Life - a year later...

Last week marked the one year anniversary of our arrival in France. Quite ironically, I spent the day in Boston of all places!! While it makes the anniversary seem a bit less real as we are not spending it in France, it's still a super cool way of remembering the wonderful people and city we said goodbye to. Perhaps it even speaks to the fact that still feel very connected to our former home. Ironically, I have an American friend in France who sadly misses the days of drinking a cold coffee beverage while watching the kids at the playground. Laura (yes, she is named Laura as well!) - this picture taken on the one year anniversary of our move to France is for you!

We spent our week in Boston planning play dates and scheduling meet ups with friends. It's been an incredible visit and I have to admit that the first couple days had me ready to throw in the towel on the whole French adventure. I was bombarded with the wonderful memories of our Boston experience - the beginning of Jean and my life together as well as the birth and early life of the kids.  It took some real reflection to remember how thankful I am for our new start in France.  Its sort of that whole "grass is always greener" notion.  

I did find that by the end of our stay in Boston, I realized that we were now technically tourists and it was nice to start looking for opportunities actually sight-see!  Our last day in Boston, I tried to think of a quintessential tourist activity before we said goodbye again.  So off the the Boston Common and the Public Garden we went!  It was a gorgeous Sunday summer morning and the Swan Boats were calling our name.  For those of you that have been reading this blog from its inception, the Swan Boats were on our "bucket list" of things to do before leaving Boston.  It never got crossed off so it was really meaningful for us to tackle this.  It makes me think that this "bucket list" has morphed into more of "to be continued list" knowing that although Boston is no longer our home, its a place where we will undoubtedly spend much more time.  A nice feeling really.  Okay - not as magical as I had thought since I did it alone with the kids (Jean left after just 5 days in Boston to head back to work).  Thomas screamed most of the supposedly tranquil ride and Audrey found that it was a good time to get really close to the edge of the boat to keep me freaked out the whole time.  Nevertheless, it was a fantastic way to end our stay in New England! An overpriced trip across the street on the Carousel at the Common seemed like a happy ending for all three of us...

Now we are enjoying our last week in the US visiting the family in Cleveland. Sadly, I have taken much fewer photos on this portion of the trip.  Nevertheless, its nice being surrounded by family especially given that we now live so far away.  We are relishing our last couple days here before I head back with the kids back to France.  Strangely I am actually looking forward to the plane trip by myself with the two kiddos.  Even more so since I decided to make it the topic for the next blog post!  So if anyone is interested in seeing the chronicled stages of meltdown of a toddler and preschooler through 15+ hours of travel, stay tuned...