Mimi and Bapa!

Sorry for the late post.  Eric's parents, aka Mimi and Bapa, arrived May 6 and their arrival coincided with the end of our vacation.  Our blogging thus had three strikes against it:  classes (and homework) restarted, visitors, and sadly, the death of our Gateway computer. Fortunately we had already purchased a new MacBook, which Eric's parents carried out for us, so you could say that it was good timing.  Getting all our files transferred over and figuring out how to manage our photos has taken some time, however.

All that aside, we had a great time for the two weeks they were here!  Malgre le meteo (despite the weather), we were able to find a few nice days for small trips to Conflans and Annecy, both blogged about in the last year.  And then, time was spent just playing, eating, laughing, sleepovers at Mimi and Bapa's "house" (guestroom in the next building over), etc.  Maggie and Ben especially enjoyed special time with their grandparents, and we're sure Toby did as well although he did not express it as such. :)

Time spent together is especially precious when you don't get to see each other much.  We are grateful Eric's parents made the trip to see our world here in France.  It's harder to say goodbye when the next visit may be two years away...but that makes the time we do get even more important.

Mimi and Bapa with 3 out of their 7 (soon to be 8) grandkids!  And the only two male McLaughlins of the next generation 

Tobias Timothee meets his namesake 

The kids got a kick out of wrestling with Bapa.  Or sitting on him, as the case may be. 

Family picture from our hike up to Conflans.  By far their nicest day here! 

A little break for Curious George with Bapa and the kids 

Maggie and her Mimi in Annecy 

Mimi and Bapa brought Ben a new umbrella...both kids enjoyed using their umbrellas in the 100m between our house and the building where Mimi and Bapa stayed 

We miss you already...