This slideshow requires JavaScript.

March was pretty busy with Ryan traveling a lot, but in between those trips we kept busy.  My friend Katie invited us over for a Mexican dinner and while us adults enjoyed good conversation over sangria, Makenna and Reese had a blast with Parker playing on his slide and ball pit.  We had a great meal, delicious dessert, and wonderful evening!

Ryan’s friend Dan that works for Michelin in the US was here for work, so he came over on a Friday for dinner.  It was so great to see him as we used to get together with him and his wife Amy back home, and they were one of the first friends to give us baby advice when I was pregnant with Makenna!  After catching up over dinner, Dan was so kind to give the kids, and me, gifts!  Makenna received a My Little Pony which she loved and Reese received a dump truck toy that he played with for the rest of the night….and I was surprised with some funfetti cake mix and cake icing.  Makenna drew a picture for Dan’s son Ben and even wrote both of their names on the picture.  The next day I went with some friends to Lyon but Ryan took Dan to Chateau du Murol and then they all had lunch and dinner together.

Another one of Ryan’s friends from the US, Jeff, was here for work the week after.  We were good friends with him and his wife Danielle back in Greenville, and Danielle flew here to meet Jeff at the end of the week so they could go on vacation in the south of France.  While Jeff was still at work on Friday, I picked Danielle up from the airport and we went out to lunch.  We decided to try a restaurant I had been to once for dinner, and it was now a new restaurant at that location.  The woman who owned it spoke perfect English as she used to be an English teacher, so she was so happy to speak to us.  We had a great meal and enjoyed catching up after not seeing each other for over 3 years.  While I had to take Reese to the pediatrician in the afternoon, she went to relax at her hotel and we met up with her and Jeff later that night for dinner (my friend Katie was so kind to watch the kids for us and Makenna was so happy to have her over!)  We went to L’Instantané, a restaurant I went to for lunch with a friend before, and I really enjoyed it so I wanted to try their dinner menu.  It is a restaurant with only about 8 tables, but I was really impressed that it was just the waitress and chef working without any other help.  This waitress also spoke perfect English (how did we find 2 English speaking servers in one day?!) and she was really funny and friendly (also not very common here) so that made the meal even more enjoyable.  The food was great, especially the appetizer of pear and blue cheese creme brulee.  It was great chatting with old friends like it was just yesterday that we had lived 10 minutes away from each other instead of 10 hours!  After dinner we went to an Irish bar near the cathedral for a drink and I ended the night anxious to move back where we can see our friends a lot more often.

Makenna also had a few fun events of her own.  She spent one morning at school going on a class trip to a museum in town.  I decided not to volunteer to go on this trip since the last time I went on a class trip she was really upset when I had to leave.  She was still upset and cried when I dropped her off at school, but she enjoyed the visit to the museum and I got to see her class walking back to school when I walked into town to go to the post office.  I just love that all of these things are within walking distance….I’m sure Makenna won’t be walking anywhere for a field trip in the US, and I wouldn’t be walking anywhere where I could see her!

She was also invited to her first french birthday party for her classmate Louise.  The invitation was all handwritten and it didn’t say to RSVP so I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to call to say if Makenna was coming.  I was also nervous to call since I still don’t feel like my French is that great and it’s harder to talk over the phone than in person.  Finally I had Ryan call, but not until the morning of the party…oops!  I also wasn’t sure if we should bring a gift since the invitation said it was for an afternoon snack and I didn’t know if it was a traditional party, and I didn’t know if parents were expected to stay or leave.  Reese was sick the day of the party, so Ryan took Makenna to the party and she brought a gift.  All of the parents left, so Ryan came home and went back 2 hours later to pick her up.  She had a great time and she said they played games and she came home with a keychain that she made and a goodie bag of candy.

March had some great moments, but I am ready for April and hopefully warmer weather!

So, sometimes clothes shopping in Europe can be difficult.  Either the fit is wrong, the style is not what we’re used to, the quality isn’t good, or we just miss the stores from back home.  Me and my friends Emily and Katie decided we wanted to go to the mall in Lyon where there was a Gap so we could find some clothes that we liked and that fit well.  We made a day trip out of it and left our husbands to handle the kids.  Ryan’s friend Dan from the US was in town so they decided to go visit a local chateau along with Katie’s husband John and their son Parker.

Shortly after arriving, and of course a stop at Starbucks, we sadly found out that the Gap is closed until summer for renovations!  We were really disappointed but decided to wash away our sorrows with drinks and lunch.  We spent the whole day at the mall and each found a few things so the trip wasn’t a complete fail.  After seeing there was a Steak N’ Shake in the mall, an American milkshake helped us power through the grueling hours of walking in and out of stores.

For dinner we decided to check out Les Halles and after browsing the indoor market we decided on a little wine/apero shop.

It was a great day with friends and a nice break from parenting!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This year we decided to keep Makenna’s birthday low key and not have a party.  We still wanted to make it special so we started the day with a pancake breakfast followed by a trip to the hair salon.  She had her ends trimmed and then the stylist did a french braid.  Makenna had dance class after that and she was excited to show off her hair style!

In the afternoon we had a couple American friends come over for birthday cake.  Makenna’s brasserie owner friend, Didier, has the same birthday so we made him a mini cake and brought it to him.  He had a gift waiting for Makenna (a unicorn money bank) and she gave him a birthday card with a picture of a stick figure that she drew.  Didier invited us to stay for a beer and us, along with the 4 other people there, sang “joyeux anniversaire” to both of them and Makenna ended it by blowing a party whistle.

When we got home, our Brazilian neighbors surprised Makenna by showing up at the door with a birthday cake and candles and they sang to her.  She was one lucky birthday girl to have 2 birthday cakes!

Makenna has grown up so much lately and even looks a lot older, I can’t believe it.  I am so proud of how mature, smart, sweet, outgoing, social, and helpful she is.  It’s been an amazing 4 years with this beauty in our lives and I’m so proud to call her mine!

Makenna with Milo on the right and his brother behind them

Makenna and a little boy in her class, Milo, have really taken to each other and it is the cutest thing!  Milo’s mom told me he asks her every morning if Makenna is going to be at school, and if he sees us walking to school he gets so excited.  The teacher said they are always together at school, too.  Milo’s mom invited Makenna over for a play date on Wednesday afternoon and it was another experience that will be a great memory of our time here!

Milo’s mom works for the gendarmerie, which is kind of like the French military.  There is an office just down the street from where we live, and there are apartments attached to it that is housing for the employees.  We had to go through a secured gate to get in and Makenna was in awe seeing some officers walking around.

I wasn’t sure if I was expected to stay or to leave and come back to pick Makenna up, but Milo’s mom had me and Reese stay which was really nice.  Her daughter had made chocolate cakes for us, and we had a cup of tea while chatting.  I also brought over some Goldfish crackers for her kids to try since they don’t sell them here, and they loved them.  We had a nice time, and when we were leaving a couple officers were pulling into the parking lot on motorcycles.  One of them let Makenna sit on the motorcycle, but unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of that!

Le Festival du Court Métrage is the largest international short film festival and it’s held here in Clermont Ferrand.  Each year I have wanted to go, but for one reason or another we never have.  This year, Makenna’s class was taking a trip there to see a series of films made for her age group and I volunteered to go with them.

Myself and 3 other parents helped the teacher and teacher’s assistant walk the class (of 27 children) to the venue which was about a 15 minute walk from school.  It was the day after it snowed and I was worried it would be icy and we couldn’t go, but thankfully the snow had turned to slush.  I was responsible for Makenna, her “boyfriend” Milo, a little boy named Arthur and a little girl named Léana.  The walk there went well and we were seated in the first 2 center rows in the theater, perfect!  We saw 7 short films which lasted about 40 minutes.  Some of them were funny, some were cute, and a couple were a little bizarre.  I’m pretty sure the last one- a film about a pirate that battles fish and sharks, then takes off his shirt and passes out after drinking rum, then comes across a large-breasted mermaid and kisses her- would not have been shown to 3 year olds in the US.

The walk back, however, was not as easy.  When the films ended and we were preparing to leave, Makenna had started crying saying that she didn’t want me to leave.  Then as we left the building it was snowing so I told her to put her hood on.  She refused to do that and she refused to hold Milo’s hand.  The teacher finally had to come over and tell her she needed to listen to me.  She cried the entire walk back to school, and while we were crossing a street the other little boy Arthur tripped while stepping up onto a curb and fell in a puddle.  His pants were soaked, Makenna was having a fit I let go of her hand to help him, and I had to try and comfort him in my broken French.  When we got to the school I was ready to run out of there!

Besides the meltdown on the walk back, it was a great experience and I was so happy I was able to attend the festival with Makenna.

Just as I was beginning to think we were having a mild winter, with many days having an average temperature in the high 40’s, low 50’s, the snow hit us again.  Makenna was so excited and said “C’est Noël!” (it’s Christmas!), and I had to explain that unfortunately snow doesn’t mean it’s Christmas and that it’s just cold.  Thankfully I didn’t have to drive… but walking on sidewalks with a small travel stroller especially when there are dips everywhere for driveways, with snow blowing in my face, was not easy either.  It looks like the cold is going to stay for a few weeks so I hope March will be bringing warmer weather!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

January seemed to fly by for us.  When Makenna’s cafe owner friend, Didier, returned from his Christmas break he had a Christmas gift for Makenna and Reese.  It was a cash register which was the perfect gift to go along with the market stand we got the kids.  It even has a scale for fruits and veggies like the supermarkets have here, and a credit card machine.  Makenna received 2 cookbooks for Christmas so she also put those to use and chose a few recipes to try, starting with almond brownies.

Makenna also had dinner at our Brazilian neighbor’s house a few times.  She just loves them and it is so cute seeing her with her friend Elis.  I love how she gets to try traditional Brazilian dishes too!

I was able to enjoy a dinner out with some friends for my friend Emily’s birthday.  We went to a mexican restaurant which is one of our favorite places to go for ladies nights out, it is so good!  It’s a very small restaurant and the owner has 2 seatings at 7pm and 9pm.  It’s usually busy, so if you have a reservation at 7 and are taking a long time to catch up on the gossip, he may kick you out at 9!

Ryan had to go to Daytona for a week to work at a 24 hour race.  I was thankful that over the weekend my friend Katie, her husband John and son Parker got together with us to go to Royal Kids, an indoor playground.  The kids had a great time and I was so thankful that John was able to help me manage 2 kids in that crazy place.  Reese and Parker, who is only a month older than Reese, had fun playing together in the baby area while Makenna ran around the bigger area.  The next day we went to Katie’s for a delicious brunch.  It was a great way to spend the weekend!

While sometimes the day to day activities don’t seem that interesting or fun, they are often the times we look back at with fond memories and I know these will be some of the times we will remember when thinking about our time in France.

On January 6th, the Epiphany, it is French tradition to eat “La Galette de Rois” or what we would call a King Cake.  But really, you can find these at the local bakery or grocery store throughout the month and it’s not uncommon to feast on just one of these tarts.  You can also find different flavors; while the original is frangipane there are flavors such as chocolate and pear, raspberry and pistachio, pear and caramel etc.

There’s more to this tradition than just eating the cake:

• First, the youngest child (if there is one in the group) has to hide under the table and tell whoever is cutting the cake who should get which piece.
• The person who finds the charm, known as a “fève”, in their slice gets to wear the crown that comes with the tart and then names their king or their queen.
• The tart is normally enjoyed with either cider or champagne.

Some people will hunt down galettes from particular bakeries just to get a certain type of fève (ahem, I have done this after we were highly disappointed with the one we got in a galette we bought from the grocery store), and some people collect them year after year.  You can find them on the French version of Craigslist, and at the flea markets.

Makenna found the fève in our first galette, which was something from Aquaman but since we’ve never seen the movie we had no idea what it was.  So I bought another galette from a chocolate and macaron shop that had a really cute little fox fève.  And ironically I was the one to find the fève that time!

I’m pretty sure we have saved our fèves from previous years, and I think we’ll have to buy several galettes next year since it will be our last!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

December was somewhat uneventful for us as one or more of us was sick the entire month!  After looking back through the kids health books, they both have been back and forth to the doctor since Halloween, mostly with ear infections.  They also had a gastro, twice.  Ryan and I caught it the first time but thankfully were spared the second time, although the kids both had it for a week!

We did a few Christmasy things in between when the kids were feeling ok.  We had their photo taken with Santa, and Makenna mailed a letter to Santa which was followed by receiving a letter from him a couple weeks later.  We also took the kids on the ferris wheel and Makenna and I rode the caterpillar roller coaster that was in town.  Ryan took quite a bit of vacation time throughout the month as he had a lot of days to use up, so one morning after dropping the kids off at school/the nounou we went to the Christmas market and had some mulled wine, then did some Christmas shopping.

Makenna’s dance class had a day where the parents could observe the children dancing and then Santa came to hand out presents.  It was great until Makenna opened her gift and was upset it was a barbie doll and not the piano she asked Santa for!

It was quite a month and Ryan and I were both tired and stressed with all of the sickness going around our house.  Even Bailey was acting really odd and sick and we thought we were going to have to put him down, but whatever it was improved.  I was so glad that Ryan was home to help me with it all!

Thankfully by Christmas day we were almost on the mend and the kids were able to enjoy opening their gifts.  Makenna was happy to receive her piano and Reese went crazy for a toy vacuum that I had originally bought for Makenna because it was on her wish list.

A few days after Christmas, Reese and I headed back to the pediatrician because he was still sick.  It had just started to snow as we left the apartment, and by the time we left the doctor’s office the parking lot and roads were covered in snow!  I was slightly worried because I’m not used to driving in snow and the entire trip back home is downhill.  Once I got about half way home I noticed the car was starting to slide and there were other cars sliding too.  There was quite a bit of traffic and I was scared to slide into another car especially with Reese in the car, so I looked for a place to pull over but there was nothing nearby.  I pulled onto the sidewalk and noticed another person did the same behind me.  After sitting there for about a half our watching other cars pull off the road (even a bus!) I decided I had to get us home somehow since it was time for dinner.  There was still traffic and the cars were going really slow but I decided to pull back on to the road and find the closest parking lot or driveway.  Thankfully not too far away I saw a driveway and pulled into it.  With my broken French, I knocked on the door of the house and asked the old woman who lived there if I could leave my car in her driveway until the next morning.  She was so kind and even offered for me to stay there for a little while until the weather was better.  I wanted to get home, so I put Reese in his stroller and walked the roughly 20 minutes it took to get back to the apartment.  Reese and I weren’t prepared to be out in the cold, snow and wind and he was wailing the entire time and I had a hard time pushing the stroller on slippery sidewalks against the wind but we made it!  That will probably be one of the days I don’t forget about our experience here.

By New Year’s Eve we were all healthy and were very much looking to start a new year!

And just like that, we have reached our 3 year “France-iversary”!  When we moved here we thought we’d be here exactly 3 years and that we’d be going home this December.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to stay here longer, so this will not be my last reflections post.

When we had to make the choice of staying longer, there were so many thoughts that ran through my head.  Some might think it would be crazy not to stay, and some might think there’s no way they would be able to live in another country for so long.  Well for us, we absolutely love France.  We have really enjoyed our time here and there are many things we prefer about life here vs. life in the US.  As I’ve mentioned in my previous yearly reflections, we love the food, the travel, the amount of vacation time, experiencing another culture, the healthcare, the less-materialistic lifestyle, being able to walk everywhere (especially on days like today when it is snowing and we don’t have to worry about being able to drive to the grocery store!).  We enjoy walking past the same stores and cafes every day and saying hello to the shop owners, patrons and neighbors that we see sometimes several times a day.  I could go on and on but I’ve already talked about this in previous posts.

So why wouldn’t we want to stay??   Family.  Missing family back home, feeling sad and guilty that our family isn’t getting to spend time with our children and spending holidays and birthdays alone.  It’s also hard having 2 young children and not having family around to help.  When we are sick or tired, when our kids are sick or tired, when we just really need a break we can’t call family to come over or to take the kids for a little while.  Another thing that I sometimes worry about is the effect this may have on my career, with me being out of work for 4-5 years.  However, while I may be out of work I have to hope that the experience of living abroad and learning about another culture and (somewhat) speaking another language will be an asset in my career when we return.  But in the meantime I am so thankful to spend this time at home raising my 2 kids.  And lastly, while being an expat is a wonderful and fun experience most of the time, sometimes we miss normalcy.  Normal daily life in our own country, in our own language, closer to our friends and family and with everything that is familiar to us.

In the end, we chose to take advantage of staying here as long as possible.  We will try and soak up as much of this French life as we can.  Of course when it comes time to move back to the US we will so be looking forward to reuniting with friends and family and looking for a new home to settle into with our children.  If only we could spend half of our time in France and half of our time in the US! 😉