Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Midweek Miscellany

2F and 4M are both back in town, having safely returned from their sojourns abroad. 4M braved a blizzard in Ireland (those poor folks just don't have to deal with snow very often, so you can imagine how that went), went to the Louvre and a New Year's Eve rave under the Eiffel Tower in Paris (including a four-hour wait for a taxi to get back to their hostel for the night). They also visited the Colosseum and St. Peter's in Rome (including the Sistine Chapel), and climbed a 1700m (~5500 ft) mountain in Austria.

2F was more of a homebody in Spain, mostly hanging with her friend Martha, although they did visit the Prado. It's nice to have them back home, and we're happy for their rich experiences 'across the pond'. Now they've just got to grind through a couple days of jet-lag (wanting to go to bed at four in the afternoon is so annoying. . .)

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From the Department of Ironic Blogging, Office of Bizarre Coincidences - Last Thursday, 6F was out sledding with a group of teens from our community's youth group. At one point, she was sliding down the hill at great speed, and collided with another girl who was walking back up the hill with her sled. The result of the collision was a shattered front tooth for 6F, which led to some emergency dental work to extract the remnants the following morning, which now has us inexorably on the road to braces and an implant, and whatever else. All of which also makes this previous post the least bit spooky. . .

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Overheard from Jen's mom at the family gathering on Sunday afternoon, after her wedding the previous day: "It's really a lot like riding a bicycle. . ."

12 comments:

  1. Glad they're back safe and sound.
    Good luck with the tooth- but the best part of this post, is "Riding a bicycle"... that's classic!

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  2. They were gone for a long time!

    Oh no! on the tooth thing.

    Are you being serious about the bicycle comment??

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  3. Glad the kids returned safely home and enjoyed themselves. Sorry for the toothy problems.

    You know what the first thought I had when I read the bicycle comment? "If you think it's a lot like riding a bicycle you're doing it wrong." But then I thought, "Eh, to each their own."
    ;-)

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  4. My oldest son got a snowboard for Christmas, and he's been out a couple of times learning his way around on it. I even took him and my youngest out on sleds/snowboards on Monday when they didn't have school, which is a big step for me, because honestly, I fear the potential for dental mishaps far more than I do the chance of broken bones! Glad things are looking better for her now!

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  5. Sailor - Well, I thought it was pretty classic, too. . . ;)

    Cocotte - Would I kid you?

    Jan - Well, I'm pretty sure it was just meant so much as to say, 'once you know how to do it, you don't really forget. . .' (at least, that's how I took it)

    faDKoG - See, to me snowboards => blown-out knees; but heck, 5M has blown out both his knees playing football. . .

    So - busted teeth (*making palms-up 'balancing motion' with hands*), blown knees - life just kicks the snot out of us, one way or another. . .

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  6. Well yeah, that was more a commentary on where my brain (what there is of it) goes when handed a line like that than what she meant.

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  7. sounds like the travelers had some great experiences. so sorry to hear about 6F. and as for your MIL, well i'm glad the tires weren't flat ;)

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  8. Jan - Ah. ;)

    Lime - I was the least bit envious when 4M was showing us the photos from Rome, and mountain-climbing in Austria. . .

    6F is having WAY too much fun popping her 'temporary tooth' in and out for the amusement of her friends. . .

    And I think MIL will be just fine. . . ;)

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  9. Craig,

    It was a pleasure having 4M with us over here. And if those mountains look enticing enough, perhaps you'll think about visiting us in Austria yourself? It's lovely in the Spring...

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  10. John - Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for having Aaron over to your place; it was a wonderfully enriching time for him (I'm sure he doesn't really understand yet just how precious it was, but it'll get clearer for him as he goes along.)

    I'm definitely jealous of his ability to travel like that, and those mountains are certainly enticing (as are the mugs of the Mountain King). If you stay there long enough, we might just have to take you up on your offer. But we aren't quite as free, just yet, to pick up and fly across the pond like your folks (or Lisa's) are.

    (*sigh*)

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  11. Flutter - Just to set the stage, various of her kids (uh, not Jen) had been pestering her to dish on her wedding night, and after deflecting them multiple (possibly dozens of) times, that was all that she would say. . .

    I mean, she was married to Jen's dad for 49 years, and they had ten kids together. . .

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