have i mentioned lately how much i love Ca.? sometimes it just hits me! this was our view driving down the mountain this weekend after a super-duper-with-sugar-and-snow-on-top-time in Big Bear. 

my kind of town (chicago is.)

this windy city has been a staple in our lives for...well, about a decade plus. and every time I revisit, i am always amazed at the endless choices of anything related to fun. be it a family trip, a couples trip, or in the case of this past weekend, some friend-time, chi-town is the place. 
thank you, K, for an amazing weekend! and thank you, hubs, for holding down the fort back in SD. (girl and the goat, gilt bar, hugo's frog bar, and the publican-my belly thanks you, too! i have witnessed, and i am a baptized "foodie". for life.) seriously, my kind of town!

four passports. one summer.

backpacking through europe looks a little different these days. 

had my own personal masseur on the the train, because that, my friends,  is how i roll!

and now we are civilized.

when it sizzles.

oh, hello, notre dame!

this may just be my favorite pic of the whole trip-my little guy and "storkie" following Daddy through the Luxemburg Gardens.

     Little Snapshots.

dear france,

happy bastille day and thank you for letting us crash the party!

the littles loved the riverboat cruise along your seine (which might i add is the place to be on this holiday). there was lots of waving to the partiers along the banks and hooting and hollering at their echoes under each bridge (did i mention there are a lot of bridges along this river?)

love, us.

the tuileries garden:

can i just say, the Parisians do not mess around when it comes to parks! this place is pretty much the bomb-diggity when it comes to outdoor urban fun for littles and their grown-ups.

never wake a sleeping baby! i don't care where you are.

the palace of versailles. the littles' favorite part? tearing through the gardens playing hide-and-go-seek and making friends with a family of ducklings in Poseidon's fountain. 
really, that's my favorite part, too!

shhhh! the husbands think we're at the Louvre.
(we actually did go, but seeing so much art can make a girl thirsty!)

a walk in (and around) the park.

there was just something special about this day. it was the last afternoon of our trip and everyone was just enjoying the day. it was one of those days that you wish could go on forever. (was it partly because i was a little nervous for the overseas flight back home with the littles? maybe just a touch-but mostly because it was just a good trip-and i didn't want it to end.)

greatest book store ever. if books are your thing, you will literally salivate. i'm talking teething-baby style! my purchase? a moveable feast. i'd like to say i'll treasure that copy forever, but seeing as i left it on the plane the next day, i was off to the local library back in so. cal to get a copy.
se la vie, right? i still love this book store!

speaking of teething babies, well at least one teething baby, anyhow, the boys were so excited to find this  little park, which was a hop-skip-and-a-few-jumps from Shakespeare and Co. bookstore and right across the street from Notre Dame. So, after a few french fries we got from a little stand around the corner, p and I sat and chilled as the littles ran wild. 

giving out my usual safety instructions

wy said this park was "the best park ever"! I kind of have to agree.
until next time, Paris.
au revoir!

Oh, Paris!

from the moment we set foot off the train in the Gare de Lyon, i realized this just may be my favorite city on earth.we made ourselves comfortable in a little apartment in St. Germain des Pres. our (yes, i'm pretending we own it.)  living room windows had a view of the boulevard St. Germain below, candy-stand and all-not to mention, four of our favorite friends, the brunckhursts, were stationed only 2 blocks away. 2 kids, the hubs, me, and our friends-in Paris. sometimes, i can not believe it all actually happened.

 it was that good. 

another paris favorite of mine: after a busy morning of exploring-just grab a couch, your favorite stuffed animal, and cuddle.

macaroons, anyone?
because if so, we could just pop across the street and pick up a few!

when i look at this apartment, so many happy memories come flooding back. this trip is going down in the books as one of the best. what an amazing family experience. (yep, that's a shirtless william holden on the tv. Paris When it Sizzles, people!)

living in a postcard-some people actually do it!

if you're going to be a monk, this is the place to do it. Sénanque Abbey. 
Click this to have a peak at their daily schedule. (up at 4:10a!) at least now i know that when the kids get me up before the crack of dawn, somewhere at the abbey, i have some morning friends-albeit in a different time zone, but good company nontheless.

i like to call this one, "if you make us take one more picture...!"

one day, i'd like to go back for a tour. for now, i'll settle for some playtime around the lavender and a visit to the gift shop for a lavender scented calendar and lavender infused mustard-sounds weird, but seriously tasty!

absolute friendship at the arena in arles.

the storming of the dungeon!
the hunt for toothless continues!

 after some serious dungeon storming, the grownups needed to do a little wine tasting in a cave. hey man, searching for dragons in a medieval castle is serious physical work!

and a little french-grape-juice-souvenir to make mama smile.

sunday afternoon provincial market scores!

we got to spend our first sunday in provence at the isle sur la sorgue market. 

after cruising the veggies stands (and grabbing some delicious carrots-i mean my kids ate them! they had to be good!) wy buddied-up with the flower girl and she gave him a 2 for 1 lavender deal (made him very happy!) after that, we stumbled upon a wine bar (and that made p and i very happy). it was a good afternoon.

post-market feast.

besties in provence 

nighty-night.

biarritz

home sweet, biarritz, home

our delicious corner bakery in the St. Charles Quarter (oldest neighborhood in biarritz)
best baguette sandwiches and peach tarts. if my jeans are a bit tight right now...this is the culprit! Whaa! right?

baths, pjs, and...well...donuts! embrace the jet-lag, we say!
you gotta live!

cool kid

happy lady

wooden shutters, beautiful chimneys, and wrought iron balconies-serious architectural eye-candy! can you even imagine if your apartment were directly above a bakery? 

(not as dangerous as it looks. at least, that's what p told me...)

my sweet chevalier!

i miss this kitchen window.

couldn't resist! it was the radishes!

enjoying the view from our home.
this balcony looked out over the beautiful tiled roofs of the st. charles quarter. and yes, i miss it!

we actually got to have lunch at a cafe one afternoon (this was a biiig deal you see, as our children-how shall we say, haven't quite learned the art of dining out as of yet. so, they played on the gazebo with some French Tween Girls, while Pete and I enjoyed a bite to eat. It was heaven!)

my sweet little tree-hugger

"when i'm a grown-up, i'm going to surf with daddy."

the grande plage.
it became our nightly ritual to walk down here and take a little family stroll down the boardwalk, before heading back home for din-din. one evening, both the kids passed out in their strollers and we were able to sit down and have a glass of wine. heaven i tell you.