The Best Moments are on the Cell Phone

I forget that I have funny pics on my cell phone...

...little moments like this when Claudia is playing dress up in the mirror....

... or when she's sittin' around bear huggin'...

...or hangin' in a tree...

... or woofing down ice cream... (is that how you spell "woofing"?)...

... or playing dress up in my rainboots and sunglasses...

... dancin'...

...snoozin'...

... and monkeyin' around. We went to the zoo a while back.

The zoo workers were doing little tutorials around the park.

This one was about sabor tooth tigers. They found some skulls in this area, apparently.

Claudia climbed right up in zoo gal's lap for the entire tutorial.

These fellows were my favorites.

This funny swing in the zoo park was Claudia's favorite.

She rode in it for about twenty-five minutes.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Learning to Fly + Climbing / Painting on the Wall

What did we do this weekend?

Little of this...

... little of that.

Claudia also demonstrated her ability to literally climb the walls.

I don't see how you can be anything but impressed by this.

I've been busy too... look at my roses!

The yellowuns smell the best.

The succulents... this is where my giant slugs live.

Also... Claudia made the leap to big girl bed this weekend. Here it is!

She had been climbing out of her crib every morning and specifically requested a "big bed."

Now look here... we check in on her and find her sleeping on her crib mattress.

We put it on the side of the bed in case she rolled out.

She told Daddy last night that she wants to sleep on her "little pad."

Turns out the big girl bed is just where she wants to do her reading.

We'll be working on this one.

Now let's talk about idiotic, ill-conceived home renovation projects. I can now paint a Moroccan tile pattern in my sleep. And I'll probably have to start painting in my sleep to finish this project before we leave Budapest. This is Claudia's play area. It's going slow. Real slow. Claudia hasn't played in weeks.

Lastly, the highlight of our weekend: American goods! We went to a party hosted by some American embassy folks and the host gave me a goody bag. Believe it or not... you cannot buy these products (peanut butter, grape jelly, apple sauce, soft white bread) anywhere in Europe. You don't realize how much you love peanut butter until you can't go out and buy a jar.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Super CC

To the untrained eye, it would appear that Claudia is walking around the yard wearing a blanket.

But it's not a blanket. Oh no, it is not a blanket. It's a super hero cape! Behold my child... the super hero. Super CC! She gets real serious when she puts on this cape. And mask.

Once this cape is on... no mess will go unmade, no diaper unsoiled, no cat un-terrorized.She also makes me laugh. Pretty much all day long.

Happy Memorial Day!

This would be from Claudia's first Memorial Day two years ago. I never shared this one and I thought it was sweet. She was just a little jiggly glob of patriotism.

God bless all the soldiers who have risked and sacrificed their lives to protect us. God bless all the soldiers who protect us and keep us safe. God bless all the military families who make sacrifices for us. Words are never enough, but thank you. Thank you all for everything!

The Giants Who Do the Tricks

Last night I told Claudia she had a "real treat" coming her way.

I pulled her off of camel/donkey/horse thing and put her in the car.

She relentlessly (and understandably) asked for candy for the next 20 minutes.

We picked up Daddy and went to the Budapest sport arena for the "treat".
After overcoming the initial disappointment that the treat was not candy...
or hamburger buns or fireworks, she warmed up to the idea of watching ...
the Harlem Globetrotters!
It was a night of American entertainment!
And Hungarian confusion!
The local crowd cheered relentlessly for the Generals,
while the Globetrotters shouted out chants and jokes that fell on deaf ears.
Here's our family pic.
At last... we're not sweating or smelly! Nevertheless, it's a blurry self pic.
I would have asked the gentleman behind me to take the pic, but...
... he was real busy filming a bootleg video of the game. Look!
Here's Claudia eating her dinner: a bag of paprika flavored chips.
There were no hotdogs or burgers at the arena;
luckily they had cucumber and mayonnaise sandwiches!
Just as delicious.
This night was all about Daddy and Claudia having some fun together.

There were lots of hugs... lots of cheering...

and lots of questions about

"the giants who do the tricks."

We couldn't leave without some official (read overpriced) Globetrotter gear.

It was a great and late night for Bop.

Paris is Always a Good Idea...

...so says Audrey. Bonjour folks! Daddy Boy had meetings in Paris last week so Bop and I tagged along. It was a short flight to some big fun. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves... with a little bit of commentary here and there.

Here are some pictures from the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and Place de Concorde. The Champs Elysees is Paris' most posh thoroughfare. You can find fancy boutiques, tasty eateries and gobs of tourists. Claudia enjoyed some treats from Laduree (home of the macaron), while Russell and I people watched our way down the boulevard.

These are all from Notre Dame and the Ile Saint Louis. To keep Claudia interested, I told her that Notre Dame was actually Malificent's castle, you know from Sleeping Beauty. She didn't believe me until she saw the gargoyles perched around the perimeter of the cathedral. She'll never doubt me again. The Ile Saint Louis is a great little island in the Seine thats a quick walk from the cathedral. It hosts lots of cute little shops and the famous Berthillon ice cream shop. She liked that too.

Let the fun begin! These are from the Jardin des Tuileries, the expansive garden that abuts the Louvre. We rode the merry-go-round, bounced on trampolines and ran wild on the grass. Until someone told us to stay of the grass. You must stay off the grass.

Now, here's Jardin du Luxembourg. Where children are allowed to be children and run on the grass. They are also allowed to ride on carousels, play with push boats in the pond, ride ponies and tend to bee hives. We stuck to the playground and the push boats and had a great time. I am always amazed at the inventive playground equipment at European play yards. I don't know how half of them work, thus I am amazed.

Here's the Louvre, guys (and some shots from the adjoining Tuileries)! Don't let these pictures fool you. We didn't make it inside. We attempted to, twice, even. But Claudia wasn't quite in the mood for getting too intellectual. Luckily, there is a side entrace on the Rue de Rivoli where you can walk through the museum and see inside. Russell was able to see his favorite statue, which is called... which is called.... something about a lion crushing a serpent. That's the best I can remember. We've both Louvre'd before, but were hoping to show Claudia the Mona Lisa. Next time, next time.

These are from Cites des Enfants. This is one of the best childrens' museums I've ever seen. It's organized according to age group, so Claudia's floor was nothing but 2 - 5 year olds. They also practice crowd control, only letting in 75 children at a time. Quelle bonne idee! That means "what a great idea!" It's also a cute little town in Louisiana.

Here is the Beast's Palace, as in Beauty and the Beast. Claudia didn't really care about Louis XIV. However, her ears pricked up when we mentioned Belle and Beast, so we went with that story. The grounds were amazing. Versailles is amazing, but I can totally understand why all the French revolted... seeing how they had no bread to eat and their king probably used gold encrusted toilet paper.

Here are just a few of my favorite shots...

Tour Eiffel... sleeping BopPlace de Concorde (and Tour Eiffel in background) & happy Bop

McLendon family photo at Jardin du Luxembourg...
In the grand tradition of McLendon photos, we are hot.
And sweaty.
Possibly stinky.

Daddy Boy and Bop poking the boat along.

Me, having a realization that giving Bop a big wooden bamboo stick was a silly, stupid idea.

Claudia appreciating some modern art at Centre Pompidou.

More art... the Ten Lizes by Andy Warhol.

Liz Taylor forever!And now I've got bags to unpack, litter boxes to clean, clothes to wash...

... and a Bop to chase.

She's convinced that we can't see her if she "hides" in the suitcases and closes her eyes.

I'll let her hang on to that one for now.