ATT is robbing me of minutes and money.  It takes a lot of MB to blog.  I now know that the next time we travel here (and there WILL be a next time) we’ll stay at at a place that has internet.  So, I last left you with the tales of Carcassone.  The next day we went to a place that has a hoodoos, similar to the ones found in Brice Canyon.  It was a nice hike and the sky was incredibly blue.  On the way there we got stuck in the middle of of this tiny village.  When I say stuck, I literally mean, the cars wouldn’t go any further and we couldn’t open the doors because the street was so narrow.  It was impossible to turn around however, we did try. My dad ended up scratching the door of the car in the attempt.  Even now, I am plagued with thoughts of how trapped I felt.  We then travelled to a small village to see what we thought was a cave.  When we arrived at the entrance of the “cave” it was closed for lunch.  I still find it interesting that many shops and attractions close from 12:30 to 2:30 or so.   We went for a long lunch instead which was lovely.  After lunch we realized that we were not at the entrance of a cave, but the largest oak vat in the world.  B ummer, we didn’t stay for that.  At that point our group spit into two.  Parents and Kendra went off on an adventure and I we went to Castlenou.

We can’t seem to get enough sleep.  I am not entirely certain that it is just jet lag at this point.  We all keep sleeping.  Samir and I slept until 12:30.  That is certainly a first for the two of us together.  I can’t tell you how.  The beds are wonderful and the windows are open with a cool Mediterranean breeze.  Delightful.  Once up, we spent the day at the pool swimming, laughing any playing around.  At one point grandpa was swimming with a green noodle around his body and he kept pretending that it was a snake.  He was saying “snake snake”  I laughed so hard until I realized he was pointing to an actual baby snake in the pool.

snake snake

  (I didn’t step on him)  We got him out.  At 4 we left for Samir’s aunt’s house.  His family is amazing.  So kind and welcoming.  We met 3 aunts, 2 of their husbands, and some cousins.  Karima made the most amazing couscous with chicken beef and vegetables that I have ever had.  That was followed with local grapes and other fruits.  It was a wonderful meal. It was exciting to see Samir with his family laughing and telling old stories. 

We bid farewell to them, returned home to prepare for the next day.

 Carcassonne

We were supposed to wake up and leave by 9.  That was impossible.  The drive there was a little longer than we planned.  We got turned around a bit, but saw some wind surfers and other things along the shore.  Carcassonne was beautiful.  The castle and cathedral were amazing and the village reminded me of Mount Saint Michelle which I visited my last trip to France in the 80s.  Jonah bought a wooden sword which he quickly decided was not the best purchase.  He moped for the rest of the day in the village.  Aida opted for a little shell necklace.  The lunch we had I have nicknamed poo poo a la bouche.  Nough said.

We grilled out that evening and celebrated grandpa’s birthday.  Two of the aunts joined us to celebrate and spent the night laughing and telling stories.  Fabulous!!!

Photos coming soon. Problems with uploads.

 I need to document this now of it will never happen.  So, the flights ended up being something that we really didn’t need to freak out about that much.  Easy peasy from ORD to DTW.  DTW to Amsterdam was over 7 hours.  Each of us had out own television screen with on demand viewing and games.  The kids watched what they wanted.  We watched what we wanted.  There was a screaming child three rows in front of us that was shrilling and ear piercing for the entire trip.  The headphones had to be turned completely up.  We made it through the Amsterdam airport with little to no issues, but as we waited for the plane the kids started to melt a bit.  Not get out of control, but they were literally melting with sleepiness.  Finally we landed in Barcelona.  Went through customs (there really weren’t any) and made our way to a cafe in the airport to wait for my parents whose plane was not working!  We finally got to the rental car company.  I really thought about the insurance issue long and hard.  I do get coverage when I reserve and pay on the VISA so I decided to forgo the 50 Euro a day insurance fee and just wing it.  Mind you, I haven’t driven a stick shift in a LONG time and I have never driven in another country.   I have never driven on such narrow paths, I ran more red lights that I am SURE were photo enforced.  I stalled the car a couple of times and when we finally made it to the hotel the parking garage was the size of a sidewalk at an angle of about 30 degrees.  I freaked out.  But, we made it.  Aida in the meantime couldn’t keep her eyes open.  She slept in the hotel lobby, in on the chairs at the swimming pool and for a while longer until we finally got our rooms.  Once we go the rooms, Samir and I were excited to get the kids in their suits and have some beers on the deck of the pool.  We had a few beers and let the kids swim.  Finally we had to go take a mini nap at about 3:30.  We passed out completely.  When we woke up I had no idea what time or day it was.  The phone battery was dead so I couldn’t tell what time it was.  I was convinced we had slept through the night.  Samir went to the front desk explaining that we had checked in the day before and didn’t know here my parents were.  We were really in a state.  Finally the phone battery woke up and I had gotten a couple of txt messages from my dad who was down the hall sleeping.  We had only slept a couple of hours.  Once my sister arrived, we showered and headed out into Barcelona for a wonderful meal of paella and roasted chicken.  Again, we had a couple of San Miguel beers, headed home and slept for 12 hours….straight.

This isn’t going to be some gushing prose detailing the flawless characters that make up my family.  I am the middle of three sisters, each of us more different from the next.  My older sister, who I have mentioned a couple of times on the blog  commented on an a post of mine  from the past about fat girls wearing pumps.    I am not quite as pump wearing as I once was, but I have worn a certain pair of Jambo wedges all summer long.   I appreciate that she shares and opinion with me.  Sometimes we don’t agree, but that’s okay too as long as she knows I am right.

Yay, the kids are in school.  I can’t tell you how cute she was on her first day.  She is up and ready in the morning unlike the boy who drags his feet along the way.  Sorry I’ve been away from blogging lately, too swamped, and uninspired.  Muse fled.  Despite the fact that I am excited about school and all, I am consumed with thoughts of our trip to France this fall.  What should I bring folks, what to bring these little people for the flight and the time we are spending there.  I am having  rough time dreaming up the packing list.  Anyone else out there traveled to far away places with young ones?  What was an item you were glad you brought?  I need help here.