Le Mont St Michel

The shot from driving in on the causeway.

When we have friends come with us to France we like to do something that we haven't done before. This time we were excited when our friends D & L wanted to go to Le Mont St Michel. I had wanted to see it for a while now, it always looks so amazing on the front of the tourist books! In any case, we had a terrific adventure and would recommend it to anyone. It is a bit out of the way, but definitely worth seeing.

A view of the Normandy coast while driving in on the Causeway

It really was almost magical in person- the rainy haze of the day also made it seem that much more mystical!

Above is Porter-excited for the big adventure. And, before we all realized how many STAIRS there were!

Let it be said that if you ever do take a trip, be prepared for the stairs!

There were stairs...

then more stairs....

then more stairs!!!

There were even more, but I quit taking pictures!

(Notice we had ditched the stroller at this point!)

Once you complete the hike to the top/main entrance then the fun begins.

Near the entry is an amazing outdoor terrace thing, I guess I'll call it for lack of a better word. It had fantastic views! Probably for strategic reasons at one point, but now the tourists can eat it up!

View of the parking lot- our car is down there somewhere. At this time of year we were told that our cars would be safe in the parking lot until 4:00pm. After that they might be under water. Don't worry, we made it in plenty of time.

More views from the top-

It really was a huge terrace area, Ronan could have run around all day! Sounds like a great idea, except for the enormous drop-offs to the ocean below, just over that little wall...

The cloister of the abby was gorgeous. Also with amazing views.

Not too shabby for an abby! (I know, I crack myself up)

The lighting was bad here, but it was a REALLY cool view.

I love this picture of the boys... Daddy is explaining to them how that giant chain used to help bring up the supplies. It was a really, really long chain.

This was the Knight's Room. It was my favorite! Can't you just picture a bunch of Knights all gathered around in here?

Now here's a picture of two of my little Knights in Shining Armor in the "Knight's Doorway". Ronan is even doing the tough-guy pose for you. Porter was a bit more of a smily knight I suppose. This doorway was actually pretty small. I think maybe the knights must have been smaller people to still fit through this doorway with all their armor on!

We exited down this never-ending circular stairway!

More stairs I tell you!

This was actually a bit claustrophobic for my taste. It kind of made me dizzy.

I personally think that Porter would look great in this suit of armor! He's such a cutie!

All in all it was a terrific place that we loved going to see!

Historical places like this are my favorite.

Miles meets the Fam!

Miles Henri, meet Pepe Henri!!

We were so thrilled on our recent trip to France for baby Miles to meet some of the family! Most especially, however, for him to meet his Pepe Henri (Great-Grandfather)! He is his namesake, and I think it was a wonderful moment for them both.

Both of Noah's grandparents are thankfully around to enjoy these visits from their only Great-Grandchildren for the moment! I loved the above picture of Porter and Miles with Pepe. Ronan was there, but for picture purposes he was not in the mood. After fighting with him to get an actual photo, I decided that this was one of those times to let the moment happen, and just get mental photos. Ronan is his own man, and thankfully he did eventually get in the mood to give Pepe a few super sweet hugs and kisses. Those images will just stay in my mental blog book though!

Now, here we are with Meme. Meme has been having a bit of a rough go of it lately, but it was wonderful to see her perk up just with us being there! We let Miles snuggle with her every chance we could (with help of course, since her strength is not what it once was); and she just loved it. She is a wonderful woman, whom we all just love and you can tell Miles loved her too!

We had a great time with Nicole, Michel and their boys! We love these guys, and Porter especially couldn't wait to see his "best buddy" cousins!

Ronan was SO interested in Nico's helmet! He couldn't get enough!

We sure love these guys!

We unfortunately didn't get nearly as long of a trip as last year (our awesome 3 week vacation), so we didn't have as much time to see everyone. We can't wait to spend some more time with everyone on our next trip though, and see the other family who we missed this go round!

We always love seeing everyone, and I'm especially grateful that we got to see both Meme and Pepe this time. I love that my boys can have memories with their Great-Grandparents!

Marine Ball 2011

We recently attended the 236th Marine Corps Ball here in Istanbul. We have a fabulous little detachment of Marines here that work hard to protect our Consulate. Spending a night to help celebrate them was a wonderful experience, and very moving. It makes me so proud to be an American! We are so thankful for all of our Armed Forces and the sacrifices they and and their families make every day for our country.

We had such a fun night out, and can't wait to do it again! It is always fun to get all dressed up every now and again. Here is a classic prom style group shot with some of our friends D & L!

Now traditionally they have time set for taking photos with the Marines themselves. Here by the flags is where they would do it normally. The scheduled time was after dinner and before the dancing. A lesson on Turkey though, they take a very long time to eat/serve dinner. So, essentially we left at 11:15pm for me to get home and feed the baby and they still had not served dessert! We did get a quick one here with our Detachment Commander, but it came out blurry...I think I might have dropped our camera one too many times lately. That or I need to learn how to use the settings better!

To prove that we do indeed have some great Marines though, here is a nice shot of them all doing the Macarena! It was so fun to watch them.

I even got Noah out on the dance floor for a bit and we had a fantastic time with all of our friends. The music was really good this year thankfully!

Me and my "table buddy" Miss L

Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps! Thanks for the great night!

Triple Triple (and I'm not talking sports)

Yes, Noah has achieved a Triple Triple!

Happy 33rd Birthday Noah!

Just look at all those candles.

I guess we've both reached the age where doing the appropriate number of candles amounts to a fire hazard...

Oh well, at least he had a Krispy Kreme Cake and a date with his honey out to Mongolian BBQ to celebrate!

Here's to many more candles on many more cakes with you!

Nothing says I'm 4 like Superheroes and Pirates!

I can't believe our little Ronan has actually turned FOUR!

Where has the time gone?

In any case, I decided that we had better celebrate, no matter how sad I am that he is already 4!

We started with Superhero cupcakes at pre-school which were a huge hit..

I love how excited ALL of the kids were. Such cuties I tell ya.

We then celebrated with a fantastic little Pirate Party-

ENTER IF YOU DARE...

He had a couple of little neighbor friends over, and of course thoroughly enjoyed opening his presents!

a group effort is always key in opening any present right..

Now the big present for the year from Mommy and Daddy went along with the theme...
A Pirate Ship!!!! Both of the boys were THRILLED!
Daddy, maybe a little less thrilled after 3 hours of putting it together! ha.

Still. The final product was definitely worth it.

Porter, mid-Arrgh

Ronan especially loves cake/candle time on his birthdays!

These photos, however, are what happens when mommy is messing with the settings and doesn't have time to fix them before missing the whole event...

sorry they are blurry

you get the idea though...

He did a great job, and all the littles enjoyed helping him blow everything out!

Happy Birthday Ronan! We love you to the moon and back and can't imagine our family without you!!! What a fantastic day we had four years ago when you came into our lives!

Miles' 3 Month Pictures

Here is just a small sampling of the adorable photo shoot we did with Miles for his 3 month! I LOVED how they all turned out. Of course, with such an angel as this it is hard to go wrong!

Just look at that face?!

We have an identical shot with this blue blanket with all 3 boys at three months. Sometime I'll post them all to see how similar they look!

(He was doing a little dancing here to show me how much he likes the Beatles)

What is going on Mom? Seriously? What kind of sweatshirt is this?

awesome. that's what it is!

We sure love our little guy. I can't believe that he is growing up so quickly!!! What a handsome little man though if I do say so myself!