Happy Birthday A.J. and Abby Claire; Last Night Blues

First, Happy Birthday to my wonderful twins. A.J. and Abby Claire: I remember 7 years ago today standing in the hall as A.J. took his first breath and cried. We were so excited that the first one was here safely. Then we started rooting for Abby Claire to make her grand entrance. "Come on, little girl; you can do it!" As I recall it was only 12 minutes until we heard another healthy cry, and then I cried with relief and thanksgiving. We have loved every minute of having twins in the family. Grandma and Grandpa love you both soooo much. We hope you have a wonderful birthday, and we look forward to celebrating with you when we get home. Abby Claire, I have something special planned for you and I. A.J., we will also do something fun with you. Have a great day!!!

Well, it is time to go pack. Those of you who have been on cruises understand the sadness of this evening. The cruise has been absolutely wonderful. Every day was perfect in every way, including weather. Today we spent the day in Florence, Italy. It is simply an amazing place with history dating back to medieval times. Of course the art and buildings are mind boggling. We also enjoyed some fun shopping.

Yesterday we opted for a day on the ship instead of the 10 hour trip to Rome since we had been there before. Good choice. I am anxious to get home, download our pictures and remember it all.

Tomorrow we will pick up our luggage on the dock and make our way to our rented car to start our trek through France. We will be at a little hotel in St Remy, France tomorrow night. This will truly be an adventure. We will spend 3 nights in St. Remy enjoying the area around Avignon, and then 2 nights in Nice before we fly home on Thursday. We are looking forward to our French adventure but can't wait to see everyone. We have decided we would not have any trouble picking up Italian, but French is another matter.

I think I will have to go back on my diet when I get home. I am feeling like a little stuffed pig at the moment; those 5 course meals will do that to you! We have met some wonderfully diverse people on the trip. Most nights we opt to dine with strangers, and it is always interesting. Last night it was a couple from England, but she was French so they gave us lots of info for our French adventure. Most everyone we meet is quite well traveled (and rich), so we learn a lot. So far no one even comes close on the grandkid count.

We aren't sure what our internet situation will be from now on. Please keep blogging in case we can find a computer; it is so wonderful to hear from home. I know when I get home no one is going to call me "madame", so I better go walk around to ship for a little while to get my finally fix of princess land. The bags have to be in the hall by 11:00, so I guess the pumpkin is on the horizon. Thanks to all of you for staying in touch. We love you all, mom