Audrey's Bday weekend

Our daughter turned 7 today. 7! That just seems like a lot to us. How can such a young man like myself have a 7 year old. I guess the true answer lies in Lane's latest catch phrase "Hey, old man". I'm not sure where he gets this stuff, but I have an idea. I'm beginning to wonder if we should have just stayed with the French TV. At least then anything he learns from questionable programming won't be much use when we move back home.

Back to my point, Audrey turned 7 today. Now, we were a little worried that it would trigger some homesick feelings so we concentrated on making it her weekend. This included a big birthday party on Saturday, which also happened to be our first sponsoring of a get together here in France. Originally, I claimed that we'd just order to pizza from a truck for the food; however, the closer it got, the more we decided that this just wouldn't do (I just couldn't miss such a great opportunity to do some large scale cooking). So, we settled on firing up the grill for some BBQ chicken and dogs of several different varieties. Easy enough at home, but over here? Not so fast.

For starters they don't eat dogs on buns. Plenty of different varieties of great sausages, but no buns. The worst part is that I didn't know this and sent poor Dana to the store for them. Absolutely no offense to her, but, as many of my blogs explain, shopping here isn't easy. Experience is crucial, and she just hasn't had time to gain it. Conversely, I 've spent a lot of time walking the isles with my pocket translator. I used to care, but not now. When I see something interesting, I get out my iPhone for translation and/or a picture (see: shark). I really don't care if I'm in someone's way, of course, this is mostly because they don't care if you are in their way. Basketball a la France may be less physical, but they make up for it in the supermarket. The French aren't about to let your cart, kids or sense of personal space get in between them and a can of foie gras. If you aren't moving you are in danger of being casually pushed aside. So you see, it really wasn't nice of me to throw Dana to the wolves like that.

The next day, after a phone call to a friend, I discovered something like a sweet hot dog bun that is stocked with the sweets instead of the breads. This meant that I was able to make a 5 minute run to the local store and pick them up, which made Dana's stressful search even funnier.

Brown sugar. That's another item that I can't find here, at least not like we know it. I can find something close, which works well enough for a good BBQ rub, but it's just an example of one of those "everyday" items that isn't so "everyday" here. In fact, for a Bday gift, my sister, Aly, is sending us all the non-perishable items needed to make monster cookies. I can't wait. I haven't had a decent cookie in almost 3 months. Tarts and little cakes galore, but their cookies are like sugared cardboard. It makes no sense. How could a culture so engrossed in food not have at least a moderately healthy attitude towards the cookie?

Back to the party. It went great. The kids had fun, the adults had fun, no one was hurt and nothing was broken. Dana did point something out though. A house full of kids sounds much louder with out carpet. Carpet is rare here. Everything is hardwood and tile. Sure it looks neat, but you don't realize the little things until about a month in. Fast moving kids in sock feet are contantly crashing into walls or falling. Also, noises (especially those by the aforementioned shoeless hellions) have nothing to absorb them. They just ricochet around and become louder and louder and louder until they permeate your brain like flies into an open kitchen window taking you from a once sane, calm, and intelligent adu.........what happened? I blacked out for a second. Oh yeah, the noise level, it can get to be a bit much.

France, and its more relaxed nature, must be wearing off on us, because for the first time that I can remember Dana and I went to bed rather without cleaning up. We would have been up til 1:00 if we hadn't, but still it felt good.

Today, her actual B-day, we headed to downtown Grenoble. Without meaning to, we have selected our "usual" place. It's one of the dozens of pizza places down on pizza row. The staff (if 2 women and a man is a staff) is friendly and always remember us. We are such regulars that 3 out of the 4 of us almost always get the same thing. I get the filet au roquefort (steak w/ bleu cheese, pasta and a salad), Dana gets the lasagna, and Lane gets Ravioli au roquefort (yes, the same bleu cheese). Audrey is the only one who varies every time, but even she is partial to their mushroom pizza.

A little over a week ago I had asked them if they were open on Sunday and that we would like to come for our daughters birthday; however, it still surprised me when the lady looked at Audrey and said "Happy Birthday". The meal, as expected, was excellent; however, the 7 ice cream filled pastries topped with candles and whipped cream was quite unexpected. I wish they had mentioned it before I ordered dessert for everyone, but I'm not one to complain about having two desserts.

To help walk it off we headed back up the Bastille over looking the city. Perhaps this would have been more effective if we had actually walked. Instead we took another ride in the "bubbles". It's the 3rd time I've been up there and I don't care how many more I times I go, I'll never get tired of the view. It's simply breathtaking. This is especially true now that snow has fallen on the Belldonnes, which are the tallest of the three ranges.

At the end of the weekend, a great birthday. Audrey got lots of clothes and art supplies so she'll be happy for a while. No breakdowns of any kind, at least until we started homework this evening. Why a 2nd grader would need to know the definition of "solemnly" is beyond me, but we'll discuss that later.