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Little sis got her hair cut short last week. She loves wearing a mohawk, too. I finally took a picture.
you like, right? Agh! I shutter to think not...
This next week we're moving into a new house...so I may be a little absent for awhile, but I'll be back..
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(warning-this is a long one...)
The end of our European vacation was Paris. The architecture was amazing, the baguettes divine, and the weather better than London, Manchester and Venice, so tres bon!
I brought these berets with us to the Eiffel Tower. Dave loved it! (that's sarcasm if you didn't get that.)
and a little kiss on the Eiffel Tower...
Then we visited Notre Dame. I LOVED this church. It's probably one of the most beautiful buildings I've seen.
outside,
I loved this window, looks like skeleton bones...
And the gargoyles Notre Dame is so famous for are everywhere, forever watching ...
The courtyard in back. It had lovely gardens and a small playground...
These two ladies are always there at Notre Dame feeding the birds. The girls and I thought it was fantastic, they put birdseed all over the girls( much to Dave's chagrin, he was worried about bird flu -ha!) and the birds loved perching atop their heads for a snack.
Sunset on the Seine River
We visited Sacre Coeur, a famous church in Paris, way up on the hill overlooking the city.
The girls loved this street performer and his magic tricks, he was pretty cool.
Cityscape from the steps of Sacre Couer
Then we walked down through quite a few streets through a charming neighborhood called Montmarte. Narrow streets, many layed with cobblestone, home to many brasseries, florists, produce stands, patisseries, cafes and boutiques.
The famous Metropolitain sign that graced so many 30-40's advertisements.
Then we found Moulin Rouge...
and I was SO shocked when my dress blew up and my knickers flashed all the passersby...
there was a wind thing-a-ma-bobber that created this Marilyn Monroe effect...the girls loved it.
Stopping into Stabucks for a cafe au lait..and the view from our window, little sis loved the pink vespa...
dad and big sis
more street shots...
le petite
Mexican food in Paris??? We shuttered to think of the horrors inside...
a view from a cafe we ate at one afternoon
Dave was all about the baguettes. It was like vision-quest of sorts to find just the right one each day...
Moving along...the Arc d' Triomphe
We walked about half way down the Champs d' Elysees before catching a cab due to the downpour...
The Louvre
The place is MASSIVE!
The Mona Lisa...
In front of the Great Sphinx of Tanis
Hello Dum Dum... (Easter Island Moai)
The 4 Seasons 
Aphrodite
ancient Egyptian papyrus French apartments
We watched an art class at the Louvre,
One of the highlights of the trip to Paris was seeing my friend Jen. We were good friends in high school and she lives in France now. She's 7 months pregnant and looks tres magnifique! I wish we got to see each other more.
a carousel ride (across from the Eiffel Tower), big sis opted not to go round and round...
Seine river boat tours
Jardin du Luxembourg, very close to our apartment in the Latin Quarter
I have many more, but will post later...au revior!!!
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Well, David B is gone, but there's enough fab Indian restaurants and museums here in Manchester to keep me occupied. The hotel we're staying at, The Palace Hotel, is absolutely beautiful. It used to be a bank and insurance company, and the architecture and artistry is really impressive.
the doors to the restaurant
Even though it's kind of old and drafty, I love old buildings like these. They just don't make buildings like these anymore and the attention to details, all the nooks and crannies, the archways and hand-carved banisters, these are the things I could stare at for hours, thinking about the things these walls have seen.
the foyer/front desk ceiling
Then we had to wash our stinky rags. A week and a half in and out of hotel rooms, it was bloody time! We took a cab and a stuffed suitcase to a launderette by Manchester U. Here the girls befriended a little sweetheart from Tibet. Her parents are in Manchester to study at the U. She followed the girls around and giggled constantly. Big sis carried her all over and little sis gave her a small draw-string bag she had in her backpack.
We went to a delicious Indian restaurant for dinner (third time here in the UK) and enjoyed our favorites.
and big sis likes to take pictures as much as her "mum" and took this.
self portrait...waiting for Dave to come back from a meeting, bored...
Bored then, well, we walked over to Chinatown our second night.
Stopped in at a Chinese herb store, bought some rash shower gel for little sis' rash on her tummy. Then I got a little 30 minute session of acupuncture, good to do a few times a year to sort of tune-up the body...back at the hotel enjoying my first Brandy Alexander, in appreciation of one of my favorite musicians, Fiest.
Third night , walked down to a town square area, listened to some musicians play. Stopped by the good ol' Urban Outfitters and perused the sale rack, and took some pictures of different people. Let me tell you, punk is alive and well in the UK, LOOOOOVE it!!! The Brits know a lot about fashion, I could sit and people watch all day! People aren't afraid to throw on a fake fur leopard jacket, sport a bad-ass mohawk, rat out that hair reminiscent of a 60's go-go dancer, or wear a skirt that in the States would be considered too short with fuchsia colored tights covering thighs that would be considered too big-awesome!!!!
(and my camera battery promptly died right after this shot, so bummed because I had thought how cool it would have been to do a post of cool UK trends)...sigh...
Manchester was really rainy the 3 days we were there, kind of a bummer. We saw a great Science museum and sat having coffee and tea quite a lot (of course, Indian one more time) and the girls talked on the phone with their pen pals who funny enough only live a short distance away, but ended up being really sick and couldn't make it to meet up with us (bummer, but we hope to be back to the UK next year).The girls have had these 2 sisters about the same age as each of my girls for pen pals for the last 2 years. They are also homeschoolers and are faithful at snail mail letters once or twice a month. They exchange hand-made or unique gifts for birthdays and Christmas, as well as small trinkets from trips or vacations. I think it's so cool the girls at least got to talk over the phone.
And some snuggle time in with little sis. I rather thing I look quite busty in these pics...
Well, off to Paris next!!
Au Revoir!
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Translation; This spaghetti is delicious...
and it was, as is this lovely, intriguing city...Venice holds up to it's reputation as romantic and captivating.
Even with the bitter cold during the day (it oddly enough warmed up just a tad at night) (it was tough at times the days we were there), you still had to admire the narrow, time-worn streets enclosed by the tall buildings with hinged wooden shutters and planter boxes spilling over with greenery wishing for warmer weather. The streets wind around canals and intersect at corner bakeries, cookies and breads traditional in Italy displayed in windows, small coffee shops to order an espresso or cappuccino with no hurry at all to run off, and high end boutiques selling Italian leather goods, lingerie and murano glass bobbles and figurines.
At Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square. What a beautiful plaza, the craftsmanship is remarkable.
It's the major heart of the city. The square touches the water to the Adriatic Sea and allows boats to come in.
Dave was able to join us a lot in Venice in between meetings. The girls love having their dad there for trips and I agree, he's the best to hug close when it's as cold as it's been here in Europe.
Carnivale is right around the corner, so stands street-side offer a wide variety masks for sale,
At one of the restaurants we ate at, this nice owner gave the girls these play horns. They played them the rest of the night, but they actually came in handy when it came time to find some friends who'd we'd lost in the streets. 
Big sis is strictly a spaghetti and cheese pizza eater, while each meal little sis tried something new. here she's eating octopus...which she's actually eaten a few times.
and me loves me some Peroni beer...I "tried" a couple of them...
a street shrine to honor Virgin Mary... and more pictures as we walked
next, off to Manchester...ciao bella!!
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*(I'm in Europe and this was pre-scheduled to post) * With the holidays over now and I know most of us are feeling chilled to the bone, it's a great time to play along at some of the scrapbooking challenges. It's fun, a theme motivates you and you can win some cool prizes. The 3 DT I'm on currently have the following, so come play along with us!!
The Creative Type has a challenge of using your font as your embellishments. For a school themed layout, I've used staples in my embellishments and in my title. Here's big sis' school picture at her new school, isn't she the cutest 9 year old?? She also wants me to clarify she is "actually in grade 4 in the States, but here in Mexico they do 2 years of Kindy, so that's why she's in grade 3." Okay? Okay.
Escuela
and Scrap Mojo's new challenge is to use a quote from a love movie as part #1, and to journal as part #2. I used a quote from Practical Magic (such an awesome movie!), " do you ever put your arms out and spin and spin and spin? Well, that's what love is like. Everything inside of you tells you to stop before you fall, but you just keep going." I used some polaroids and a Fuji instax mini for the layout. As always, there's great prizes, so go see!
Keep Spinning
and lastly, Category Stories has a challenge, "If I had a time machine..."
"If I had a time machine, I'd ask these dames how they made these swell cocktails." I haven't done an Anne Taintor in a while and was slightly panicking when I was doing these before we left for Europe. I wanted to put, "I'd ask these dames where they got their swell, pointy bras..." but I wasn't sure others would think it was as funny as me...
Come over and play along with us!!!
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