A view into Evan's world...

As all parents know too well, naptime is really a race to get as much done as possible on a time clock (the time clock being that moment when your kid wakes up), only you don't know how long the clock is set for. On this particular occasion, Mark was trying to finish an exciting chapter in his novel. Evan woke up crying during the climax, and Mark went to fetch him from the dark, scary bedroom...

Evan was pretty groggy, so Mark hopped on the chance to read a few more lines...

...but it was no use.

#@!$%%#, Evan is crying and awake from his nap! Be back later...

A milestone...

Evan has been developing this ability gradually over the last few months, and I think we can safely say that he can sit up on his own now! Hooray!

...soon more photos from the UK if I can get a minute!

We might be moving in November...

We might be leaving France earlier than we thought... I will tell the story in more detail when we have our exact moving date (i.e. in the middle of October). For now, I wanted to post the address of our moving blog. I created the blog to show the list and photos of things we are selling or giving away. Most of you won't be helped by this blog, but I wanted to post it for the few of you that live here and might want to see it:

http://mkbutlermovingsale.blogspot.com/

Driving in the UK

Driving on the opposite side of the road was an adjustment that we survived (barely!). The most difficult part was that the steering wheel is also on the opposite side, and we both had a tendency to drift to the left because it changed our usual sense of the dimensions of the car.

Anyway, it was so difficult that we just decided to let Evan do it all...

More from Wales soon!...

Caernarfon, Wales

We rented a car and drove into North Wales for the next step of our adventure. The first destination was the town and castle of Caernarfon. This is a castle of fairytales if there ever was one! It was a step into my childhood imagination...

Evan practices his fancy footwork in the trunk of the car.



The King's Gate (a.k.a. the front door)

Caernarfon at night







I saw several fireplaces like this one. The floor is long gone, but the fireplace on the wall is still hanging on!


Mark tries to keep Evan asleep.


The view from the tower...

In the countryside...

We spent the first few days of our vacation in the countryside near Stoke-on-Trent, staying with Lindsey and John's family. Thank you Linds, John, Margaret, Di, John, and Malcom for such a wonderful time! It's some of the best humor and hospitality we've ever experienced, from the very first moment of waking up on the farm!

Evan asleep on the plane

Father and son; taken at Margaret's house.

Cieran playing with Legos (the same that his dad played with when he was a kid)

John and Evan

Evan meets a cow

John, Cieran, Evan, and Mark outside Shrewsbusy castle
The old and the new

Shrewsbusy had gorgeous gardens!

The castle was made of beautiful red sandstone.

Inside was a military museum where we found a redcoat (like what would have been worn in the Revolutionary War).

Evan did more bouncing than looking in the museum.
The view from the tower

Gorgeous



Walking on cobblestones

The countryside, between thunderstorms, near Margaret's house.

Lindsey and Evan (and Ceinwyn, who is due sometime in October!)

A photo a day, from the UK!

My little Frenchman...turned Englishman!!

Back from the UK, and Evan's first food!

We're back from a magnificent trip to the UK. We had a wonderful time. Our time there mainly consisted of taking care of the world's cutest baby and glancing at Britain, but those glances were amazing, and Evan did great! I took enough photos for a year's worth of blogs, so it will be an endeavor to sort through them and get them on this blog.

Evan had a fun surprise while we were staying in the countryside. We went to visit our friends Lindsey and John and stay with their family. One day we were eating ice cream. John's mom (Margaret) was holding Evan, and she gave him a clean spoon to play with while she ate her ice cream. Evan dropped the spoon, and as Margaret reached to the floor to pick it up, Evan grasped the spoon that was in her bowl of ice cream and brought it to his mouth. We'll never forget the look of shock and happiness on his face! We all paused for a second to see what he would do, and he immediately lunged for the bowl! It was awesome!

I always dreamed that Evan's first food would be something like carrots or bananas, but no, it was ice cream! Lol!!

Here are a few photos taken about a week after that. Mark was eating an ice cream bar...

Stay tuned for more photos of our adventures!