Never a Dull Minute with Our Family

There really is never a dull minute around our house.  Our first outing as a family of 6 without help was a trip to the doctor for flu shots.  The kids were completely traumatized by the whole experience.  Ben was hiding under the doctor's desk at one point.  Here are all the kiddos showing off their band aids.

This sweet little boy is so much fun.  He is eating and sleeping well, not great, but well.  He loves to cuddle and he makes it hard to get anything done during the day.

These boys are too much.  Garrett's cape as a big G on it and he runs around the house calling himself Super G.  Ben loves Buzz Lightyear.

Like I said, Malachi makes it very hard to get anything done, he is too much fun to cuddle with.

This time it was Nannie's turn for an afternoon nap.

The week has ended on a fun note, my birthday!  I am so lucky to get to celebrate my 31st birthday with my family.  

I am one lucky Momma!

This yummy cake was from Paul's, it was a yummy cream cake with fresh raspberries on top.  YUM!  The gorgeous flowers are from Jon.  What more could I ask for?

Chateau de Chantilly

Another day off and we headed off to visit another Chateau.  This Chateau was different from the other places we have visited.  The grounds themselves are beautiful.  There has been a structure here since the 1200's, but the existing chateau is from the mid 1800s.  The real highlight of this chateau is the stable.  The horses were very neat to see in their stables and the horse museum was very interesting.  It would be worth coming back when they have one of their shows scheduled.

A family photo!  The kids loved the audio guides.  The art collection here was very impressive.  

Sitting outside the main house.

Getting out and about with a 3 week old has its challenges, but he only needed to eat once on this little excursion.

Nannie surprised the kids with their own plastic horse figures.  

I meant to bring a carrier for Malachi, but I left it sitting in the kitchen.  Instead we got to push a stroller on cobblestones, I will not make that mistake again.

One famous thing about Chantilly is the fact that it is the home of whipped cream.  We grabbed a treat on the way out of town, a warm waffle with fresh whipped cream on top.  Yum!

Interesting fact, if you think of Chantilly Lace when you hear the name, this is the place the lace originated, but it has not been made or sold here since the 1700s.  There is another city in France and a city in Belgium where you will find the lace made today.

Everyday Life

Thankfully my mom, aka Nannie, has been taking a lot of pictures.  

Here is Addie all ready for church last week.  The jacket Addie is wearing was mine when I was a little girl.

The kids at the park with Daddy and Nannie.

Garrett with no pants, jelly on his face and putting on a show, a usual day with our little man.

Mr. Chocolate face.

The kids love taking out their bikes and scooters.

Addie LOVES holding her littlest brother.

Addie out on a walk with Nannie.

The boys enjoying some time on the blue iPad.

Garrett has been invited to a local little gym with a friend.  The class is all in French, but Garrett seems to do okay and enjoy himself.

I am so thankful that he is getting some time with other kids his age.

Another picture from her outing with Nannie. You can see the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Our sweet little boy.  

He loves to be in the middle of the action, preferably in my arms.

Happy Halloween

Addie and Ben's school had a costume parade at school.  Our Little Mermaid was so excited!

After the parade everyone went back to their classrooms and did some crafts and had some snacks.  Here is our big Buzz Lightyear making a ghost.

Our little Buzz Lightyear got to decorate a 'cake' in Addie's class.

Malachi was just a week old, but he did go to school with us to see the big kids.  He didn't come out of his car seat at all while we were there.  I wanted to get a picture of our little Halloween Pirate.

Halloween night we didn't know what to expect for trick or treating.  We weren't planning on taking the kids, but after our neighbors stopped by the kids were determined that they were going to go trick or treating too.  Jon got them dressed up and he and Nannie took them to a few houses.  Most of the houses they went to had candy for them and our neighbors invited them in for a little visit.  The kids had a great time!  Halloween isn't really taking hold here so we were thankful that they were able to have a fun night.