What else did we do last summer...

End of July, my parents and I took the boys to the museum of archaeology in Grenoble. It is a very impressive site. Emily recommended it after visiting it and it was a great find.

From the outside it looks like any other old church. Growing up surrounded by them, I was never too impressed by them unless it was Notre Dame and there was a Disney movie made about it... Since I’ve lived in places where they’re not so common, I’ve learned to appreciate these old stones a little more and the story they’re telling.

This museum/church tells a particularly captivating story. The inside of the church has been excavated to show every layer of construction under it. Several monuments have been built on the same site over the centuries and it’s really interesting to see all the different layers. The most interesting part for the boys was that is was originaly a mausoleum, and the excavations have uncovered thousands of tombs and bodies. It is a little weird walking around and seeing skeletons under your feet but it is fascinating for little boys trying to understand life and death, and anatomy.

The oldest mausoleum found on the site date from the 4th century.

There’s a very informative audioguide.

Here the boys are standing in the Chancel dating from the eighteenth or nineteeenth century. The stained glass in the background depicts the story of a popular Saint: St Laurent. He was born in the 3rd century and was in charge of the treasure of Rome. The prefect of Rome ordered him to deliver the treasure of the church into his hands. After three days, he came to the prefect of Rome bringing the poor of the church with him and presented them as the treasure of the church. He was martyred for it.

"Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you; to which I will add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the church’s crown."

A painting from the XXth? century showing the martyrdom of St Laurent.

And more tombs and skeletons...

Grand Papa and Grand Maman standing in front of the church/museum

Back home we spent time with the cousins visiting for the holidays.

Josh discovered rainbow looms. He really likes manual activities, I wonder who he gets that from... :)

Germany, France and the USA... His top 3 countries during the world cup.

We enjoyed the parks around our area.
Two cool dudes at the skate park:

This park is absolutely magnificent.

Another park by the house:

The boys played endless silly games with their cousins (like pretending to sleep in a toy box):

Or using the same boxes as vehicles.

Josh discovered pokemon cards and he’s been obsessed with them since.

My sister in law sent some fruit loops in a package... William’s reaction:

Josh learned to roller skate with his friend from school.

Then in August we accompanied my nephew to the temple. It was nice being there as a family and despite the fact I could not get the boys to stop moving or look in the same direction for one second, we got some really cute pictures. I’ll never get tired of these boys’ hugs.

So much energy... That. they didn’t get from me.

Mathias and his parents

Before the school break ended we took a fun trip to Chamrousse, the ski resort next to the house. Some of our friends had rented an appartment for a week and we went to spend a night with them.

We packed these two days with all the fun we could: hikes, wild fruit picking, picnics, hunting for insects, outdoor games, indoor games, and we even watched Planes2 in the resorts’ movie theater.

Green is cool

 

We hid in the forrest to surprise the other hikers.

The water of the lake (6500 feet high) is pretty chill but that didn’t stop them.

We were not the only ones at the lake that day. Josh and William bumped into a couple of friends from school.

the boys caught tadpoles

And a few days later they went back to school, having fully enjoyed their summer break.