Kinda the 4th

The problem with living in France, besides the obvious matter of the large number of French people around, is that you can't find a hamburger bun anywhere. This makes the celebration of July 4th challenging, but we resolved to celebrate in as much style as possible by inviting ourselves over to Isabelle and Thierry's place on July 3rd and having a barbecue.

I did manage to find some hotdog buns, and so the girls had some hotdogs.
Dude, what's wrong with you? Can't you see I'm eating a hotdog? This ain't Coney Island.
Dad! quit taking pictures already...
Lucie and Fanny, aka "ladies who lunch".
Look Fanny, I'm going to show you this great thing we do in the US, it's called "body slam your little brother, WWF-style".
Thankfully, a crisis was averted, and the girls played in the wading pool.
Meanwhile, the rest of crew relaxed after some luscious steaks.
Mr Overbite
Michele went a bit overboard on the sunscreen
Our gracious hosts

Bunch of pics

Once in a while, Malo feels a bit lonesome and sad...
Thankfully, it doesn't last long. Malo loves his recliner, which he bounces vigorously by shaking his leg and where he plays with the little toy bar.





He also loves sitting in his bumpo - in these pictures, he's just wearing a diaper owing to a rare heat wave in Paris (36C, without air conditioning).




When he's not busy smiling, Malo sleeps - this is a less natural endeavor, but he's getting the hang of it.



He's also getting more and more interested in stuffed animals and loves the flashing bee.

Sometimes, he just wants to suck his fist.

Our good friends Ray and Marilyn came to visit and brought presents. All we could offer were cute kids and some good eats.
When you abandon your wife & two kids for 10 days to go to (say) Abu Dhabi, it helps if you come back with some good ideas to make it up to her. Cooking with your daughter's a good idea.
Little fingers are always helpful.
Not to mention cooking shirtless... and the grub wasn't all bad: squid stuffed with basil and breaded zucchini flowers (one of Michele's favorites)

Lest we forget, Lucie has also been busy, visiting her friend Charles at his grandmother's in Paris, where they enjoyed a dip in the kiddy pool on the balcony. Eric (Charles' father) dipped Malo in the pool, but it wasn't so successful.

The day ended at our neighborhood park, where Lucie convinced Charles to swing with her.
Lately, she's gotten to be very good at playing quietly by herself.
Sometimes, it's just too much.

Monumenta @ the Grand Palais

A couple weeks ago we took Lucie and Malo to see the Monumenta exhibit by Anish Kapoor at the Grand Palais. For the fourth time in five years, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication has invited "an internationally renowned contemporary artist to appropriate the 13,500 m² of the Grand Palais Nave with an artwork specially created for the event" (from the website). Greg and I were able to see the Anselm Kiefer in 2007 and the Richard Serra in 2008 and now this year's Anish Kapoor.

Lucie, Malo and Greg when we first arrived.
Lucie gets down low for a better look at what she's seeing.
It's pretty funny.
She's got to push at it.
Then try listening to it.
Okay, now it's time to go inside.
Greg tries again to explain what's going on.
Being inside is like being on another planet and Lucie has a hard time understanding why she can't climb into the other balls.
Back outside, we goof around.
Malo is less than impressed by the whole thing.
To him it just looks like a super-sized meal...

Lucie in Corsica

Lucie, our seasoned traveler, was also an angel on the flight and she had a great time in Corsica.

She splashed around.
Ran up and down on the beautiful beach.
Tried swimming with goggles.
Lounged on the beach with a book. (Since she can't actually read yet, this meant begging her aunt to read to her.)
And was rowed around by her dad.

Malo in Corsica

We went with Greg's family to Corsica for a long weekend. This was Malo's second vacation that involved taking an airplane and once again he proved himself to be an excellent little traveler. He didn't cry once on the plane.

In Corsica, he happily napped on the beach.
Enjoyed sitting in the shade.
Stuck a toe in the water, just that once. (He had a small cold.)
Got lots of hugs and cuddles from pretty women.

And even went on a mini-hike with his parents.

Coucou Malo