Halloween Parade

Just a few pics from the Ft. Meyer Halloween Parade...yesterday's prelude to tonight's big event.


Marshall thought this dragon was a big stuffed animal and kept going back to pet it. Good thing the knight didn't mind!



Seriously eyeing his octopus friend's sucker



Getting some tips from a colleague




Walking with Daddy in the Parade

"OK, Dad, enough of this parade. I've got to get back to the kitchen."

Paris...

...with a toddler!

What a trip! David and I thought it was a shame that our little Foreign Service kid hadn’t yet traveled overseas so we decided to take advantage of a business trip of David’s to introduce Marshall to the adventures of international travel. We figured Paris would be an easy-ish trip to do with a little one. And we were right.

All in all it was great! David was there for over a week before we arrived so he had already scoped out the nearest grocery store, worked out logistics for us and arranged for a Euro-style Pack N Play to be set up in the room when we arrived. The flight to Paris went well. We purchased a seat for Marshall so he was able to sleep for a few hours in his car seat, then in my lap for part of the flight, and back into the safety of his car seat for landing. We hopped into a cab and were off to the hotel where David met us and, after we got a bit settled in, we all headed out for lunch and a little stroll around the neighborhood.

On our first night in town, we went for a walk (David for a jog) on the Champs du Mars -- the park beneath the Eiffel Tower. Marshall liked the big tower so much that he didn’t want to walk away from it and insisted I carry him so he could watch it over my shoulder. Then he promptly fell asleep in my arms. Maybe he was just too tired to walk!

First Morning in Paris – looks like a long, hard sleep! He slept through David getting ready for work and leaving (so did I), David calling to tell us breakfast would be delivered soon, two leisurely cups of coffee for me, breakfast for me, CNN International and finally he began to wake up saying, “Pop, Pop, Gzi- Gzi” (Pops & Zannie are David’s parents). I guess he figured if he woke up not in his own bed, he must be at their house.

This is the life – a huge breakfast delivered to our room every morning! I’m sure the very nice folks downstairs were glad to bring it up so Marshall didn’t destroy the breakfast room.


Lots of our time was spent walking and playing around the Eiffel Tower. The big, green spaces are great and they even had several playgrounds.

Chasing Pigeons is such fun – the French kids seemed to enjoy it too!

With the Eiffel Tower behind us, Marshall heads back toward our hotel near the Ecole Militaire.

On Sunday, David had the day off so we spent the day together walking around this beautiful city.

Our last day in town – a long and rainy walk up the stairs to the Sacre Coeur – beautiful, but the view of Paris would have been much better if it hadn’t been raining.