Girls nights

Lately, Robert and I have been talking a lot about our future plans. I must admit that as much as I love it here, there is a part of me that longs for a more "settled" feeling. We're still renting, and therefore, view this "home" as temporary, regardless of how many years we will be here/have already been. We talk about future opportunities that may present themselves and we're quite open at this point to making another move down the road that would not lead us directly back to the US. (fortunately Robert's company is very open to global mobility among its employees and pretty much has an office everywhere in the world) I maintain a relatively strong desire to spend some time in Spain, which Robert is convinced I would hate, but nonetheless, I would do it to offer the boys an opportunity to learn spanish. Anyway, without a shadow of a doubt, the single, most important thing I will miss whenever it is that we leave this area is my network of friendships. This summer, with Robert not travelling much, I've been able to attend several nights out with girlfriends which have all been a blast. And spending time with said friends AND our children is just the greatest. I know for sure that I will maintain a life-long friendship with so many of the friends I have made in the last 3 years, and it will be so fun to reminisce and reflect back on these times in the future, as it is to reflect back now with my childhood friends and university friends back home.

Ryan's first dip in the Med

I was well over 30 before having the fortunate opportunity of swimming in the Mediterannean. Andrew and Ryan were less than a year when they had their first dip! Since summer started, I have been a little reluctant to take both boys to the beach, especially on my own, since I find I don't have enough eyeballs to watch over even just Andrew when we're near water. A few weekends ago, Robert suggested we do an early morning family swim so we headed down to our very favorite beach in Juan-Les-Pins and had an absolutely glorious morning. We got there just after 8am, so we had no trouble finding a parking spot and were one of the first ones on the beach. The boys just LOVED playing in the sand, and Ryan has proven to be a water-baby too, just like his older brother.

Pool Time!

As my group of amazing friends here expands, so has that of my friends who have pools. We have been having a wonderful summer thus far, spending many days at various friends' houses for swims, lunches and playtime, in addition to several trips to the local public pool facility where Andrew is now swimming comfortably in the "deep pool", with me by his side. (unfortunately, one parent and two little ones nearby a pool does not result in many opps to take photos) However, one of the best parts of our summer for sure has been the pool that we have in our own backyard that we bought off of angloinfo for 100 euros. Andrew loves it and asks to go in it the second he gets out of bed in the morning, which of late, has been 5:30am...ugh! Ryan loves to splash around and cool off before a nice long nap. And I love it because I can entertain the kids and I don't have to leave home! I don't have to pack a suitcase of necessities for the boys before leaving home...I can put Ryan down to sleep the second he shows signs of sleepiness. And we can return the favour of playdates and lunches all year long at other people's homes by having friends come to ours for swims and lunches. I actually even enjoy the daily cleaning and maintenance involved with the pool...and have been blessed with some time to myself of late, floating around in my favourite pool chair, reading my book. Ahhh...summer!

Vacation for a day

One of the biggest benefits to our family of living in Europe is the amount of time-off that is granted to Robert. In May, he was notified of several weeks of vacation time that were close to "expiration", ie. use them or lose them. Robert got on the net shortly thereafter, and started looking at various possible destinations. Until I made the suggestion of taking a vacation "at home". Pointing out that thousands of people pay thousands of dollars to come to the south of France to enjoy the summer days...and we have it all in our backyard, so to speak. In addition, taking a non-walking baby, who eats 5 times a day of relatively pureed foods, and poops at least as much means a whole lot of shlepping of baby stuff involved in any sort of travel. He agreed. The first block of time he used was the last week of June, and it was a wonderfully relaxing week. He went to a different beach every single day, some days on his own, some days with the whole fam, and one day with just me (photos above). It was paradise. We got to the beach before 9 and left shortly before 5. Naps, reading, swims and French cuisine on the beach for lunch, what more could you ask for in a vacation day?! I'm very pumped, cuz we have two more "vacation days" to ourselves this coming week. And as my friend pointed out, the best part of vacations at home is that you don't feel the need for a vacation from your vacation.