Friday, 26 October 2018

3 and 1/3

,
George is 3 years and 4 months old today!

Hudswell, North Yorkshire


Richmond Castle












George still loves his hats




Carly and Steve's Wedding!



Trying to give his heart away on the dance floor








He fell asleep on one of the vintage buses













On August bank holiday weekend, we went to the Royal Armouries' Wild West show






Holiday in France at the end of August/start of Sept--we went to Versailles!









Model of Versailles in a table

Chapel



Looking into the Hall of Mirrors--also a very good shot to show how crowded it is with tour groups!


We had lunch at Angelina's--so delicious!



In the outdoor ballroom, featured in "A Little Chaos"! We loved the movie, and it turned out to be one of Alan Rickman's last films (he directed it and played Louis XIV)








La Poste in Paris



Running along the Champs Elysees

















We watched the light show at 9pm and George loved it!



He danced around singing "Twinkle Twinkle Eiffel Tower"




La Poste




Visiting the Eiffel Tower with Mireille









Jardin du Luxembourg




Faire du shopping--I love getting kids' clothes at Du Pareil Au Meme! I got George some awesome robot pajamas!

Galeries Lafayette



Galeries Lafayette













We had a lovely visit with Richard's cousins!

George had fun playing with Noemie and Eva (Richard's cousin Laurent's daughters)


I love how the film title is translated here--"Rebelle" fits Princess Merida better than "Brave"!

Frederic Chopin in Jardin du Luxembourg--his nocturnes are my favorite studying/writing music

We happened to get the GB sailboat from the rental guy at Jardin du Luxembourg!



GB=George Bettie!







Medici Fountain


We went to this restaurant once years ago (2012?) and found it again--it's really good and they were lovely with George

After dinner stroll across the Seine


Lunch with Grandmere Mireille




Riding the carousel near the Eiffel Tower



We went to the most beautiful Starbucks near Opera Garnier


George refused to cooperate for a photo while we waited for sunset and the lightshow





11 November 1940--in front of the Tomb of the Unknown soldier (in the Arc de Triomphe), the students of France demonstrated en masse, the first to resist the occupier.


















Visiting Uncle Jason in Oxford!



1940's Weekend at Embsay-Bolton Abbey railway










Our first nappy-free outing--we went to Temple Newsam

Trying out scooters at John Lewis






Embsay-Bolton Abbey railway






Leeds International Beer Festival at the Town Hall--the Albert room has classic arcade games and American beers. I had an amazing coconut-flavored Irish porter called "Death by Coconut" from Colorado's Oskar Blues Brewery and it was my favorite of the whole festival.

I helped George play a few rounds of Pac-Man

In mid-September, Costco already had its Christmas decorations in stock!

George still adores Biscuit--he referred to her as his "best friend" on the day I snapped this pic

Back to School! Headingley and the campus are lively and busy again, after a quiet summer

Our church held a flower festival and WWI commemoration at the end of September


We helped serve refreshments and George ran around "behind the scenes" under the serving hatch and in the kitchen

Kirkstall Abbey deli market

They had a live band from York playing and George tried his hand at conducting with sticks


George wanted a pumpkin the very first week in October


I explained that we were going to a pumpkin patch instead, so he put it back without too much fuss

We went to the Thackray Medical Museum--George gave the baby a check up with the stethoscope!






Another vintage transport event--this time in Skipton!






































Light Night, the annual arts event in early October


This one is made out of CDs and VHS tapes--that sparkling black floor covering is tape from the inside of VHS cassettes


I always love the projections on Civic Hall



Victoria Gardens had a lot of cool new installations






George loved these color-changing lamps












There was a projection show about the women's suffrage movement for the centenary


Trinity church had this awesome star projection--it was like a giant version of one of those little spinning lamps




Visiting the penguins at Harewood House

He got splashed!


Victorian-era breast pump ("Breast Glass") at the Thackray Medical Museum--it's just glass and a rubber tube with a suction bulb!


More from the Skipton vintage bus event








Views from around Skipton










September was a milestone month for us--we started out the month on holiday in Paris and ended the month with a successfully potty-trained big boy! He's doing so well with potty-training--so far he has stayed dry every night and he only has the occasional accident at daycare or church now, and never really has accidents at home anymore. It's such a relief to be done with that initial training phase. It's so stressful, but thankfully it only lasted a couple of weeks!

George is really into Halloween--he loves the books "Funnybones" and "A Dark, Dark Tale", and the classic Disney cartoon "Skeleton Dance". He often says Halloween things are "too scary" and hides from the screen, but then asks to watch them again a few minutes later. Now he's switched gears to Christmas and I'm thrilled--2 full months of reading Christmas books, watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music!

Firsts in September/October:
--First nappy-free day/week/month!
--First visit to Versailles
--First Eiffel Tower light show
--First visit to a pumpkin patch (Yorkshire Pumpkins)
--First "big screen" movie experience--Cars film screening at church!