New Years at the lake

The neighbors had polar bear swims in the afternoon...

Troy & Sophia with our friends Bryan & Susan. Sophia had been wearing a bandaid on her head to keep her from scratching & picking at a stubborn chicken pox that wouldn't go away, and when she saw that Bryan had a boo-boo on his head she insisted on picking out a Dora bandaid for him to wear. Needless to say Bryan was a great sport about it...

Hanging out with Leo

We had a short visit with Amy & Leo where Sophia decided it was better to feed Leo than to have her food taken out of her bowl (they were sharing some rice).

Christmas in Seattle

Dancing on Christmas Eve

Sophia & Papa playing with her new umbrella.

Pausing to play with a new book on Christmas morning. After opening about 3 or 4 presents Sophia was done & all she wanted to do was play with her new toys. It took the next week to finish opening the rest. A well loved little girl...

Sophia & Sean at Christmas

Scooters...

Last year Sophia had her first biking experience in Amsterdam on a seat attached to the handlebars of a giant Dutch bike. She had a great time, and we took the opportunity to purchase a tricycle with a push handle, and a helmet. Sophia has now taken to wearing her helmet around the house as she rides on her little scooter. No fear of crashing in our house, just fears for the woodwork!

Playtime with Peanut Butter & Jelly

Sophia LOVES Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, and we love the fact that she loves them given her reluctance to eat most meat of any kind (although Chicken Nuggets & Fish Sticks covered /smothered in Ketchup have been a hit lately). On this day Sophia & Ava had reached the end of playtime, and were into that (not) very pleasant part of play, the tired & hungry time, when we decided it was Peanut Butter & Jelly time.

We can purchase Peanut Butter here, but the amount of sugar in the mix makes Skippy almost look healthy, so we prefer to bring back the all natural creamy from our visits to the US.

There seems to be quite a PB&J following lately. There is a banana that sings the Peanut Butter Jelly song, which then was actually spoofed on “the Family Guy”.
Wilkipedia has a great “history of the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich”.
Strange what you come up with when you use google for normal things…

Halloween

Halloween has not really come to Paris. Euro Disney has a great celebration (the 12 year old in our building went there last night for a spooky party), but the rest of the Halloween traditions aren't really a part of Parisian life. It was actually kind of strange to be accosted on the street yesterday by a goblin mask asking for a present, "un cadeau" in French. When I asked him for a trick, in english, he said "Nevermind" and walked away.
Sophia doesn't really like the Halloween celebrations that are here. For the Cathedral Halloween Part, we tried to get her into her Princess costume, but that failed. We then tried her Pumpkin T-shirt, but that failed as well. She would allow us to paint butterflies on her cheeks and went to the party like that. They didn't last long at the party though, the minute she saw the clown it was all over (she didn't even see the vampire until later).
On Tuesday I managed to sneak her into her Pumpkin T-shirt, and that went over very well at school!
Happy Halloween Everyone!

Park Buttes Chaumont

Asian Grafitti atop Park Buttes Chaumont
With its mix of hills & waterfalls it felt more like the Pacific Northwest parks than the center of Paris
One of our great Paris discoveries, the Park Buttes Chaumont is a bit of peace and tranquility in the midst of the crazy city
Sophia being silly in front of the winding lake that stretches throughout the park

The Park Buttes Chaumont was recently profiled in National Geographic magazine as proof that Paris is one of the most park-friendly cities in the world

Deauville

About 6 months we said, "next time, we'll stay here" as we drove through the pretty & historic coast-side town of Deauville. So sure enough, there we were showing up for a weekend stay. But just because it's a beach town, doesn't mean laid back or informal.

Deauville, as it turned out, is a resort town of the jet-set crowd - packed with all the exclusive retail shops: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc. When we arrived, all the conceirge wanted to tell me was about the shops. I turned to Sophia, and asked "Don't you have anything here for kids?" He scratched his head and couldn't think of anything. I asked, "Don't you have a beach here?" Bien sur! (although it never occured to him to suggest it). I guess when your guests are mixed with the Queen of Dubai (who was staying on our floor with her 24-hour body guard posted), you have a one track mind.

As it turned out, the beach was one of the best I have ever seen. It went on forever, and everyone came out to fly kites, ride horses, and as Sophia so loved - collected and threw shells. Also, the boardwalk was quite amazing, more for people watching than anything else - but you could tell all the town strolled along the promanade.

Paradise Found in Sounion

You may have never heard of the village of Sounion, but it turned out to be a bit of paradise for the Zs travelling through Greece. We had all nights covered except the last in Voulegmeni (where Troy was working), so we ventured out on the last day. We had both always wanted to see the Temple of Poseidon, about 65 km south of Athens - so that is where we went.

We discovered the temple of Poseidon, which is generally considered one of the most amazing settings for a temple as it stands over the sheer cliffs leading into the Adriatic Sea. But we also discovered an amazing hotel at the base of the Temple. The village only has two tavernas and the hotel beach pretty much takes up the entire cove. But once there, all you can do is relax, swim, sleep and watch the occasional boats go by. We watched the families show up Friday night to be taken out to the boats for a sunset dinner and cast off in the morning for a weekend in the Mediteranian.

For us, it meant playing on the beach - where you could walk out 100 meters before shoulder height. For Sophia, it meant an outdoor beach playground that she just loved (as you can see in the photos). We could have easily stayed a week in this bit of paradise.