A Day at the Park

Birthday celebrations are ongoing at our house right now. I promise, photos will be posted soon. For now though, you'll have to content yourself with these pics from a recent trip to the park.

A day in York

Back in May we took an impromptu trip to York. Our intention was to go to the Borders there, which we later found out was closed. So we enjoyed walking around town, getting milkshakes and listening to a brass band playing the Wallace and Gromit theme song. It was a fun half day.

Hair today...gone tomorrow

After over a year of begging, asking nicely, and gentle reminders, Hilde finally got her haircut. I took her to my salon and she got the full treatment. Then snip, snip, snip. I was actually more emotional about it than I thought - no tears - but a definite sad feeling. When her haircut was done, it was adorable. But somehow, she looks so much older now!




All night she kept brushing her hair, she just loves it. And Dave and I kept looking over at her and wondering where our little Hilde had gone!

Paris - Day 3

Our last day in Paris. We slept in, I mean, even though we were in Paris - we are sleep deprived moms! It was fantastic. After a leisurely morning we headed to the Saint Chappelle, our last real stop. I remembered it being utterly breathtaking the last time I visited it with my sister. And while it was nice, it was a) under construction and b) cloudy outside. So the stained glass windows were not as impressive this time around. What we did see was still gorgeous, and sitting in such a small space, knowing kings used to worship there, was pretty cool. After visiting the church we grabbed lunch, walked a bit, checked out of the hotel, and hopped on the train to the airport. So long Paris, I hope to see you again real soon!


And let me say a huge thank you to our husbands, especially mine. While we had a fabulous time, we spent a fair amount talking about those we left behind, and envisioning doing the same activities with those we love next time around. I love you babe.

Paris - Day 2

Day 2 was our only full day in Paris, and the one we had been waiting for. We had booked a Segway tour through FatTire. It was so completely fabulous, I highly recommend you doing one too. Getting used to riding the Segway took a few minutes, but once you got your balance, it was so easy to move around. There were about 10 people in our group and we spent about 3 hours tooling around Paris, with our American guide telling us Parisian facts. We had so much fun, and everywhere we went people took our picture as we drove by. I felt a little like a celebrity, without the eating disorder and paranoia. NICE.

One thing we noticed, were bullet holes from WWII on many of the buildings. Here you can see them above and then below in the closeup.

The Dome Church of Les Invalides (the military hospital) has a great story. Louis XIV had it built. In his old age he couldn't move his neck enough to gaze up at the dome. So to fix that, he order a fake dome built at a lower height. So, the dome you see in this picture is not the dome you look up at inside. The difference in the two domes created a crawl space that the French Resistance used during World War II. When Hitler arrived in Paris, he visited the Church to see his hero, Napoleon's resting place. He wanted a few moments alone with his idol, and ordered the rest of his entourage out of the church. Hitler didn't know the French Resistance was just above him, and the French Resistance didn't know Hitler was just below. Imagine what might have happened if they did! It wasn't until the end of the war that the events were placed together.
After the Segway tour we ate lunch and then headed to Notre Dame. It was so beautiful.





We climbed the stairs to the top and got an amazing view of the city below.

I love this picture of the gargoyle. He almost looks real.
When we made our way back down, we discovered mass was just starting. M is Catholic, so we stayed for it. It was in French, and my French is in such a state of disuse that I only caught some of it. But attending mass at Notre Dame was a pretty amazing experience. M also gave confession while we were there. Instead of a wooden confessional, it was just a glass room. She faced the priest and the walls of the church, he faced her and the inside of the church. While she was giving confession, tourists were walking by snapping photos of it. I couldn't believe it, have some manners people! After that we made our way back to the area around our hotel for a yummy dinner. What a fantastic day in Paris.

Paris in the Springtime

Over Father's Day weekend, (18-20 June), my good friend Michele and I did a girls weekend in Paris. I left my three kids with Dave and she left her 7 kids with her husband. Don't worry, the boys are planning payback. I am lucky to be married to such a great guy that has been encouraging me to do something like this for a long time. I think Dave was a little disappointed that I picked Paris, but he forgets that I don't mind going there again! My sister Melissa and I did a Paris trip back in April 1997. We spent a week there and I loved every minute of it. This trip was too short to fit in all of the same things, but I saw some old and some new things, and reacquainted myself with the metro system. So now a family trip will be easier to plan. We got to Paris Friday afternoon, and after checking into our Hotel and eating lunch, we headed to the Jardin de Tuilieries and the Louvre. The weather was fantastic, and the timing was just right, we avoided the major crowds since we were later in the day. Great way to start off the weekend.
The Arc de Triomphe du Carousel. According to our guide the next day, Emperor Napoleon promised his victorious troups a huge triumphal Arch upon their return. He started construction on the Arc de Triomphe for that purpose. Unfortunately, there was no way that was going to be done in time, so he had this one built. So think of this as the consolation arch, I now do.
Inside the Louvre we saw all sorts of wonderful things, I really liked these Sphinxes all lined up in a neat row.
For some reason, I really loved this picture. I think I see in her what I hope I would have been like if I lived in that time period.
I had to take this picture especially for E. Is it not the perfect knight-fight painting? I think so. He agreed when he saw it.
This painting was HUGE, it took up a huge part of the wall, and the walls there are massive. The detail was amazing. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
The Louvre is huge and we only did a relatively small portion of it. We saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and other famous works of art. I also saw way too many painting of people's kitchen tables. Honestly, Louvre, can we cut down on the still life kitchen paintings? After a while, they all looked the same - except for the dead meat - that did change a little here and there. And it is incredible how hard it was for women to find clothing that would stay on back in the day. Next time I want to see Napoleon's bedchamber and the whole other wing I haven't even gone into. Anyone want to come with me?

11 Months

Phinn is 11 months, and mobile. He took his first real steps on 17 June, just before his 11 month mark. And now that he is free, he doesn't want to sit still for anything, especially pictures, as you will evidence here. This was the only one I got with the sign in it, too bad you can't really see him. This month Phinn has really starting calling Dave dada. That's OK, because I know how much he loves mama. Every morning when I leave the room to take my shower he starts to cry, don't worry little guy - I am coming back. This month we stopped nursing, and more importantly for mom, stopped pumping. It is always bittersweet to lose that closeness, but it is nice to get some freedom as well. When we were on our cruise, Phinn took Cruise to heart, cruising everywhere as quick as lightning. Now that he can walk, he is super fast. If I plan on turning my head for even an instant I drop him in his high chair or pack and play. He has also developed his dad's thirst. You give him a sippy cup and he downs it like he just came out of the Sahara. Some of his favorite toys now are blocks, which he likes to stack and likes knocking down even better, and a set of nesting farm animals. The one thing that is sure to get him squealing, is Nugget, Hilde's Zsu Zsu hamster. If he hears Nugget's little squeak, his whole body comes to attention. He chases nugget around and collapses in giggles when he catches him. We actually had to hide him because of how upset he gets when "Nugget" wants a rest. Most of the time Phinn is a really happy, content, mellow kid. I just can't believe my little baby will be 1 in a month. Where did the time go?



This is how angry he got when we tried to hold him still for pictures.

Your candy hook-up

Yesterday an old friend from childhood sent me a note on Facebook. She had recently returned from Holland, where she had fallen in love with a certain type of candy bar - Kinder Bueno. Knowing I was living in Europe, she asked if I might be able to hook her up. Well, yes, I can. And I hook up my sister's husband who loves crispy M&Ms (no longer sold in the States). So, if I am already doing a candy run, is there anything you want? Cadbury is a UK company.... Don't be shy, how often do you have someone in Europe ready to send you delicious sweets?

Bath Time