It's a Beautiful Life

Total Steps: 15,671
French words: piscine: pool; anniversaire: birthday; bien sur: of course
I'm 26 today. It was a beautiful day. Andy bought suiss-chocolat pastries and made oatmeal for breakfast. The kids and I met Sister Shirtliff at Concorde and spent the day at Parc Floral. The tulips were gone, but there are hundreds of other blooming bushes, trees and flowers. Sister Shirtliff rented one of the bike-car-things (rosalie) and she and I pedaled the kids around--it was a great way to see the park. She had some extra tickets so Warren got to play in the ball tank--piscine des boules, pool of balls--and race the horse-bikes. Warren loved the ball tank; he gives his whole heart to playing when he does it. We had a picnic and the kids played on the toys. During the picnic, Warren says, "Excuse me. Sister Shirtliff, panda bears and the bald eagle a long time ago used to be endagered because people were cutting down their bamboo forests because they wanted more places to live. But then, to save them they made zoos," or something close to that. It was his version of a lesson I taught him after we rode on the Dodo Menage--the carousel of endagered and extinct animals--yesterday.
Both of the girls napped on the walk/ride home. Friendly, helpful people kept materializing to help me with the stroller. On the way home, we stopped by "Chupi Chausser" to buy Avery some more shoes. The ones I got last week are cute, but she still takes one off all the time, and they have really stiff soles that trip her up. I was pleasantly surprised. We were the only customers there, and the owner sized Avery's feet, asked about what features I wanted and then came back with 4 boxes to try. About this time, Abigail and Warren discovered there was a kids play area so they spent the rest of the time there. We tried the shoes on Avery, found a pair I liked, but then I asked, "Combien ca coute?" "58 euros." Yikes! That is like $90! I know I am cheap, and occasionally tacky, but at that price, I didn't feel bad asking, "Avez-vous moins chere?" (Do you have any less expensive). She showed me a table of shoes that were the last of the line, but none were the right size for Avery; she was very helpful in finding a good fit, you could tell this was her business. So I started looking through the jellie-shoes and the displays. During this time, she blew up balloons for each of my kids and then helped me try on the shoes I found. Tucked away in a display, alongside all the very expensive shoes was a cute navy blue, canvas, Mary-Jane style shoe, for 22 euros. And it fit Avery! She retrieved it's partner from the back room and we bought them. She was so helpful and never made me feel lame for not buying the super-expensive shoes. She helped me with some French words I asked about--she didn't speak English--and wished me a happy birthday when the kids started singing to me. It was really a nice experience, and as long as I think of it as that, I don't mind the expensive shoes. Plus, they have buckles so Avery can't take them off anymore and she doesn't trip in them. Peace of mind like that is worth the price.
For dinner I made a salad and green beans, Andy brought home a rotisserie chicken and vegetables cooked along with it, as well as a baguette. It was heaven. They were the best veggies I've ever had. Potatoes, carrots, onions, some ham/bacon pieces, all cooked in the dripping juices from the chicken...I'm not sure I can re-create those ever. Andy also brought me home a pink geranium plant--geraniums are my favorite. I wish I had a picture of him coming home; I bet he looked so French with his baguette under one arm and his flowers in the other.
After dinner, Andy and Warren ran to the store across the street to get ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Abigail and Avery and I had a tea-party with her set. Abigail was darling. She kept asking me, "Would you like some lemon in yours?" She would make conversation like she was grown-up. She said, "Friend, my grandsons are doing really good." Then she would pause trying to think of what to say next. It was hilarious! She says her grandson's name is Andy and he plays soccer at school.
When the icecream arrived, we had birthday dessert. I had a beautiful chocolate mousse covered in more chocolate and chocolate squares--like Andy had a few weeks ago--and everyone had icecream. Vanilla icecream here is so good. So good. For my present, Andy said he wants me to take one of the French cooking classes I'm interested in here. There is a French Cooking School in English geared towards tourists nearby that looks like it is really neat, so I think I will go there.
Before the kids went to bed they both came out and asked, with big smiling faces, "How was your birthday, mom?" It was beautiful.
It's fun to live my day through the eyes of the people who will see it on our blog; today Abigail kept saying, "Mom, we have got to put this on our blog tonight. Take a picture." (Unfortunately, our USB cord is flaky, so no pictures for today).