Eliott, Estelle, Ava and Noah. Ava is the oldest of the 4 - born mid-May.
Estelle enjoys Easter stickers from Aunt Martha and immediately puts all of them on the same piece of cardboard.
This week has been one to remember. High emotions, fatigue, unexpected events and yet lots of joy have combined to make it memorable.I slept poorly for 5 consecutive nights which made me feel like a walking zombie. Our living/dining/everything room was empty for 4 days as painters finally came to repair/repaint the ceiling and walls after a leak from an upstairs neighbor. Better now than after our baby arrives, we decided. They should have finished by Friday. They have not. We are living like gypsies in the 11th hour of this pregnancy. It is frustrating, bizarre, and comical all at once.
My father's older sister who fell in her home lowering a windowshade on Saint Patrick's Day has been in ICU for a month. She lost both kidney and spleen, simply cannot recover from this accident and has asked to die with dignity thus is home on hospice. There are many reasons why this is sad and hard, for many people. She is the first of his 3 sisters to leave. It is particularly hard to be far away, and surreal to be expecting life when another treasured one is ending.
Enjoying some couch time with Estelle this wkend once we put our couch back in the living room so we could at least function for a few days (and sit down!)Thursday I got my first taste of a contraction this time around and thought for sure the jig was up. Yet here I sit, Sunday evening, and still chugging along. Who knows!
This morning we hit the beach in Villefranche around 10 a.m. just to enjoy the beautiful weather. Who knows when I'll be on the beach again!
Walking down the lane to the beach.
A dog enjoys the water.
Boats in the bay:
Hanging out with a croissant:
Making Stone Soup:
Playing a "flute"
A nearby chateau just above the beach:
Sadly, we did encounter a natural disaster at the plage.....a beached whale:
Cooling off in the water:
Estelle decided to get right in!
Later, back at the empty living room ranch, we had some fun with a puzzle of the States. Thomas said 'I can do that no sweat." Here's what he came up with after a minute:
The block of states in the N.E. (of course VT), Florida and W-territory Texas. Then things got trickier. He kept trying to put Kansas where Oregon should be. Ouch.
This afternoon we went to visit our neighbor, an elderly widow who fell and broke her arm 2 months ago at a bus-stop and has been in a clinic ever since as she could not care for herself. I thought of how lucky my aunt is to be home with her husband and children and grandchildren surrounding her. Thankfully our neighbor is finally coming home this week.
And here's a little video from this morning:
