Thanksgiving

We actually flew back to the US the day before Thanksgiving, allowing us to spend that Thursday with our family back home. It was such a blessing! But before we left Paris, of course, we had to repeat last year's Thanksgiving party with our (mostly) American friends. Although I was busy hosting (and therefore sadly neglected my picture-taking duties), Mila was kind enough to snap photos for the day. We were graced by the presence of 10 Americans, 1 Frenchman, 1 Brazilian, 1 Belgian, and 1 Nepalese/Indian... plus 8 children. Utter chaos, but SO FUN! We were so blessed by these sweet friends while we were in Paris, and we miss them terribly now.

Like I said, I failed to take pictures, but here are just a few I snagged from Mila. The boys hung out in the living room while we finished preparations in the kitchen. Here we have Tim, Jude, Zach, Chris, and Joe:

Mila caught me while slicing the ham:

Oliver LOVED sharing pumpkin cheesecake with his mama:

And Aubrey and I had to get a pic of our matching pregnant bellies and outfits:

Such a blessing to spend good time with friends right before we left... We are so thankful for you all!!

Gabriel's Birthday Party

Just a couple of weeks before we left Paris, we had the privilege of celebrating our friend Gabriel's second birthday. Is this little man cute or what?

I was too slow on the cake, but you can still see his mom Mila's adorable work:

And Oliver's dirty face asking for more... I guess he liked his first taste of chocolate:

We enjoyed visiting with our friends Isa and baby Louis:

And Isa and Mila take fabulous pictures, as always:

Baby Louis was just too cute to pass up:

Aubrey and the balloons were a favorite with all the kids:

And Gabriel, of course, loved opening and playing with his new presents:

Joe, Louis' daddy, was kind enough to entertain my little one with his excellent guitar skills:

And Gabriel decided he wanted to play along:

Best of all, Gabriel and Oli did what they always do best: run, play, and laugh until the cry...

We will miss you guys!

Children's Museum!

Just before we headed back to Paris, Oliver and I took one more outing that should be recorded. Our dear friends Jenn and Wyatt are members at the Houston Children's Museum, and I must admit that we will probably follow in their footsteps when we move back... This place is fabulous! I forgot my camera, but sweet Jenn not only shared hers, she even emailed me the pics. So, courtesy of Jenn (who posted on our trip to the Children's Museum almost a month ago - she's SO much more productive than I!), this is for you (yeah, YOU)!

We played in the ball pit:

Read some books:

Drove some cars (definitely the highlight of the day!):

And splashed in some water with our friend, Wyatt:

Could life get any better? We're looking forward to many more playdates when we get back!

Disneyland!

My first trip to Disneyland was about two months ago... sad, I know. I have to admit, though, that I still enjoyed it. Our friends, the Meiers, have season passes to Disneyland Paris, which is just a short train ride from the city, and they invited us and another family to go. Though I've never been to Disneyland or -world in the US, I'm told that many of the rides and features are the same. To be honest, I just know that we had fun, and that's all that matters!

Oliver was clueless as to what he was about to experience, but he seemed excited nonetheless:

Blaine, on the other hand, knew exactly where we were headed, and he couldn't wait:

I have to give kudos to Disneyland Paris; it really was exquisitely done: all the rides, rest areas, restaurants, etc. were spectacular:

We had to get a photo in front of the castle, of course, though Oliver clearly didn't care:

And just as we were leaving the Disneyland Park to visit Disney Studios, we found King Louis! I was THRILLED, as The Jungle Book is one of my all-time favorites. Oliver, on the other hand, was NOT. This is the only photo we got where he's not burying his head into my shoulder... I didn't even know Chris had the camera ready, obviously!

In Disney Studios, there were several rides for the little ones. Oliver's first experience was the Cars ride, and he loved it:

We then headed over to some Toy Story rides and had to catch a photo with the giant Buzz Lightyear who guarded the entrance:

Oliver eagerly agreed to try the next ride, the Slinky Dog:

Which he also enjoyed:

While I can't say that the whole day was perfect (as my early pregnancy caused some unpleasant moments), I can definitely pronounce it a success. The kids had fun and didn't totally melt down; the parents enjoyed a few adult rides and great conversation with each other; the slightly rainy weather kept it from being too hot and even lessened the crowds a bit, and I for one wanted to go back. I hope we can before we leave!

Monte Carlo!

I must apologize for my long absence... We've been visiting family, and (sorry, dear readership, but) they are so much more important than time in front of the computer! Anyway, day 3 of our trip to the French Riviera involved an afternoon in the country with the highest per-capita income of anywhere in the world. Monaco. Before that, though, we took a little outing in Nice...

The morning was spent climbing the "Castle Rock" (as we dubbed it) - a ruin-topped hill overlooking Old Nice and the ocean. Just a short stroll through Old Town and a lot of stairs later, we arrived at the top, which had spectacular views of the main beach:

And Nice's Port:

The highlight of that hike, though, was the playground at the top for the little ones. Oliver spun on the merry-go-round:

And especially enjoyed the little motorcycle bouncer:

He never wanted to leave:

But nap time was coming... Though the lighting was hard, mom was determined to get a few pics with Oli in front of those killer views before we headed down the hill:

After a nap, we caught the bus to Monaco. We started in the port area, admiring the fancy yachts:

Then made our way uphill to Monte Carlo (which, for those of you who are uninformed, like me, is simply the area of Monaco which is home to the famous casino and major shopping):

Since on my previous trip here (10+ years ago), I had only made it to the Old Town section of Monaco, this was my first glimpse of the casino:

We had fun admiring all the fancy cars that drove by while we enjoyed the gorgeous weather and scenery:

We then made the loooooooooong walk (and major uphill hike) to the royal palace and the Old Town:

Since the babies (and the parents, truthfully) had just about had it, we simply took in the views:

Admired the square facing the royal palace:

And called it a day. I found Monaco a little disappointing, to be honest. Beautiful location, ritzy scenery, expensive cars and shops, but not a place I would want to stay or live. That was fine, though; we still had great company and enjoyed getting that little snapshot!

No Witty Song for Antibes...

I was bemoaning the fact that I didn't title the previous post "Nice and Eze..." Haha... I am way too entertained by puns. Alas, though, I've got nothing for Antibes. It will have to speak for itself. Antibes lies just about 15 miles west of Nice, right along the coast. The town, much smaller than Nice, boasts a fancy harbor, a quaint Old Town, and sand beaches.

We took a quick train down the coast and walked from the train station into town. We passed the harbor on the way, beyond which we could see a great fort. Apparently, since Nice was originally part of Italy (hence the Italian architecture seen there), Antibes was actually the end of France, and therefore boasted this great fort as its border protection for hundreds of years:

And then we passed a little dixie band (with three more members hidden in the shadows there) - who woulda thought?!?!

The covered market was fascinating, and we collected quite a feast for our picnic lunch:

For my fellow foodies, our feast included fresh goat's cheese with herbs, yummy sundried tomatoes, and incredible roast beef. Of course, we needed fresh bread to put it all on, and we found this charming boulangerie down a side street:

Which we enjoyed thoroughly at a playground with spectacular views overlooking the water:

We eventually made our way to the beach for the little ones to enjoy the sand (though, as I mentioned, I am not really a fan). And enjoy it they did!

I confess that by the end of that day I had less energy left than Oliver and Karis (and they were worn out!), so we took the afternoon easy at the apartment and enjoyed a relaxed evening in while Karis' parents took a date night. Overall, a super successful day!