We are here!  As we were driving in, I said to the kids, "We're in the middle of nowhere!"  Sayer seemed a little alarmed by this so I had to explain that it is only an expression and that being "in the middle of nowhere" is one of the best places that we could be at this moment in time.  The house is amazing and I'll post some pictures later or tomorrow sometime.  The kids have been running, playing and having a great time.  The weather is perfect.  Life is good.

The week has flown by...The first couple of days were sort of a blur of travel and jet lag but now we seem to be getting it together. 

The flight was difficult but not terrible.  The kids slept for about 1/2 of it (maybe more).  Sayer had been horribly sick the morning that we left.  He was a limp, lethargic and feverish lump on the couch at my studio.  Like a true friend, Brene came to my work that morning bearing gifts- chewable kids advil that lasts 8 hours and gatorade.  Between those 2 silver bullets and some rest, we managed to make it out of town and onto the plane.  Mmmm...ice cream sundaes (minus the chocolate per Mommy's orders, couldn't have them amped up on chocolate on an 8 hour night flight right?).

On day one, we set out for the Eiffel Tower, which has been the thing Sayer keeps saying that he wants to see.  This was his first glimpse as we walked up the Seine.  He was so excited!

The Eiffel Tower is really a sight to behold if you get a chance in your lifetime.  It is HUGE!  The way the metal weaves its way up is just amazing. 

We saw this near the Eiffel Tower, I swear for a second we all thought it was real.

After a lot of walking, which my Texan kids are not used to, Sayer asked if "we could please take a little rest".  We found a shady spot and had their favorite drink, which happens to be a product of France!  They have been very excited that Orangina is widely available here in almost every cafe and shop.

Today, we spent the afternoon at the Luxembourg Gardens.  French people know how to set up a garden, that's for sure.  There are acres and acres of public gardens here.  One in particular, Le Jardin de Tuileries, is something like 3x bigger than NY's Central Park.  The French people know how to enjoy a park too.  Every one that we went to was full with people sitting, reading, sunning and enjoying the beautiful day.  Here are some images from our day at Luxembourg...

The kids were being complete stinkers when I tried to get this shot so this was the best that I ended up with. 

In front of this amazing, uh, house?  Not sure exactly what to call it.  I don't think it is a castle either.  All around the water and the gardens are these beautiful statues of past queens.  Kind of out of place among the queens was this very large head.  Pretty cool though huh?

They have an amazing children's playground there too and the kids wore themselves out.  Next to the playground was a great old Carousel as well.  A few of the parks have marionette shows for children.  Sayer was so sad to learn that it was closed today.  So, on our return trip, that is high up on the agenda.

Finally it was time to head home.  They love the Metro here so taking the train has been pretty easy.  I'd kill for a stroller though because they get really tired of all of the walking.  Note to readers: coming to Paris?  Bring a stroller!

I am sitting on the balcony now looking out at the Eiffel Tower, the Seine and the rooftops of buildings.  This city is incredible.  It's so full of buildings, cars, people and lights!  It's hard to imagine so many people all living in one place.  When you go up on the Eiffel Tower and look out it is just mind blowing. The city goes out as far as you can see and is dense with buildings the whole way.  We've been pleased at how nice everyone has been.  You know Paris has a bad rap about being a rude city.  I have never experienced rudeness.  I have, in the most touristy areas, had people be quick (almost curt) with me but that is the same as you get in NY or any other big city.  My experience here is that if you are humble, smile, say Bonjour (hello), Merci (thank you) and S'il vous plait (please), people will be polite in return.  And, you simply have to have a real French baguette in your lifetime.  It's a whole other thing than what we eat at home.  I know this well...I have just eaten 3/4 of one while I wrote this!

Tomorrow we board the TGV (fast train) down south to the place where we'll stay for the next 4 weeks.  Stay tuned! 

Steven and I are up late tonight packing and organizing.  Can you believe we waited until the night before?  Tomorrow we leave for France for 5 weeks!  I'll be blogging about our adventures so stay tuned.

My assistant, Julie, will be keeping things organized at the studio while I am away.  Please call her on Monday, Wednesday or Friday if you have any questions: (713) 255-2882.  She will also be available for pick ups and things like that.

The next time I get online to blog, I'll be in Paris!  Wish us luck!

One of Sayer's favorite friends is Caden.  They have been together in the same class at school for a few years.  Recently, Sayer moved from room 8 to room 1 in preparation for his transition off to kindergarten.  The hardest part has been the separation from his room 8 friends- Caden and Jolie.  Caden has had an even harder time and will tear up when we see him.  It breaks my heart.  In an effort to soother their little broken hearts, we invited Caden over for a play date last weekend.

They dressed up in costumes, watched Star Wars, built things out of Legos and had a great time.  Then we had a little lunch and I made cookies for them to decorate.  Towards the end of the playing, I took this little series of photos of the boys.

Meet Caden! 

Finn wanted in on the fun 

Thanks for coming to play Caden!

I love watching Sayer play with his Legos.  He gets consumed.  He gets completely focused picking through all the tiny pieces trying to find the right ones.  He makes spaceships mostly- Star Wars ships to be exact.  Their construction is really intricate and they look like they might actually work in a land of Legos.  They have grids where you might imagine an exhaust fan would be and rockets on both sides.  They have multi-part towers, dashboard controls, pivoting pieces and landing gear.  He’ll work on them for long periods of time too.  Today, while I was laying on the couch reading my new favorite book Eat, Pray, Love, Sayer was constructing away at the coffee table beside me.  I stopped to watch him.  I love watching him when he’s not aware that I’m doing it.  I watch how the light falls on his face and marvel at how grown up he’s looking.  He’s getting so tall.  I laugh because he’s sitting there playing in only his pajama shirt and I have no idea where he’s left his pants.  He has chocolate on his face.  I start wondering what in the world he’s thinking about while he plays, the conversation followed like this:

--

Me: Sayer, what do you think about when you are playing Legos?

Sayer: You.

Me: You think about me when you play?

Sayer: Yes.

Me: So, what are you thinking about me?

Sayer: Oh, just what you’re doing.

Me: You know Say, right now I am thinking about you too.

Sayer: What are you thinking about me?

Me: Oh, just what you’re doing.

Sayer: You know what I’m doing silly, I’m playing Legos.

-- 

Here are some of his creations:

more of the current fleet