Vacation and all that jazz

So it’s been rather a while since I’ve posted, but I can’t actually apologize for that. First, because I said I wasn’t going to any more, and second, because I’m not actually sorry.

This is because I’ve only had internet access for half the days out of the past two weeks and during the days I did have internet access, I was studying for the GMAT. La vie! But the GMAT is done now and my internet access is back, so voilà, an update!

The reason I have been sans internet is, well, ok, there are two reasons. Actually, after I took the GMAT Friday the internet was down at the house, but the week before I was on vacation with the family and thus, no internet. And since the last week has been pretty GMAT-centric, and therefore both boring and arduous, I’m going to go back a couple weeks and talk about vacation instead. The second reason is that once I got back from vacation it was super sketchy (and is still kind of so) and it kept (keeps) being on for an hour or two and lulling me into a false sense of security and then traitorously disappearing.

Anyway, vacation. The dad had to work, but the mom and the three kids and I went to Île de Ré, an island of the western coast of France where the maternal grandparents have a house. It was lovely – the house, the island, the extended family, all of it. The mom's older brothers were there, the married one accompanied by his wife and three sons (the youngest is 14 mo).

Mind, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Two of the cousins are twin 5 year-old boys. You may remember that the youngest of my kids is also a 5 year-old boy. Good kids, all, but let me tell you, 3 x (five year old boy) does NOT equal 3 children. The increase in energy and noise levels with each additional boy is kind of exponential … it’s like dealing with 9 normal children.

Here are some other, equally scientific facts that I learned from the boys:

1. The amount of sand contained in one pocket after an hour at the beach = 2 x (volume of said pocket)

2. The amount of sand contained in the shoes of three boys after an hour at the beach does not have an equation because it defies expectation, logic, the laws of mathematics, the laws of physics and possibly the law of gravity.

3. It is only possible for you, the babysitter, to be in one place at a time. When you are with 6 kids, however, it is possible for them, collectively, to be in 15 different places at any given moment, at least 4 of which involve some activity they are not allowed to do.

Looking back at what I’ve already written, I’m afraid I’m making it sound like I spent the entire week running around desperately, frazzled and at my wit’s end as the children apparated around the island. This was not the case. Mostly it was a great week, and it was nice to be away from the routine of normal life - and what a place to be for that! The island is beautiful, after all. Evidence below.

The houses are almost all like this – white, with the green doors and shutters. We were in one town and I got to visit two more, which is where the pictures of the harbors come from. Picturesque, non? And I tried all kinds of seafood: oysters (not a fan, I have say), mussels, shrimp, prawns and goodness knows what else. And while I didn’t love everything, I’m glad I had the chance to try it all.

So yes, I did spend a week with a fair number of children. But hey, I have cousins so that wasn't really anything new. And I did have the chance to explore a really lovely part of France that has a very distinctive culture and ... decor? style? Not sure what the correct word would be there. Regardless, it was very relaxing and I think I'll be going back at Easter!