More exploring

We spent the morning hanging out, Owen with Legos, Jack and I reading and playing games.

Later we went out scootering – and just kept going and going.  We went about 4 miles, and it is so nice to have the boys so totally entertained!  They are excited to go for a “scooter ride” versus a “walk” ( This is just inside the building where our apartment is located.)

Riding keeps them alert and they are having fun trying new “tricks” – riding while squatting, doing wheelies, etc.  We are still discussing the etiquette of of how to ride in crowded versus open areas.  (luckily, I have been the only one who has been run into with a scooter)

In general, the boys lead the way (so that I can see them) and they stop at any street and wait for me to catch up.  It is perfect because they have just enough freedom to feel independent, but they feel comfortable with where I am.

Here is Notre Dame – just a block or so from the apartment.  We went here for the first time today, and both boys remember it from our last trip.This was our trip today.   There was about an hour in the Luxembourg Gardens where the boys kicked the balls around and rode their scooters in circles.  We also found an open area around Notre Dame that has big grates that the boys loved riding over.  It will be a great place to use up some extra energy without going far from home.

Scooters Save the Day

When we were in Paris two years ago, I saw lots of kids on the downtown streets on scooters.  I thought that might be fun for the boys and that they might last longer on walks if they had them so, we brought our scooters! (and Americanized it – by bringing helmets too).

Our journey today was to find a Target-ish kind of store – to find a bigger selection of groceries, some laundry soap and the like, a soccer ball, and some toys.  I thought I would have to go out to the suburbs to find one, but saw online that there was one of these stores in the city, a few miles from the apartment.

We got started at 2PM just an hour or so after we woke up - after 16 glorious hours of much needed sleep!

It had been sunny when we left on our adventure, but about half-way to the store, the rain started pouring down HARD. We just happened to be passing a store that I had seen on a blog before I came.

It was a bit of a fancy place, but I knew they were used to kids in the restaurant. I was a bit surprised to find only posh couples there, and it was quite understandable. The water glasses were wine glasses. This entertained the boys to no end, pouring their bottled water by themselves.

From what Owen could translate, we thought we ordered edamame, a small pizza and a salad.  We got a salad made from white radish and some  cabbage or other vegetable that had been soaked in an orange zest balsamic (I think). It was unique, but good. The pizza was a small brioche cooked with small whole mushrooms and tomatoes and then topped with arugula, salt and pepper, oil, and some kind of soft cheese. (super-yum!)  We had a bit of a moment when a tomato I speared spewed it’s juice across the table and all up the length of my arm.  Jack and I quickly wiped it up and giggled for hours.  (Owen was busy being an adventurious eater.)   The edamame was indeed edamame, which was luck for Jack, as he was not such an adventurous eater...  PS  the waitress commented on how well Owen spoke, and Jack was super proud of himself for asking where the bathroom was(in French), and then being able to follow the directions there by himself.

Back to the scooters -

The trek t the store was fairly long, but the boys were completely entertained with the scooters.  They were intrigued by the different textures in the roads and sidewalks and by the fact that they could easily figure out if we were going “uphill” or “downhill” (which is really hard to tell if you are just walking.)  They experimented with how much of a drop off the sidewalk they could go up and down and not get the scooters stuck while crossing the street.

The store ended up just being a bigger grocery store, so we couldn’t get toys or a ball. (though laundry soap made me very happy!!)  The boys were able to “push through” their disappointment of no ball - with the purchase of a chocolate croissant…

We brought our groceries home, then headed back out for a toy store to find soccer balls.  While the store was mostly for younger kids – we were able to find some little balls and we headed back through Luxembourg Gardens to try them out.

We discovered a little bee-keeping area in the Garden that I will have to read about –  just thought it was fun and took photos for the Cantralls! 

The balls were a hit, and are going to be a good thing for us to bring to the park.  The park is about a 1/2 mile away from our house, and at least that wide.  It will be a good exercise to walk here often and then kick the ball around.  The boys thought it was especially funny to each kick their balls to me and see if I could keep up with both of them.  I was pretty good, I must say…

Owen even managed to find a friend…

Which bored Jack, so he played in the mud and got filthy…

The dad of the friend that Owen found said that Jack playing in the mud  in the rain was a dead give-away that we were from Seattle…

Our First Full Day

This morning the boys woke up around 3 or 4am Paris time.  We got up for about an hour or so – had a snack and played.  Owen was able to go back to sleep after that, but Jack had a much harder time of it.  He yawned and said he was so tired, but then tossed and turned.   I finally let him watch some shows on my laptop so that I could get some sleep.  Poor guy finally fell asleep around 8 am, but I woke them both at 10 to go out for the day.  I really want to get on Paris time, so I was determined to stay up all day.

Our first order of business was Crepes, of course!  That, and climbing the Eiffel tower are tops on the boys’ list.

Both picked Nutella, but Jack preferred my plain crepe.  He actually threw some of  his away – which really surprised me since he will often eat an entire treat even after he has declared he doesn’t like it…

Later we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens which is several blocks from our apartment.  We rented two boats the boys could push around with sticks.  This was a huge hit and they didn’t want to return the boats when their half hour was up. 

“We could keep them for 5 hours if you have 20 euros, Mom.”  (of course, he was right – they were 2 euros for a half-hour)

 

Afterwards we went to the park in the garden.  It is a park that you pay a small amount to get in, which I thought was a little silly when I read about it, but it is really more than a park.  This ride alone is worth the money for the boys…

It cracks me up that the boys are so tired, neither of them can think fast enough to get off the ride before they bang into the bars at the end.  They did finally wake up a little and had great fun a t the park – asking to go home after about 30 mins, then taking off to something new before I could even answer.   We stayed about 2 hours before they really meant it.  

After our park adventures, we found a grocery store and got some supplies, and headed home. 

My goal was to keep the boys up until close to a regular bedtime.  They actually did fine – and ended up going to bed around 9PM (and I had to force them at that!)  But I never made it that far…at about 6 o’clock, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and fell asleep on the couch.  When I woke up, the bedroom doors were closed and the boys were launching small lego missiles and “bad guys” off the top bunk, giggling like crazy.

The boys are sound asleep now.  Jack after watching part of a movie; Owen after reading a Magic Tree House book on the Kindle.

I told the boys that it is going to be rainy tomorrow, and Owen quickly responded with, “Then, we better wear our rain pants.”  And Jack quickly agreed.  I love their sense of adventure!

Safe And Ready to Roam

after a long nap.

I was trying to write more details,but I keep falling asleep with my fingers on the keyboard and waking up to hundreds of that letter at the end of the blog…stay tuned

Paris, Here We Come!

Tomorrow the boys and I leave for Paris. Bags are packed, clothes for travel laid out, and documents printed off.  I should feel super excited.  I do feel a little excited, but I am also very nervous right now at the responsibility of traveling alone with my two little monkeys.  I can handle a long day of travel, but the daunting part is the final section, where I have to get three bags and two monkeys through the Metro to an apartment with only two hands!  I’ll need some extra luck/prayers/karma/paying-it-forward/etc.

Right now the nervous is taking over the excited.   But I am hoping that the excited will kick back in soon.    There is so much to look forward to!  Including writing my blog, which I have been missing.  Here is the kick-start!

Good Night

Last night I put Owen’s mattress on the floor of Jack’s room and both boys were giddy at the thought of their “sleepover".”  I find this quite funny because we have been sleeping all together in my room for several weeks, and before that, they had bunk beds.  Anyway, a mattress on the floor was novel and Owen and Jack were going to make a party of it.

It is spring break, and so I was quite lax with bedtime. Tuck-in was an hour late, and I let the boys chatter away after I turned the lights off and went downstairs.

After a while Owen came out complaining that he was ready to sleep and Jack was still talking and being silly.  I suggested that Owen not engage Jack – so Jack would get bored and go to sleep. This is what Owen has used as his method for months now – and it has worked for him.

Several minutes later, I heard Jack pleading with Owen to “come back!”  After a few minutes, his words were getting quicker and more desperate.   But Owen had had enough of Jack and had decided he would rather sleep on the floor than be kept awake by his brother.  I felt sad for Jack- he really hates to be alone- but it was a pretty natural consequence.  (If you want someone to sleep in your room, you have to let them actually sleep…) I figured Jack was learning a good lesson. (And I was frankly pleased to NOT be involved.)

Soon Jack was sobbing.  Finally he came to the top of the stairs, and cried, “Mama, Owen is sleeping in his own room and he doesn’t even have a mattress!!” 

“It sounds like Owen is solving a problem that he has,”  I responded.

Jack’s increased sobs faded as he headed back in the direction of his bed.

Owen, who has a big heart, said, “Jack, if you stop crying and are quiet, I will come back in.” 

“No,” Jack protested.  “It. Won’t. Work!”

“It will.  I will come in.  You just have to be quiet, and stop crying first.”

“I can’t stop crying until you come back in,” Jack choked out.

Crying and talking continued and I tuned out.  A few minutes later, all was quiet upstairs.  I vaguely wondered if Owen had given in and gone back despite the crying, or if Jack had given in and become quiet.

If Jack is honestly sad in his crying – and not just trying to get his way (and Owen can definitely tell the difference) then Owen will usually give in.  Then Jack will immediately comply with whatever Owen had wanted.  But Jack will sometimes hold his ground to the bitter end.

When I went to check on the boys before I went to bed, I found both boys sleeping soundly.  Owen was asleep on his floor, his duvet folded precisely in thirds underneath him.  His frogs and his blanket wrapped around him.  I carried Owen back to his mattress – Jack would be happy to see him there in the morning, and Owen would get  a good night’s rest.

 

Tonight Owen announced that he would sleep in his own room.  Jack quickly responded that he was going to be very quiet tonight and Owen should stay.  Owen agreed, and the only utterance  after I turned the lights off was, “Good night, Mama.”

Not Your Mother’s Lane Change

I remember lane changes as being a family affair when I was a child.  A slightly terrifying and anxiety-ridden family affair.  The lane change would be announced in a panicky voice and all were expected to take heed and participate!  Each occupant in the car did their own head-check and some verbal opinion of whether or not there was impending doom.  If there was no screech of tires or honking, the change was successful.  The elevated heartbeats lingered for several minutes.

Sadly, five-point harnesses in child carseats  make turning around almost impossible, and thus have made family lane changes obsolete…or so I thought.

On the drive to school this morning, I turned on my blinker to indicate that I was going to change lanes.   Jack  suddenly screamed, “Mama!  They are shooting their white bullets at us!!”  The urgency in his voice alarmed me at first.  Then I looked and saw that the freeway lines did indeed resemble moving bullets.  “Shields up!” I yelled as I crossed through the bullets. Then, “Oh no, I think we’ve been hit!”    Jack quickly quieted his voice, “It’s ok, I think we are going to make it!”  I scared him a little with my gusto, I think.  The lane change was successful, and our elevated heartbeats lingered for several minutes.