Little things that matter.

Wednesday this past week we went to the Saint Mande egg hunt. It was a little crazy, but fun to experience how they do egg hunts in another country. They had us all meet up at a small local park and then explained the rules: ecole maternelle kids (ages 3-5) needed to find 2 eggs while elementary aged kids should find 3. Once you found enough of the plastic (ping-pong ball-esque) eggs you could then turn them in for a bag of chocolate. As soon as they said go, the kids raced off and it was quickly evident that Gideon did not stand a chance. It was like walking through a cornfield just behind the locusts. Every time Gideon got even close, another kid would snag it. To Gideon’s credit he did not give up. He kept looking even when it was very apparent there was nothing left. It is amazing how for a half-hour nothing mattered more than two little white ping-pongs. Gideon had been so excited that my heart just sank and I started mentally preparing my speech for disappointed kiddos....

Fortunately, after a while they started recycling the eggs and eventually after a lot of persistent seeking, and one torrential downpour, the two required eggs were found! The boys were very excited about the balloons, eggs, candy, etc. But they (ok, pierce) was most excited about watching the train/metro zoom by “down der” below us on the walk home.

 

Thursday night Benjin and I had a rare solo movie night and watched DUNE 1. Sometimes it is nice to be so far behind the trend that you don’t have to wait very long to watch the 2^nd one! Haha.

 

On Friday Gideon and Pierce and I had a nice picnic at the Zoo. We sat right next to the Jaguars which were just majestic (and a little scary to have right at your back while you’re eating.) Pierce was enthralled by both the Jaguars and the Lynx and just kept yelling, “Kitty cat! Kitty cat!” In the evening we went to the free night at the Louvre. It was weird thinking that this very well could be our last time doing it. At this point we have gotten our system down pretty well of bringing a baguette dinner, using Pierce to skip the line and then making the most of our exploration time with the boys. Pierce was especially active this trip and boy is he fast! So, we spent most of the time running around frantically trying to make sure he didn’t lick anything!

The next day we took Benjin to the Paris history museum. I have been there with the boys at least twice, but I have always wanted to show Benjin because it's one of my favorites. Anyway, we showed him all the highlights (including the Giddy/Pierce door) and then made our way to the Nation market. Gideon used some of his allowance money to ride the epic carousel with Pierce and then we walked over to the market. It has been a while since we have been there, and it felt so good to see it back to its pre-winter glory. I just love the markets! We bought some grapefruits for a steal and then wandered over to a nearby playground for lunch. Then we headed home and put Pierce down for a nap and I took Gideon out for a run. Gideon loves feeling like a big boy and going out exercising with mommy and I loved having a buddy who made me run sprints around the playground. 

In the evening we watched General Conference while eating dinner. Gideon was super excited about having a picnic dinner inside next to the TV!

On Sunday we watched a lot more conference to make up for the time difference and then took a break to explore Jardin des plants. It was lovely. All the flowers were blooming and there were tons of other people out and about.

 

Monday we kicked off Gideon’s 3 week weekend by meeting up with daddy at Parc Kellermann (down past his work). In my head I call it the easter-egg-hunt park because I think it would be the best place ever for an egg hunt. It has tons of beautiful flowers, lots of places for bouldering and little ledges to climb or jump from. It’s the perfect climbing difficulty for Gideon. The weather was beyond gorgeous and having daddy there was just icing on the cake!

Tuesday we went to the Musee Congnacq-jay. At this point, it is kind of astonishing that there are still tons of museums that we have not been to in Paris… but there are!! This one is a small art museum started by Ernest Congnacq who founded the famous Parisian department store, Samaritaine. It currently has an exhibition going on focusing on little precious objects (such as snuff boxes, perfume guns, pocket watch broaches, etc.). Gideon was in love with all the sets of mini-scissors, but personally I don’t get this fad. Apparently, it was all the rage to have/collect these tiny, incredibly ornate boxes, dishes, things. But, I struggle to see the appeal.

We explored there for a while until Pierce was screaming, “walk! Walk! Walk!” and we had to leave. We found a small nearby park for the boys to run around. In the evening we went to the Ludoteque. The boys have been obsessing about going for a week now. When we arrived there was a mix up and our name was not on the list of people with reservations. I was frantically thinking, "no! you don't understand. My boys have been counting down the days for a week now and today they have been counting down the hours, please!! Have mercy!!" Fortunately, before I resorted to groveling, they let us inside and the boys had a blast. 

Wednesday night we decided to take the boys swimming. We went to the community pool and learned that swim caps and spandex shorts are "obligatory" (French people love that word). For them a swim cap is an absolutely essential piece of swimwear...which as oblivious Americans, we didn't understand. Fortunately they were kind enough to supply the missing items.

It's amazing how little things can come to matter so much. In the 1700's, the obsession was snuff boxes and for my boys it's the Ludotheque. Often it's easy for me to look at the obsessions of others and think, "what is the big deal?" But then again, I spent half-hour obsessed with finding two little white ping-pong eggs. I think it is good be careful about what we choose to care about, but I also think it is just good to care. Caring gives us the chance to feel the triumph of finding an egg hidden in the mud. Caring lets us taste the fear of being kicked out of the ludotheque. It allows us to experience the embarrassment of not having a swimming cap and the awe of seeing a big kitty cat at the zoo. And while I don't always understand the obsessions of others, it doesn't get much better than to get to be the one to tell our boys that we are headed to the ludotheque and see their unadulterated happy dance.

Bisous! 

La Famille Facer