NICE, FRANCE






From Paris half of the family left to go home & the rest of us flew on to Nice. It was my mom, my sister & her family, my sister-in-law & her two kids & then me & my two kids. It was totally a bit crazy with so many kids & no husbands to help, but we were able to all help each other out & avoided any major meltdowns which feels like a total accomplishment. Nice was such a cute little beach town with such clear, blue, warm water. The beaches were covered in black pebbles & sea glass rather than sand & the kids loooooved it. All day long they were running & down the beach hunting out seagulls, my nephew filled two water bottles worth & Cedar got a good little collection himself! It was so much fun & Milo was in rock heaven. He just sat & threw rocks into the ocean all day long. The rocks weren't very comfy for walking on or anything, but I actually totally loved it because it kept my kids from going into the water, haha.

One day we decided to drive to Monaco since it's so close to Nice & it turned into a huge mess. We were split up in two cars & were following each other the entire time, but finding paring was pretty hard once we were in Monaco & we ended up getting separated & since Monaco is technically a different country, none of our phones were working. My mom & I drove around for 40 minutes trying to find my sister & sister-in-laws car & after not having any luck, we were so over Monaco that we turned around & left without ever getting out of the car! So, we got a really great car tour, haha. We messaged them as soon as we were out of Monaco& luckily they were on the same page because not too long after they also left & were able to call us & meet up in Eze, a little mid-evil town that we drove through when we went to Monaco. Eze is a teeny tiny mountain top, walled village that is totally worth checking out if you're in the area.

Another day we drove to Provence to see all of the pretty lavender fields & I could not have been happier. The fields were soooo pretty & there were so many of them! I was so excite to see all of the flowers & then we discovered a sunflower field & I thought I was in heaven. Seriously, being surrounded by so many flowers is my idea of heaven. The kids were loving running through all of the fields & we actually sort of lost my little nephew in the sunflowers for a couple minutes... the sunflowers are so tall that we couldn't see him & he wouldn't respond to us because he was playing hide & seek he said! So scary. Luckily it was only a couple of minutes though. After our run through the fields we drove to Gordes, one of the coolest little villages I have ever been to. 6 years ago my mom & I went to Gordes with one of my friends & we all fell in love & when we saw that we would be semi nearby, my mom had to go back! We got there right in time for sunset & dinner & it was the perfect time. It was so pretty, the kids loved going through the little village & we ate at a restaurant that had an entire menu but told us we could only order an omelet or pasta, haha.

DEAR CEDAR


Dear Cedar,

I love watching you learn & grow on the daily. The way you play with Milo truly melts my heart, you are always so concerned about his happiness, you worry when he cries & are always trying to make him happy. Watching your relationship is one of the absolute best things in the entire world. The sweetest memories are always going to be at bedtime when the two of you roll around giggling & hugging in your bed, Milo adores you so much & you do him. You are a boy with so many questions, always wanting to learn more & more & more, sometimes I worry I won't be able to keep up with all of the questions. I'm always getting surprised by you & all that you know, you know so many random little facts about animals & dinosaurs, it always impresses me how much you remember & sometimes it scares me just a little. You remember so much more than I do that sometimes I worry I'm going to lose the upper hand!

You are my sweet, little, tentative boy. I hope one day you realize you are bigger than your fears, that you can do anything you want & you don't limit yourself. More often than not I hear you say "I can't", but I want you know that you can, you can do anything. I understand how nervous you are & how scary trying new things can be but, don't let it hold you back. It's hard for me to hear you doubt yourself, it makes my heart ache hearing that you don't think you can do something because it scares you. My hope is for you to be the bravest boy in the world, not to let your fears limit you from doing the things you really want because that is how you will learn to grow & trust yourself. Another reason it's hard for me is because I was the same way when I was your age. I was scared of everything & it took me a long time to learn to face my fears but once I did, life became fuller. It's ok to fall, to get hurt, to scrape up your hands & knees, that is how you will learn. Sometimes we need to fall, don't let it stop you from trying again. I know that when you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything you want love bug, now you just need to believe that.

While you may be a little tentative, you are always on the hunt for your next adventure & I hope that you don't lose that. I love all the adventures you go on, whether they're just to the backyard, hunting rocks & sea glass at the beach, pushing your limits trying to climb a tree, or swimming in the pool. I love how you make everything we do into an adventure & while it does drive me crazy at some times, I sort of like how you always have to pack a bag full of snacks even if we aren't going far or just ate.

Oooooh Cedar bug, there are so many things I can write about you at this exact moment in life. I'll be honest, you are either completely & utterly adorable & funny, or you are the hardest kid on earth. No in-between but, I wouldn't change this time for the world because those adorable moments are worth all of the hard ones. Keep being you Cedar Bug. I hope you can become confident as you grow older, know that you can achieve anything & that you never lose your sense of wonder. I love you.

PARIS, YOU HAVE MY HEART

















Ooooooooh Paris, how I love you. The first time I ever went to Europe I was 11 & we went to London & Paris & I immediately fell in love, especially with Paris. I mean, what's not to love? It is a beautiful city, the croissants & baguettes are delicious, there are flower stands all over the place, the history, the museums, the architecture & people playing music all around.. I truly love it. walking around the city is one of my most favorite things to do, which is totally lucky because with kids you get to walk around a lot.

After our time in Iceland we went to Paris for three days, 2 of which I was totally sick but I still loved every minute. I would rather be sick in Paris than at home, that's for sure :). We went to the Louvre, the Sacre-Coeur, the Tuileries gardens multiple times, the Eiffel Tower, Musèe de l'orangerie, arch de triumph... we tried our best to hit it all. One of the absolute highlights of our time in Paris was when Cedar saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. We were walking from our hotel to the tuileries & he caught of glimpse of it & soooo excitedly he pointed & said "mom! I can see the Eiffel Tower!!!!" I was surprised that he even knew what it was called to be honest, I hadn't prepped him on what was in Paris & for a second I thought he remembered it from our previous trips to Paris, haha, but I asked where he learned about the Eiffel Tower from & he said Little Einsteins! So thank you, Little Einsteins, for giving my 4 year old some culture, haha. He was also really excited when I told him that we were going to go up the Eiffel tower, it was the total highlight of his trip. We bought him a little Eiffel tower off the side of the road & he has been playing "paris" ever since & I think it is so cute!

One day the entire family went to Disney Paris but I was sick & had to lay in bed all day, but at least they all had fun, hah. I had the sweetest concierge though who took great care of me. I called down asking if they had a dr. & he took it upon himself to make sure I was ok. He walked me to the pharmacy & to the market so that he could explain to the pharmacist what my symptoms were, get me some medicine & then some food & drink to keep me nourished, so sweet! The next day he checked up on me a couple of times & kept telling me he was better than a dr. haha, it was great & I did get better pretty quick! A couple of months before our trip I was looking up where different artworks are located that I wanted to see (super nerdy of me, I know) & I looked up Monet's Water Lilies & was pretty happy to learn that they are at the Musèe de L'Orangerie. I had no idea that they were in Paris, so when I found out we were going I made sure to have a chance to go see them in person & am so happy I did. It was one of the best parts of the entire trip for me. I'm a really big fan of Monet & seeing these paintings in real life was seriously stunning, I totally got teary eyed which is so not like me. They made me so emotional, but it was a good thing. If you go to Paris, make sure to go! It's pretty close to the Louvre in the Tuileries, you won't regret it.

I don't think I will ever get tired of Paris, it is such a magical city. It's a life long goal of mine to live there at some point.

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