We went to G and P's hotel and decided to do the open bus tour of Nice. We couldn't do it in the morning because the Athletic Director of UCA was taking the team to lunch. So in the morning we just meandered through the streets, stopping in at a shop from time to time.
When Russ's team went for lunch, we walked down on the seafront and then even went down to the beach to feel the water.
The water was crystal blue.
On our way to the open bus tour, we had a stop at the town square for a photo and then a ride on the carousel.
I'm not even sure what this statue is, but he was naked so it was photo worthy.
We reconnected with the family and boarded the open bus. We sat at the top, but noticed very dark clouds were looming above us. The rain began and Russ went down to the bottom immediately. Eventually half of our group went to the bottom, but the strong stayed on the top and got absolutely soaked. We were on the bus for over an hour and it rained all but 5 minutes. It became a comical event.
And here is after the rain. Drenched! And, yes, that is a reusable grocery bag on my head. We bought them in Paris and I remembered I had them in my backpack. There was not one dry spot on my clothes. We didn't get to take any pictures because it was raining so hard, but we continued to listen to the audio guide.
We got off the bus at the train station, which was the stop closest to our hotel. Everyone got off and those staying in the nicer part of town, walked on to their hotel.
Once we ere dry we headed back to the family. We shopped a bit and then went to dinner. After dinner, Russ and his family went shopping some more while the rest of us went for ice cream. By 9 pm the kids were wiped out, so back to our beds we headed.
We went to Monaco on Monday morning. I've visited before and actually had the same tour, but it meant more to me the second time. A lovely country for sure. It's very different seeing it with my kids. We made a stop at a perfume factory, exclusive to France, called Fragonard. I had been there before as well, in my younger days of travel. This time I actually had money to buy some perfume.
We walked around and saw the starting line to the Grand Prix, as well as the palace where the current Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene live. We were told they have twins and their boy will be the next prince. His name just happens to be Jack. Our Jack was thrilled to hear this news, as if he really cares.
The streets of Monaco are quaint and lovely.
After leaving Monaco and heading back to Nice, we decided to hit the Mediterranean Sea. Because I had never been in the sea, we felt it was a must. Plus the kids wanted to go in the water.
We had brought our swim wear to G and P's hotel that morning so all we had to do was go back and get it. Once we were all changed we went to the beach.
Because the beach is covered with large, smooth rocks, it's not very comfortable to sit on, or even walk on without shoes. There are progressively smaller rocks as you get closer to the water, but there is never sand. We walked to the water in our flip flops, but staying in the water, for Millie and myself, was difficult. The waves and under current were rough. My feet were killing me and I thought I might drown, well not really but it was a bit scary. And Millie just cried as the waves crashed against her. Needless to say, Millie and I headed back to the area under the bridge that was closed off and separated from the actual sea. Jack and Stuart braved it and had a fantastic time.
This was the area sectioned off from the sea. The kids played around in it a bit, but it was much colder than the sea.
The water was bluer than the pictures show. It was beautiful. Here you see that Jack, Stuart and Emily were the only three, of our party of ten, that braved the sea.
Morgan played with Millie in the calm area.
After we had enough beach time we sauntered back to shower the kids and then we're off to dinner. This would be our last dinner with the family. We ate at the same restaurant as the night before, but this time the entire team was with us. I even had the exact same thing as did the kids.
At the end of the meal, as the team was leaving me, we went and bid a farewell to some of the players who had played with the kids and kind of tolerated the silliness kids can bring to a trip like this. I remember as a child having a crush on some of my dad's basketball players. Seems Millie had a few crushes of her own. The guys were terribly sweet to her as well as Jack. Russ has some really nice players which helped to make Jack and Millie's trip that much more fun.
We left the restaurant and went to find our last gelato of the trip. We then walked back to the hotel and said goodbye to Russ, Julie, Morgan and Emily. The 9 days we spent with them was probably more time than we would see them if we lived in Arizona. But just not having the option to see them more is probably the difficult part. It's always hard to say goodbye.
Once that sadness was over, we headed to G and P's room to get our beach things as well as some snacks we had bought for our return train ride. And the sadness started all over again. They are coming at Christmas time, but nevertheless saying goodbye is sad.
We trekked back up to our hotel, got the kids in bed, and did our final packing. Clearly we have a LOT more going home than we came with.
We were up at 6 am and out the door by 7 am. Fortunately the train was only a 2 minute walk from our hotel. After a train to Paris, a metro ride across Paris to get to the Eurostar, a Southern Railway train to Hastings once we were in England, a taxi ride to Grandma and Grandpa's, and a ton of snacks, our France trip was officially over. We arrived back at Highwoods just before 6 pm.
We had a simple dinner, bathed the kids, and just rested. Being away from home, and living out of a suitcase, for 6 weeks is not as simple as I would like it to be. As much as we don't want to go back to work, we are ready to be home.
Grandma and Grandpa were in Spain when we got back to England, so we were on our own for our last day of our journey. My friend Sam and her daughters planned to come and play with Jack and Millie. So we were up Wednesday morning in anticipation.
They arrived around 11:30 am with pizza and strawberries. The adults had cheese, crackers, and assorted chutneys. We had a good catch up while the kids played. It took a bit for Daisy to warm up to my two, but once she did they were off to play. Sam's youngest was at preschool so we didn't get to see her. Sam and Daisy stayed for about 3 hours and then were off on their own holiday to Dorsett.
The rest of the afternoon was used to finish packing our stuff. I'm still unsure as to how we ended up with 7 checked bags when we only brought 2 back on July 10. Shopping was good this summer, apparently.
The kids had a very early night, with dinner at 5 pm and bed at 6 pm. 4 am would come quickly Thursday morning.
Up and about by 3:30 am, we rushed around to get the last bits into the bags. The club class car collected us at 4:30 am and we were off to London City Airport. We arrived just after 6 and sat around waiting for the plane to board. Our first flight was only 40 minutes long. We landed in Amsterdam and had a 4 and a half layover. We looked around a bit, and then decided to go into an Irish pub.
After we are we went to Starbucks to buy our mugs. We have collected mugs from all over the world. We then went to our gate and just waited. And waited. And waiting.
Finally we boarded the plane to Dubai. 
Although the plane was nice, the seats were very narrow. Luckily, I sat with Millie and Jack sat with Stuart. Neither of the kids slept, which was a relief. Because England is really not that big of a time difference from Dubai, we were hopeful the kids wouldn't have any trouble getting back on a regular sleep schedule.
Scott was due to pick us up, but thought our flight landed at 11:55 pm instead of 10:55. It was a miscommunication that actually worked in our favor. By the time we exited the plane, went through customs, collected our bag (which seemed to take forever) Scott was on the curb waiting for us. Perfect!
We stopped so I could pee and we could get some milk for our coffee Friday morning. We got home just before 2 am. When we arrived, our house was clean as a whistle and nice and cool. Our house cleaner, Asela, had cleaned and turned on our air conditioners the day we arrived. It was so nice because last summer when we got home after only 4 weeks it took about 4 hours for our place to cool down enough to where we could be comfortable. The interior walls were too hot to touch. It was a nice treat to come home to a comfortable house.
We didn't get to bed until 3 am, and I didn't unpack either, which I know is shocking. Well, I actually unpacked 3 of the 7 bags, but didn't put everything in its place. I just sat things out on counters and our futon.
We didn't wake up until after 9 am on Friday morning. I attempted to unpack a bit more, but didn't get much accomplished. We were invited to Scott and Clare's for brunch, so headed that way just after 10 am. It was great to catch up with the Richardsons and the Turners. The kids played and the adults chatted.
After breakfast we went to the rugby club for a swim. As you know, I have committed to a 3 man, or woman in my case, triathlon team. I will be doing the swimming. The race is in December. So there really isn't any time to waste. I have to be able to swim 60 laps before that time. I am hopeful that I will be able to do it, and also lose some of this fluff I have gained over the past several months. Pray for me.
I swam 20 laps on Friday and thought I might die. My plan is to swim at least 4 days a week. It will be challenging, but worthwhile for sure.
We got home just as Cathy and Claire arrived at our house for dinner. I bathed the kids, we ordered curry, and had a good catch up with them. They told us of their fast and furious 3-day trip to Greece and we told them of our France trip. They left just about 10 pm and we were quickly off to bed.
I woke up just before 6 am on Saturday, then finished unpacking. This has to be a first for me. I am normally unpacked within 12 hours of being home from a trip. Seems this trip took me more like 48 hours to get everything put away.
Once Stuart and the kids were awake we went to the grocery store because the cupboards were definitely bare. We had decided we would take the cars to get cleaned on the way. When we got home the Land Rover battery was dead. So we knew we would need to get a new battery on Saturday, but the other two cars started. However, being from Arizona, we know batteries only last a year or so. And since we had to replace Stuart's battery a bit before school was out, I knew my car battery was soon to expire.
As we were starting our cars I heard that dreaded sound that makes you know your battery is dead. Super! We asked about having a battery replaced at the service station where we had our cars cleaned. For what they wanted to charge, we could buy both needed batteries from Sainaya, an industrial area, and Stuart could change them himself. So we passed on the outrageously expensive battery.
We had the ever nutritious McDonalds for lunch and then bought our food for the week. Once we were home we decided to give a visit to the Rouvis. They just moved up the road from us and are giving us their top load washer. This means we can move our washing into the maids room and the big open space under the counter in our kitchen can be used now for a dishwasher. Yahoo! I am very excited. However, after our 6 week holiday we may need to wait a month or two before we buy one. But it's coming!
We needed one more pool visit before we started back to work on Sunday. We met the Rouvis, Richardsons, and Turners at the pool. I swam another 20 laps and it was a bit easier that time. I can only assume it will get easier and easier. After I swam Stuart and Scott took off to get our batteries to fit into our two dead cars. Once they returned we got out of the pool and ate dinner at the rugby club. It was our last hoorah before the 2015-2016 school year officially started.
Once we were home I went up to help the kids get ready for bed. As I was getting Jack's underwear out of his dresser to lay on his bed with his pajamas, I noticed this note.
Me: Hey, buddy? What's this?
Jack: Oh, um.
Me: Were you mad at me for some reason?
Jack: Yes, it was when you sent me to my room.
Me: Okay, well, when you were sent to your room was that because of something you did or something I did?
Jack: Something I did.
Me: Right. So you know that Daddy and I are responsible for making sure that when you are a man you know right from wrong and that you are a good man. So when you do something you shouldn't do sometimes we send you to your room to think about your actions. Do you understand?
Jack: Yes.
Me: But if it makes you feel better I went to my room sometimes and stuck my tongue out at my mom too. Do you know who my mom is?
Jack: (wry smile) Yes. Grammie. But, Mama, (as he walked to my side to take a closer look at the paper) did I spell it all right?
Me: (trying to keep from laughing) Well, you would write 'stuck' instead of 'stickt', and 'tung' is spelled 't-o-n-g-u-e'. It's a difficult word. So it's 'I stuck out my tongue (pause to allow him to self correct)
Jack: Oh 'a-t', not 'e-t'.
Me: But it was a pretty good effort.
So maybe he had a life lesson and a grammar lesson as well. Love that kid!
I'm not terribly excited to start work because my situation has changed a bit. I'm afraid I might be alone for a few weeks. My other Head of Faculty's contract was not renewed so she will not be back. They will replace her, but that will not happen until all the new teachers arrive. My English Vice Principal was transferred to Abu Dhabi and because we are losing students this year we are fearful they will not replace her. Also, I am being moved to the boys' side this year. Although we have a total of 9 less boy classrooms this year, we still received about 900 boxes of new textbooks and resources, and I have to figure out how to get it all delivered to the classrooms. I think once these first two weeks have passed, things will settle down and I will be fine.
Stuart, on the other hand, still has the creme de la creme as far as jobs go. I'm glad for him. I often dream of a school of 200 total students in grades K to 12, and only being responsible for 80 of those students. A girl can dream, I suppose.
Year 3 starts now!
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