DVF in the making . . .

We can show this to Cate when she's designing fashion some day.   Cate went for the purple-princess-gown look, and my design, not pictured, was a teal/yellow/brown combo of shorts and fashionable fur vest.  I'm not sure who had more fun.

And She's Off . . .

Does Emma look proud here?  She is.  Emma decided to crawl last night, and not just the slithering, but full-on belly-off-the-ground motion.  Her first stop was the dog food and second was the magazine basket.  This picture is her just after shredding a few pages.

Apparently Emma likes big statements because she also got her first tooth yesterday.  It's popping through on her lower left.  Cate enjoys examining it.

And, speaking of Cate, I don't have any pictures to share yet of her headed to school.  I think we are getting on top of the out-the-door routine though, so I hope to catch one next week.  As you may know, Cate is not a morning person, so with her class starting at 8:30 a.m., from when I wake her at 8:00 to the car is a busy 30 minutes.  But, to my somewhat surprise, she is enjoying it.  One morning this week, when we were in the kitchen area about to go, she told me to turn the tv off and take her to school.

Summer 2011 - Part III - The Big Apple

We also made a trip to NYC to see Charlie's family.  We were there for a short weekend, but typical of my experiences in NYC, we were busy.

Cate coaching Daddy and Grandpa (commonly called "Harvey" by Cate)

I wish our playground had a bucket/pulley system like this . . . 

Cate found some good hands to hold while doing some city walking . . . 

Between FAO Schwarz and Eloise's "house" we made music . . . 

And the real thing I've dreamed about since BIG . . . 

Dinner is always more enjoyable with Uncle Joe's ears to entertain Cate . . .

When we were caught in the rain while walking back to our hotel after dinner, a horse and carriage helped everyone.  We managed to stay dry, feed Cate's princess-craze, and sentimentalize our own cheesy engagement years ago!

Summer 2011 - Part II - Bring it on Tex!

Our second trip of the summer was a week to visit my family in Lubbock, Texas.  Even though my entire immediate family has relocated to Lubbock within the past few years, I maintain that I am New Mexican! Yet, I love the spaciousness of Texas housing and the easy pace of life, and plenty of parts of life there remind me of NM.  I loved the chance to share that with Cate and Emma.

It doesn't get much better than heading out with your older cousins in Grandma Gigi's car, where everyone (except Emma) has pink carseats or boosters.

Life just gets better and better for Emma - bouncers, swimming pools, and more - she's finally able to get her her hands into all these things she's been watching and studying for months!

Cousin Mayzie practicing her big-sister skills . . .

Cate's fetish with garden hoses and water continues . . .

Ditto for her Mickey Mouse/princess craze . . . designated princesses acting out a Minnie Mouse pajama party . . .

Painting outdoors, in my opinion, the only way to allow a 2.5 year-old to paint . . .

Summer 2011 - Part I - C'est la vie

Our summer started with a visit across the sea to one of my favorite places our family has visited - Provence, France.  We had done a couple of weekend trips to Provence over the summer Charlie and I worked in Cleary's and Debevoise's respective London offices.  Needless to say, the trip was definitely "different" with two little ones in tow (i.e. my earlier trips I failed to take note of the carousel life in the little villages), but overall we enjoyed our adventure.  And, with my parents along with us, having eight hands for Cate and Emma, made a tremendous difference.  

Our pictures, sadly, have several gaps.  My mom lost her purse and camera to a car thief just outside St. Remy.  Luckily, no one was hurt, but I'll have to fill in with pictures from the Internet.

Below is a picture of the bastide we rented for the most part of our stay.  Located a few blocks from the center of St. Remy, we could walk into town, or more importantly and even closer, to the neighborhood bakery.  I am still upset by how awful our bread at home tastes.  Even the bread from the French-equivalent of Giant outshines the best DC has to offer.  Clue me in if you know the secret to their bread.  Is it the ingredients, the oven?  What are we missing.

(*picture courtesy of Mas de Anges, we had captured the house on our "lost" camera!)


Below are shots of the carousel life in Provence!

** note Cate's little purple scarf - Cate noticed these on many little girls there, and Cate wanted one : ) 

On the river in Sur la Sorgue - town for furniture shopping, would love to return one day and have chance to fill up a crate and ship home!)

Just outside St. Remy, on way to Les Baux - loved the wildflowers and open space!

Shopped and looked at these great bags, and then never ended up with one to bring back - such a shame, but I suppose we enjoyed the process.

Chasing in one of pedestrian squares in Avignon

A few more pics of Avignon...

And a few of Roussillon . . .

Cate wanted these dogs!!

Cate in denial that she's a little too big for Emma's stroller . . .

A pic outside Gordes . . .

Emma's preferred place - the highchair!

A street market stop on our way to Uzes...

A few pictures from Uzes . . .

Cate enjoying marzipan fruit post visit to Bechard en Aix en Provence . . .

We also spent a day/night in Paradou, but it wasn't our high point of the trip.  We had a botched dinner reservation at the bistro (see pic below) and lost the famous "purple baby" (later to reunited in the USA)  . . .

Traveling to the airport . . . 

On the plane home . . .