We're back in the USA!!! Here's a few picutres and stories from our last couple of weeks in France:
This was the back yard at the second place we stayed - Addelyn liked that we had a swingset!
Addelyn is getting pretty good at swinging on a big-girl swing!
Pretty girl :-)
I just love this smile - "look, mama! I'm doing something silly!"
Here's a small look at what the inside of our second place looked like - And also a typical Addelyn fit :-) I think I might have bumped her head with the camera, and she was yelling at me for it for a little bit. I figure I post a lot of cute videos, so just so everyone knows...she can be a typical 1-year-old, too :-)
Of course...she's usually just cute:
In early July we got word from Jake's employer that the French company he was working for was no longer working on the contract, so we were told to pack up and fly home as soon as possible! I was getting VERY homesick, so I was SO excited to hear that news. I was even thinking about just taking Addelyn home soon, anyway, even if Jake had to stay in France alone for a couple of weeks.
With our days in France numbered, we decided to make one last mini-vacation...we went to Carcassonne, France which is a medieval castle-city. It's very tourist-ey, but we enjoyed it a lot:
Addelyn: the ruler of Carcassonne!
We got to see a jousting tournament while we were there. Addelyn really liked when they got off of the horses and fought with their swords. She swung her wooden sword around like she was fighting with them :-)
We're inside a 2000-year-old fortified city with a castle and ramparts and a beautiful church and Addelyn plays with the gravel on the ground...typical kid :-)
Posing for a picture in one of the archer's windows
Family photo between the outer and inner walls of the city
After our final weekend in France, we were pretty exhausted and needed to start packing up for the long trip back
Gotta be clean for the long plane ride! Addelyn in her new Snow White towel
We didn't actually get to go into the castle on our first trip to Carcassonne, so Addelyn and I just went back by ourselves one day while daddy was working (it's only a 45-minute drive from where we were living, and I had never been inside a castle before)
Addelyn at the front entrance to Carcassonne
Inside the castle - this window was VERY WINDY!!!!! Addelyn played here for several minutes :-)
Beautiful view from a castle window
Addelyn trying to pick up the cannon balls
Make a Wish!
A couple of days later we headed home! Addelyn did GREAT on the plane rides. There were three in all - Toulouse-Munich-Chicago-Cedar Rapids, with the Munich-Chicago leg lasting about 8 or 9 hours. The flight was during the day (unlike the flight on the way TO France), so Addelyn only slept for 2 or 3 hours of the 9. We spent the other 6 or 7 hours reading books, playing with toys, walking around the aisles, eating, and (Addelyn's favorite) climbing between mommy's lap and the bassinet. We got into Cedar Rapids at 10:30pm and Addelyn (who had slept the entire last flight from Chicago) was WIDE awake once she realized we were home. The first thing she did was play in her bouncer, followed by reading all of her books almost constantly for the next two days! (I had no idea she had felt so book-deprived - we only had a few in France). I'm not actually sure she recognized our house as being her home...she certainly acted like it was somewhat familiar, but when I asked her to go to her room or to find her toys she couldn't remember where they were. I guess being gone for 6 or 7 weeks will do that to a 15-month-old!
Addelyn's first morning back at home - she was a HAPPY girl!
Stats next post - I'll be doing another post on all of Addelyn's new things soon!
