Remember when I told you I wanted to stay in America?

We did a nice skype call to wish my mom a happy birthday, and AJ helped electronically blow out the candles.  Prior to the call, AJ said she really wished we could be home for Yaya's birthday, and she did not mean home in our Parisian apartment.

As the call neared an end, my mom started getting teary eyed, which set off the cyclical water works.  AJ made a joke and shouted joyfully that she was not crying in fact!  After hanging up, she said to me - "Remember when I told you I wanted to stay in America?  Well I am keeping that.  That is what I wanted.  I didn't want to move to Paris."  Waterworks round 2.

So, for all you that were getting jealous looking at our amazing photos (and they are!), just sharing that not every day is a sunny-Eiffel-tower kind of day!

AJ goes back to school tomorrow, so that should help her feel more settled in again with her friends.  And then next school vacation, my mom will be here!

2 weeks of school vacation every 6 weeks

So in France, about every 2 months, the kids get 2 WEEKS off of school.  So, for us, a month into our adventure here AJ is now off for 2 weeks.  I had a business trip to UK (Cambridge and the office that is about 45 min from London), so I encouraged Pete to have him and AJ explore London, while I worked.  It worked out really nice!  On all three days, I saw them for either breakfast or dinner or both…so it was like a normal work day, rather than being away.  Pete and AJ had a blast exploring the city – I was a bit jealous, but as one of my coworkers reminded me, they are still doing the change of the guards the same way they were 14 years ago when I was in London, and for hundreds of years!

A little glimpse of what these guys were up to for the three days below.

On Friday night into Saturday, we all hung as a family in the city.  On Saturday we walked (2 miles!) from our hotel to the London Zoo, and then spent 4 hours there!  The Stone Zoo doesn’t exacty stack up

some photos below

the place we went for drinks on Friday.  You get paid 1x a month in Europe

Monkeying around at the zoo

Seasoned traveller.  Carrying her own stuff

Under the sea at the zoo

Combo bird/climbing structure at the zoo

Is it a zebra or a donkey.....Okipai

A little beer and pizza watching some Rugby at a bar in London

Pete and AJ on the London Eye - looks like Coca-cola went a bit crazy on the branding.

Tower bridge

every city.....AJ loves the strange costumed people

AJs photography

Girls at the zoo

Are you settled yet?

This is the question we get most frequently.  I think the answer is mostly, for the stuff worth talking about. 

AJ is in school, loves it, has some friends already, and has gone to her first birthday party.  Her room is decorated with Disney princess items.  She has discovered a love for fresh baguettes, chocolate croissants, and the fresh taste of all the non-hormone-treated milk and yogurt you find in France.  She goes on a random merry-go-round that we find in all corners of the city about every weekend, and has even tried a sip of espresso and beer (both of which she thankfully hated).  She walks about 5-8 miles a day on the weekends, and only complaints about 10 times (down from about 35 or 100!)  So I would say she is settled….

Pete has figured out a new routine.  He has a running route, does online language lessons about an hour a day, takes care of the dog, and takes AJ to and from school bus stop. We still have a ton of small things to get settled with, so that fills the days.  He is in the process of registering for an intensive language course, where he will go for classroom language M-F, 9-1 for a few weeks.  He has found a craft beer store, so I would say he is settled….

I have figured out how to work from a home office (which is easier and busier than I thought), navigate my new job a bit, and start to build out what I want to do for work.  I found a place to do my eyebrows (sorry Nhung/Merle Norman), and a place around the corner for mani/pedi.  I, like AJ, enjoy the baguettes and fresh paninis and meringues from the bakery around the corner.  I have figured out skyping with friends and family, and even downloaded a fix so we can watch American TV on the computer.  So we are all settled…

The stuff that is not settled, is a little bit aggravating, time consuming and not all the interesting.  We have no idea how to accept packages at our apartment, we cant get our bank to deliver our ATM cards or checkbooks, my company is all turned around with issuing me a paycheck, I have spent over 4 hours on the phone with AT&T trying to unlock my lovely iphone 6s so I can replace the cruddy one they gave me, AJ doesn’t have a pediatrician, we don’t have health insurance cards (and wont for about 9 months), the “guardian” of our building (fancy name for the lady who cleans the stairs and lobby) hates us because we dirty the stairs, and in about every interaction outside our home, we get by on smiles, gestures and pointing….but that’s all small stuff in the grand scheme of life!

The first few days

So we are basically all set-up in our apartment, and it is fabulous.  AJs room took priority, and she has created another disney princess wonderland - so she is happy :-)  We bought her a soft pink rug, and given her disdain for jeans, and love of soft comfortable clothing, again, you can imagine she was happy!

Some pictures of the apartment below.

Her first day of school went off amazing!  She really seems to LOVE it.  She has already found a "bestie," her name is Alexa.  She seems to like her teacher, Ms Kay, and even loves the uniform.  She gets to ride a coach bus to and from school - so it is very nice and comfortable.  She comes home full of new stories and exciting things to share.    She has been invited to a birthday party of one of her classmates - so lots to look forward to.  It sounds like the Parisian version of "monkey joes" so we'll let you know how that goes.

Generally, "city living" is going well, although some adjustments.  We went to the furniture store, a convenient 0.4 miles from our house- what should be a 7-8 minute leisurely stroll.  Turns out, when you are carrying a 150lb bookcase back from the furniture store, 0.4 miles is a long way!  I guess we could have Uber'ed it between the store and the house....better luck next time.  We are all breathless after the 3 flights of stairs every day, inclduing the dog, but hopefully it is kicking our asses into shape!

Exploring Madrid - Feb 6-8

After my first EU business trip ended (it started just 7 days after moving to Paris…), decided to have Pete and AJ join me in Madrid.  It seemed a cool chance to take advantage of Pete not working, soften the blow of my rapid jump back into work, and explore a city that I lived in 12 years ago!  We mostly enjoyed ourselves, and just explored the city.  Did some of AJs favorite activities, which was enjoying and paying street performers and balloon artists. 

We also enjoyed a bit of Spanish Omelette and Ham in a number of small bars

One of the highlights was a trip to the Palacio Real, where it was a working palace hundreds of years ago! The other one was definitely the boats in Parque Retiro - something that brought back memories of things I used to do back in 2004 when my visitors came (Jenni, Gina, Caitlin, Michael)

Pete and I really liked the Flamenco show - AJ was excited to go, but was less than impressed in the end.  Oh well, hard to please a 6 yo.

All in all, a nice 72 hours in Madrid!

Theses were two random pictures.  On the left, Pete suggested re-enacting our proposal.  On the right, AJ stood near "Madrid's Arc de Triomphe"

And no trip is complete without a chocolate croissant!