Road Trip.....

We just returned from our first international road trip! And what a trip it was. The girls did wonderfully...for the most part. We set off for France by way of Germany and Austria...or maybe that was Austria and Germany, it's hard to say. We rented a Renault Bubble (diesel) and away we went.


This is how the team went. Nanny was in the navigational position, My Man was the driver and I was in the back between the "yutes." Sadly, The Fonz was not permitted at the resort in Germany, so he stayed with a nearby friend.

For those of you who may have chuckled at Nanny's position- I am telling you Aunt Na has taught her well. She did great. There was one scary moment when we were in the mountains, driving straight up a little tiny road- of course there were no guardrails, and then the road became more of a path. H said, "Nanny, we have to be careful, I think we are going to fall!" We got to the top and there was nothing but "Do Not Enter" signs, so it didn't take our stellar crew long to figure out we had made a wrong turn. I think that was the only time we were really lost. She did a superb job.
France was wonderful- it was a flood of memories for me. We stayed with my French Mom and Robert (Roh-Bear) - she showed us a wonderful time and took good care of us. We enjoyed many meals in their home with our extended family. When I chatted with my french sister (like we were never apart), I realized how much I missed her. It was really amazing in so many ways. The little gals did well, although as My Man says, they have you by the cahoochies when you are out of your element. I mean, if they'll stop crying/fussing/whatever, I will give them a piece of gum. Who knew that you could get such good behavior from a piece of gum? It was like magic gum : ) I am relieved (happily) that they are back in the groove here at home- sleeping from 7:30 pm until 9:30 am. I think they are making up for their chronic sleep deprivation. Seriously, they were up until 11 pm many nights! Ridiculous, but we decided to let it go and enjoy our time. Let's not even discuss the 1:30 am antics when Z was crying and didn't want to stop and My Man and I were disassembling the crib and taking it out in the hallway, across to the other apartment, in our pajamas, to wake up Nanny and stay there for the night. Good times, people.

There was an incident in Austria. We see the "lollipop" (a little red sign) being held by a police officer and pull into a nearby parking lot. My Man says, "No spleckity doitch" to the officer in the window, yes, he really said that. "OK, we try English. You go 66, limit 50- you pay 25 Euro." "Do I pay you?" "Yes." Easy enough. The speed trap was right out of Dukes of Hazard- it went from 80km to 50km and they were strategically placed just after the limit changed. (That's 10 miles over the limit.)

Next up, a little contest. How many times did Nanny fall for the "What are they doing?" (pointing out the window) trick- only to look out her window to see men urinating on the side of the road? Or, another suitable contest...how many men did I have conversations with whilst they were in their tighty-whities- not counting My Man?