Visit to the Lakes

We just returned from our first "family" vacation. Josh and I have had many, many traveling adventures as a couple and many trips with our parents but this was our first with Julien. It sure was a lot different than traveling without the baby.

We went to the Lake District in the north of England. We planned the trip around a conference where Josh was to give a presentation. We found out Tuesday via an email at 1 PM that the conference was canceled. We decided to go anyway as we already paid for the plane tickets and the hotels.

We left our apartment Tuesday afternoon around 4PM to catch our 7PM plane. We quickly realized traveling with a baby requires much more stuff than when we traveled in the past. We had the stroller, car seat, car seat stand, diaper bag plus our own stuff. We were nervous it wouldn't fit in a Taxi so we took the Metro and RER to the airport. That was an adventure involving a lot of stairs but we did finally make it to the airport with plenty of time.

Julien did great on the plane ride to London and we the car ride to our hotel. Once we got to our hotel he let us know he was hungry! We managed to check in and get to our room with him screaming the entire time. I fed him and he went to sleep which was a huge relief! Room Service for mommy and daddy.. no chance to visit the adorable pub in the hotel.

The next day was set off for our next stop, Stoke-on-Trent. Julien was great as long as I fed him every 3 hours. We spent a lot of time sitting in rest stops while I fed him but it was safe and kept him happy. He was being such a good baby we decided to try going out to dinner, just across the street from the hotel to a "Friday's" type place. We had Julien dressed up as a pirate for Halloween and he was so cute we wanted to show him off a bit. Unfortunately he had a major break down in the restaurant. We took turns eating while one person held him and walked around outside. Finally I went back to the hotel and Josh paid the bill. Once I fed him he was an angel and slept all night.

We finally made it up to the Lakes on Thursday. We stayed in a really cute B&B with only one problem, the water in the shower didn't get hot. It was luke warm at best and there was nowhere for me to wash the baby. We made the best of it and Julien was in heaven not having a bath! The B&B provided a pack-n-play where Julien slept. We spent our days driving around, hiking and shopping. Josh and I switched off wearing Julien in the Bjorn and we had a great time.

We had to stick to eating large lunches in restaurants while Julien slept. We are now terrified to go to dinner after the Holloween incident. We were in bed each night by 9PM after having simple picnics in our room. It was definitely different than our past trips! At least this new way of travel saves us a lot of money and is probably better for our health. I did long to visit some of the adorable restaurants though.

Julien was less than perfect on the flight home. He started screaming in the Air France lounge and continued off and on until take off. He did fall asleep when we got up in the air and slept the rest of the flight and the descent. He only woke up when we got off the plane. He started to cry while we waiting in a huge line for customs so they brought us to the front of the line and we got through quickly. Then we were waiting at the end of a HUGE Taxi line and someone told us to go to the front with the baby. I just walked to the front while holding the baby while dragging his stroller and looking very frazzled. Josh was behind me with all of our luggage looking equally frazzled. They gave us the next Taxi! Sometimes traveling with a baby does come in handy.

All in all we had a great trip. It is more complicated traveling with a little baby but it is definitely not complicated enough to stop our adventures! I am looking forward to visiting California in a couple weeks, 11.5 hours in the plane, that should provide blogs for a month!

A Few Videos!

We have some good pictures to come soon also. But videos are so fun!



We have the bath video but it's really large (262MB) so I don't think it'll upload to blogger. Until I figure out how to edit it, we'll have to wait..

Here's just happy fun time with Gigi:




And another:

End of October Update

Julien turns 8 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe it has been almost two months since his birth. We are still having a lot of fun. He is a really starting to engage with people now. He just started laughing last week, he kind of opens his mouth in a big grin and then coughs. I am pretty sure it is a laugh because he is doing it fairly often while playing.

Grandma Gigi and Papa Mike are here visiting and Julien is having a great time with them. He spends each morning being read to, cuddled and talked to by his grandparents. Gigi is really good at making him laugh and talk which is a lot of fun to watch. They also bsrought costumes from the US. Julien will be a pirate for Halloween and he has a great Santa/reindeer ensemble for Christmas. He even has a Thanksgiving bib with a Turkey.

We have been having a great time with Josh's parents. When they aren't babysitting they are often cooking us terrific dinners and helping me with the house. Wednesday Glenda and I went shopping while Mike watched the baby, it was lovely to have an girls afternoon. We even had Champagne at Galleries Layfette. Josh and I also got a chance to go out to dinner just the two of us which was wonderful. We went to a fantastic Sushi place then stopped off for a glass of wine at a little wine bar. We were gone three whole hours!

Next week we are headed to the UK for a little mini vacation. Josh has to give a presentation in London so Juju and I are going to tag along and then the three of us will head to the lake district for a few days. I am not sure of the weather so I am digging out our warm clothes. I am still trying to lose the last 10-15 pounds of baby weight so I am having some difficulty finding stuff that fits. I guess my Boda-Bing pants will suffice in London as well as they have in Paris.

We are taking Julien on the plane for the first time. I really pray it goes well since we have already booked our flight to California in November. It will be only an hour next week but 11.5 hours to California! Hopefully he is a good baby and if not I hope the other passengers are forgiving!

Julien is alseep right now so I better take advantage of the down time and do some more laundry. The baby goes through at least two outfits a day, often three or four. Thank goodness for my dryer!

Hopefully Josh will post some pictures this weekend. I have a video of Glenda giving the baby a bath so that should be pretty good.

Olivers in Paris

Probably rather self explanatory, the photos..








Have fun out there!

Josh

Connected

We're back! We have a temporary fix to our internet/telephone/TV problem with a permanent one on order, uh, soon, so everything is back up and running.

And of course some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Julien during "tummy time"

Our Savior the swing. Julien loves the bears hanging over top.

Gena showing off her Parisian fashion sense.

The beautiful set of trees we found during our walk.

Disconnected

Well, I'm writing this at work so it's gotta be quick but just to let everyone know that our internet connection at home seems to have slipped off the rails. As our telephone, internet, and tv signal are all from a single advice nothing is working. "Oh dear" you say. Yes indeed, the blog is on hold a bit especially since I can't upload pictures from work. I have it on my list of things to do this afternoon to call the provider and determine what to do - but I'll need to enlist French Help to do it - that's what collegues are for!

So you need to call us? Call my cell phone +33.6.75.22.79.17 or Gena's +33.6.80.52.29.52. It might cost you a little more but if you gotta talk to us, you gotta talk to us! We can call you back maybe too.

Try to write again when (fingers crossed) the line is fixed. See 'ya, lots of love!

Gena and the baby are fine, by the way!


-Josh

It's Fall in the Buttes Chaumont