la plage

Today we went to a beach in Normandy. We went to a town called Deauville. I wish I would have gotten pictures of the town as we drove in. There were a lot of English Tudor style buildings. The houses were so cute. When we got there it was actually cloudy and a bit cold, but it ended up being a beautiful day. This beach is two hours away from Paris. It was nice getting out of town. The countryside reminded me of the Midwest. There were fields of corn and other crops finishing up. The boys kept commenting on the tractors and various shaped hay bales. They need to get out to the country more often. I grew up with corn fields and cows (well around my hometown, not in it) but I have to remember that the boys have lived in big sized cities. Doug was excited to use the GPS and that the speed limit was 130! Kilometers, that is. It was actually 81 mph.

The Atlantic Ocean at northern France.

This was the first time we took the boys to the beach. For some reason we never got around to taking them before. They all enjoyed themselves. Timmy loved the giant sandbox.The boys attempted to make a sand castle, but didn't get very far because Timmy-zilla attacked the fortress. Maybe next summer he will be big enough to join in the building instead of the destruction. Doug told the boys a story about how when he was younger he saw a boy going around a kicking down others sand castles. So he and his brothers purposely built their sand castle around some big rocks. Matt and Thomas thought that was a great story. Timmy dug for dinosaurs. I buried them with their faces sticking up so he'd be able to dig them out. Unfortunately we ended up loosing one of them and some lucky kid will find a dinosaur in the sand.
Thomas brought back a bucket of water to help make the sand castle, but Timmy loved splashing in it. The boys discovered how salty the water is and how when it dries, it makes your skin sticky.Recently for one of our kids meal prizes, the boys all got paddles and little balls. So they attempted to play paddle ball. They thought it was great each time I missed it and claimed they got a point. Well, I told them that they had to hit it well enough so that I could even try to get it. Of course I have my own personal philosophy that I do not sacrifice my body for a ball. Not even in the sand.

They all loved being in the water, even Timmy. He would stand in the water with the waves coming at him and shiver the whole time, but he thought it was great.
The boys really loved jumping the waves with their dad. He helped them a little. We all had fun and the boys wanted to come back the next day. We'll plan ahead better next summer and rent a beach house or something. Anyone want to come with and we'll rent a mini chateâu for a week? It wouldn't be a day at the beach without someone trying to eat the sand.
It also wouldn't be a day at the beach without a little sunburn. I was a responsible mom and lathered it on the boys. I actually did put some on my face. But then I thought to myself, "It's cloudy, and chilly, and all I have is 50 spf. Who wants 50 while at the beach? I need something to show that I was at the beach...right?" I did actually think about applying it again once the sun came out but then decided against it because it was so late in the day. I have now learned my lesson and if I ever say anything like this again, please remind me of this day.
It's quite painful and I'm an idiot. I need to remember that it is better to take care of myself rather than try to attempt to get some color. Because, frankly, I never tan, so why do I even try.

At least I wasn't alone. Doug got some serious sun on his neck and ankles. This picture doesn't do it justice. It's quite red, and it's very painful for him to walk around. He even cut down a pair of socks to be below his ankle so it wouldn't rub. Thank goodness for aloe vera!

Bonne Anniversaire Timmy!

Today Timmy turned 2. Happy birthday! He's such a cute happy boy. Granted, he does a great job a having a tantrum, but otherwise he is a very sweet boy.

Timmy has adjusted to life in Paris. He doesn't always like being in his stroller, but once he's in, he's fine. (plus we have discovered the secret of suckers and fruit snacks to keep him quiet on the bus and Metro). I've been speaking some french with him and he understands quite a lot in french. He can understand basic commands, parts of the body, and different foods all in French. He's even picked up on a few words. He says, "plait" for s'il vous plait (please), lait (milk), l'eau (water), bonjour, oreille (ear), cou (neck), and probably a couple more that I can't think of right now. He has developed an interesting accent because he makes an "-uh" sound after his words. Like "bye bye-uh" and "ok-uh". It will be interesting to see how he learns to talk if he will speak in a mixture of french and english.

Normally he is a great eater...when it's something that he likes. He's starting to get into a picky phase. He's fighting the booster seat and therefore I can't get him to sit still for breakfast. I have a bowl of cereal and a sippy cup of milk, and he comes to eat each time he runs past the table. his favorite foods are still mac & cheese, spaghetti, and pizza. When we get pizza for dinner, he comes running to the table saying, "pizza, pizza". We got pizza for his birthday dinner and also made dinosaur Jello Jigglers.


He has really gotten into dinosaurs lately and loves the cartoons and the toys. So I made him a dinosaur birthday cake.
Yes. It did take a few hours to make this thing. You'd think I would have learned my lesson a few years ago (panda) and not use store bought frosting instead of buttercream, but I was impatient. oh well.
Timmy recognized it for what it was and it was worth it to see his smile. He needed help blowing out his candles.Every day he tries to push our stroller around the apartment and bumps into furniture, walls, and people. And when we go to the park, he tries to push other people's strollers and the little girl's strollers. So we caved in and got him his own. Blue of course. No pink things in our house. He promptly loaded it up with his new toys and took off.


It's so fun to see how much he is growing up. I have to keep telling myself that he is no longer my baby. Although I do appreciate it when he cuddles with me. It's weird to think of all the things that have happened since he was 1 1/2. Between meeting his betrothed and moving across the ocean he has welcomed new experiences. So you thought I was joking about his future Mrs...didn't you. Well, from the looks of this picture it may not happen anyway. Her mommy and I keep trying to come up with ways to be officially related so we can spend many family vacations together.
By the end of the week, they played better together. So well, that he was willing to share his matching football PJ's with her.

Timmy loves playing with his brothers. He admires them and watches their every move. And then he tries to copy them (both the good and bad things). Thankfully the boys play well together when Matt and Thomas are willing to let him in. Lately Matt has been stepping up in the older brother department and sits down and plays with Timmy, often leading him by the hand to go play together. It's very tender to see it.He is a big helper. He's very good about putting things away. And when he's playing toys, he looks in the toy box for a specific toy and gets it out instead of dumping the entire thing on the floor and leaving it there. There is hope to have a boy that will clean up things. I'm grateful for that because when the two older boys are in school, Timmy and I get to be buddies all day long. I'm looking forward to exploring Paris with Timmy this fall.He has a lot of energy and is constantly moving.

He loves climbing things. I have found him on top of the table many times.He enjoys watching everyone play video games and we give him an older PS2 controller to use while the others are playing.He is a very curious boy and likes to try to do new things. Especially things that he knows I said not to do. I'll say, "No no Timmy", and he'll give me that sneaky smile and walk towards the thing I said not to do. Doug says he gets that from me. Timmy we love you and we are so glad you're a part of our family. Happy Birthday!

La Fête Nationale

Happy Bastille Day!!! Today marks the day that the people stormed the Bastille, a turning point in the French Revolution. The day is celebrated with a big military parade down the Champs-Elycées. It would have been nice to see it in person, but we got a much better view from our living room TV. Besides, there was a huge rain storm on and off during the morning and the people outside were drenched. I got this picture from the internet.
When I saw the parade and then the air show (the weather was nice for that), it made me wonder what it was like for the French people when Germany occupied France in WWII. There were a ton of military troops, and vehicles. It was very humbling seeing the troops marching the streets and thinking about what it was like with Hitler at the head of the troops.

Then during the airshow, there were jets and fighter planes and helicopters all over. They were quite loud but the boys thought it was cool. I don't imagine it was cool during the war when people were afraid of being bombed.



Speaking of bombed and loud there was a big party in an apartment in our courtyard last night. It didn't really get going until about 11 PM. The loud music and talking and everything echoed like crazy off the buildings in the courtyard. I managed to find an ear plug and go to bed around 12:30 AM or so. I'm just glad they didn't wake the boys.

As tradition, we had a crèpe fête. We invited some friends over and had dinner crèpes with chicken, sautéed onions, and melted cheese, and of course the classic ham and cheese crèpes. For dessert we had crèpes with Nutella, lemon/sugar, fresh fruit and whipped cream, and of course powdered sugar and marshmallows. For some reason, Timmy doesn't like crèpes, so he ate marshmallows. It was fun to have friends over and their little boy and Timmy played quite well together. I foresee many playdates in the future.

Our friends didn't stay for fireworks because they started at 11P PM and they had a one year old. We let Matt and Thomas stay up. We stayed home because we could see them from our balcony. Perhaps next year, we'll brave the crowds down by the Eiffel Tower and go watch them.



Thomas lasted until they were done and then we asked them to go to the living room for family prayers. We found Thomas like this literally two minutes later.