September highlights

It was Nicolas' turn to proudly stand by his sibling at his brother's wedding. Damien and Stacy were worth missing the unschooling conference for - yes, they are that special. Here, they are surrounded by Damien's three siblings.

Gillen, Jesse and their three male cousins, strutting their stuff. The one girl cousin, Clementine, was busy with the bride.

Gillen and Remi, learning new handshakes.

We could have danced all night, if we were twenty and not 6 and and 42... Actually, Jesse DID dance almost all night.



Nicolas getting a rare visit with his father, here from Holland.

After the wedding, Nicolas' father, Jean-pierre, and stepmother, Marie-Helene, went with us on a trip to Block Island in Rhode Island. We stayed at the Surf Hotel, which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to have an old fashioned island hotel experience. There was no TV in the rooms and there were games of chess and checkers all over the lobby as well as people knitting, playing instruments, reuniting with other guests who have been coming back since they were kids. There is a huge porch overlooking the beach in the back and another one lined with rocking chairs in the front, overlooking the town. We loved it, though we weren't there much. Mostly, we biked, all over the island. Lots of nature, birds, seafood; we even saw a dead whale that had washed ashore. That was hard. Sad and very smelly. Jean-Pierre and Marie-Helene bike for at least an hour every day in Holland, usually much more! They do everything on bikes - buy their food, go to yoga class, meet friends, go to restaurants... I wish that we could live like that. Some day.






And that is just the beginning of the many moments that I want to remember here but may not have the time to recall, if I'm ever to rejoin present time! More attempts to come soon.