Thursday, November 14, 2013

Boo in the USA....

Halloween has always been a favored holiday for me as it kicks off the Holiday season for we Americans.  We have Halloween and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then New Years.  It marks the beginning of a holiday decorated, party going, fun filled two months.

The Europeans just don't do this holiday season right in my opinion. There's no trick or treating, no pumpkin farms, no hayrides, no haunted houses, and then there's no Thanksgiving to follow it.

Sooooo, if you want to do it right, you go to small town America.


We took advantage of this week's school holiday to fly to Collinsville, Illinois to enjoy a bit of Grandma and Grandpa love and HALLOWEEN.

Perfect Trick or Treating neighborhood!

We spent the day at a Pumpkin Festival on a pumpkin farm riding rides, painting pumpkins, making our way through corn mazes, feeding the animals, and finding a couple pumpkins to take home to carve.





Yes, in small town America we teach our children to shoot guns, early.  :)





 Next day's work, carving the pumpkin and decorating the lawn...







 Ahhh, the moment has arrived, Trick or Treating...



 For our final bit of fun, we took in the area's largest (man-made) landmark, the St. Louis Arch.

My travel motto with smal kids...see the one most important landmark in each place you
visit so they connect at least one thing to the place.  The Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty,
the Tower Bridge, and of course the St. Louis Arch. :)



Inside the arch there's a museum of Missouri's history, from the Indians to the settlers, to now (which is free).  But most importantly, you can go up to the top of the Arch and look out the windows.


In line to go up...
The little capsule that takes you up. 
The view from above...
That's the Cardinal's baseball stadium.  They were playing in the World
Series while we were there.  Pretty big deal around here.  Go Cards!


Time for the Princess to go home I see, her chariot awaits.


Well, we had a super time and I think that the kids really got to experience the fun of Halloween and make some really good memories with Grandma and Grandpa.  Living so far away we don't see the American family very often, and to be honest the kids aren't very good with Skype, short attention spans and all.  So spending a full week with super cool activities was a great way to build their relationship even more with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mission accomplished!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Thank you Super Mall...

Just on the outskirts of Nice there's a big mall called Cap 3000.  It's really big and has the one and only Starbucks in the South of France (that is until the Monaco one opens in a month!!! YEAH!!!-but that's not what this post is about, I digress)

Btw...this is how packed this place is ALL the time!  Hint hint.  (wake up France!)
Anyway, I thank the lovely Client that is the Cap 3000 for making my teenage dreams of being a fashion model come true and hiring me to do their Winter Magazine shoot last week.  They do a magazine highlighling different outfits made up from stores found in the mall.

I do love to work and there isn't very much here, so when the opportunity comes along I get a bit giddy.

Here are some snaps I grabbed as the photog viewed the work.




 




I was told that it's the last magazine they're going to be making, so I'm even more excited that I'm in their "Swan Song" issue.  When the magazine comes out I'll post what pics made it in. :)  Stay tuned...

UPDATE:  December 2013

Here are the winning shots for the Cap 3000 magazine....

Super cool, I'm the cover!





And there you have it.  I must say it's kinda cool having people I know here in Monaco, moms of school kids and the coffee guy at my local stop, ask me if that's me.  They didn't know what I did for a living.  My fifteen minutes. :)

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Summer lovin'...

Well, the school year came to a close and summer was upon us.  As you know, we jetted off to a fun filled week in Greece and the kids did a week of art at the Grimaldi Forum.  They also did a week of tennis camp, but I didn't document that on film.  Sorry.  

So, the rest of the summer was filled with little bits of fun and finalized with two weeks in a rented house with a pool...
The view from where we live above the Port Hercules.  Summer's here, the sailboats are out in full force.
Food markets are full of summer veggies.
The International school had a big party for their students and parents, and to lure new families in.  It was pretty fun with kid's activities and lots of food booths.

If I had gotten to ride the pony too I might have been tempted to enroll... :)

Our future equestrian...

E and T take up the rear, their side won!


Monaco is of course right on the coast so it has it's own beaches, but if you don't want to do the sea, there's the pool in the Port Hercules.  It's open to the public and even has a machine at the entrance where you can buy swim suits and goggles and sun block.  Someone was thinking!  I'd say a woman was head of that committee. :)  You can rent loungers and an umbrella too if you wish.  We spent quite a few afternoons here...


And staying in the always busy Port Hercules, we watched the Jumping International competition.  It's amazing the events that get built up and torn down on a regular basis here in Port Hercules.  The only permanent fixture is the pool, and in the winter it's the ice skating rink.


You don't really even need tickets to sit in the stands, you can just stand around the ring and watch or sit in a restaurant along the ring and enjoy your lunch while watching the show.  I preferred to sit and relax, and the kids were free. :)




Then, it was August and time for a change of scenery.  Many people out here have "summer" houses and go there to get out of the "city", as if you can even call Monaco a city!  But, there is something to be said about having a little bit of lawn, and pool. and some crickets chirping.

This year it was in Bagnols en Foret, only an hour away.  It was a fun (and of course educational) two weeks!

We had water sports...






Target practice...



Track and field...



Meditation...



 Nature studies...




Cooking classes...
We splurged on a chef who cooked us dinners.  She made some yummy stuff and
even let the kids do some of the creating with her.
And Music...


Lucky for us the house had a piano, so we even added in a little culture!

Then, it was back to school.  Uggh, this is the pick-up chaos at T's school.  The kids come out of the doors on the sides of this little glass area and all the parents crush themselves in there to get them.  Of course there are better ways of doing this, but typical French, they don't care to change it.  C'est la vie...


So there you go, it's back to the daily routine.  Once I rest, I'll be back with more of the adventure soon.  .. :)
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