Thomas's last weekend in France--hanging with his host family in Lyon, gadding about with fellow HPQ percussionists

Near the end of the best days of Thomas's life, Thomas and his fellow percussionists (all in the Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra, three in the Honors Percussion Quartet), hit the town and end up acting rather silly.

Didn't we take a picture of Thomas doing exactly this on a nearly identical bouncy chair in Bury Meadow in Exeter when he was two years old? His feet didn't reach the ground then:

This must be Saturday night, before or after their last performance.

What's this--Thomas is smiling?!? I didn't know that was possible!

Here it is again! Signs of happiness on Thomas's face! (And who is that adorable miniature moppet who seems to have attached herself to Thomas?)

As we have pointed out so many, many times before, all good things must come to an end. By now, Thomas is fast asleep (hah!) so he is well rested before being woken up to be taken by his host family to the bus station at 4:15 am (!!!) to begin the grueling journey home. If all goes well, he will be arriving in the parking lot of the FIM tomorrow about 3:30 in the afternoon--to get ready for all day exams the next day at school...and then another 3 hour rehearsal to prepare for the concert to end all concerts, his senior year Showcase concert which is now only two weeks away.

This is why it's now called Climate Change

April is indeed the cruelest month.

Thomas in Lyon

Here they all are, stopping for a few seconds to pose in one of their outfits (not full on formal, this is their semi-formal look--I see one kid didn't get the message and is wearing the blue Flint Institute of Music France Tour 2016 t-shirt, which is the casual outfit--what a doofus): Spot the Thomas (hint: he's the kid 12-18" taller than all the others in the back row).

Stop off at cafe in Paris before taking Bullet Train back to Lyon

Thomas begins the final leg of his 11 day whirlwind tour of France. He'll be starting his journey back sometime Sunday. Unless, of course, he decides that France is nicer than Flint. But surely not....

Evidence of Thomas's Life Abroad

Someone going along with FYSO is managing a Facebook page that all the kids can add pictures to. Amid the endless snippits of 6, 8 10 hour rehearsals and performances, here is what Thomas spends his few free moments doing. Ok, so not much has changed since he was 7:

Excuse me? What is going on here?

Apart from being a professional loafer (why did I EVER require Thomas to read Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge when he was 14????), Thomas aims to look like George Harrison. He's mastered the loafer part. Has he realized Georgeness yet?

And here is Thomas "bonding" with his host family's children, playing Fifa 16. Sigh. I suppose this is a cultural exchange of sorts....

Second Communication From Thomas

Apparently "over night" doesn't mean what one thinks it would mean.  Rather than arrive tomorrow (a time slot "over" the night), it means "in 72 hours"--"over" several nights, in fact--AND they charge a small arm and a leg.  To add insult to injury, Thomas is going to be on the move so much in France (and bouncing from host house to host house), I'm not even sure where to send the damn pants and bow tie.  So, as I sat in the parking lot of Fed Ex, in a white out of Spring snow, I got an email from Thomas:

Well I asked around and found a pair of pants and bow tie I could borrow, but if you've already shipped them then I suppose I'll use my own.  Sorry to put you through the trouble....

My first thought of course was that Thomas had been kidnapped and someone else was using his phone to email me.  "Sorry to put you through the trouble"???!?!  All right, who is this really?  Then I started to think about the upsides to having Impostor Thomas (Thomas 2.0, as we now think of him).

Weather bulletin #935 (or thereabouts)

First communication from Thomas

I put Thomas on the bus yesterday morning (there were two buses at the FIM to contain all the kids headed off for their tour of Europe).  I worried about him a bit, but mainly enjoyed all the free time I suddenly had, not having to deal with the back and forth of taking him to school, feeding him, or listening to his 2 am drama when his printer runs out of yellow ink and therefore he can't print up his homework.  Then this morning I awoke to this email:
From:  Thomas
Subj:  Forgotten clothes????
Did I forget my concert pants and bowtie???

I checked his closet--yes, there are his concert pants.  I checked under his desk--yes, there, hidden in a heap of charger cords and candy wrappers, is his bow tie.

Given that Thomas has 2 or 3 concerts a day for the next 11 days (and, given that I have to special order his pants because he's 3 inches taller and 3 inches thinner than most humans) this is a bit of an issue.  So, rather than enjoy the quiet I am off to Fed Ex to look into over-nighting pants (which, now that I take a closer look at them, I see aren't even clean) and a crumpled bow tie.