DaDa's 7 Month Old

I think my favorite part about having a seven month old is this head of hair.  It might not seem like that much to some, but none of my kids have had this much hair at this age.  So of course



I already stuck a bow in it.  She is sitting up in this picture but she can only do it for a second.  She is in that weeble wobble stage.



Brian's favorite part about having a seven month old is that all she says is DaDa.  Everything is dada, which must mean that he is the favorite parent right?  Someone reminded me that I might not want her to start saying mama because I hear MAAMAA all day long from my older two already.  So we will just stick with DaDa from this sweet little face for now.

Blueberry Picking

Last year we tried to pick blueberries and were not that successful.  It started pouring down rain right after we started and maybe our pickers were just a little too young.  The three little ones did more eating than they picked.



What a difference a year makes.  We picked a sunny day (Germany has finally given us some summer days) and



were able to bring home plenty of blueberries for our house.



Maybe next year I can put Payson to work as well.  Or most likely the cycle will start over and she will do more eating than picking.

American Cemetery and Memorial

Back to our Normandy trip... We started our second day heading straight to the American Cemetery.  I do not think I was prepared for how moving visiting this place would be or



for how many questions the girls would have (especially Carolyn).  Brian and I could have spent hours in the visitors center, where they gave so much information on the men who fought and video from family members on why they chose to bury their loved ones here instead of in America.



After the Visitors Center you are lead to a bluff overlooking Omaha beach.  This section of the beach is called "that embattled shore - portal of freedom".



Brian's grandfather served in WWII, but did not arrive until about 2 months after D Day.  Carolyn kept asking if all these people are in Heaven with PaPa.



The Cemetery sits on a cliff above Omaha beach.  If you look closely you can see the water in the background.



9,387 Americans are buried here.



This is a grave stone of a soldier from South Carolina.





After walking around the cemetery we drove down to Omaha Beach.




It was very strange to be standing on a beach that has so much history.  We had just done the WWII museum the day before which gave many visuals of the places where the war happened. Then the Visitor Center which gave a face to the many that lost their lives here.  This was one of our more memorable experiences we have had while living in Europe.  If it had not been for these Americans we probably would not be living here now.

Randomness

This cracks me up.  I found this for sale at our NATO grocery store.  Gone with the Wind ice cream anyone?  I had to buy it.



I think that this must mean that Payson is going to be brilliant.  She can smile and keep her pacifer in at the same time.  She has skills.



We went on a day trip this past weekend to several beer towns in Belgium.  Brian's instructions to me when we were getting ready were "Liz - This is not a photo op.  No matching clothes, no cute clothes.  Just jeans and t shirts."

My silly husband everywhere is a photo op.  Look how beautiful the Scourmont Abbey that brews Chimay is.  Here we all are dressed just the way Brian likes us.

A message from Payson

I may be all smiles now but being a six month old is hard.



I really, Really,



REALLY,



want to get to where my sisters are.



My mom says I am not allowed to be mobile until I am at least 9 months or older.  What is up with that?



I guess I will just have to settle with working out my frustration on the drums for now.

Normandy Region - Un

From Versailles we were about two hours away from the Normandy Region of France.  We woke up early the next morning thinking we would go straight to the D-Day beaches.

Our GPS had other ideas.  We were getting low on gas and two gas stations we stopped at were out of gas and then our GPS led us to two different gas stations that were non existent.  Not only that but when we finally found a gas station, it would only take credit cards (no cash) with a smart chip (I loathe smart chips but I won't go into that).  Living in Europe makes you appreciate simple things like pay at the pump gas stations that work.

It all worked out in the end though because we ended up in the cute town of Caen. (where we finally found gas with zero miles left in our tank.)



After going around in circles and visions of getting stranded on the side of the road, we decided that we should stop in Caen and walk around.



We had a great lunch of croque monsieurs and then



we headed over to the Caen Memorial Museum.  It offered free childcare and all veterans got in free so we had to at least check it out.  So glad we did!  Brian and I were able to  brush up on our WWII history, while Carolyn and Sidney played.



From here we drove to where we were originally headed that morning, the town of Arromanches,



where we got a great view of the Port Winston Artificial Harbor. Here is a close up of the Mulberries (football-field-size cement blocks) that created the harbor.  This makeshift Harbor was created on June 7, 1944 and within 6 days of operation 54,000 vehicles, 326,000 troops, 110,000 tons of goods had crossed the English channel.



We decided to call it a day after seeing this and find a place to eat when we happened upon Port-En-Bessin.

(Check out that sweet ride to the far right of this picture.  I don't think that I ever mentioned on here, but shortly after Payson was born we realized that we were going to have to have a bigger car.  With our options being limited over here we had to upgrade to the mini.  I thought I would loathe driving a minivan, but it makes my life so much easier that I have gotten over it.  I am all for anything that makes my life easier these days.  And it made this road trip so much more enjoyable.  Anyway there she is.)



Port Bessin turned out to be a beautiful stop!  The water was so pretty and it wasn't that crowded with tourist.



The French eat late and we had an hour to kill before they would serve food, so we enjoyed a drink while Sidney got to watch a little Max and Ruby (thank goodness for our Ipad).



Carolyn spent the hour looking for fish and making a new friend.  I swear she makes a new friend wherever we go.



Finally though, it was worth the wait and I got my mussels and Brian got the fruits de mer platter.  Throw in some local cider and you have one of our best meals!

Versailles

To break up our drive to Normandy, France we decided to stop in Versailles for the evening.



Although I knew that we were visiting it in the summer, and I had read that the day we were visiting was one of the busiest days, I don't think I was fully prepared for the mass of humanity that was there that day.



We decided to skip the line for the Chateau and walk the grounds instead.



Classical Music is played throughout the Gardens.  It was beautiful...







You would think that my children would be checking out this gorgeous fountain..



but really they were fascinated by the fish and ducks in the pond.  It always amazes me that the things they get most excited about are animals and



of course flowers.... things they could find anywhere.  They could care less about the old beautiful buildings around them.  Hopefully one day they will appreciate where there momma and daddy have taken them.



On a side note, in less than a month my baby will start Kindergarten. You would think that I would be jumping for joy to have one less little one at home, but I really am having a hard time. I can't believe she is growing up so fast.



She is so excited though..."counting down the days" excited.  I love that I am getting photo bombed by my five year old in this picture.



After walking around the grounds, we walked back to the Chateau hoping the masses of humanity had decided to go home.  This picture does not do justice to the line to get inside.  To the right are all the people who are lined up...it was crazy.



Needless to say, we did not go inside.  Brian's solution for me not getting to go in was "Honey, I will take you to the Biltmore House."  My solution: I think I need a girl's trip to Paris before we leave here (And I don't mean "girl's trip" as in me and my daughters...I mean an adult girl's trip just to clarify in case my husband is reading this).