Lyon Trip - 1st 2 Days

Dan and I are finally on our trip to Lyon!!!

We are so excited to have this time together, visit my siblings, and be in France!!!

Part of it may be jet lag, but it doesn't quite all seem real yet. I feel as if I am floating through a different dimension and am not really me and this isn't really happening :)

But we are having a good time and the time is already flying by.....

Speaking of flying...

Below is a picture of a Boeing 747-400. We flew on a plane this size from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany. Then we flew a smaller, Lufhanza flight into Lyon.

Here is a shot of the Lyonnaise countryside shortly before landing.

One thing I noticed is that Europe (or at least Germany and France) landscape is much different from the States country landscape viewed from the air. In America, the farmland looks like a pathwork quilt. And you have a huge city, with not a whole lot in between cities. In Europe, the farmland looks more hap-hazard (not in a bad way - just not in squares) and there are more smaller villages with trees in between. Spaced more like a checkers board where red squares are roof tops and black squares are forrest. (America is like a patchwork quilt with a platter in the middle)

We finally made it all the way to Trey and Kari's. It was around 4:15pm Monday.

Here we are - arriving at the Mussers - the place Trey and Kari are housesitting for the summer.

Isn't it a nice home?

Tuesday, September 9

From the house we walked across the Saone River to catch a bus to the Metro station in Lyon. Then we took a Metro to catch another bus to Oullins. (oo-lah) This is the neighborhood that Trey and Kari's apartment is in. Trey and Kari had some errands to run - Market for fruit, post office, Monoprix for tea, coffee, and creamer. Then we picked up a pastry at their local pastry shop. Sorry Kevin, there were no almond croissaints ;(

Dan and I picked up pan au chocolat - which is light pastry with chocolate filling. Very Tasty :)

The Pastry shop.

(Yellowishp shop with reddish awnings - sorry not a closer view - I'm not takin gtime to edit photos while on my vacation!) ;)

Enjoying our pan au chocolat at teh apartment

Britt plans on having lots of pastries while in France. So what's the plan for Britt to be able to stil fit in her jeans on the trip back????

Walking ... at her brother's pace... uphill both ways.... for at least 2 hours :)

Here we are on the way to see the Roman Aquaduct ruins.

Trey and Kari are big fruit eaters, and berries and grapes seem to be everywhere.

We stopped alot for a fruit fix.

Here Dan shows off his bounty :)

Someone has to help save the dilapidating structures...

This evening Kari fixed us a wonderful Senegalise dish called Yassa.

I took a picture, but haven't downloaded it yet... and I am on vacation.

So now that Kari is done checking work emails and I have posted pics of the day, I'm planning on joining Dan on the couch to read magazines and possible engage in some grownup social conversations with Trey and Kari.

au revoir!

June 08 - Lyle & Sherry Visit - Around the House

Well. I finally got the pictures posted of Lyle and Sherry's trip. It took a long time to whittle them down to only 5 postings of blog-worthiness :)

They were visiting from June 27th through July 7th.

This first posting will focus on "around the house" misc. pics.

Here's a pic of our guests. Too bad they have to "act" like they love each other!

What's a visit from Grandparents without book time?
Lyle and his mini-me

OK. There is a story behind this photo. Note that in the pic above, Grandpa had just got done reading Kaylin a "Froggy" book.

Well, Kaylin was fascinated by Grandpa's gold tooth (or cap?...). She was prying open his mouth, peering in intently, and asking him questions about it.

Suddenly she exclaims: "It smells like fly breath!"

Grandpa was a good sport and just chuckled as he proclaimed that he hadn't brushed his teeth after breakfast yet! :)

Ethan taught Gpa and Gma how to play Settlers. And I am not kidding. He really did :)

Gpa passing on his packing abilities to Krystin by playing "Jam Pack Jam"

Never too old to color

Tinkering with Tinker Toys

The kids spent a lot of time in our pool.

( See? Our back patio is coming along....)

And most of the time Grandma was right in there with them - or close by.



Grandpa trying to give Ethan a horsie ride. But the girls thought they could climb up too (Gpa's poor calves hurt later)
They finally got a ride after waiting for their turn
Do you notice Ethan kiss-peetting-pulling Krystin's hair? He does that alot. And that is her usual expression when he does.
Playing Snake-Toss
Cudlde time with Grandma

Watching the pool fill up

Grandma's little Butter-Bug
It was hard to capture a decent picture of this Gma-Kaylin moment. Kaylin is always on the move!

These next pictures were NOT taken around the house.
In fact, are these 2 aliens???

No, Silly. They are just Sherry and Britt wearing their 3-D glasses.
One night the 4 adults went blacklight mini-golfing.
There were really cool fiberglass (?) sculptures and 3-D paintings of Jungle, Ocean, and Dinosaur themes. Afterwards we went out to eat at Jakers.

Thanks again, Lyle and Sherry for the visit. It was a great time as always.

(Even though Sherry and I could not break our overall Pepper losing streak!!!)

June 08 - Lyle & Sherry Visit - BEACH DAY !!!

It isn't a summer visit from Grandpa and Grandma without a trip to the beach!

Here we are eating our picnic lunch.

I had to throw in this picture for 2 reasons. 1) I am not in very many of them as I am the primary picture-taker. 2) To show that I have finally gotten a new swimsuit! I believe I had the same one for 6 or 7 years! AND - you will notice in the Water Park pictures later on that I am wearing a RED swimsuit. That is right. I bought TWO swimsuits this year. Crazy me ;)

Watering cans were a big hit.

Krystin liked to use hers to get Grandma. Grandma had to institute a "legs only" rule :)

I don't know how many times Krystin did this - but she almost always would then ask Gma "Is it code?"

I love Ethan's facial expression here. Pure Joy.
And what would a trip to the beach be without playing in the sand?

Ethan bringing water in to the site.

I think Kaylin played the longest in the sand. But then again, she is least bothered by sandy hands/bottom syndrome.

See what I mean? Krystin got the "anti-anything-non-skin-on-my-hands" syndrome. Just like Gpa and Ethan :)
If you enlarge this picture you can see Gpa enjoying the SHADED, NON-sandy area. Something about the way Kaylin and Ethan are running with pure, childish joy to the beach gets me in this picture.
Kaylin was quite the little Gma's buddy.

Kaylin wanted to be so brave and go all the way out to the fountain (like Dad had done earlier). But she needed Gma to help her :) (Note the vice-grip around Gma's neck)
Parents vs. Kids
We got in a water fight. Here you see Ethan getting me.

Dad extracting revenge on Kaylin
Krystin covering for her big sibs.
I managed to capture this cute pic of Ethan as he was hugging me.

Notice he is getting fairly "gummy". I wonder how long until my little boy loses his first tooth. I will be kinda sad when he does :(

We went for an ice cream treat at a nearby McD's afterwardGpa's and Gma's need treats, too!
Of course Mom and Dad needed something!