Hello all from Le Ticoulet, Villematier in France! Amazingly enough we have made it – or maybe it is just amazing to us!
We got up bright and early on Friday morning (4.15 am) and poor Massimo looked thoroughly put out at being awoken in the middle of the night. We piled everything into the car and off we went, late of course! Justin dropped me off at departures where Verna was already ready and waiting but we still needed the assistance of a porter (who happened to be Italian and very helpful) in order to get us all to the check-in desk. Whilst we queued, J parked the car before he joined us at check-in. Altogether we had 75 kgs of luggage, 15 kgs overweight. Our lovely check-in lady was only going to charge us for 8, but her colleague said if it is medical equipment just let it go, which was absolutely wonderful.
We got on the plane, and other than being very interested in what was going on, Massimo was a little angel. He didn’t seem bothered by take-off or landing (we were slightly worried due to his lack of swallow reflex which is what we instinctively use to help with the pressure) and his breathing was actually better up in the skies which caused us to joke that maybe we should move to higher altitudes! Our only problem was that on landing they didn’t give us our buggy at the exit of the plane, so J had to carry our very heavy little man quite a long way! Amanda was there to collect us and with the ever so large boot of the Espace, we managed to fit us and all our luggage very easily. Massimo slept on the 40 minute ride home and proceeded to refuse to sleep again until about 11 pm, whilst all the adults took it in turns to have a little nap. We clearly didn’t do very much on Friday, just settled in and got Max’s equipment out and ready.
Saturday was the big day of the surprise birthday party so all day was spent getting ready as casually as possible. Thierry (Massimo’s French uncle) knew something was up, but wasn’t quite sure what. All the guests (35 adults and 12 children) were taken the 1 hour drive to the venue by bus but they were due to leave at 6 pm, to give everyone time to set things up at the other end. The story was that Justin, Amanda (J’s big sister), Thierry and I were all going out for dinner, just the four of us. The story we had to concoct to get Verna, Max, Dan and Emilie out of the house so early was very unlikely and Thierry gave Verna the strangest look when she left the house all glammed up for the evening which she was supposedly spending with the kids at the neighbours’ house! The evening was a huge success. The venue was a Maroccan restaurant run by a friend – there were songs with new words sung, photos of Thierry over the past 40 years projected and gifts galore. Champagne and a fabulous birthday cake finished the meal but there was dancing till 2 am, when we finally all piled into the bus to go home. Massimo had finally fallen asleep at about midnight when we moved him into the relatively quiet children’s area, he awoke when put on and taken off the bus, and was wide awake at about 3.30 am, but soon fell asleep and slept soundly (like the rest of us!) until 11 am.
Sunday was spent recovering and lounging by the pool. Massimo happily had his feet dipped into the water but we decided that although the pool is warm enough for us (although only the children ventured in) the temperature was just not warm enough for the little chap. Today is shaping up to be another scorcher, so we might dip more than his feet in this afternoon. For now, he is loving all the attention from his cousins, and from everyone. He has never been kissed and cuddled so thoroughly by so many people in such a short space of time. We are having constant smiles and we are all enjoying a most wonderful and relaxing time.
We do have photos, but we didn’t bring the appropriate wire for downloading them onto the computer, so unless we can find an alternative means, a gallery of photos will be added on our return.
PICU – it is easier for me to text Liz with our regular “we’re OK” messages, hope that is good enough for you!