Nous sommes de retour!

And we're very tired.  It's 6:30 pm and Marley and Amelia are already sleeping.  I am going to bed after I post this so I can wake up at whatever ungodly hour with them.  But, we survived the trip.  Yay, for us!  We even made some memories.  Here is a sneak peak at some iPhone pictures of our trip. 

St. Malo Beach

St. Malo Carnaval

St. Malo, just steps from our apartment

The Louvre, Paris

Jardin de Luxembourg, Paris

Goodbye, Box!

Remember these cute one- and two-year-olds?  That box came to live at our house more than two years ago.  And it's been heavily played with since then.  Today, Marley (and Amelia) decided it was time to get rid of it.   As much as I love the idea of a cardboard box as a toy, I had to agree that this box's time had come.  Thanks for the good times, box! You'll be recycled, but not forgotten.

One week later...

Amelia's scar seems to be healing nicely.  Although, I'll admit that I'm just the slightest bit disappointed it's not more lightning-bolt-shaped.

Camp Long

Marley is really into climbing lately, and one of the preschool parents wondered if I'd ever taken him to Camp Long to climb Schurman Rock.  I've known about Camp Long forever, but for some reason never thought of taking the kids there, until he suggested it.  Marley was in heaven!  He mostly went up the "easy" way (seen in the video).  But, much to my chagrin, by the time we left, he was trying all sorts of more challenging climbs.  Better here than our living room.  We'll definitely be back!  Just another one of West Seattle's hidden treasures.

Getting Excited!

We have both of our apartments for our trip booked.  We are staying here the first week, and here the second week.  Now we just have to hope there isn't a baggage or railway strike while we are there. 

"French unions say they will stop at nothing regarding new change in aviation rules for industrial action. ie no more wildcat strikes, unions will have to give management 48 hours notice of a strike so management can give us, the general public time to plan. Just have a plan B and C if traveling over Easter 2012 and this summer."

Eep.

Stitches

On Monday night, Amelia was running through the kitchen with her hands in her pockets, when she missed the turn into Marley's room and fell, headfirst, into the corner of the baseboard.  Right away, I knew it was a bad cut, so we headed over to the Swedish ER.

She liked laying in the hospital bed.

She did so well! The worst part was having the LET (lidocaine, epinephrine, and tetracaine for numbing) pack taped to her head. It had to stay on for 30+ minutes to be effective.  

Distracted for a while by the iPhone.

And by nursing.

They gave her a dose of Versed to make her sleepy right before putting in three stitches.  She didn't even mind being swaddled in a sheet for the procedure.  And afterward, she didn't want to leave.  She even wanted me to cover her up so she could sleep in the hospital bed. 

All fixed up.

She was happy to get a popsicle on the way out, though, and even asked for another one when she finished the first.  The doctor says that the stitches should fall out/be absorbed in about a week.  Then, we just need to work on scar care.  Daily sun screen and Mederma will, hopefully, make it barely noticeable over time. 

She seems to be doing pretty well this week.  She occasionally tells me that her forehead still hurts.  The tape over the stitches hasn't just fallen off like the doctor said it would, though, and I'm scared to pull on it too hard.  I'll probably take her into her regular doctor next week, just to get checked out before we head to France.

Okay, Amelia, you've now met your quota for accidents for the next ten years (at least!).

T minus 18 days...

Until we leave for France, that is.  No, I'm not kidding.  Jeff and I are the crazy people who will be taking a 4 year old and a 22 month old on a 10.5 hour flight to Paris.  For fun.  I blame my sister.  She wanted to travel and, I guess, thought that we sounded like good travel companions.  Yes, she's crazy, too.  She'll be meeting us in Paris, where we will proceed to jump on a train for an additional 3 or so hours to St. Malo.  Then, hopefully, we will sleep.  For a long time.

When we recover, we'll spend a week enjoying Brittany, and then head back to Paris for another week.  This part of it, I'm looking forward to.  The first part - not so much.

But, I'm hoping this explains my long blogging absence.  My time on the computer is limited to the hours between 9 pm and whenever I can no longer keep my eyes open.  With all the panicking planning that we've been doing over the last several weeks, there has been little time for leisure activities such as blogging, showering, doing the dinner dishes, or sleeping.

Plus, I'm sad to report, we don't even have our accommodations firmly nailed down.  And we're only staying in TWO different places!  I don't know why trip planning is so hard for us, but I guess the end result must be worth it since we keep going places.

New battery operated tooth brushes: cheap form of entertainment on cold, rainy days.

Anyway, not to worry, you haven't missed a thing.  The weather here has been total crap, resulting in the kids being forced to make up dangerous indoor games.  Like Bouk the Mountain, where Marley and Amelia fling themselves head-first over the back of the couch and onto the cushions.  Or Jump Over the Fire, where...well, maybe you should just watch the video.