South France

On Wednesday, we left Paris and headed south. We took a TGV fast train from Paris to Avignon, and though it was delayed, the scenery was gorgeous and we both got a little extra, much needed sleep. When we arrived in Avignon, we rented a car (after taking a bus to the "other" train station, which Justin tried to avoid transfers to the car rental location). We found our car, a standard, as is every car here. Our first drive was stressful, included some stalling and a scary trip up a steep hill into a parking garage, but we made it across town to see some sights in Avignon.

Avignon was the temporary location of the Pope and the Catholic Church for a little while, so we toured the Pope's palace, the views from the hill, and the bridge to nowhere. Fun to see!

We then traveled to the Pont de Gard, which was a Roman aqueduct built in 19 BC. It was huge, gorgeous, and seeing it in the evening was a real treat.

Following that stop, we drove 2.5 hours to our hotel near Bandol, which is Dorothy's hometown (the bride in the wedding we are attending Sunday night). We had only 3 wrong turns, 2 of which were quickly corrected by a u-turn, and 1 which had us lost for only about 10-15 minutes. Not too bad considering we can't exactly read the road signs (in hindsight, that's something one should research prior to driving in a foreign country).

After a fun, stressful, and exciting trip from Paris to Six Four les Plages (the actual little town we are staying in), we arrived at about 10:30 pm, checked into our hotel and went to bed.

Yesterday and today was full of sight seeing, taking in the gorgeous coastline and vineyard views, time on the beach, a nice little hike and a swim in the fjords (very cold).

Missing Jack tremendously, but making the most of the trip.

Milk

At Jack's 1 year appointment, his pediatrician said Jack was very healthy, and that he was ready for real milk. I was admittedly a little concerned about the timing of this conversion, as we were leaving him with his grandparents, and we didn't want to add anything more stressful to this change. But, knowing that Jack is happy to consume almost anything, with the exception of vegetables not in puréed form, we figured we'd give it a go.

We gave him his first taste of milk, mixed with formula, in a few bottles before we left. We made further suggestions on how to continue the conversion, and wanted Jack to pick the pace. A little over a week later, he is now off the formula, and the report is that he really likes the milk.

Paris coming to an end

So far, we have had an amazing time in Paris, France. We have enjoyed four and a half days here now, and still have tomorrow to catch anything we have missed. Here are the highlights...

Day 1: Arrive, saw the exterior of the Arc de Triomphe (bus tour), Eiffel Tower
Day 2: Spend some time with friends on Champs-Élysées and walking around the city. We had a wonderful lunch at a place we otherwise would not have been able to enjoy without the help of Dorothee, and had some wonderful time at the park in front of the Louvre.
Day 3: Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, Pont Neuf, Saint Sulpice, Luxembourg Gardens, Sacre-Coeur, Place des Vosges, plus walking around the many different neighborhoods of Paris (we totally over did it this day!)
Day 4: Palace of Versailles
Day 5: Louvre, Orangerie Museum, more park time, and an amazing dinner out at Chez Janouz.

Not sure what tomorrow will have in store, but Paris is amazing, so I'm sure it will be memorable and pleasant.

We are missing Jack SO much. We can't wait to hearers about his walking and talking, and everything else we are missing!

Jack with Grandma and Papa

Jack has appeared to have lots of fun with Grandma and Papa over the last few days. We requested that they send a photograph everyday, so we can see Jack regularly. They have exceeded our hopes, and here are a couple to share...

Child friendly

As Justin and I travel around Paris, we can't help but notice all the things there are to do for kids, especially in the many parks throughout the city. Boats and ponies, sandboxes and merry-go-rounds. Most of these activities would probably be better a year from now, and there are lots of things Jack wouldn't do very well, but we miss his so much we tend to notice all other kids playing and enjoying the city.

We will be so excited to see our baby again!

Paris Arrival

We boarded a plane bound for Chicago yesterday at about 12:30. After a short delay, we arrived in Chicago, killed a few hours, and then boarded our plane to Paris, France. We sat at the gate for a little over an hour due to a mechanical issue, but eventually got in the air. Neither of us slept well, but we arrived in Paris all the same.

We became familiar with the metro, riding it to get near our hotel. We exited the train area a bit earlier than we had attended, so we walked a bit to the hotel, which was our first of many adventures to come. Adventure because we didn't exactly have the address to the hotel. :) I count on Justin for these things, and in his defense, he had emailed it to himself (effort in going paperless). But, without an internet connection, we couldn't download his email. We used GPS to get us close, then I took over. I pointed in the direction of the other corner used to exit the nearby metro station, we walked a block, then I indicates to make a right hand turn, and there was the hotel. Probably lucky, and we'll be sure to be better prepared next time.

We are off to see some sight, hoping the rain doesn't bog us down, and get some dinner. Now if I can only keep my husband speaking in the right language... Twice now he has used a language other than French when trying to communicate. He said "Si" to one lady, and used the Italian word for 2 when ordering coffee. At least he's trying. I think it's rather adorable!

WALKING!

Jack took his first steps! Actually, he took them a couple weeks ago, on Thursday, May 31st.  This was the night before I left town for a girls weekend in Steamboat Springs, and though I'd tried to get Jack to walk to me on a few occasions, I think he knew I'd continue to offer help if he whined for it. But when dad came home from work, Jack was standing at the kitchen table, and Justin was able to coax Jack to take his first unaided steps toward him.  He took 2 steps, stopped to catch his balance while Justin quickly got my attention, and then took 2 more steps. 

Jack had taken a few more steps, in similar fashion, over the course of the next couple weeks.  But, of course, every time we tried to catch it on film, he wouldn't oblidge (can't tell you how many videos I deleted).  But we finally got it.  Yesterday, which just happened to be Father's Day, Jack did a couple laps between dad and mom.  So, we quickly got out the camera, and caught this:

We can not begin to explain how excited we were to finally capture those bobbly steps, and this video will be traveling with us on our upcoming trip. I will just hope that he hasn't mastered the art of walking in the time we are gone, as I love watching the zombie walking (arms out for balance, awkwardly straight legs - just like a zombie).

Jack's 1st Birthday Party

For Jack's first birthday, we hosted a party that included many friends and family. Over 40 guests came to help us celebrate, and celebrate we did!  I even counted at least 17 children.  It was fun. After enjoying some good food and play, we sang to Jack.  He covered his eyes, seemingly embarrassed to be the center of attention while everyone stared at him. He was offered a cupcake, and though he didn't take more than a few bites, he did try to share the frosting with dad and mom.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made it such an incredible event.  We love you!
More photos can be seen at the Picasa site.  Also, I'd like to make a request to anyone out there who took photos at the event... We were busy enough that a camera didn't even occur to us, so we would appreciate seeing the great shots you took!

Fun with Family

Last week, following the wedding of my cousin in Lincoln, NE, the Templin's remained in town for some much needed R&R (although I'm not certain how must R&R they actually get when they are in town, as they seem to keep pretty busy with outings and cooking amazing meals!).  The Hesseltine side of the family got together on many occasions, and we had a lot of fun spending time together.  Here are some photos from the fun times we had together (mostly curtosy of my sister who is learning to take amazing pictures with her fancy camera).

The following photos were taken on Jack's actual first birthday, after arriving to Grandma and Papa's house from our long drive from Lincoln, NE.

The birthday boy! 1 year old.

This is Jack playing his typical hide behind the chair.  He usually plays with us or Ozzie after dinner each night, but this night he played with Grace.  Cutest thing ever.

More chair chasing.

These pictures are from a trip to a little water fountain.  Grandma, Sarah and Grace joined us near my doctor's office, and played in the water while I had my appointment.  I think everyone had fun. Grace reportedly liked to walk around in the water, and Jack splashed up a storm.

Pure JOY! Love him!

We also took some family photos.  The Templin's and Buckmaster's got this as an anniversary gift for my parents, as a way to record our current family as a whole. We will post these photos later, but in the meantime, here are some photographs of the picnic and park time that followed the photo shoot.

Uncle's and a Fish Fry

The family took a little road trip (8.5 hours... not so little) to Lincoln, NE for cousin Tom's wedding last weekend.  It was also a bit of a family reunion as the whole Hesseltine/Morse crew came to town.  It was another fun weekend with family, and the Buckmaster's haven't made the trip back to Nebraska for the reunion almost two years now.... so you could say we were due.  We had a lot of fun moments and one of them was Friday night's fish fry at Uncle Brian's house.  The food was excellent and so was the company.  Sonia's other Uncle Alan restored this kids pedal car (yes she has a lot more Uncle's than I do). It was really impressive and Jack loved playing in it.  His legs were a little short to pedal, but he had fun chasing his cousins around it all the same.  Thanks Uncle Steven for the picture and Carrie for touching it up... all from Steve's smartphone!  I really do love this picture.

Steven also took Jack for a little time on the swing (seen in the background of this picture) and you can see for yourself how that one played out ;)

I'm sure there will be many more just like it.  I guess that's what uncles are for.  

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

My dearest Jack,
I will never be able to adequately put into words the joy you have brought to my life. This past year has been such an amazing time, as this family has grown both in numbers and in love. You make our lives so much richer, and I feel blessed by God for everyday we spend together! I pray for so many more.

I spent a lot of time today remembering how you came into this world, and how I felt when the doctor placed you in my arms exactly one year ago. I was totally elated, in complete awe of your perfection, thrilled you were a healthy little boy, and I felt that a void in my life had suddenly been filled. I imagine I will recount that day multiple times thought my life, but especially on every June 10th! It was perfect.

Happy first birthday my beautiful baby boy. I love you so much!
Mommy

Bike Rides

Last weekend, while I was out of town, Justin decided to go buy a new little toy for Jack and himself.  A few years ago, Justin built himself a bicycle, and has since gotten far less use out of it than he would have liked.  I guess he figured that Jack would probably enjoy it too, as much as Jack loves being outside.  After doing a fair bit of research online, trying to find a seat that would work for Jack and Justin, he bought one.  Justin got it set up, and the two of them have already been on a few bike rides.  Yesterday I got to see it in action for the first time, and it was quite adorable.  My favorite part is just how cute Jack looks in his awesome bike helmet!

Justin tells me that Jack starts giggling when they go fast.  I think he's going to be a bit of a daredevil. ;)

I've never been much of a bike rider, in fact I'd say that I've had a bit of a hatred for the activity as a whole.  But, I think I'm coming around, and I can foresee that it won't take me long to be riding a bike along side the two of them.  I'd certainly not like to miss out on any good family fun.

Memorial Day and the Zoo

It was the first time in a long time the whole family got a chance to go out and I actually had the whole weekend off from work.  It was a much needed break.  By Monday we had taken care of chores and were looking to get out of the house.  We've been talking about going back to the zoo for some time, since the last time we went was in December for zoo lights.  We planned on getting a pass for this year, and with summer nearly being in full effect we decided to go and make a day of it.

We packed a lunch for Jack and headed out.  For looking incredibly crowded at the front doors it wasn't bad at all.  The Denver zoo is so big it can handle big crowds on holidays without much of a problem.  The best part about our trip was the opening of the "Toyota Elephant Passage".  The zoo has been building a new Elephant exhibit for a long time now and it is pretty awesome.  It's state of the art and we were really excited to see it.  Although it's an additional $5/member we decided to go anyway.  Let's be honest it was pretty exclusive and most people were turned off by the extra price.  The zoo isn't cheap if you pay per visit,  and we overheard some people complaining about the extra fee, but where else can you go and see a Lion, Gorilla, Monkey, Zebra, Rhino, Elephant etc etc.  Africa... that's where, and they don't have Penguins in Africa either.  So let's all pay the $5 door fee and go see some Elephants!!! 

New Toyota Elephant passage indoor exhibit.  I bet you can't find the Toyota symbol.  They were everywhere.  

Jack fell asleep by the time we got to the Elephant exhibit so I guess we'll have to go back again... darnit!

Another Elephant.

Sonia in the wild surrounded by Elephants and people.... mostly people.

An Elephant went swimming and did some tricks for the crowd.  It was fun.  A great memorial day with the family.  Now we have to go back so Jack can enjoy it too.  

 

First Haircut

Jack's first haircut took place on Saturday, May 12th.  He did so well during the cut.  We went to this little place that specializes with children, he got to sit in a little red fire truck (which had straps to hold him in), and he got to watch Mickey Mouse on the TV that was set up in front of him. He sat there, tried to take it all in, reached back for the scissors a few times, but took it all in stride.  It was awesome!

Of course we saved a little hair for his baby book. The end result was much better than the long locks he had going on, but it wasn't amazing.  For the most part it looked a little like they'd put a bowl on his head and trimmed around it.  Not to mention it was super expensive considering he sat in that chair for approximately 10 minutes.  They are making a killing, and we will be looking for good ways to avoid overpaying for haircuts in the future.  I have a girlfriend, Lauren, who cuts her son's hair.  Perhaps she'll have to show me her tricks!

Dad's a Sucker

We were heading to the grocery store and it was just Jack and me.  Mom was taking a nap so we decided to get out of the house.  Well Jack was being a little fussy and acting kind of hungry so I gave him a cracker in the car... probably not something Mom would have done.  He didn't peep a whole lot, but that's cause he was busy making a mess.  We just got this second car seat so we wouldn't have to keep switching them if we took my car instead of Sonia's.  Jack took care of the break in for us, there was cracker everywhere, I doubt much went in his mouth.  You know how you baby stuff when you get it to keep it "new" as long as possible... don't have to worry about that anymore.