That Time We Had Teenagers at Our House

Last week we had some visitors here in Luxembourg.  Shawn’s cousin and his college roommate/BFF were spending the first part of their summer break traveling around Europe and our maison was the final stop on their itinerary.

Now, listen.  It’s been a long time since we’ve hung with the 19 year old crowd, and I wasn’t sure we’d be able to keep up.  (We’re just about to cross from the smack-dab middle and into our late 30’s, but I like to think of us as still young, and perhaps even a bit hip.)

Here’s a little recap of their visit.

The boys arrived in Luxembourg from Paris on the high-speed train.

Hannah was over the moon excited to have them with us and take them to her favorite restaurant and show them around the city.

 
Since they had yet to tour a castle, we couldn’t let them return to America without seeing the Chateau de Vianden. 

Hannah put her cousin in the medieval guillotine. (I think that’s what it’s called?)

After staying in hostels around Europe, these boys were in moderate to severe need of a home cooked meal.  (And also some clean laundry.)

I stayed back in Lux with the kids while the guys headed to Rome for a few days.

When they returned, we took them to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 5,000 American soldiers are buried.

It’s hard to believe that this guy was the ring bearer in our wedding nearly 14 years ago, when he was just about Hannah’s age.  It’s also hard to believe that he has a beard.

During the month of June, the city of Luxembourg is hosting an exhibit (much like the elephants) called “Jouez, Je Suis a Vous” which means, “Play Me, I’m Yours.”  There are 16 pianos around the city, each decorated by community groups or schools, and anyone can just sit down and tickle the old ivories.  Clearly, a duet was in order!

 
Now before anyone goes getting their knickers in a twist, please know that this is legal here.

Perfectly legal.

To E and K – thank you for visiting us.  We loved having you in our home and showing you what our life is like here.  Come back anytime!

Better Late Than Never: Finley’s First Birthday

I’m terribly late in posting this, but here’s Finley’s first birthday!
(He’s 14 months as I type this.)

As I said earlier, I had some drama with my laptop but now it’s fixed.
Apparently all that was needed was a new (cheap) power cord that Shawn brought back from the US and she’s ready to chug along again.
And also, for the last I don’t know how long, I had to have the laptop plugged in at all times because it would not hold a charge.  And now it charges right up.  Who knew?

AAAAANNYYY-WAAAAAAY…
Back to the birthday boy.

He’s really looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby.
At his one year check-up he weighed 21 pounds, 5 ounces and was 29 inches tall.

Being far away from family when your little one reaches such an important milestone is hard.  On that day, there was nothing I wanted more than to have all of our loved ones gathered in our home to see Finley on his first birthday.  Our little family and a few of our close friends here in Luxembourg celebrated with cupcakes that Hannah and I made.  She said that we should make green icing since Finn’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day.
I couldn’t have agreed more.

At first, he was hesitant.

But once he figured out that THIS TASTES GOOD, he was shoveling it in by the fistful.

He also got spoiled with gifts from friends here in Luxembourg, and packages sent from America.

Happy first birthday, Finn Man. 
We love you more than you know.

Shawn's home after spending the last twelve days in the US for work and I can't tell you how happy the three of us were to see him.
He returned with a suitcase full of gifts and some of our favorite American products that we can't get here.  After a shower and a nap, he was up and ready to go so we headed into what has become my favorite part of Luxembourg City, The Grund.

Shawn carried Finn in the backpack and he kept patting Shawn's back saying, "Aww...Daaa-eee."

We hiked down to the Petrusse Valley Park to see the miniature trains.

Miniature (and not-so-miniature) passengers are welcome to take a ride.

These boys loved the trains.  Can you tell?

We hiked back up out of the Grund, grabbed some sandwiches for dinner (fancy, I know) and headed home.

This Thursday is a national holiday so Shawn's off work and Hannah's off school.  We've got some visitors coming late next week so we're going to spend the day getting ready for them.

And also, Happy Memorial Day, America!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: living abroad has given me a whole different appreciation for my country.  I love and miss so many things about it.

Every week or so, my aunt sends a postcard to Hannah and it doesn't really matter what's on it because she just gets so excited when there's something for her in the mailbox.
Appropriately, this week's postcard was an oversized collage of America's First Ladies up to Hillary Clinton.  
I handed the postcard to Hannah in the backseat.
She studied it for a minute.

"Mom?  Where's Michelle Bama?"

God Bless America.

At The Weekend, I...

Every Monday, Hannah's class starts the morning with "At the weekend, I..."
Each kid has a notebook and they write all about the things they did over the weekend.
(I really hope that we get to keep hers because not only are the things she chooses to write about hilarious, but the way she spells is priceless.)

Shawn's been in 'Merica for work since early last week and while we're used to him working long hours during the week, I always hate when his business travel keeps him away over a weekend.

But we made the most of the time and the weather was just perfect!

On Saturday morning we went to Trier, Germany to do a little shopping.  We stocked up on essentials because Germany is way cheaper than Luxembourg.

We found a great little playground so we ate some sandwiches and played for a few hours.

He stays so neat and tidy when he plays outside.

On Sunday all of the museums and castles in Luxembourg were open with free admission, so I took the kids to the Natural History Museum in the Grund, which is one of the oldest parts of Luxembourg City.

It was too beautiful of a day to go back home, so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the Alzette river.

I struggled a bit with the stroller on some of the stairs, but people were so kind to assist.  One woman asked me (in English) if she could help and when I told her that I'd appreciate it, she said, "Your English is excellent."

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm, you know, American.

It turns out that she was from Denver, here on vacation.

Holla American tourist in Luxembourg.

I think Hannah had some good material for her notebook.

Way Back in February We Went Skiing

After my little break, I’m finally getting caught up on things on the old blog.
Let’s go back to February, shall we?
It was the half term school break in Europe, which is also known as QUICK! EVERYONE GET TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR SKIING.
Shawn had been in the US for work and returned to Luxembourg on a Sunday, just as we were saying goodbye to my sister who was going back to Los Angeles.

On Monday afternoon, we loaded up the car and headed to a precious little chalet in Les Gets (pronounced LAY ZSHAY) in the French Alps.

(He LOVES his car top carrier.)

Finley spent the entire week trying to figure out how to get outside to the snow.

And Hannah and Shawn spent nearly all of their time on the slopes.  
Hannah took lessons with a French ski instructor named Marco, and every time she said his name she pronounced it with a French accent.

Now, I know that the title of this post leads one to believe that we, as in all of us went skiing, but the truth is that only Shawn and Hannah skied.  You see, in the days prior to leaving I was feeling a cold coming on and by the time we arrived at Les Gets, I had a full case of tonsillitis.  We’re talking sore throat, fever, and tonsils the size of golf balls.  It was delightful.

Since I wasn’t out on the slopes, I only have a few pictures of this trip, and I think this has to be my favorite:

 

I’ll be doing some more catching up when we return from this weekend’s adventure.
We’re heading to Germany (with three other families) to Phantasialand, which is a theme/amusement park.  My friend sent me a text this afternoon saying that she’d been looking on the park’s website and read that The Black Mamba rollercoaster has restrictions for “guests with particularly large thighs.”

I have no idea what the Germans consider “particularly large thighs.”
So I guess I should bring some Spanx.

And don’t worry, Shawn’s already packing up the car top carrier.

I’m Still Here, And I’ll be Back Later With More

Yes, I’m still here.  And I’m fine.
I hadn’t planned on taking such a long break from the blog, but you see, what happened is that my laptop died. Well, my laptop itself didn’t die, but the power cord did and my laptop is so old that her battery won’t hold a charge and has to be plugged in to power up.

Some might say it’s time for a new laptop, but I like to squeeze every single last ounce of use out of things before I replace them. Plus, the thought of researching and shopping for a new one makes me itch and break out in a sweat.  So for now, I’ll just be using Shawn’s when he doesn’t need it.

I’ve also been sorting through some rough stuff the last couple of months and every time I sat down to write, the words just wouldn’t flow.
Maybe I’ll write about that later.

Anyway, I’ve got lots to catch up on – our ski holiday, Finley’s first birthday, Easter, and other shenanigans like Shawn being mistaken for an employee at a home improvement store and why Finley wasn’t wearing pants when we picked Hannah up from school one day and then went to my doctor appointment.

Oh, and speaking of birthdays, today is Shawn’s. 
On his 17th birthday, he introduced me to his entire family for the first time.  It’s hard to believe that was 20 years ago.

We celebrated with dinner, presents, a (homemade) cake…

…and a game of Just Dance Disney on the wii.
She got to be Mary Poppins.
I had to be Burt.

Tomorrow is an official holiday in Luxembourg (Labour Day) and we plan on doing some chores around the house, grilling kabobs and maybe going to the park if it’s nice. 
Friday’s a day that lots of people faire le pont, but it’ll be business as usual around here for us and I’m planning on taking Finn to get his hair trimmed.

And I promise he’ll be wearing pants.