How Would It Be?

If only we could live in France . . . at the Marriott. The kids settled in perfectly at our home outside of Paris. With a club house that had children's craft activities, a game room and swimming pools, the kids couldn't be happier. During the day, they could walk, with a few euros in their pockets, to the market that stocked it's shelves with baguettes, fresh apples, ice cream and even chocolate cereal. They would find a picnic spot and enjoy their snack. 

It was easy to prepare some of the few home cooked meals of our trip, since we had a great kitchen. The kids expressed more gratitude for these dinners than any dinner I have ever prepared. 

On the grounds there were playgrounds for Mia and Ezra and spaces where the older kids played soccer. Usually European kids who were on spring break joined in. Of course these boys, who live in the world of big time football, were kind to humor our full hearted efforts on the field. 

But the best part of all was the backyard that was full of ducks, geese, swans and kittens. The little ones spent any extra moment they had feeding the animals. Sophia and Ezra named two of the ducks Ferdinand and Isabella and they referred to the huge swan as "the white guy". They found a goose sitting on a nest full of eggs and baby chicks following their mother. It didn't take long for all of the local creatures to learn that our porch was the place for a good meal. Each morning and night Sophia would set out bowls of milk for the kittens and donated all of our toast and sandwich bread to the ducks. One evening I came out to find four kittens, 11 ducks and a huge swan on our porch. 

Sophia cried the day that we had to pack up and move on. If we could only move here, she sobbed. She threatened to smuggle an orange cat off of the Marriott grounds in the back of our van. I have been listening to her arguments about why we should really have a cat ever since. We loved our stay at the Marriott and I am sure we will look for a reason to return in the future.