May in Grenoble, or “Why is it still winter?”

Well, I recently wrote about why I didn’t enjoy April here, because of the cold, windy, and rainy weather. It turns out that May was exactly the same, only weirder, because we also had snow and hail. In May.

IMG_3868

Fresh snow on May 25th, and this isn’t even that high!

IMG_3873

More snow…

But now it is June and, even though it has been raining nearly every evening, we officially have warm weather! And our back yard was finished last week: the dirt was leveled, they put in some stairs as well as dividing fences between each apartment, and now the grass is starting to spring up, so soon Solo will be able to play around out there. And it won’t matter how early he wants to go pee in the morning, I’ll just have to open the door. Last week we even had our first cook-out of the year!

Instagram picture of our homemade burgers and sweet potato fries!

Last month we also went on a camping trip with Remix to celebrate one of the many holidays/long weekends they have here in France. I have been wanting to go camping for months now, and the weather actually stayed decent, even if it there was a light shower.

IMG_3828

At this camping trip Matt happened to be the only French person there! Most of Remix is made up of internationals, like Stephie (intern from Germany), Dora (student from Hungary), and Bethany (XA pastor visiting from Ohio).

IMG_3840

Solo loves camping too!

On the camping trip we had a Croquet tournament. Yes, I get excited about things like that, and especially since I came from behind (twice) and got 2nd overall! And also, I’m proud of things like that. I haven’t played croquet in over ten years, and even back then I was horrible. But it’s a fun yard game to play and Matt and I are looking to buy a croquet set of our own to play at the park or at his parents’ house this summer.

IMG_3833

This was the first wicket and this is where everyone passed me while I failed miserably to make it through. But I had my comeback eventually.

IMG_3834

More croquet…

IMG_3843

Artsy shot…

IMG_3844

Matt played, too, when he wasn’t keeping Solo from chasing after the balls.

Besides our exciting croquet tournament, we also went on a hike which was lovely. We made it to this local museum where I swear The Sound of Music could have been filmed.

IMG_3852

I just feel like running towards the camera…

IMG_3858

And again… Also, this was next to a museum for a monastery, how fitting.

IMG_3855

: )

IMG_3848

Cave “exploring”

And this was priceless:

IMG_3859

This must be Darth Vader’s summer mountain house.

So now it’s June and our summer is full with lots of fun activities, the biggest one being that we’re spending 10 days in Germany for an SFC (Students for Christ) conference! More on that next month.

Why I Don’t Like April

In my last post, I talked about how last weekend Matt and I wanted to go hiking and maybe do some “crafts” for the home. Well…it rained. All week it was sunny and hot and then the weekend rolls around and it’s cold, foggy, and rainy outside. And today I wake up to a light drizzle again! This time it’s supposed to rain  most of next week, too. The weather app on my phone is looking bleak…

But Matt tells me this is how April is here. A random cycle of hot sunny days, foggy rainy ones, and snow! Yay. I live for the few days that feel like spring…but at least there are flowers everywhere! Except for that tree I loved. It’s full of leaves now.

Some things we’ve been up to lately: I’m still babysitting my 19-month old niece and she has entered the “No” phase! But overall she’s a good baby, and she tells you exactly what she wants so it’s not so bad! She has also started telling Solo to stay, assieds (sit), and au pied (heel)! She has even told her dad to stay!!! Also, we saw Iron Man 3 the other night (IN ENGLISH!) and I loved it. You Americans will have to go see it next week!

So, to make up for this yucky weather, I’m going to post a “glamour shoot” I did with Solo two weeks ago. Enjoy!

IMG_3777

He really dislikes being in the sun, so this was him posing under a tree, with some leaf stuck in his teeth.

IMG_3775

Our mountain pup “in the meadow”

IMG_3773

Fun fact: there are two soccer fields at this park (you can see the more professional one in the back), and Solo is terrified of the games…something about the whistling and all of the people yelling and running around. I’m sure Matt has something to do with this since he, too, hates soccer…

IMG_3772

And this is his “Ok, no more pictures!” pose

IMG_3768

Love this view!

IMG_3771

Not a cloud in the sky…