Jeff's 63rd Birthday

Devil's Bridge--Eze Village, March 19, 2012

Jason's father, Jeff Pierce, turned 63 on March 22.  We were so lucky to have him visit us during his birthday!  The visit was extra memorable because Jason's only brother Scott also came to visit at the same time.  We did some of the same things we have done with most of our guests, like go to the beach, visit medieval French villages, and zip across the near-by Italian border, but we tried to do a couple of new things too.  First of all, we have never played tennis with any of our visitors before, and playing doubles turned out to be very fun.  Luckily the weather cooperated.  Scott is naturally very athletic, and he has quite a reach, so he was tough at the net.  Jeff had the best volley of anyone though--his vollies were always in bounds and impossible to return.

GIANT blocks of Parmesan cheese in San Remo, Italy, March 17, 2012

Jeff and Scott--Milan, Italy

Jason and Jeff on top of the duomo--Milan, Italy, March 20, 2012

We also chose a restaurant in Cannes we had never taken guests to before, called "Poivre et Sel" (Pepper and Salt).  It was excellent food at a good value, and going out to eat in a grown up French restaurant without the kids is always a treat.

I was glad Jason had lots of male-bonding time with his Dad and brother, but one morning I got to have them all to myself while Jason had to work, and I will always treaure that day: we hiked up to an old village high on a mountain and then had such delicious crepes afterwards at a little French cafe.  I thought it was so cute that Jeff thanked the French waiter in Portugese.  As Scott said, "use what you got [to communicate]."  (Jeff loved talking to people everywhere we went.  I love that the impression Jeff gave people was that Americans are warm and friendly.  The French could use some lessons from him.)  Also, the menu had translated "chantilly" into English as "wipecream" instead of "whipcream," and Scott and I really couldn't stop giggling about that! Like we were immature 9th-graders or something...

Scott and Jeff in front of Eze village

Finally, my kids got so excited to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.  They worked for two weeks on a giant cake-shaped birthday card with 63 hand-made paper candles.  They also picked gifts for him and helped wrap them.  They helped decorate for the party and also helped me prepare the dinner and birthday cake.  It seemed like the party was more for the kids than my father-in-law!  They sure love their Grandpa...

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!!

The party poppers were a hit as you can tell.

Jocelyn and Uncle Scott at Grandpa's birthday party

Scott won the kids over as well, starting the day he arrived.  It was so apparent he has a 4-year old daughter of his own.  My kids LOVED him.

It meant a lot to us, and especially Jason, that his brother and Dad would make the effort to come visit us.  The plane rides to get here are not short or cheap!  We are especially grateful to Katrina and DeAnn for being so supportive of the visit.  Thanks guys!