Fami Parc

Maddie is on vacation for 2 weeks, starting Easter Monday, a public holiday in France. The weather has turned pleasantly warm and sunny, so the whole family was outside on the day off, working in the yard - pulling out overgrown bamboo, digging a garden area, or discovering Easter Potatoes (cousins of the Easter Egg).

Yesterday, we went to a Base de Loisirs, where we had a picnic lunch and then the kids ran around a playground and then sat at a beach. They got down to their underwear and a shirt - which seemed odd to me, having spent most of the last 4 months in conservative places where people were much more covered. In Cambodia, they rented out shirts and shorts for people to wear into a lake, and in India, when I did see someone at the beach, they were fully clothed (unlike the white foreigner in the barest of forms).

Today we went south to Nonville, to Fami Parc. This is a pretty nice family amusement park with lots of rides for little ones. So even Charlotte, at 3 years, could go on a bunch of things. The girls did an apple tunnel ride first, before enjoying another picnic lunch on the large green. Then they did tea-cups, the inflatable jumping area, and the merry-go-round. Maddie did the trampoline, and Charlotte watched the kid bowling next to the geese. They both tried the rolling barrel, a bunch of family swings, and then we all took a ride around the park in a small train. Maddie did the water log with Mom once, and then again with me and Wubby. She loved getting wet, but Charlotte didn't have as much appreciation.

While the girls were in line for a fake-horse thing, I watched Hugh crawl for the first time. He really wanted to touch some boys' shoes that had to be taken off before going in the inflatable jumping area. When we brought him home, he did some more crawling on the carpet, reaching for some toys. He's still slow at it, and doesn't go very far (I only give him short goals), but I'm calling it official. He can crawl (at 9 months and 10 days).