For those of you with rug rats at home

I just ran across this in the NY Times. I actually bought some of these for Mia when I was in the States this past July, because none of them are available without a prescription here in France. On our last visit to Dr. Oui, I showed him the medication just to check the dosage before cold season begins. He read the back label and laughed, "This is illegal in France!" For a country that has one of the highest consumption rates of medication in Europe, they sure are strict. And with good reason, it seems...

Rainy day

What do you do on a rainy Saturday in Bordeaux? Make cookies, of course.

After school

we went to get Paola's sister Anouk from the Nanny's house. When Elodie gets off work she bikes over to pick up Paola, then puts her in the bike seat to pick up Anouk. Then she puts Anouk into the bike seat and Paola is coerced into walking home with bread, songs and games. Today, Paola rode in Mia's stroller while Bug walked (or ran) the way to Elodie's house.

At the school playground

In the playground (yes, that's a church-turned-retirement-home in the background):

Friday afternoon

We just got off the phone with Nano who is now on her way to Bordeaux. We thought that, with the sunny weather, it would be fun to pick up cousin Paola after school and go to the park together. I promise I'll post pictures!

(Later)

Mia playing on the slide:

Et ca continue...

Aunt Zoe was here and gone too fast... Mia keeps asking to go downstairs to her room and when I say no she puts her hand on her cheek and whispers, "nite-nite". Zoe did a lot of sleeping when she was here so I hope she's going back well-rested.

I barely had time to change the sheets before Sophie's husband Thibault showed up and Thomas' cousin Dodo arrived for their stay. Lucky for me they both arrived with a bouquet of flowers! Dodo even did the shopping and cooked dinner. Now I remember why I fell in love with my (half) Italian.

To my great dismay this morning I read in the paper that the SNCF has decided to go on strike. Of course, they'll begin just two days before my Leave-the-Husband-and-Kid-at-Home weekend in Paris. President Sarko not only wants to plunge France into total chaos with his reforms but he's also decided to screw with my Crowded House concert weekend. As if I needed another reason not to like him...

Aunt Zoe

We're counting our blessings this week because we are graced with the presence of the esteemed Aunt Zoe. She's spent the morning reading on the couch but as soon as Mia wakes up from yet another record-long nap, we're off to feed the ducks at the JP.

Why I hate rugby

There's always a World Cup of something going on in this country. It seems only yesterday that it was the WC of soccer and now we have 44 days of rugby. Thomas was up in Paris today on business and turned on the match as soon as he walked in the door. The trains were apparently full of fans going up to Paris for the match tonght: France vs. Argentina.

The waterfront in Bordeaux has also been taken over by rugby fever, with a big screen t.v. and a beer garden. Bordeaux is also hosting a few of the matches so we have 3 or 4 teams staying here in town and we seem to have been invaded by foreigners. More info here: http://www.bordeauxrugby2007.com/uk/programme/index.html

UPDATE: France lost! Tomorrow night France vs. Italy and I'm cheering for the Italians!

First day of harvest

Thomas started the 2007 harvest today. That means that he got home late from work last night, left early this morning, and won't be home until late again tonight. Needless to say, he doesn't get to see Mia much these days (and she's making him pay for it with some major rejection) so here is a little picture of la petite fille la plus mignone au monde just for her Dada.