We interrupt our regular programming...

...to bring you a short film of our boy, the story teller.

Our regular (France related) programming will resume shortly.

France--Part Two

We went for a walk along the river that runs through Carcassonne one day, hoping to get out into the countryside. There wasn't really any accessible "countryside" like we'd hoped for, too many roads and cars, but we did find a nice path through some vineyards:

There were also some incredible views of the old city from the riverside:

I hope this one gives a sense of how big the city is...it really is unlike anything I'd seen before:

And now for a few more pictures from inside the old city. (We did do other things as well!)

My little lightning bug:

(Darn reflector patch on the back of his jacket. I have about dozen photos which would be awesome, if not for David's illuminated tush.)

David, of course, found some puddles to stomp in:

(But seriously, how cool is it to stomp in puddles with that kind of a backdrop?)

Back home, we had bread, cheese and local wine for dinner almost every night. (Michael and I, that is!)

How's this for stinky cheese?

If you can't tell, the brie on the right is super dusty gray on the outside. The rind was...well...Michael called it diaper cheese. The cheese on the left, though, was awesome! I couldn't look too closely while eating it, but it was delicious. The region is particularly known for goat cheese, and we all ate a lot of that, but didn't take any photos. (Turns out David loves goat cheese! Such a funny boy. Won't eat ham, for example, but bring on the goat cheese!)

Our apartment had a washer and drier, (which we used almost daily, thanks to Ryan Air's lack of a baggage allowance), but it did not have a bathtub. So, David got to take his baths in the kitchen sink!

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed them :

And that's all for now! More to come :)

France--Part One

We had a great time in Carcassonne!

Writing blogs posts has become nearly impossible, with David running and climbing on everything and Michael and I trying to get our job applications ready and out. It's very hard to find time on the computer that isn't work time! So, this will be mostly a photo share...unless David is more cooperative than I anticipate :)

In the airport, David took the German-French phrasebook from Michael, sat himself down in a chair, and set about "reading" the book. A German man walked by and bursted out laughing--David looked so serious! I didn't quite capture the moment, but it's still a fun picture.

David also loved the little ride-on airplane:

And now for France! Here is the old medieval city. Our apartment was just under the city walls, about a 5 minute walk from our door to the inside of the old city:

Here's the old church:

And, I'm sorry, but doesn't this gargoyle look like something out of Dr. Suess???


We had so much fun just wandering around and exploring the old city. Inside the inner walls are a ton of winding streets with shops and restaurants (and Best Western, believe it or not), but between the inner and outer walls it felt like an old castle. David loved it. All I could think was how much fun my brother Patrick and I would have had there as kids!!!

That's all for now! I imagine I'll have enough posts for the whole week given all of our pictures, so hopefully there will be another one tomorrow :)

Little Drummer Boy

It's Been Awhile!

The good news is, we've not been bored! The bad news is, it's been very difficult trying to find time to actually write a blog post. Right now, David is playing with some new giant Leggos, and I'm hoping that keeps him occupied for awhile. We spent the morning at the nearby playground with Anya and Emmanuel, then they came over for about an hour before lunch & naptime. Despite all that running around, David did not nap for nearly as long as usual!

Anyway, here's what we've been up to of late.

David has a new winter jacket, and I love it!

He took it upon himself to decorate it with some chalk.

With the hood attached, it makes him look a bit like Kenny from South Park. (They sell this jacket in orange, too :)

Sadly, David got his first big bump to the head last week. He was running and tripped and fell into the corner of our door-frame. It was very sad, but it seemed to bother me more than David.

He can go down a slide on his own now, which is cool...

Except that HE thinks he can go down THIS slide alone, too. He cannot.
I can barely stick the landing from this slide myself!

We had a nice little birthday gathering for Michael, with coffee and cake and a few of our friends. We were in the middle of changing our apartment a bit, so it was kind of a funny time to host. We've given David the bedroom, ditched our bed and replaced the couch with a sofa bed for us. MUCH more room, but at the time of the party, that meant no couch...but at least there was a lot of play room for the little guys!



(David's super restless, I have to rush here!) Most of what we've been doing lately is playing with Anya and Emmanuel! David and Emmanuel are such great little buddies, it is SO much fun to watch. They are really starting to play together, and it's adorable!

And, of course, a random PJ's shot. Love that potbelly!