautiful. When I first stepped onto the property, I quickly noticed all the chairs. They were everywhere. Apparently, this is the kind of place that you go to just linger. I could picture old men sitting around playing chess. One thing I loved was that there was a boulles pitch there, and in the middle was a coat rack for all of the mens' coats. Isn't that just great?!
Anyway, in the center of the gardens was a large octagonal pond. The kids were drawn to that naturally, and had fun watching the baby ducks and other children sailing model sailboats. We enjoyed a nice stroll around, observing Luxemborg Palace, which now houses the French Senate, as well as many incredible statues.

We eventually made our way to the playground. Thankfully, I was previously warned that you had to pay admission for the playground, so I was mentally prepared for that. For Tim, Maddie, and Ethan, it cost about $10. Anyway, the kids had a blast! It really was an incredible playground. I was also previously warned that you might have to pay to use the bathroom there! Can you believe that??!! It was 40 (euro) cents each time, which equals about 60 cents US. We got a family rate once, and paid 1 euro for the four of us.... what a deal!!!

For lunch, we found a small crepe stand in the gardens, and dined on jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) and nutella crepes.

After lunch, we enjoyed a nice, round-about walk to Notre Dame Cathedral. We had been reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame to the kids, so we thought they would enjoy seeing it in person. (By the way, Maddie keeps referring to Quasimodo as "Karate-modo"!) Here are a few shots from the outside and inside. (Can you see the gargoyles in the second picture?)
Outside of Notre Dame, there were children trying to feed the birds by holding bread very still in their hands. Check out this picture!After Notre Dame, we walked back to the Metro, picking up dinner along the way (panini and the French version of a hot dog). We ate back at the apartment, and then after a nice rest, walked around looking for a patissier for a scrumptious dessert! Again, not a bad way to end the day.

Paris- Days 1 & 2

Ahhhh...Paris. What an incredible city. I have so much to write about... I hope I don't bore you. And, we took a little over 200 pictures while we were there. I'll try to limit the blog to just the best ones.

Anyway, we took a train last Thursday from a local city called Leeds to London, and then the speed train from London to Paris. Besides having trouble figuring out what our tickets meant (they gave us 6 tickets, but only 3 reserved seats!??), everything went pretty smoothly. When we got to Paris, we took the Metro to our apartment.

Stepping out of the Metro station was a great feeling, not only because we were just minutes away from getting rid of our luggage, but because when we looked up, we could actually see the top of the Eiffel Tower. Wow! It was so cool.

We rented an apartment through an American company I found online called Vacations in Paris. Their rates seemed to be cheaper than the hotels, and we were excited to be on our own. The apartment was small... one bedroom, living area with a sleeper sofa for the kids, teeny kitchen, and a bathroom I could hardly turn sideways in. But, it worked out great, AND it was in an incredible area.

Once we settled in, we went hunting for dinner. We quickly learned that our American dollar wasn't going to go far here. We ate at a small restaurant called "Le Petit Cler." Fortunately, we had a waitress who spoke perfect English. Unfortunately, Maddie was in melt-down mode. She was flopping under the table, being loud, you name it. I was starting to question our decision to bring the kids, and was nearing melt-down mode, myself. But, after a nice steak and omelet dinner, followed by an incredible chocolate sorbet, we were all feeling much better. Also, as we were walking back from dinner, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle, which it only does on the hour at night. It was great.

Day 2- Friday, Our 10th Anniversary

We slept in a little on Friday, and then Tim and I got dressed and found the closest "Patissier" (pastry shop). We had fun practicing our French, requesting "un croissant, du pan a chocolat (croissant with chocolate in it), et un this one (something with little chocolate chips, or "petit chocolat"). Merci boquet!" Eating that pan a chocolat was a great way to start my day!

• The street that our apartment was on. We couldn't get over how quiet it was!
  

We decided to start our vacation by heading to the Eiffel Tower. It was only a 15 minute walk from our apartment! Here are some of our best shots. (Note: We tried to get a nice family shot, but Maddie, in perfect Maddie fashion and timing, refused to look at the camera. So, we have a nice shot of 3 of us, and Maddie's backside.)We spent a little while admiring the Eiffel Tower, and sizing-up the lines to go up it. It looked like a long wait, so we decided to skip going up, and instead, we walked along the River Seine, made reservations for dinner, and then found some lunch.

After a much-needed nap that afternoon, we walked in the other direction from our apartment towards the Hotel des Invalides (less than 10 minutes from our apartment). The Hotel des Invalides was built in the late 1600s by King Loius XIV for wounded and homeless veterans. It was really majestic. But what the kids loved most was climbing on all of the centuries-old cannons.

• I thought this was cool. These are the windows along the top-- they look like knights!
  

Housed just behind the Invalides was the Dome Church containing Napolean's Tomb. Wow! They really pulled out all the stops for Napolean! We didn't feel like spending the time (or money) going in, but here are some shots of it.After our tour of the Invalides, it was time to go back to the apartment and get ready for our anniversary dinner. Ina had recommended a place that she loved for us to go to called, Au Bon Accueil. It has an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower from its terrace, and great food too! Again, we were so grateful to have a waiter who spoke English. He translated the menu for us, and we dined on cold potato soup, salad with parmesan and walnuts, lobster risotto, steak, and white tuna. It was delicious, and fun to try some new things. We finished up with an assortment of three desserts, passing plates, and practically licking them when we were done. Perhaps the best part of our dinner was that the kids actually behaved themselves, and had fun practicing their French... "Merci boquet!"

• Here is a shot that Tim took of Ethan and I at our 10th anniversary dinner.

We finished up our day by taking another stroll near the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. And, again, we got to see it sparkle. A great end to a very special anniversary.

I'M AN AUNT!!! I'M AN AUNT!! I'M AN AUNT!!!!

Hi everyone! We're back from Paris, and yes, I have so much to blog about. We had an incredible time.

But the best part of our trip, by far, happened as we got off of the train in London. My mom called to tell me the news that my sister had a baby girl!!! Summer Grace Schultz... 8 lbs. 2 oz, and just beautiful! Cassandra had a difficult labor, but everyone is healthy. Thank you God!!

Are You All Right?

Okay, a weird thing about British greetings...
British people don't generally say, "How are you?" like Americans do.

Whenever we go to church and are greeted by locals, they will say "Are you all right?"

When I first heard that, I thought, "Man, I must look sick or something," because in the US, that's what I would ask a person who looked pale or about to pass out. Well, it has taken me this long to figure out that this is just how they greet people. At one point, I thought that maybe it was because I was pregnant. But no, they greet Ethan the same way.

Weird, huh?

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is Ethan's 31st birthday!

We were able to join him for lunch on base, which was nice. (We certainly could never do that in Maryland!) The kids and I enjoyed our afternoon, making Ethan's cake and decorating the kitchen. By the way, the cake we made was just delicious... a Barefoot Contessa recipe, naturally. It's called Beatty's Chocolate Cake, and can be found on this Food Network link:(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-
chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html) If you're looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, this is the one! But beware, the frosting uses 2 sticks of butter!!

When Ethan got home, we had an incredible steak dinner, followed by cake and presents. Ethan got a nice, new Yankee hat from his brother, and some Yankee books from his folks. The kids and I got Ethan a Skittles set... no, it's not the candy. Skittles is a version of bowling here in England. Ethan played it once in a pub, and has been talking about it ever since. You play with 9 pins instead of ten, and you bowl with smaller balls that are kind of like duck-pin bowling size. You get three rolls per frame, and there are no strike or spare rules for scoring (it's really hard to get a strike or spare anyway).

So after our family party, we all went outside and Ethan set up and measured out the pins and length of our "lane" (oh yeah, skittles can be played either indoors or outside). Ethan just loved it, and we all had a good time.
(By the way, don't you just love Maddie in her fairy costume and wellies!!)

Happy Birthday Ethan!