With love...

A sweet message in the sand made for me on my favourite beach by Savannah.

A very Happy Mothers Day to all the awesome American and Australian Mommies I know!

Wish you were here...

We've just spent a great week in Jersey.
The sun shone every day and we got to see all of our favourite people and places.
Whenever it was warm enough the girls played on the beach.
It made everyone happy.

This Moment. Bon Weekend!

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment we want to pause, savor and remember. Joining in with Amanda and friends at SouleMama

This Moment. Sisterly Love

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment we want to pause, savor and remember. Joining in with Amanda and friends at SouleMama


The shot was staged. The kiss was spontaneous.

A special day

It's Keith's 40th birthday today! He decided to mark this milestone in more energetic style than I did mine by spending the last year training for the Paris Marathon. To prepare for his first ever marathon, he's been out running in rain, sunshine and snow all over the world; Paris, Edinburgh, Singapore, Sydney, wherever his business travels have taken him. Miraculously he managed to avoid a nasty stomach bug that had the rest of the family in bed for a week and the day of the marathon, April 7th, dawned bright and sunny although still freezing cold.

Of course, the girls and I wanted to go and support him. We followed his progress at home for the first hour (there's and app for that!) and then set out on our own marathon journey to the Trocadero where we hoped we'd get a good view. Knowing there would be nowhere to park, we made our way into Paris by train and metro; the first time I've attempted to take Florence on the stroller un-friendly metro since we moved to France.

She was so excited to be on a train for the first time that she behaved impeccably and we made it safely through the crowds (and a few fast finishers who were already on their way home!) and made it to the Eiffel Tower just in time to see Keith run past.









Quick family photo mid-race.


Whilst Keith carried on running through the Bois de Boulogne, we refueled with crêpes and candy floss before hiking across the 16th to wait at the finish line on Avenue Foch.


We were in the perfect position to see him cross the line 5 hours and 27 minutes after his start and we were all so proud and excited to see him finish his first marathon.


Receiving a hard earned finishers medal.
Happy Birthday Keith!
We love you!

I had this post all ready to go before the horrific events in Boston made the finish line of a Marathon somewhere you would not want to take your kids. Our experience of watching the Paris Marathon was such a happy family occasion, it is heartbreaking to know how tragically it ended for the people watching the finish of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Our deepest sympathies are with all those affected and best wishes for a safe and successful race to everyone running in the London Marathon this Sunday.

Twins

There's a lot going on around here and not much time for blogging. I owe you another post about Rome, our road trip to the mountains, all sorts of sewing projects and what to do in France when you find your house has been broken into. Sigh.

I'm also busy improving my photography skills again with Nicole's Classes. I finally took the plunge and started using Photoshop. What a difference it makes. The awesome straightening tool might be worth the price alone. I have the worst time keeping my horizons straight however hard I try! I've said it before and I'll say it again (just because I love them, not because the pay me to) that Nicole's Classes are great and I'd highly recommend you check them out.

I spent ages this time last year looking for an online photography class, but stumbled upon a link to Nicole's Classes after Sandra from Raincoast Cottage left a comment on one of my Love the Place you Live posts. This year she is hosting a weekly photo project Foliophoto with Bedsidesign. The prompt this week was Twins. Not too much of a stretch in this house but it reminded me of these fun photos I took of Georgia and Savannah as an assignment for my Babies, Toddlers and Kids class last October. It was supposed to be a fashiony shoot and at first they were reluctant to participate (even though the outfits were all their own styling!) but after a while they relaxed into it and these are my favourite shots. A little glimpse into the slight differences in their personalities on the left and then exuberant twininess on the right. We don't know for sure if they are identical twins, but the older they get the more convinced we become that they must be. They are best friends and worst enemies, often in the same minute, but they can't explain what it's like to be a twin. They're just sisters who are twins if you ask them!

Hope you enjoy these Spring like photos. It's the closest I can get you to a Paris Spring right now, the weather has been nothing like it was last year. It snowed again this morning!

Spring

We had a little bit of sun today (see? in the top right corner of the picture!)
and some local treats to celebrate Jour du Macaron.
A little taste of Spring.
Enjoy!