Uncle Jon comes to visit and a trip to London

 Uncle Jon came out to visit, and 

we had a fun filled, fully packed week.

 We stayed in an apartment in downtown London,

next to the Thames river for the weekend.

 We took the Eurostar through the chunnel. It was quite the ordeal

hopping on the RER train near our home, 

switching trains, and then getting on the eurostar.

Once we got to london, we had to ride the 

subway again to get to our apartment, and then walked around

a little before we found where we were staying. All the time being

mindful of our three children while carrying our luggage

for the weekend. We survived it, and enjoyed our london trip!

 We had a view of St. Paul's Cathedral 

 Enjoying Cereal for dinner :) The apartment was within

walking distance from a bus stop for the tour we signed up for.

Since it was off season we were able to get cheaper

fares and had the pass for both days we were there. The bus

tour was great! We could hop on or hop off anyway we liked 

throughout london. Definitely the way to go with kids or any tourist

for that matter.

 A tunnel by our apartment.

 Here we are enjoying our ride.

 Westminister Abbey

 Big Ben

 We got to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the 

guards, but it was extremely packed, and we didn't really

get to see that much.

 Here is another snap shot of the crowds. C-R-A-Z-Y1

 The tower bridge

 the london eye

 A very spectacular view! Definitely a must if you 

are in London on a nice day.

 Enjoying a little snack.  Daniel and I made

sure we got some fish n chips while we were there.

They did not disappoint. 

 We also went to Disneyland Paris with Uncle Jon.

It was his first disneyland experience, and we were

happy to share it with him. 

 This little chocolate place was a very fun experience.

The lady didn't speak much English and Jon could say 

bonjour in French.  Needless to say, his pointer

finger came in handy.

 Here the chocolates are, all prettied up in a nice

package.

 We also did a bus/boat/eat at the Eiffel tower tour while

Jon was here. It was a fun way to see the city.

 Enjoying a bite while over looking the Paris-not a 

bad way to spend an afternoon.

 

Thanks Jonny for coming out and visiting

us, until next time :)

Our superhero turns one!

Owen is the first to celebrate a birthday in our

new home! His first was our first :) Here are some

birthday pastries we picked up for him.

 He preferred the eclair, and had no problems

finishing it off!

 We invited Daniel's coworkers over to help

us celebrate Owen's birthday, and I had fun

getting my little superhero ready for his super bash!

 I love Owen's smiles and I can't get enough of them.

The way his eyes light up is magical for me and brings

an instant smile to my heart! He has been our little

traveler since 6 months old, and has done such 

a great job with this whole international move. 

 Owen is very busy, always getting into everything. If you leave a 

drawer open, a cupboard open, a door open, anything open...

he is in there pulling things out and curious as ever

to know what things are. He puts almost everything in his mouth,

he loves chocolate, is a good eater, likes to get us to laugh,

smiles a lot, draws on walls, and a very busy 1 year old. He

pretends to get hurt, and says ow, and he will hand you things and say 

ee ya oh..for here you go. 

 He didn't really dive into his cake, all the people

staring at him made him a little nervous, plus he had a cold.

 We love our little superhero!

Jacquelyn...

This past year we've had a handful of visitors, and it has been nice to have familiar faces while in an unfamiliar place.  One of our visitors, Jackie, stayed for two months. The

kids adored her, I loved having a friend to talk to :), and Daniel and I got to

have several date nights!

We miss you Jackie!

maternelle

 Kylee and Carson have now been in the Maternelle for 4 months. 

 It has been an adventure for us all, especially them!

 Kylee and Carson were both really excited to go to school

on the first day, and then that excitement was replaced by 

apprehension, fear, and lots of crying for the next two months.  Daily

we expressed our amazement to them of how

brave we thought they were.  I had many "gouters" the french

snack time/playdates for them so they could make friends.

Other French mom's have been so helpful

and friendly as well, allowing us to feel more integrated.

 Carson goes to school from 8:30-11:30, and

he has a couple of classmates who speak English.

He transitioned pretty quickly, and the teacher says

he talks a lot to everybody even though they 

can't understand him.  He understands more French now, 

so we count that as a success ;)

 Kylee took a little longer to transition, but she is such a trooper!

We had quite a few many rough days for all of us. It's difficult to move and be the new student

somewhere, but even more difficult when you can't speak

or understand the language! She is incredible! 

She goes to school from 8:30 until

4:30- thats 8 hours of French! She understands very well, and when she speaks

the language she sounds fantastic. When Daniel and I are practicing our French

she will occasionally chime in with the correct pronunciation.