Survived first day as mother of two unaided, sort of. Frunty went to pre-school in morning and said, voluntarily, that it was really fun despite being chased by some bully and falling down and crying. Will see to that tomorrow. I managed to eat lunch and even have a cup of tea while Frunty played with Tiny Two Legs on the floor. Frunty ate too, his usual "sandwich" with butter (Benecol) and fish eggs. Later two bigs bananas after our reading session in bed. (With cleaning lady here we have to stay out of her way so what better place to read then in bed) Went to nearby school, Paradis des Enfants, to feed fish (got in trouble) and goats (permitted). All in all, not a bad day mainly thanks to Daddy getting home at 5 pm (thank goodness) and Nonna having made us meals to last the whole week (thank goodness again!) Gotta get back to making fudgey spiders!

Daddy got back from Vienna with a wooden box. "What's inside?" we asked! A Sacher Torte!!!!!!!!! Thank you, Daddy! Of course, we shared with everyone, including our Austrian neighbour!

Daddy came home from Vienna after two nights away with a wooden box and inside we found a Sachertorte!!!!!! Delicious! Now he is on his way to Paris.

DeMille really enjoys grabbing stuff and you have to watch out when you are holding him at the table as he'll put his entire hand into your rice and grab a fist full...yes, it's happened to me! He loves being massaged too, hey, who doesn't?

Today was another gorgeous day here and this fall has been very sunny and warm. We took the train to Brugges for a "B excursion" asking for the train/canal boat combo. The ticket guy at the train station told us that there weren't any canals in Brugges...what planet is this guy from? We not only enjoyed those non-existent canals but also a visit to a chocolate museum afterwards! Gotta go...

First week of school done. Overall, a positive experience...I think. Talk about exhausting what with waking up before 10 am, haven't done that in years and emotionally draining too with tears in the mornings but highs after school. Frunty said he likes school and pronounces his teacher's name beautifully, "Madame Claire". What a beautiful, French accent he already has. Frunty escaped twice and came out of the school (should have been let out by lunch time teacher upon seeing me...will see about that on Monday), was lead down to the lunch room once (I ran into the school and found him coming back up the stairs with another teacher, some confusion on someone's part!) and came home today with someone's chocolate milk and apple and without his Canada, red baseball hat from Gramma and Grampa, will have to see about that on Monday too.

Tiny Two Legs and I enjoyed a baby massage class today with Nonna taking pictures. The instructor showed us a technique to help the baby relieve gas and boy did it work! Mine not only gased immediately but also pooped all over the towel and later I realized, me! We had been "invited" to take off our babies' diapers. Next time I will decline. It was very funny and everyone laughed. Will eventually post some photos of tha massage class and Ireland. When I have a spare moment these days, I tend to like to brush my teeth or scratch the dog...Daddy off to Ikea and mattress shop to bring home a surprise!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned!

Day Three of pre-school, yesterday, Frunty sang Alouette on the way home from school and said he liked school, it was fun, but he never wants to go back "not ever". Tiny Baby enjoyed French library at another location and we will go twice a month now. Time's up!

We had a fabulous trip to Ireland and just got back late last night. You don't have to die to go to heaven, just visit Ireland. Just go for a walk or a run on Inch Beach, surrounding by cliffs, mountains, green rolling fields with sheep dotting the landscape. Heaven! And then, hot fruit crumble for dessert on a rainy evening in a little pub called the South Pole in Annascaul, with clotted cream on top...heaven. And smoke-free! Yes, we have that in Canada, but we can't take our children into pubs back home. This way, we as adults can enjoy the pub experience with our kiddies too. Fun for the whole family!

There were so many highlights. Our cottage in Inch Beach, overlooking the ocean, was beautiful and very cozy. Like the one in Tralee, all pine. We had a great hike from our cottage along the Dingle Way to Annascaul. During the hike, we were at a crossroads wondering if we should hike all the way to Annascual or turn back and we were talking on and on about it and finally Frunty said, "Excuse me, everyone, why doesn't Daddy get go back and get the car and then pick us up and take us to Annascaul." Luckily we stopped our gabbing to listen to a three year old who had the best idea. So Daddy ran back, got the car and then picked up Nonno and Frunty to take them to find a standing stone while Nonna, Mommy and DeMille continued hiking to Annascaul. We all had lunch and then didn't have to hike the 7 km back but could do some more adventures along the way by car.

Frunty loved the Ocean World in Dingle. We loved the deep fried Mars/Snickers bars. Sounds weird but boy are they tastey! Two more highlights of our trip.

Nonna discovered that sucking on a clementine would help Tiny Baby in the car. He really dislikes car travel, perhaps feeling car sick. Trying everything, the clementine finally did the trick most of the time. We only did very short car trips with the kids as a result.

As soon as we got home, Daddy started looking for flights with Ryan Air again and found that for 7 cents, we could fly to Girona. Who can beat that!? But I think we will stay put for a little while as we have done a lot of traveling and have really taken advantage of Daddy's paternity leave!