Days Eleven and Twelve

The family and Tony, Luca and Liz
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Back from Venice to a much quieter and less hectic existence.  We loved our trip to Italy but we are happy to be back in the French countryside.  Our morning was lazy as we slept in after our late night arrival.  Friends of the family whose house we are staying in came by to take us on a country walk.  It was a beautiful day and we saw the whole village of Delincourt as well as the schoolhouse and the church.  The girls picked wildflowers as we walked for their grandma and of course saw many horses along the way.  Again, despite the language barrier, the girls had a great time playing with the kids that were with us.  They somehow find a way to say what they need to.  Both girls are learning many words in French.

Preparing for the ATV ride.
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The next day, we had a play date with neighbors to go to a fun place for kids.  It is a park called Adventureland.  The people we went with were Vincent, the father, Theo and Mateus.  Vincent spoke pretty good English but the boys spoke almost none.  Adventureland was about a 15 minute drive from our village and we were so excited to arrive.  The kids wanted to do all the activities so we set off on our "adventure"!  First was an ATV ride.  AP was supposed to go by herself but her little hands weren't big enough to squeeze the brakes (a vital part of the ATV ride) so they asked mom to ride with her.  At first she was not too excited about going fast.  After the time passed and she saw that everyone was passing her she yelled "faster, faster mom!!!"  Nai'a jumped right on and zoomed off with the other boys.  She knew what to do since she went ATV riding in Idaho with her friend Christine.  A great way to start our day!

This helmet fits!
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Next was the pony ride.  We were at the park very early and the ponies were not quite ready.  No worries for the girls, they offered to help get the ponies ready for the day.  The set about brushing, picking and tacking up them up.  Then it was off for their ride.  The ride took them through what we would be doing next, the tree climbing.

Off to the nets.  Since all of the kids weren't big enough to do the zip line part, we all decided to do the Accrokids which were the same type of climbing as the adult part, except with nets instead of harnesses and tie lines.  Believe me, this was challenging enough.  There were tightropes, small ladders to climb, slides, poles to slide down, nets to climb and even a small zip line.  We were exhausted and we weren't even halfway finished!  We decided to eat our picnic lunch that we prepared before going on the the rest of the activities.  After our short break we went to the track where there were cycles and velos to ride.  This was another challenge.  I can tell that we will all be sore tomorrow!!!  Also during this break we went into a maze created by all types of beautiful flower bushes and herbs.  The girls found their way through it long before mom got out!

Off we go!
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The thing the kids had been waiting for were the trampolines with the bungees.  They jumped and flipped (which they learned in French is pirouette) and jumped and flipped.  Were they tired yet??  No way... back to the nets. We ended the day with a round of mini golf.  Not sure who won, but everyone had a good time.  Our drive took us through a cute village called Magny-en-Vexin where we stopped for a snack of bread... pain au chocolat, beneit, and baguettes.  It was a great day.  Vincent shared so much information about the region, it was very helpful and enlightening.  It makes it so much nicer to have local people share their knowledge!!!