For a few years now, Ryan has been saying he wanted a champagne sword.  At first I thought he was joking, and then I realized he really thought it would be a good souvenir to take home with us.  I kept avoiding getting that as a gift when birthdays or holidays came around, and finally for Father’s Day this year I decided I would get it for him.  When the timing didn’t work out and I wound up not getting it, our friends came to the rescue.  They had wanted to give Ryan a gift to thank him for the tickets to the race in Le Mans, so when we went to their house for our weekly F1 race watch party they presented him with a champagne sword.  His eyes lit up like a girl receiving an engagement ring!  Needless to say, it was put to the test right away and Ryan successfully opened a bottle of champagne on the first try.

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Y’all.  Every year Makenna’s dance recital happens to be on one of the hottest days of summer.  This year was no exception, being on one of the evenings during the major heat wave where it was 104 degrees….in a gymnasium with no air conditioning.  We seriously considered not taking her, as there were other shows and end-of-year activities that were cancelled due to the heat.  But we toughed it out since it was her last recital in France.  Thankfully I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and I got seats in the very first row which was slightly cooler than the seats at the top.  The recital was so cute, as they danced to a song in French called “what is life?”  We had a great experience with the dance school here and we will surely miss our dance days!

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Since we arrived in France, Ryan has worked at the 24h race in Le Mans every year.  I had wanted to go and experience with him, but with kids that is never easy.  Being that this was his last time before we move back, we decided we would all go…and bring some friends!

We rented an Airbnb with 2 other families not far from the track, and headed up on Friday.  Friday evening there was a parade through the town with the drivers, so we planned on going to that and then eating at a restaurant.  As we were walking to the parade, the guys noticed a nice Porsche car and were admiring it…but as they kept walking and the car pulled in front of a fancy hotel, I glanced over and saw Patrick Dempsey step out!  I should mention that in the months leading up to the race, I kept saying that my mission for the weekend was to find Patrick Dempsey, because he is a co-owner of one of the race teams and is always there.  I couldn’t believe my dream was coming true within hours of the weekend starting!  I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity pass by, so I yelled out his name and when he turned around I asked if I could take a picture with him.  He was really friendly and he looked just as good in person as he did in Grey’s Anatomy!  🙂 After I calmed down from the excitement, we watched the parade and ate a nice Italian meal.  We also had quite a few laughs with our friends after we put the kids to bed and played Cards Against Humanity.

Saturday morning we headed to the track.  We walked around, bought some souvenirs, and got to go onto the track for the “grid walk” before the race where we could see the race cars up close.  The race started and we watched in awe for awhile, and the kids loved it!  Then Ryan took us to see the Michelin tent where they keep all the tires and send new ones down to the track.  We also got to see his office where he works during the race.  While he went to get some work done, the rest of us went to eat dinner at one of the restaurants.  As we were finishing up, Ryan called and said that he had a pass for me and Katie to go to in the Michelin guest lounge next to the track!  It was such an awesome experience, looking straight down outside the window of the lounge and seeing the race and the cars coming in for a pit stop.  Of course, we had to take advantage of a free glass of champagne while in there!  Ryan had to stay at the track that night to work, so the rest of us headed back to the house and put the kids to bed.

On Sunday morning we headed back to the track to watch more of the race before it ended.  After watching the race for awhile, we saw the ending and headed to an area where we were allowed onto the track to see the winning car drive by and the winners receive their trophies.  A professional photographer for the race wound up taking a photo of Reese on Ryan’s shoulders while watching the trophy ceremony and sent us the photo…what a great memory from the weekend and from Ryan’s career here in France!