Four Months Old

Four months old!

Four months!

How is that possible so soon? I swear she was only born yesterday.

The last month has been a big one for Mathilde with lots of milestones and firsts.

First Day of Second Grade

The long Summer vacation is finally over and as of today Ava is back at school as a second grader.

How did my little girl get so big? A second grader isn't new at school anymore. A second grader is a pro at school with years of experience behind her. I swear my second grader seemed so much taller and more grown up this morning as we left for school. I'm sure it's all in my mind - or it could be the new dress she was wearing!

Seattle: Gum Wall

Greetings from Seattle!

We arrived yesterday for our week long vacation to Seattle and Portland. Yay!

I just had to share this place that we visited yesterday. It's equal parts disgusting and amazing. I'm talking about the infamous Gum Wall in Post Alley under the super touristy Pike Place Market.

That's right... it's a wall covered in gum. And not just a little bit of gum either. Great big globs of the stuff!

Lemonade & Cookies

 Yesterday the girls ticked another American childhood Summer must-do of their list.

They held a lemonade (and cookie) stand with friends!

Oh what a cute stand it was!

Tara Donovan: Untitled

Toothpicks, buttons, pencils, drinking straws, pins, broken glass... Sounds like a list of the random stuff I find in the bottom of the stroller - or my handbag. But for artist Tara Donovan this is a list of art supplies. Through Tara's imagination and skillful hands these every day items become amazing works of art.

We recently visited Pace Gallery in Menlo Park which currently houses the exhibition Tara Donovan: Untitled, a collection of the artist's work from 2000 to present.

Chinatown with Mamma & Papa

One more post from my parents' recent visit from Australia. I'm almost done, I swear!

This one's a quick look at our visit to San Francisco's Chinatown.

Lola's New Do

For months now Lola has been asking to get her hair cut short. I'd been hesitant to go ahead with cutting her long hair off as I worried that she'd be upset about it afterwards - and maybe I would be too. But after months of Lola asking I knew that this wasn't just a one off whim; she really wanted short hair.

So last Friday we headed to the hairdresser and in one swift move of the scissors all that long hair was gone! 

And Lola couldn't be happier!

Wells Fargo History Museum

When my parents were recently visiting from Australia we spent quite a lot of time playing tourist in San Francisco. On more than one occasion we found ourselves walking past the Wells Fargo Museum on Montgomery Street and we were all keen to go in and check it out. However we kept walking past at times when it was closed!

On the last full day that my parents were with us we found the time to fit in a visit to the Wells Fargo History Museum (during opening hours even!) and we were not disappointed. There are lots of fun, hands on exhibits relating to the history of banking and San Francisco, and, best of all, entry is free. 

San Francisco Bay Cruise

One of my favourite things that we did with my parents on their recent visit from Australia was a San Francisco Bay cruise. We actually went on two boat rides in the bay with my parents. The first was a Ride the Ducks ride which took us in the water close to AT&T Park (and which you can see here) and the second was a Red & White Fleet cruise which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and past Alcatraz.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Visit

Time to get back to posting about my parents' recent visit. They've already been gone over a month. This Summer is just flying by.

You may recall that in previous posts I mentioned that we'd be going to Monterey Bay Aquarium. This was definitely one of the highlights of my parents' visit. We had visited Monterey Aquarium back in 2012 and the girls loved it so we've been keen to head back there again. You can see our previous visit here. It's such a wonderful place to spend a day so I knew that my parents would enjoy it too.