Happy Thanksgiving!

It's our first thanksgiving in our new home in France -- here is a card that Owen made to celebrate the occasion:



And here he is slaving away over the finger paints....




Finally, here we all are at the beach last weekend

words: then and now

Hello, Sean here! Long time since I wrote a blog post and this one is going to be short and sweet. Owen has been getting more and more words ("sea dragon", "hipopotame" -- that's hippo in french, "moving") but I want to remember some of his cute mispronunciations before I forget them:

current
Orange: "oh-goosh"
Cheerios: "doo-doos"

older ones that are now corrected
Owen: "Na-na"
Firetruck: "Wawuck"

There have been some other cute ones that I can't remember right now. My favorite thing that he is doing at the moment (started on Saturday) is singing along to his bedtime song, the gypsy rover. Once in a while during the day he will just break out a little "ah dee doo dah day" which is the greatest thing for me, especially since my dad used to sing the gypsy rover to me when I was a kid too! (and he still does once in a while)

Note: as of Nov 29, Owen now says all the syllables of "cock-a-doodle-doo!" However, in France roosters say "co-co-ri-co!" so that is one fewer syllable for him to translate.

I don't have any recent photos on this computer (it's my work computer) so I will leave you with a photo taken at Nan and Pip's house during a dinner there this summer: This was taken just after he had his first ever taste of whipped cream.



over & out!
Sean

When it rains...

How Owen enjoys the rainy season in Bordeaux...

1) Splashing in puddles. Lots of puddles. Lots of splashing.

Clearly puddle splashing is universal - though this boy later pushed him and Owen is still talking about the "push boy" days later.

even the stroller got to enjoy the puddle.

2) Go home and have some pain au chocolat (this is bread with nutella. The actual pastry is called a "chocolatine" in the south of France)

3) Finish the day with a nice warm bath... extra bubbles!

Back in Bordeaux

Well, after a pretty eventful last week in Colorado that included the first blizzard of the year...

...we made a rather uneventful arrival in rainy Bordeaux. We are settling back into the Maison Mercure and trying to decide where to look for more permanent residence. But, Owen is extremely happy at the Observatory since our house overlooks two giant tower cranes that are building new apartments nearby. Here are some photos from our first few days in Bordeaux:

We arrived on Halloween so here is Owen in his conductor outfit. Jet lag prevented any real celebration but we still had a good time!

Walking around the neighborhood. Yes, baby stroller came to France too. :)

On the carousel in the Jardin Publique.

And, last, I couldn't resist. Here is a picture of Owen at the playground at the Jardin Publique last week (right) and a picture of him from Bordeaux a year ago (left). If he wasn't walking and talking now, you'd almost think no time has gone by...

Also, I have started a new blog, http://bordeauxraymonds.blogspot.com. My plan is for it to be more of an "adventures in the life of an American family in Bordeaux" with information about toddler-friendly activities and other assorted day-in-the-life things for foreigners living abroad. Whereas, this blog will remain the primary place to post pictures and family news. It may be quite burdensome to keep 2 simultaneous blogs going - especially since I still don't have daily access to internet - but we'll see.

A+,

Marisa