Thanks for the link! I want to do a longer tour of France with the kids in a couple more years when my husband can join us, so we will definitely go back to Normandy. If not for the beaches, for the Bayeux tapestry.

I have a friend who suggests biking along the Canal du Midi every year, and one of these years, I will take him up on it. He doesn't have kids, so does not understand my life and why I cannot flit off to France when he gets a whim. Lol. I have a friend who lives in Freiburg. Her parents live in Horben up in the hills of the Black Forest. It's gorgeous. I had the privilege of staying with them a few times. I spent the New Year holiday in Frieburg one year and had a blast. My other German friends live in Eggingen, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere between Freiburg and Zurich. I'm not sure if I'll stop in Freiburg, or if my Freiburg friend will come down to Eggingen to hang out with all of us. I haven't been to Nancy. That is a possibility. I want to take another trip, just to France, in a few years, when my husband can go, too. I want to show them all the Loire Valley, and Normandy, among other things.

I have been to Belgium a couple of times, but not Luxembourg. I actually have a friend who lives in Luxembourg, too. I could stop in a say hello. That is another excellent idea. Thanks!

Oh no! I never even thought about Belgium! I love Belgium! I've been to Bruges, Brussels, and Liège. I wonder what dh would think about the boys and me being gone even longer. ðŸ˜

We just decided it this afternoon, aaplank!

Hmm. I like being married okay to my particular husband, but I never really wanted to get married. I enjoyed living on my own. I was almost 33 when I got married, and I had a nice life. I've had to compromise on things I wouldn't have had to had I not married, such as where to live. If for some reason we were no longer married, I would almost definitely not get married again. So, even though he does things that drive me freaking nuts every once in a while, I love my husband, and I don't hate living with him, but marriage overall is something I could leave behind.

I have not been to Chartres, either. Maybe we'll do a "cathedral tour". I like it.

I have always wanted to see that. Good idea!

I really didn't even need to open this thread to know what it was going to say. Sigh. It's a constant battle.

I've embarrassed my family by speaking parseltongue to the snakes at the nature center.

We took our son to a highly recommended child psychologist who specialized in autism spectrum disorder. She spent a couple hours with us in her office, then had dh and I come back separately to discuss her findings. He was then evaluated by physical and occupational therapists, and recommendations were made to us for things that would help him get along better. He now sees a talk therapist every other week and goes to social skills group on the opposite weeks. The social skills group does seem to be helping. He is now able to evaluate some of his own behaviors- usually after the fact, but at least he can recognize them now. I also recommend reading The Out of Sync Child. That book actually helped me understand my husband better as well as my child.

This thread makes me happy.

I studied in France as an undergraduate, and then again as a graduate student, so I've been to many parts of France. I will be taking the kids through France next summer. We will be taking the Chunnel train from London to Paris, and then I need to get to my friends' house in Germany, near the Swiss border (Zurich area). This will be the kids' first trip to France, so we will spend a few days in Paris, and then I'd like to spend a few days somewhere else in France that I've never seen before heading to Germany. So, here are the places I've visited: Paris- many times, seen a LOT Tours and the Loire River Valley, including Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise, Chinon, Saumur, Villandry, among other places in the region Strasbourg and Colmar and other small towns in between Clermont Ferrand and the Puy de Dome Annecy and the surrounding area Bordeaux Nice, Marseille, and many, many locations along the Côte d'Azur, including Cannes and St. Tropez Many Places in Provence, including Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Èze, Grasse, St. Paul de Vence. I visited la Camargue and the Pont du Gard also. My aunt and I took a week long road trip around the coast of Brittany and Normandy, stopping in Brest, Bayeux, the beaches, Mont St. Michel, among other things. So, if you know France or have been somewhere in France I haven't mentioned, I'm hoping for suggestions of where to go and what to see. I'm thinking 2-3 days. Thanks!

I voted other, because I usually tip, but it has nothing to do with the cost of the room. I tip UNLESS the service has been bad.

Most of the teen girls I know have their ears pierced, some in multiple places. Several of them also have lips and noses pierced.

Ooo, I've always wanted to take some extended road trips/history lessons. I'd definitely prepare them a little for the places you know you will see. My boys have retained many more memories from places they've learned about in advance. But, if you don't do that, I think bringing along some living books, and maybe some journals/coloring pages for them to do while you're traveling would be a great idea.

My preteens feel the need to argue with me about every single thing until I shut it down. So, grunting, shrugging, and saying "whatever" would be a welcome reprieve for me. :tongue_smilie:

Not creepy or tacky. Lovely. I hope this helps Pal.

:lurk5: We have these same issues. I think what zoobie said might be the case for us.

While I'd LOVE to say that it's kale cut out in bunny shapes, it's actually peanut butter eggs.

That looks really cool. My kids want one.

I like Signing Savvy, too. I have the app on my phone. We take lessons from a hearing person that learned to communicate with her deaf cousin, but I've learned a lot from the app. They have a word of the day, but they also explain how it would be used in a sentence.

It seems like every school district is different around here, but ours is 6-8 for middle school. The next town over has a middle school for 5 & 6 and a junior high for 7 & 8.

Whatever you do, aaplank, DO NOT let your son tell his cousins about Clash of Clans. Or, better yet, DO let him tell them, and then you can host a cousins' Clash of Clans summer camp at your house! :lol:

What she said!