I keep thinking we’ve been here “just over” 6 months – it’s crazy to think that it’s already been 10 months. It definitely seems long in some ways, but also feels like we’re still new in others. Month 10 finished off the rest of the summer vacation for the boys, took us to a lot more parks, on a couple of weekend / day trips, and on our longest (and possibly favorite) vacation since we’ve been here – a week in Switzerland. The summer passed quickly and unfortunately, the rainy fall weather arrived early. Some highlights from Month 10 in Luxembourg:
More trips to the park just up the hill from us
Attempting to be the official interpreter for Sacrament Meeting one Sunday to see if I would be able to do it at Stake Conference. Our church is officially in French, but there are enough English speakers that we have a headset system and a translator every Sunday. I was translating from the French speakers to English in real time. Turns out I’m not great at it :) It went ok and I got the main points of the stories, but there were definitely some moments of silence and questionable interpretations!
Visiting the bike park with the Mullins, and Eliza testing out different methods of pushing / pulling her trike.
Late night game night + oreo shakes with Russ and Star
Finishing up swim lessons with Star. After the last lesson, Bennett and Ryan both said “that was the most awesome swim lesson ever!” I think it was the highlight of their summer. Eliza loved going and playing in the kid pool while they had their lessons, and she loved going down the big (but not super fast) water slide with me.
Getting the oil changed in our car before the trip to Switzerland. One of those “why do things here have to be so much harder!” experiences. I called to see if I needed an appointment, and they said I needed to stop by a couple days before an appointment so they could see all the paperwork on my car and order the right oil filter. That took 1/2 hour with my kids running wildly around the store. The actual appointment took just over 2 hours and cost over 100 euros. I miss Jiffy Lube. We passed the time perusing the toy aisle at a grocery store across the street and eating and playing at the McDonald’s next door.
Switzerland!! Separate post(s) to come…
While we were in Switzerland, Ryan saying one day: “I just really want to grow up to be a snowblower”.
Amazon’s summer family party. Lots of food, bounce houses, and obstacle courses for the kids. The kids loved the climbing wall, although Ryan got stuck at the top and was too scared to come down. It took Nate several attempts to climb up and help him (it was definitely made for kids).
Nate’s day trip with Ben to the Frankfurt temple on the last day it was open before a 2-year renovation. We invaded the Oates’ house for the day while the men were gone, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Chipotle burrito bowl Nate brought back for me.
Multiple visits to the Farm Park with friends
Back to Parc Merveilleux with the Oates, Mullins, Wares, and Star. I tried to convince Eliza multiple times that parts of the playgrounds were for big kids and too hard for her, and eventually ended up following her into tiny spaces not meant for adult bodies (like the big net tunnel). Apparently I didn’t take any good pictures of the boys.
Schueberfouer – for weeks, starting in July, we kept driving past the giant parking lot that was being turned into Shueberfouer – a fair / carnival. The first one was held in 1340 – this was the 675th annual. It’s a huge event in Luxembourg and lasts for about 3 weeks. The boys begged to go every time we drove past. They could see the giant ferris wheel and roller coasters and figured there was a lot of fun to be had. We finally gave in and took them on the last night, when everything was half price. We rode the bus so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking, and met Nate there. As expected, the boys weren’t too ambitious when it came to the rides. Ryan did the kid bumper cars, but Bennett chickened out after we bought his ticket because he didn’t want to get bumped. They both loved a bounce house-type obstacle course and the trampolines with bungee cords, and were willing to go on the roller coaster with Nate. I watched their faces and they both seemed a little terrified while they were on it, but Bennett afterwards said it was fun. Ryan still just said it was scary. Overall it was a fun night and the kids were so excited to go to the fair after having seen it so many times. We of course enjoyed the traditional “Gromperekichelcher” (fried potato cakes) and some churros. We just missed the bus home and didn’t want to wait for the next one, so we took one that would get us close, then ended up with a half hour walk home. We got home just in time to put the kids in the car and take them down to watch the fireworks the fair lights off the last night. I think it was the first time watching for Ryan and Eliza – they loved them. We should have taken more pictures.
Playing at Kockleschuer park with the Oates. When we got there, two men were driving remote control boats on the lake and the kids were fascinated watching the boats speed across the water, and the tugboat that went to tow them back when the speed boat flipped. After observing for a while, we played at the playground and visited the animals.
Spending the weekend in Nancy, France for Stake Conference. We drove down Saturday morning and met up with friends at Place Stanislas, then headed over to the park, where we checked out the animals and had a picnic at the playground. We checked in at the hotel and Nate went to the Priesthood Leadership session while the kids took naps, then I went to the adult session while Nate and the dads took the kids to McDonald’s. We put the kids to bed and gathered with our friends and enjoyed Domino’s pizza, way too many treats, and games with our friends.
We went to Stake Conference Sunday morning, where our ward sang “La Prière d’un Enfant” (A Child’s Prayer) as the special musical number. We had been worried about it all coming together, but it was a neat experience to be up there with our ward and hear the kids (and adults) all singing. Bennett and Ryan loved to practice it and learned the words pretty well. After stake conference, we headed home for naps, then dinner with the Oates.
Month 10 ended with the first day of school for Bennett and Ryan on September 15. Ryan is in “Cycle 1.1”, which they call Kindergarten one (essentially would be preschool / pre-K in the US). Bennett is in “Cycle 2.1”, the equivalent of first grade. I planned to take first-day-of-school pictures, but we didn’t have time in the morning and Bennett’s teacher called me partway through the morning saying that he had a fever and bad headache, and was falling asleep in class, so I went to pick him up early. Not the ideal start to the school year! Nate managed to get a picture of Ryan going into school the first day.
One night, Nate and I ate a few treats after the kids were in bed and forgot to remove the evidence (i.e. bag of candy). Bennett found it in the morning and was very upset that we had eaten treats without him. He made us a sign: No eating candy at night without us
And a little of Eliza – eating her spaghetti, wearing her sunglasses, and before and after naps.
