Seven

For me this is the age when little kids transform into big kids. The year they once and for all get too big for a pram, the year they can read everything around them so they no longer need your interpretation, the year their big front teeth grow in and the year they begin to look more like smaller versions of their adult selves.



It's hard to believe my little girl is seven! Happy birthday, Madeleine!


















For the last couple of weeks Madeleine has been working hard perfecting a new skill . . .

Paris Encore Une Fois

Not intended as a farewell visit, my weekend trip to Paris with two good friends ended up being the perfect adieu to my "other city." It will be the last time I visit her for a while as we are regrettably moving back to the States in August. It's been dreamy being a mere two-hour train ride away from The City of Lights. My first trip to Paris was for a study abroad program thirteen years ago. I have returned five times since outnumbering any other repeat visit to any other European city. I remember the very first time I laid eyes on la Tour Eiffel. It was a surreal moment. I saw her from across the river, at night. Still in a daze of jet-lag and sensory overload from my very first waft of foreign soil, I looked up and there she was. Glittering and beautiful. More beautiful than I dreamed. I screamed aloud! To this day the Eiffel Tour still evokes the same sense of jubilation when I see her. I may not scream aloud, but she is as beautiful as she was the first time I saw her.



J'aime Paris!


Shopping Galeries Lafayette


Browsing a fun kitchen shop, my friend Laura is a great cook!


I love Paris in the springtime!








Sacre Coeur


Lisa and Laura in Monmartre


With Lisa in Monmartre










The funky inside out Centre Georges Pompidou






Place des Vosges


Across the Seine




Place des Vosges


Near Les Invalides


Haute Couture


Pont Neuf


Pont Alexandre III et La Tour Eiffel









Au revoir Paris!

Horsing Around in Hyde Park

Dallin has been taking horseback riding lessons this year. His school has a wonderful selection of after school programs, everything from football (not the American kind) to rock climbing to fashion design to horseback riding. Despite the fact that he was the only boy all year, Dallin had a wonderful time! A coach (meaning a bus) collects the students and buses them down to Hyde Park each Thursday for an hour-long lesson. Dallin just loved the opportunity to spend time each week outdoors with animals. For this country boy at heart, it was great city-dwelling therapy!




























Dallin receives the most improved rider award!