My little Ninja

Frankie's been to karate twice and Girl Scouts once. Both activities, at least for now, seem to be a hit. Frankie's especially taken with the karate lessons. I actually enjoy going with her, too, since at the end of every lesson the instructor busts out some sort of barely-age-appropriate killing device. On Frankie's first lesson, they busted out the swords. On her second lesson, they asked her to spar with another kid in the MMA padded fighting cage. Then they busted out the ninja throwing stars.

That's right. The THROWING STARS.

I don't know if you've ever had the chance to watch a six year old girl huck throwing stars at a target shaped like a ninja. If not, I'd highly recommend it. It inspires an equal degree of awe and terror. That instructor is one brave hombre.

Frankie's Social Calendar

I'm always amazed when I talk to other moms in the neighborhood who have their kids enrolled in after-school activities every day of the week. Piano lessons, ballet, soccer, art, volunteer work...you name it. These kids have a packed social calendar. I'm starting to think that it's time that we did a bit more of that for Frankie, too. So, next week, Frankie's going to be starting two new activities:

Girl Scouts

and...

Karate!

The overall goal is to help Frankie get more socialized and get practice making friends. Also, I really want her to be able to SWEEP THE LEG on command.

Halloween Fun

Shadow monster

Frankie told me that a monster was making a scary shadow on the wall. I laughed it off as an overactive imagination until I saw this...

Weary traveller

We got to hour hotel in Avignon, France at 10pm.

We set our alarms for 4:45 am so Matt and I could shower and pack.

At 5:45am, we checked out of the hotel.

At 6am, we took a taxi to the train station.

We caught a 6:30 train. Matt got off in Leon, I rode a total of 3 1/2 hours over to Paris. I got off the train at the airport.

Once I made it to the airport, I used their shuttle system to navigate from the airport train station to the airport terminal.

I waited through endless security checks at the Paris airport due to some sort of "security incident" that had me waiting in passport and security lines for nearly two hours.

I flew 8 1/2 hours to Washington.

I cleared customs in Washington, had to re-check my bag and go through security again.

I sat through a two hour layover.

I boarded another plane and flew 3 1/2 hours to Denver.

I landed in Denver, got my bag, and walked to the car in the back of the long-term parking lot.

I drove home for an hour.

I got backed up an extra 30 mins in a construction-related traffic jam on the way home.

I FINALLY made it home at 10pm.

That's over 24 straight hours of travel to get home from Avignon, France. I don't think I need to see another airport again for quite a while. I love to be a tourist, but the process of getting from one place to another is pretty darn exhausting.

Must sleep. Blog later.

Sacrebleu!

We came back from dinner tonight, and something was different in our hotel room. Our bed had been made, the garbage had been emptied, and.... How do I say this delicately?

It reeked.

It was seriously smelly. Like sewage. We looked around and became convinced that someone from the hotel had come into the room to turn down the bed, but then had taken a gigantic poop in our bathroom right before we got home.

It seemed impossible, but the lingering aromatic evidence was irrefutable. Then, it hit us.

THE CHEESE!

We had left the camembert out on the table. It had funked up the entire room, big time. No Bathroom Bandit. Just cheese.

Cue laughter.

Exploring Reims

Matt and I arrived in Reims last night, and took the long walk from our hotel to the center of town. It was a beautiful, warm night, and the city was very quiet. Most of the shops and restaurants are closed in Reims on Sunday, and the people that were out walking around the city center were there just to relax, stroll, lounge around, and talk. It was a very charming welcome to the city.

Reims is beautiful... It's bigger than I expected, and amazingly picturesque. There are quaint little botiques and cafes, and much of the city center is pedestrian-only. There is a wonderful grand opera house, many lovely and ancient buildings, and a cathedral more beautiful than any other I've seen.


While Matt was at his conference in Reims today, I had a really lovely day walking around and exploring the town. Photographic evidence to follow:

Reims is most famous for its champagne vineyards. Accordingly, we've had quite a bit of champagne during our stay. There are many different types from many different vineyards, and everything we've tried has been absolutely delicious. As I sit in our hotel writing this blog entry, I'm sipping from a bottle of "Charles de Cazanove Brut Azur" and cutting off big hunks of camembert. Pretty darn perfect.

The surprise of the day is that Matt is being asked to attend a meeting in the south of France on Wednesday, so we have to cut our stay in Reims tragically short and instead head three hours on the train down to Avignon. We'll stay in Avignon on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then it's home to the states on Thursday.

I don't know anything at all about Avignon, so it's going to be quite an adventure! Looking forward to exploring a bit more of France, though. So far, I'm really loving it here.