Sweden..... As we got off the plane in denmark, The crisp, cool ,ocean air felt all to familiar. I instantly thought about my mom and her danish roots and wondered if there was some sort of genetic disposition that made people love this crisp air. It instantly reminded me of being in Oregon. AS we crossed the airport isles, I looked around and felt oddly aquatinted with these blue eyed blonde, square featured Scandinavians. They all resembled my brother John who takes after my moms Danish side of the family. I also pictured my grandpa with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, a sparkle in his steel blue eyes, tall and confident. We took the train to malmo where our friends picked us up at the train station. For the first time in weeks we were with friends, A world record in our lives to go that long without the company of companions. They helped us carry our mamoth suit cases up the tall stairs to their car. We were greeted with the warm christian hospitality that is so precious to our heritage. Cold champagne, then a much missed mexican taco dinner. It feels so good to be among friends. Everything we have seen and experienced would have been so, ten fold in the company of friends. The next day our friends had a party. A banquet of swedish food. Its delicious,different from anything else I have had on this trip. Pickled herring, really fresh boiled new potatoes,sour cream and onions. YUMMY! We now have many new friends we hope will come to california for a visit. I am going to have to go on a serious diet when i get home. Jeanette loves to bake,and has had a Table full of the yummiest desserts ever.Sweden is really beautiful. I think tomorrow we will venture into copenhagen. This will end up being our favorite part of the trip just chilling out with good friends.

Making up..... As we made our way back to paris, we had our first fight on this trip. I was so mad at him that we had an almost silent two hour car trip. I made sure to breath heavily through my nose, just so he would know how mad I was. When we got to our sight near the champagne region of france, instead of celebrating our last real night in france,we were ignoring each other and I for one ,was thinking unpleasant thoughts . We went up to the restaurant for some dinner. They had a grassy area with a park and a bounce house for the kids to play on while they wait. I sat down with a book and a glass of wine still stewing over our day. After a little while though I started feeling sad that we were wasting precious time like this. I went over and spied on jimmie and the boys who were engrossed in a game of tackle on the bounce house. I had a mental battle with myself. Part of me wanted to hang on to being mad, as if letting go of my anger excused his annoying behavior. But as I watched him play with the kids my stone heart melted away. Yes its true,he can be very frustrating, , but as I watched in silence I started singing a song in my head," he's close enough to perfect for me" Soon he stopped jumping, and We shared a much needed hug and kiss. As soon as he came to join me for my glass of wine, the band started playing our wedding song.( eric clapton you look wonderful tonight ) We stared at each other in disbelief at the timing. Jim was convinced it was not a coincidence. Over diner, I sat very thankful that our family has had this time together. Sure, we have some bugs to work out, who doesn't? But we go together like peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes more like gasoline and matches.We have had the most amazing six weeks together. At home we fill our lives with a nonstop swinging door of friends and family. Though I wouldn't change a thing, I sometimes wondered if we would do all right together in the absence of so much commotion. The answer is a resounding YES! We really enjoyed each others company ( most of the time) With the end closing in on us and the realities of the real world coming ever closer it was time to contemplate the benefit of us throwing all caution to the california wind we left behind ,and see if this was all worth it. Yes, we spent our life savings, which was not much, and ignored all the conservative financial advice we were raised up to believe is so beneficial, But in return we gained the largest gain in a six week period ever. No maybe not financially, but on a million other ways. We will always remember this. If I had some catastrophic accident tomorrow, and had to picture myself in a happy place to escape some sort of pain, i would have to choose which happy memory to go back to. My family skinny dipping on a row boat in cinquetera, jim and I trespassing ,and drinking our coffee as the sun went down in st tropez, my silent jog in dordogne with the smell of jasmine, old stone and warm spring air, Us walking across the london bridge, then enjoying mooshy peas, beer and fish and chips, the boys giving the most genuine bear hugs to some sweet couple we never met in italy after enjoying the most amazing meal on earth. How about the french village of chateau double with friendly amazing people who made us feel part of their special lives for a evening. The best pizza on earth in barcelona.The beauty of the women who basked in the warm Mediterranean sun in all their naked glory. Even the skinny hairy man mediating with his nuts and hot dog hanging out. If I had to choose a happy memory, my brain would probably burst from All the confusion of choices. With all these happy thoughts why waste more time being pissed off about the misgivings of my mate,( as the english call their friends) So with that said, we carried on and had an awesome evening. The band consisted of two old farts with a few teeth. The restaurant was an old stone building as quaint as one would hope for in champagne. The music was better and better the more champagne we drank. We had to do that, we were in champagne after all. As we were finishing our dinner, I saw inside the stone restaurant people gathering to dance. Young and old alike, they raised their hands, shook their butts scooted their feet. We had to join. The rest of the night all five of us danced the night away. At one point I looked across the dance floor, dripping in sweat from head to toe,smiling from ear to ear, and every single human under that roof was dancing. I looked across the room and an eighty year old couple swayed back and forth smiling happily at each other. The girls who were working behind the bar hung on to each others shoulders as they sang and tossed back and forth. I looked down and brock was holding his hands in a fist like position while swinging to the beet. It may have been the happiest moment in my life. And for the first time in the last several weeks, with the music uniting the obvious language barrier, we finally fit in. We were european.

Anxiety attack in geneva..... After a great drive into Chamonix, enjoying the picturesque mountain peaks, amazing waterfalls and serene green valleys we headed to geneva for a music festival. A simple pit stop at the gas station, turned in to an almost severe panic attack. As I apprehensively approached the stall not knowing what to expect, ( i have learned to expect the worse) I was delighted to find a vey clean stall, that included the luxury of a toilet seat and paper. I excitedly closed the door behind me relishing this refreshingly clean toilet facility. It wasn't until I was finished the panic set in. you see, I somehow picked the stall that did not include an inside door handle. So after closely examining the piece of metal where a knob should have been ,I looked under the door to see if I could fit. A three inch gap was between the floor and the bottom of the door. I looked up, maybe I can scale the bathroom wall and climb over, Another three inch gap awaited my eyes. Even before all the cheese, and bread and beer this would have never worked. I stared back at the metal piece. Maybe Switzerland has different style of door knobs. No matter how I gazed at the metal piece, the two holes like wicked eyes stared back at me, and offered no hope of escape.It was then the panic really kicked in high gear. My only chance was to scream for cole , who had visited the boys room for help. He tried to help but couldn't get the door to budge. By this time, I had sweat accumulating on my upper lip. I was concentrating on my breathing, as I ferociously shook the door.Soon a woman came in and kindly offered to get help. Before long someone came with a screw thing and let me out of my sanitary prison. That was enough anxiety for one day. Music festival in geneva is great. Its a fun and clean and very safe feeling city. No fears of crooks or hooligans here. The only thing that will give me bad dreams is that bathroom door. Food was great too. The music festival was filled with international food tents. We had some amazing curry chicken from madagascar. Sweden is getting very close and I am really ready. I miss being with friends. I miss the kingdom hall. We have tried again today to find a meeting. We were all dressed and ready and followed the googled address but were once again disappointed that their was no kingdom hall there. So in sweden, were all looking forward to going to the meetings. Well bon nuit.

French alps........ Now we are in the french alps, dynamic jagged mountain peaks jut out of emerald green valleys. Lakes as blue and clear as tahoe, but surrounded by charming, ancient towns. Annesy is considered the venice of france. Its pretty amazing. A huge lake, with water that channels into canals , which go into the city. The old buildings are built on these canals and you can walk across the water back and forth over bridges stopping at pubs, cafes , shops. So cute. Sparkling clean also. I like it more than paris. If you want to come to france, this would be one of my top recommendations. We have had a lot of rain today. Its okay. We have had fantastic weather the whole trip so we really cant complain. Going to visit geneva tomorrow. Were getting excited about sweden, and looking forward to being with friends. We ate the most delicious lunch today. Fondue that was ooey, and gooey and divine. I may weigh five hundred pounds by the end of this trip, but its all worth it. Well that it for now folks.

Venice"....... Move over Montecarlo, venice ROCKS!!!! It is awesome here. OK its official, I love italy just As much as france. Venice has to be the most beautiful,romantic, city in the world. FANTASTIC!!!! Imagine, a city with no cars. Only boats, and gondolas to take you around. With the absence of cars, there is no stress of getting run over first of all. Then there is the quiet. You never realize when you are in a city, no matter how lovely it is, the constant drumming sound of cars. Its like when you are cooking, and you turn the fan on the oven to get the smoke out. It serves a purpose, you need the fan. But you forget to turn-it off. Then you suddenly realize your in a bad mood. its not till you turn the fan off that your good mood returns. Also, the architecture, is just fantastic. Jimmy said its like Disneyland on crack. We took a sunset gondola ride. tristan and brock have a new career path and want to be gondoliers when they grow up and live in venice. I am down with that. We are now in lake garda. Its also wonderful. The campground is great here. Right on the lake. So tonight we sat on a dock and watched the sunset, while geese nibbled on jimmies hands. Truly a beautiful sight. I wish i could engrave these memories into my brain, etch every detail, every scent, and sound, and taste. But especially, I want to freeze-dry, the kids into my memory the looks of wonder, and astonishment at new things, their faces when they try something new. The genuine bear hugs they openly gave to the brothers and sisters and other people we have met along the way. The sweet and tender moments I share with jimmie. I know in the end this is what I will remember, and I will forget all about the time they all annoy me to the point of insanity.

Personal space and sign language....... There are only a few negative things about traveling through italy ,but I feel compelled to mention them to any potential future travelers. The first is personal space. Or I should say ,lack of it. You see, in america we all have a level of personal space, a boundary that only a few socially dysfunctional, awkward people don't abide to the rules of. Here in Italy, that rule of personal space doesn't exist. Wherever you go people are breaking this law. When your in line, you can feel them breathing down your neck. Slowly inching their way across the boundary line that us americans have installed from a young age. I try to slowly turn my head around to look at them as if its going to set off some sort of alarm, but they don't seem to hear the alarm. I try to inch forward, but then they just creep up behind you , the way those daddy long leg spiders do when I'm in the shower. When your not looking, they sneak across your border. Yesterday, we did a history bike tour in florence. It sounded like a good idea at the time. Florence is a beautiful city. Once again though, I have had enough of cities. Of course we couldn't find the spot where we were suppose to meet the people, which meant a lot more high speed running in my flip flops. Once we found the place,my mood was sour. Then we take off for our bike ride, our tour guide teacher sounded like daffy duck. ( so said tristan) Her english was so strained, that she twisted and contorted her face every time she spoke, with the veins in her neck looking like they would self combust,she sprayed the words out. The bike ride was enough to give me a coronary. The personal space boundary doesn't exist even when its a pedestrian or bicyclist and the space invader is a motorcycle or car. Even if your in the cross walk, they bring their car or motorbike within inches of you. I was worried beyond sanity about cole especially. He seemed so wobbly on his bike, my overactive imagination kept playing out the scene in my head. A car hits him, I pull the person out of the drivers seat with my bare hands, I wrap my hands around his neck and starting throwing the assailant into the ancient buildings, but then I realize he is one of these hot ,italian stallions, so I decide to grant him mercy ,kiss his cheeks and warn him to never intrude our personal boundary again.He bows his head, kisses slowly my hands, with those deep brown eyes begging for forgiveness. I send him on his way. Fortunately this never happened. I did play traffic control most of the time though. I would stand with my bike in a very authoritative position with my hand in a position that yelled STOP! I took on busses and motorbikes and cars this way until everyone was safely across the street. All I needed was a blue cap and a whistle and I would have been complete. Sign language has been my go to language when all else fails. When i went into the store at the gas station, I tried explaining that I want to pay for pump number seven. The woman stared back at me blankly. So then I used my sign language, and made my fingers into the shape of what I thought was a pump, but I think she thought it looked like a gun. She looked a little startled, more like I wAs trying to say" this is a stick up" than" can i pay for gas?" People use sign language at me too. Yesterday we stopped for gas. As I walked in,the old duffer gas attendant, was checking me out. He tried to talk to me. " I'm sorry i don't speak italian" Pointing to me he says " Bella ". I get that. " thank you" but as I put my bag of pastries on the counter he starts shaking his head, talking italian then puts his hand right on my tummy!!! Talk about personal space betrayal. So then I start laughing hysterically because this old guy feels its ok to warn me to not eat these ,to watch my girlie figure. The nerve! So I use my sign language to make a fist. We both laughed. i thought this was so funny. So I am learning new ways to communicate. How valuable it would be to speak a foreign language, or like many people here, speak many languages. I am getting over my personal space issues and learning that, well," when in rome" I have learned that so many words can be spoken with smiles, laughing, warmth in the eyes. So with my unfortunate, ability to speak only english, for this I am grateful.

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The grimes....under the tuscan sun.....

We arrived yesterday and we were so pleasantly surprised by this park. Its more of a resort than a camp ground. Last night the boys and I went for a evening stroll. We wandered into the disco. Yes thats right, this campground has a disco that is geared for children. After some guys played guitar and sang a great rendition of a pink floyd song, the music began. There was maybe three families in the " disco" all sitting on sofas staring at the DJ. We sat there a few minutes, and I thought to myself I have to teach these boys to not worry what peering eyes think, they need to get out there and enjoy life and dance like nobody is watching. I considered just running onto the empty dance floor and trying to breakdance. I was glad I didn't when I realized the DJ was still educating the campers on the campground activities through the loud music. then the time came when it was time to boogie. They looked at the sleepy bored parents and children in the room, No one seemed to respond. Not that I wanted to, trust me, but I felt it was my parental duty to teach my kids not to be wall flowers,so I jumped to the dance floor and with cheeks burning red from embarrassment, I busted my white girl moves like nobodies business. After the first song I was totally feeling it and not long after that my cheeks were only red from the hotness of salsa/ frankenstein moves. Tristan was the first to join in, then brock. Reluctantly cole gave in and we all three danced until they shut us down. It was only four songs later.
Tuscany is gorgeous. Going to explore florence tomorrow. The time is closing in on us like one of those big , looming,church doors. I wish this could last forever, with the exception of having friends and family with me, but that is what the new system is all about...This is just a tiny, shadow , a little glimpse, soon to be nothing more than a memory(, sometimes overshadowed by crooks and hooligans) of what life will be like one day,when, this brilliant freedom and exploratory joy will last forever and be enjoyed by everyone. Thats what Im talking about........

Rome

ROME......


I was apprehensive about going to Rome. All the talk of pickpockets and gypsies and a dirty city did not really make it sound so great. Any apprehension I had was gone like the wind as soon as I got there. I absolutely LOVE Rome. It is the most fantastic, amazing city and most definitely my favorite.
After leaving the little coastal villages we had a little rain in our parade. Our day on our private,paddle boat was the best day we had had on our whole trip,but when we got back to our car , our great mood came to a screeching halt. There was a parking lot available for a few euros when we arrived,but there were also many cars parked on the street closer to the town, so jim,always the miser decided to park on the street and avoid paying. What we did not know is the street parking is only for residents. So when we got to our car we were welcomed with a fat ticket. As if that was not enough to pay for our crime, an angry local felt it necessary to teach us a further lesson by breaking the driver side mirror off. Needless to say, Jimmies mood quickly turned sour. The worst part was all the toll roads we had to stop at. The mirror was tied with a shoelace and rolled up into the window of his seat, but every time he stopped to pay the toll he would forget, which made the mirror crash ferociously into the side of the car. Next would come a lot of screaming and ranting. It took several stops before we all could remember to have the back seat passenger roll the window down to deposit the money.
We had a bitter end to our beach day but it quickly was replaced by something good. As we approached our campground on a very quiet street we spotted three witnesses out in the preaching work. We stopped to say hi and tried our best to visit,despite that we know no italian and they knew no english. After a short visit the sister invited us to our home the next evening for dinner.
The next morning we woke and went to the Vatican. We decided to pay for a tour guide.This is a great way to spend your money we decided. The guide highlighted all the important parts. The boys all really enjoyed this. It seemed to bring history to life. I really feel like this opened a door of learning for them. I cant imagine that they wont love learning about history from here on out. It is a fascinating place to visit. The wealth of the vatican is obscene. We loved learning about michael angelo and seeing his amazing work. WE learned how one of the popes sidekicks insulted him so in return he painted him in one of the scenes of hell, with a snake eating off his penis. A very passionate artist indeed. We saw how he disagreed with Martin luther, who saw it was unscriptural to pray using rosary beads so he incorporated that disagreement i to one of his works also.It was so cool to be standing under the work of a man who knew martin luther, even though they did not agree. Michael angelo had enough of his own battles with the church but unlike martin he lived to be 89. We also saw a huge marble bath that Nero's wife would bath in. The marble they said is absolutely priceless.Its more the size of a small pool. She used to fill it with donkeys milk. We just read that morning in the acts book, how paul was released the first time by nero but then how nero burned rome down and blamed the christians because he wanted the land. Really its such an interesting place.
We drove then to patricias house who had invited us for dinner. We had a great evening. We tried our best to communicate, and I was surprised that it was easier than I thought. She had a very sweet husband too. She was so incredibly hospitable. There is so much to be learned while traveling like this. Not just the facts of history, but we can learn from other people. She cooked this fabulous pasta that is romes specialty. As if that was not enough, there was three different types of, crostini bread with different toppings all from their garden, then there was this delicious rice balls dipped in their homemade superduper fresh olive oil. Though our words were barely understood we were able to gather how she came into the truth. It was like a game of charades. She demonstrated how witnesses had knocked on her door, and she tried to hide. Then she peeked out the window and saw a very pregnant jehovah witness leaving. She felt kinda bad she had not answered the door to her. Then the next several days wherever she went there was a jehovahs witness, on street corner, bus station etc, they kept trying to talk to her and so she thought, man I cant get away so I may as well see what they have to say. Needless to say she had been pioneering for 26 years. Her husband was so cute. This sweet little guy kept trying to grab their cat for a snuggle. He wanted to cuddle that grumpy cat so bad, I felt sorry for him and wanted to go get him a nice cuddly kitten. The kids really melted the hearts of these people. We found out their son had died eight years earlier. With tears in her eyes she told us this. Cole and Brock especially were attentive to our hosts and ate everything they were given,even the bulgar salad (which was awesome but not something they would normally eat. ) By the end of the night the boys couldnt stop hugging this couple, and this sweet pair showered the boys with their italian cheek kisses squeezes and hugs. They asked if we could leave the boys in Italy with them. Joking ofcourse. I tell you, we have met so many warm and wonderful people, but there is something so special when you are with your brothers and sisters. A feeling of warmth and security and love that is just not found anywhere else.
italians.... I love them. They have a really great culture. loud, gregarious, generous and friendly. They love children. In general, everywhere we went the people are so nice to the kids. I love this about the culture. None of this children are to be seen and not heard crap. Last night we ate at our camp restaurant, they put up a bounce house for all the kids to jump in. None of these safety rules like in america. A bizzilion kids flipping, swinging, bouncing, screaming,diving. Nobody got hurt miraculously,but they sure had a great time. I wish i could have little mini italian people to carry in my pockets, because every time I felt sad or blue I could pull them out and they would make me some pasta and kiss my cheeks and I would always feel happy.

We ended up staying two more days in rome because it is so awesome. The most intersting, beautiful city in the world. I am sure of it. So much history, amazing food,amazing people. We spent a good part of our days in rome chasing jimmie at a full speed jog. Let me tell you, its a good thing he has so many great qualities because I was tempted to pitch an ancient brick at him a few times just to slow him down. Every bus, every line for a museum is a urgent rush for him and I swear his legs have jets under them, to make him walk so fast. Finally I had enough running and climbing over. Fences so I put my foot down. NO MORE RUNNING!! ok he promised. I know he tried hard to keep his promise, but as his friends say "squirrel" We were enjoying our open tour bus ride. When it came to the tower of the church that had six hundred stairs, he said we have to get off here, this is the one last thing i wanted to see. So as he gets off the bus he finds out he has ten minutes before it closes, Off he goes, Here we are running full speed to keep up with him, Im wearing a dress, mind you, and flip flops. He charges across a street, jumps a fence, runs speeding across a courtyard. By the time I catch him, Our friend ( a sweet girl from alaska,traveling alone whom we adopted for the day) says "I cant believe my eyes, he jumped over the fences past the security guards who were guarding the now closed dome,so fast they never even saw him, and he disappeared behind the doors" I was so glad kasandra found this funny. I cant believe she seemed to enjoy being with our crazy family. I really wanted to pitch jimmie off the coliseum walls at this point. So after a few minutes, he sneeked out of the closing church dome happy he had succeeded in seeing one last thing. I hope to come back to rome on a girls trip and do it without feeling like I just ran a marathon. So today I sent him on his own to sight see so We can all have a break.
Rome is a place I could spend a entire week or two easy.
Today we head back into tuscany. Going to see florence, then venice. Good thing about venice, is the boats will force a little relaxing I hope.
Well thats all for now folks. CHOW!!!!!

The grimes family yacht..... So after admiring the fifty million dollar yachts in Monaco, and observing the people sitting quietly on them looking kind of bored, we all agreed if we had our hands on that boat for an hour we would really have fun with it. We would swing from the balconies, blast the music, dive-bomb off the slides,skinny dip in the hot tub, dance like crazy. Really go for it. We looked into renting one for a day, 5,000$ Well as you can imagine, not in our budget. So here we were in italy, cinqueterre. An amazing part of the Italian riviera, with five ancient villages clinging to the oceans edge. No cars aloud. So you have the choice of paying for a trail and hiking on foot , train, or boats. Our first look at an Italian village. I LOVE IT!! Ok it's not France, which I would say is prettier in a way, but I love it just as much. It's so colorful, and happy feeling. The buildings are most likely Monaco and more....... So We went to Monaco because when you come to the south of France you just have to see that. It's pretty amazing, but personally I've had enough of super rich towns. jimmy paid nine euro for one beer. That is enough said about that. We left Monaco and headed for our first camp on Italy. It is very close to Monaco. It was so interesting, to come out of a tunnel and be in another country.We stopped for gas, and everything was different. The language entirely different of course, and we know NO Italian. The French are so calm when they talk. Everything is understated and flows like a gentle river. The Italian is opposite. Lively and loud and flowing more like a roller coaster. The clothing and architecture is different too.High heels galore. I am talking serious stilettos,and this was at the gas station, not Milan. We love italy. Grocery shopping is so fun here. The seasonings and pasta and quality of meat and vegetables. AMAZING! Last night I made a yummy dinner with all my finds. We have some of our best times sitting in our trailer with our cooked dinners just chatting. We are all so relaxed and end up having great laughs and conversations. JImmie loved my sauce so much last night that he huddled with the boys and had them massage me while he did the dishes. Man that must have been some good sauce. So sweet. I have the best husband. As I was laying their on my stomach, having my back and feet rubbed I said" I think I have gone to heaven" Tristan who was working on my feet said" yah but I think your feet have gone to hell" referring to my callouses. Before long they were singing I like big butts and I cannot lie. I'm afraid to say what their inspiration was. We went to meeting yesterday. I didn't understand a word, but we all loved it. The congregation all sang so loud and lovely. The warmth was just what you would imagine of italy. I absolutely love this culture. I think everyone in that kingdom hall came up and tried to talk to us. They were so beautiful and loving. They do the side hug kiss on the cheek thing, I can't get it right. I still hug like a hamburger, straight from the front and wrap my arms around like buns grabbing the patty. With this said, I ended up head butting a few people and accidentally ended up kissing their mouth instead of cheeks. Good thing Italians have a sense of humor. Well Internet has been hard to find. Hope to find some today, got to get in touch with Annika. We think she's coming after all, and were so excited. We all miss her sooo. We actually miss all our friends and family very much. Hugs and kisses to you all. Monaco and more....... So We went to Monaco because when you come to the south of France you just have to see that. It's pretty amazing, but personally I've had enough of super rich towns. jimmy paid nine euro for one beer. That is enough said about that. We left Monaco and headed for our first camp on Italy. It is very close to Monaco. It was so interesting, to come out of a tunnel and be in another country.We stopped for gas, and everything was different. The language entirely different of course, and we know NO Italian. The French are so calm when they talk. Everything is understated and flows like a gentle river. The Italian is opposite. Lively and loud and flowing more like a roller coaster. The clothing and architecture is different too.High heels galore. I am talking serious stilettos,and this was at the gas station, not Milan. We love italy. Grocery shopping is so fun here. The seasonings and pasta and quality of meat and vegetables. AMAZING! Last night I made a yummy dinner with all my finds. We have some of our best times sitting in our trailer with our cooked dinners just chatting. We are all so relaxed and end up having great laughs and conversations. JImmie loved my sauce so much last night that he huddled with the boys and had them massage me while he did the dishes. Man that must have been some good sauce. So sweet. I have the best husband. As I was laying their on my stomach, having my back and feet rubbed I said" I think I have gone to heaven" Tristan who was working on my feet said" yah but I think your feet have gone to hell" referring to my callouses. Before long they were singing I like big butts and I cannot lie. I'm afraid to say what their inspiration was. We went to meeting yesterday. I didn't understand a word, but we all loved it. The congregation all sang so loud and lovely. The warmth was just what you would imagine of italy. I absolutely love this culture. I think everyone in that kingdom hall came up and tried to talk to us. They were so beautiful and loving. They do the side hug kiss on the cheek thing, I can't get it right. I still hug like a hamburger, straight from the front and wrap my arms around like buns grabbing the patty. With this said, I ended up head butting a few people and accidentally ended up kissing their mouth instead of cheeks. Good thing Italians have a sense of humor. Well Internet has been hard to find. Hope to find some today, got to get in touch with Annika. We think she's coming after all, and were so excited. We all miss her sooo. We actually miss all our friends and family very much. Hugs and kisses to you all. older than France, and painted more colorful as they were in Spain. The paint was chipping off many of the buildings,which just added to the ambience. All the color of peoples clothing and linens hanging above from their windows also added more life to the air. Something about it just made me want to dance my way down the streets. So that's when Jim showed up like a prince with the grimes family yacht. Move over Donald trump, ....here come the grimes...It was this amazing blue yacht, to match the color of the endless Mediterranean sea. It glistened in the sun like a sparkling diamond,floating toward us. The boys leaped for joy!!! We all dove into the water for our excursion into the deep blue. It even came equipped with our own waterside. We pedaled our boat, as fast as we could to the open water. ( did I mention it was a pedal boat?) The best 45 euro we spent so far on this whole trip. For three hours we took turns pedaling to the next town. All the while dive-bombing,singing dancing, even a little skinny dipping. I have the most fantastic photo of Tristan sailing through the air, with nothing but the sea and blue sky surrounding him. ( though I've been sworn to not share this photo) It's priceless. We had absolutely the best day of our lives yet. So here we are in Rome.Actually just outside of Rome at our camp. As we were driving up the road , just near our camp, we saw three people walking . Two men dressed with ties, sporting book bags, a woman with a modest skirt. One look and we knew we were just about to meet two of our brothers and our sister. A very scattered conversation, some more sideways hugs and kisses. We are going to the sisters house for a spaggeti dinner tomorrow. So lovely to meet our dear family wherever we go. This camp is cool too. Laundry is half the price of everywhere else and the best part free internet! So that means I can upload twenty pages of this blog,because surely I have family and friends who are missing us as much as we miss them.

Monaco and more....... So We went to Monaco because when you come to the south of France you just have to see that. It's pretty amazing, but personally I've had enough of super rich towns. jimmy paid nine euro for one beer. That is enough said about that. We left Monaco and headed for our first camp on Italy. It is very close to Monaco. It was so interesting, to come out of a tunnel and be in another country.We stopped for gas, and everything was different. The language entirely different of course, and we know NO Italian. The French are so calm when they talk. Everything is understated and flows like a gentle river. The Italian is opposite. Lively and loud and flowing more like a roller coaster. The clothing and architecture is different too.High heels galore. I am talking serious stilettos,and this was at the gas station, not Milan. We love italy. Grocery shopping is so fun here. The seasonings and pasta and quality of meat and vegetables. AMAZING! Last night I made a yummy dinner with all my finds. We have some of our best times sitting in our trailer with our cooked dinners just chatting. We are all so relaxed and end up having great laughs and conversations. JImmie loved my sauce so much last night that he huddled with the boys and had them massage me while he did the dishes. Man that must have been some good sauce. So sweet. I have the best husband. As I was laying their on my stomach, having my back and feet rubbed I said" I think I have gone to heaven" Tristan who was working on my feet said" yah but I think your feet have gone to hell" referring to my callouses. Before long they were singing I like big butts and I cannot lie. I'm afraid to say what their inspiration was. We went to meeting yesterday. I didn't understand a word, but we all loved it. The congregation all sang so loud and lovely. The warmth was just what you would imagine of italy. I absolutely love this culture. I think everyone in that kingdom hall came up and tried to talk to us. They were so beautiful and loving. They do the side hug kiss on the cheek thing, I can't get it right. I still hug like a hamburger, straight from the front and wrap my arms around like buns grabbing the patty. With this said, I ended up head butting a few people and accidentally ended up kissing their mouth instead of cheeks. Good thing Italians have a sense of humor. Well Internet has been hard to find. Hope to find some today, got to get in touch with Annika. We think she's coming after all, and were so excited. We all miss her sooo. We actually miss all our friends and family very much. Hugs and kisses to you all.

I can't get enough of France...

I can't get enough of France.....
We are in the Provence part of France now. We unfortunately fell upon one of the very few bad weather days here, and it has been cloudy, cool ,and raining at times. But that has not dampened our zeal. So instead of working on our st tropez tan on the beach we took a drive in to Provence. We explored mid evil ,almost ,ghost towns. Very cool. We strolled around the sleepy little towns in practical disbelief that they were real. We had so much fun examining all the interesting doors and wishing we could open them all and snoop in. In one village we climbed up the hill to find a small castle,that is now a hotel and restaurant. We tried to have lunch but it was closed . They let us climb around though and we stood on the tower and looked down at the beautiful valley below.
By the time we finished that town I needed a bathroom. The only public bathroom was one of those weird porcelain holes in the floor. I was horrified to use it ,but desperate. I couldn't bring myself to step on the footholds on the side of the bowl thing,so I tried to pee keeping my legs off that nasty thing. It didn't work out well. I ended up peeing all over my shoes. I cursed that stupid toilet thing, I cursed my shoes, and I cursed a beautiful rich land filled with enough money for the best castles wine and cheese but can't provide a decent stinking toilet.
We stopped for lunch at a cafe with fantastic views. Cole and Brock were more interested in the moral decay of ants. Cole watched the ants on the ground and declared" mom that ant is cheating! I saw it mating with one ant, then it saw another ant and mated with her" Then Brock said " aaahhh mom this ant is trying to carry his dead friend and he dropped him." Cole watched for a bit the ant struggle to pick up his friend,then reached down and picked up the dead ant and tried to put him on the back of his grieving friend to help him out.
As the day went on I tried not to focus on my pee pee shoes. Our destination was verdon lake and gorge. It's the French version of the grand canyon. on the way we stopped at a cheese farm. We all really loved that. We bought some honey and really creamy,stinky cheese. They let us go into their barn and pet all the animals. The goats and sheep were so adorable, soft and friendly little animals who doled out the sweetest little lamb kisses.
As we climbed the mountain heading to the lake we drove through tunnels carved out of the rock that opened into amazing views of the canyon and mountain peaks. We stopped at one of the viewpoints and watched no less than thirty hawks sailing below us, seeming to have nothing better to do than take in the canyon and river views. It was both astonishingly beautiful and nauseating for me at the same time. The rest of the road trip, I tried to focus on the pee on my shoes instead of the cliffs of death and insanity on the side of me. The pee shoes were a great distraction from the thought of us all plunging to our death on this narrow , ridiculously high road that seemed to be right out of a James bond movie.
So here we are now at the lake, Brilliant and blue. We got here to late to rent the canoes and go up the canyon, but jim and the boys went for a dip and now we are chatting with some swedish girls, so gotta go.

We made a whole village of friends...

We made a whole village of new friends.....

There really is no short way to tell this story. So if your not interested I recommend not reading. The beginning started this morning in the cool, ancient village with the crappy public toilet. You see, it was our first real stop of the day. We were starving. We had not eaten any breakfast, and were craving a real breakfast. This is something that doesn't exist in France ,especially rural France. Let me rephrase that, it's difficult to find a American breakfast here, meaning bacon and eggs and such. We had only a little cash and the bakery was closed. So we find this tiny, and I mean TINY market. We had packed some cheese, so I went to see what I could round up.I was able to buy a single loaf of bread. The man said , after counting the loads in a paper bag, " no sorry they are all reserved" So we were in such a small town that they actually reserve their bread. ok so I bought what we could and we sat on a park bench eating our bread cheese and apples. The view was stunning!The village built on a cliff overlooking a magnificent canyon. The guy who sold me the bread was very nice, ( which will matter later)
After exploring a bit we got in the car and headed down the road. that's when we came upon the cheese farm. We spent our last cash on some cheese and honey. So I thought , we better get some more cash. I thought I remembered seeing a ATM machine in the last town. So we drove through the little town looking. We didn't see one. So we saw a man sitting outside a tiny restaurant enjoying an afternoon glass of wine. We asked for his help.Like so many French people we have met he was completely willing to try to help us despite his limited English. We had a brief conversation with him, but as we drove away we both said " what a nice guy" We both talked about how remarkably friendly people Are here. Also we asked about the restaurant he was standing in front of and found out that they specialize in truffles? Jim really wanted to try those, so we agreed we would come back for dinner.
So as evening came we rolled into the town.We asked the woman if it was ok to eat outside. In front of the restaurant, was kind of like a town square. The square itself looked over the valley with the most excellent view. So I thought to myself, this is why we haven't been eating out this last year, so we can enjoy it somewhere special like this.On the other side of the square was the village bar. Very small, and hardly recognizable as a bar. Before long the boys started complaining of being bored, so I said hey go play with those kids who were running through the square playing football. ( actually what Americans call soccer) So with the help of a woman from Belgium at the table next to us,they learned in French to say " can I play?" Before long the kids were immersed in a game of football , chasing the ball up and down the village streets. All the kids were so so cute. Some boys gave Tristan some French coins to keep as souvenirs. All we had with us was one American dollar, which they seemed thrilled to get. By the time dinner was over the kids had a new group of friends.
The whole while were eating our dinner, sitting in awe both of the view from the table of the canyon and also of this bar. It seemed all the towns people were gathered there together . Every now and then you could hear them burst out in some type of cheering. We couldn't help but think wow, what a great place to be from. As their kids all played in the carless street, boys chasing balls, little girls dancing and playing with cats, parents all laughing . It was surreal, like a magical place from a movie. Jim went to the bar see if he could pay with his credit card for a drink . No. Ok. To bad he really wanted to. Within A few moments later, a man walked to our table and said" I'm buying you a drink it's on me" It was the same man from the restaurant earlier in the day when we asked for help finding the bank. ( which we never found) So sweet! So as we sat their sipping apple brandy, Jim had to go and visit. I hesitated for a few minutes,but then I couldn't resist either. Before long I was visiting with a very friendly woman named Sylvia who was married to the man I bought the bread from. Her niece was this darling girl who is trying to learn English. We ended up staying for a long visit. By the time we left the whole village of people cheered us. Come to find out they thought jimmy was James blunt.haha.It was such a great night. The young French girl may come stay with us I California hoping to learn English better. And we now have many invitation to stay with people in that village. We probably wouldn't, but it was so cool to make friends with a whole village.

St tropez grimes style....

St tropez grimes style......



Where do I start ? So much I want to say. We had our first look at st tropez yesterday. We drove into the land of the rich and famous not really knowing what to expect, except,well...the rich and famous. Well, let me tell you one thing they know how to pick the primo land. Really, truly, a remarkable landscape. The only way I can think to describe it is, napa valley butted up to the mediteranian sea. The town itself is full of old quaint,buildings of course. They are mostly peach, like in Spain.Somehow though they are much cuter. Many have teal blue shudders on the windows, and bouganvalia, this bright pink flower grows everywhere. Also jasmine and lavender and ivy are growing either in old clay pots or directly up the buildings. Tiny, windy, alleys which I really love cute caffe's , loads of fancy shops. I saw one jewelry shop selling diamond martini glasses, can you imagine that? Some Louis purse shop selling ridiculous ugly purses for thousands of dollars. And ridiculous looking women buying them.
Never have I been somewhere more entertaining to people watch. I am fascinated by the motorcycle riders here.At home it is unusual to see females on their own bikes. Here it is commonplace. Not only do they cruise around, weaving in and out of traffic,completely cool and collected looking, they often have a cigarette hanging out of their mouth, high heels, and sometimes a little dog sporting his own leather bomber. . As for fashion, it's it's another world. All the rich people , or wanna be rich people ,are dressed ,so you know it. The men are all walking around with pink or red pants, rolled up on the bottom, and sweaters wrapped around their shoulders. I don't think ,it's incase they get cold. Even old farts are dressed like they just walked out of a GQ magazine. The women all walk around in spiky heels, skin tanned and leathery. Just fun to watch.
So today we wanted to do a little wine tasting and maybe dinner out. So the great thing about eurocamp is they have a babysitter service. So after doing background checks on our little dutch babysitter, we ditched those turds and headed out for a date. After enjoying the best mojito ever, we set out to find some food. We had skipped lunch and it was to early for dinner, so we found a market and bought some salami, cheese, baguette, a cheap bottle of rose wine. We found ourselves a park bench in the harbor and had the best view in all of st tropez! As we sat there, a brilliant idea was born. I thought, what if, wherever we went that was special, we pulled out a table cloth, some candles some dishes and food and made our own first class dining experience? Here we were sitting , enjoying the same thing that these people in fifty million dollar boats are enjoying, but we spent only 18 euro. Why not get some take out and make a beautiful table wherever we go? For instance, a sandy beach in monaco, a vineyard in Tuscany, a mountain peak in Switzerland ? And why not do the same at home? The best part of any dining experience is the atmosphere. So lay out your tablecloth on whatever you can find, light your candles, crack some wine and enjoy. We liked our idea so much we went and bought a table cloth, some cute melamine espresso cups,and some cheap take out coffee. We headed back to the docks, climbed over a railing and set up the most romantic coffee date ever. As we sat there surrounded by all this extravagance,I took a good look around. What made this place so beautiful was all natural.The water ,the green mountains, the blue skies, even the gray puffy clouds. All of this is free , and natural and wonderful. At that moment I had everything that I ever wanted, drinking coffee with my best friend on a forbidden dock in st tropez.

Languedoc and bike riding along canal built in 1600's

sometimes you get the best things when you least expect them.....




After a grueling bike ride along the beautiful mudi canal we had a unexpected end. First let me say that we took a wrong turn on the way to our destination,which made the ride longer than expected. So on the way home, I tried to to take in my surroundings. this canal was something on my top picks to see,with it's emerald green water, lined with huge trees draped in ivy. The tree trunks,were really pretty. I have never seen trunks like that. They are bluish grey swirled with shades of olive green and very smooth. ( I hate things that are not smooth) I tried really hard to put out of my mind the burning sensation in my rump. So I pumped as hard and as fast as I possibly could.Like I was in a race against Niels Armstrong. I used mental images like my friend back home who coached the mountain bike olympics egging me on. we made it almost all the way home and then jimmie saw a place he had to stop for a beer. it's a restaurant/ horse stable/ beer pub/ very expensive coffee machine. I welcomed the break so we stepped off our bikes and went in. We ordered some fries for the kids to snack on, and I visited the toilet. Pink toilet paper again, but as I sat down I realized the floor was completely covered in ANTS! GROSS! This place is like being In The heart of a cowboy movie, ( except in the middle of France) Jimmie said he loved it ,and it made him think of Bucky, who he is missing. I sat down and began the biggest fly swatting event in my life. Flies everywhere! Their is horses tied up in front of the restaurant , just hanging out, because they live practically inside this place. Jimmie decides to order a burger, Are you kidding me? The germaphobic king wants a burger here in this place? I decide to have. Another beer to renew my fly swatting energy. As our chef and waiter and owner I think, lights the fire for cooking we hear the bug zapper in the kitchen going nuts! Frying bugs left and right. He gets his burger. I've started my second beer so I say " oh what the heck " I take a bite. I can't believe it. it's the most amazing burger I have ever had in my life. The meat is not formed into a patty which makes it more like a sloppy Joe, the cheese melted and gooey and oozing is more like a high quality bri, a few sauteed onions ,amazing bun ( of course all bread here is amazing) I shooed the flies away dove in and ordered my own. The best burger of my life.