X = 10 ...

My girl is X-ceptional. She is X-traordinary. She can be X-asperating, too.

And her name really does start with an 'X'.

Today, Baby X turns X.

10.

Double digits.

The big One-Oh.

We will celebrate with cake and climbing. She has requested a trip to the climbing gym as her special treat. My girl has a great sense of fun and adventure :)

I do feel kind of badly that this year is a 'lean' year. Last year we were off gallivanting around Europe...well, visiting friends in Paris anyway. And we got to go the the incroyable Parc Astérix actually on her birthday! This year it's just cake and climbing. I guess I shouldn't feel badly because that actually sounds kind of awesome.

Last year I wrote two posts in honor of her birthday. The second one contained the story of her birth day and all of the growing up pictures...click that if you'd like to see my lovely girl through the ages :) This year it's just the picture of her as the antelope ... and cake and climbing.

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl. You really are X-tra special :)


Addendum:

Dad got donuts for them for breakfast while I lay in a migraine-induced fetal position under my covers. They love donuts...a lot. Like me, they always think they can eat more donuts than they are really able...

This weasel-y looking thing is the remnants of Q-man's maple bar...

the custard grossed him out so he just skinned the chocolate off the top.

Also an addendum:

The joy of donuts was, unfortunately, overshadowed by a fight over a plate. A plate. A plain white plate. Screaming, shrieking, doors slamming...the works. Don't worry, though...everything's fine now :)

Body Image

I wasn't there when this picture was taken and haven't asked for the real story behind the image. She's only 9, so I don't think she is all kinds of head-hangin' sad because her body doesn't look like that thong model.

I think it's because she just finished her ice cream and daddy said, "no" to more.

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And in case you missed the "Vag Off"... you can check it out here (SUAR) and here (XLMIC).

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As part of my Granny's Gadgets presentation yesterday, I opened up a Gadget Challenge! Read more here.... *click*

My family went to Paris and all I got was…

... sick.

Not really. 

Only two of us got to get sick :P

As far as purchases went, the kids did get to choose some pretty stellar (and cheapo) souvenirs on their trip to France...

Big G picked a few books (in French) about ancient weaponry, mythology and wizardry...

And a nifty "gold" pocket watch with an Eiffel Tower embossed on the cover, a very detailed metal model of Notre Dame, and an awesome little gargoyle.

Baby X had her eye on sparkly things and Astérix.  

A book bag, keychains and a little sparkly Eiffel Tower.

Q-Man decided on a "silver" pocket watch with a "gold" Eiffel Tower glued molded onto it of his very, very own (similar to Big G's) and two books (again, in French) about medieval castles and life in the Middle Ages...one of which came with a mighty coolio castle to build!

And his pièce de resistance...

A fabulous $4 snow globe.

Daddy was diggin' on the cheapo chocolate that was on sale at the supermarket.

(it isn't even the 'good' stuff... but man, did he get it for a good price ;-) )

What did I get?

Well, what I wanted was this...

You know how I feel about our toilets here at home. These French toilets rival Target's public restroom toilets and the blaster toilets on airplanes. And they have a half-flush, water-saving feature ;-)  Even the French version of the low-flow toilet is better than the American one. These guys have it going on!

Check this out...

I saw no plungers in any of the bathrooms I visited on the trip. None. They are unnecessary. Such a difference from our house where one is required in every bathroom and used at least once every day.

However...

due to the very low initial water level, a toilet brush (right hand side of picture and video) is indispensable. I think you know why.

So that's what I really wanted, but...

because of luggage restrictions and our budget constraints, I had to settle for these...

The World's Most Awesome Tampons!

And you have to go to France to get them ;-)

When can you say X is IX... revisited

While we were in Paris, Baby X turned IX.  that's nine, in case you don't know your roman numerals ;-)
I vowed to spend a post putting the focus on her upon our return to my photo archives.

Here is my SuperGirl's Happy Birthday post... two weeks late!

I remember vividly the night you were born.

I had started labor that afternoon and was annoyed and needing distraction. I insisted on going to a movie...

"What if your water breaks in the theater?" daddy asked.

"GOOD!" was my reply.

Clearly, I was ready for you to make your arrival ;-)

I went to see The Sweetest Thing starring Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate and laughed my butt off... which makes contractions extra painful as I found out, but I didn't care as much because something was funny.

I had forgotten how much childbirth hurts, even though I had vowed to NEVER forget. 

I would be different from other women... I would NOT forget the pain.

Ha!

It was a little before 3 a.m. when you came into the world... April 14, 2002.

I finally had a little girl...

my daughter.

You were sweet, easy and happy from Day One.

Everything a mommy could hope for :)

Like nearly every baby, you took a few baths in the kitchen sink!

You loved to hang out with daddy...

and to dig around in drawers.

Everywhere you went, you made friends easily :)

And you slept like an angel.

With an engaging smile on your face, you turned

 ONE!

And continued to be a sunny, happy, joyful girl...

loved by everyone.

A Dora birthday delighted you when you were

TWO!

Nearly bald for the first few years of life, you were a real curly girlie by the time you were

THREE!

A globe-trotter at an early age, you spent your birthday in Paris when you turned

 FOUR!

In a year of upheaval, you demonstrated courage and strength beyond your years

before the fun-filled day you turned

FIVE!

The Birthday Harley ride...

Later that year, you also learned to ride a horse...

And then a two-wheeler!

Surrounded by friends, you became

 SIX!

You continued to be vibrant, enthusiastic and amazing at

SEVEN!

You found your inner athlete and turned

EIGHT!

You opened your birthday presents in sheer delight :)

And now you are

NINE!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, sparkling delight of a girl :)

You inspire, you ground, you give...

you LOVE.

I love you with all my heart.

Love,

Mommy

Tale of Two Lawns...

 This is the one you are allowed to go on... see the sign? It means "authorized lawn" ;-)

This lawn is the FORBIDDEN lawn. That is what "interdite" means... FORBIDDEN. Do NOT go on this one or the little gendarme dudes in their little uniforms with their shrill whistles will rip you a new one. This is how they keep the lawns looking so lovely... they rotated which ones are allowed and which are forbidden. Sometimes they say that the forbidden one is "resting" (pelouse au repos) which sounds a lot nicer.

The weather has been amazing while we've been here, maybe a little cold for a couple of days... but clear and dry. The past 4 days have been gorgeous. People flock to the parks ... and the lawns.  Where they can't sit on the lawn, the park provides chairs so you can sit how and where you like OFF the lawn.

Sometimes I wish this was me...

peaceful, calm pique-nique by the pelouse...

 But then I wouldn't have this...

or this!

Not to mention all of the other incredible, feel-good mommy moments I have had the good fortune to experience while on this trip

(as well as in 'regular' life)

I am sad that we need to leave.

We are just about all packed and it is time for bed.

Thanks for hanging with us while we traipsed about :)

There are a few more posts about the trip on the way...

I need more energy and time to craft something coherent.

Maybe tomorrow!

Today is a Granny's Gadgets day... unfortunately, the camera is packed and I don't know where my husband put it :(  There will be one up as soon as I am back in my kitchen stateside. Thanking you in advance for your patience and understanding ;-)

Fontainebleau

Chateau de Fontainebleau

My husband kept pronouncing this "fountainbleu" like a fountain of bleu cheese. I had to correct him...

It's "Fontaineblow" ... like that line in Shanghai Knights.

We were going to go for the day... visit the palace AND the gardens AND the forest (which is a big deal on its own). But.... we left the house at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and it was a 90-minute drive... and we were all pretty spent before we even started.

Our hostess was awesome. She and her two kids accompanied us. The kids all had a pretty great time. The adults all felt pretty wiped from all the driving and agreed that it wasn't very much bang for the driving buck.

Fontainbleau is a very big historical deal in France. It is more important than Versailles... even though The Big V is a lot fancier. If you click on the link under the above picture, it will lead you to info about why... in case you want to know.

I took Big G, Baby X and our hostess' oldest son on the quickie tour. That is the tour for kids. You don't really stop and learn about much of anything, you just check out all the grandiosity and splendor and how big or small the beds are, how much gold there is on stuff, whether or not there are chandeliers or lots of naked lady statues... that sort of tour. The tour takes most people a good solid hour or more. We did it in 32 minutes.

Here are some highlights...

Battle Royale in the courtyard!

 Jumping down off of things we shouldn't have been climbing on!

Being extremely cute on statues we shouldn't sit on while daddy watches us in the garden and mommy races through the palace with older kids!

 Miss C getting her training run in...

 the girl is a running machine, I tell you!

Those were the guys outside.

We were the guys inside.

Baby X was really into the audioguided tour gizmo... I think she learned a lot.

 Napoleon's bed... she is right next to it. It is super short... like he was. I was surprised, but maybe he wanted a cozy little bed to snuggle into at night?

We saw several other rooms, but we were going so fast that I forgot to take pictures.

It was a quick tour.

I am not sure exactly how this happened...

it was the end of the day.

 The kids enjoyed some cookies...

 Q-Man expressed his 'done-ness' by curling up into a ball.

 And my big girl has some issues with her socks... there were no visible injuries that would appear to require makeshift bandaging, so it must have been a fashion statement.

 Miss C passed on the cookies (much to her dismay) but did find solace in a date.

Of course, no palace of great national importance and significance would be complete without

a pissing dog fountain.

Am I right?

Artemis with her peeing hound dogs... I remember that myth.

And check this out!

Traffic looks the same in France!

No special style or panache...

just lots of cars,

cranky people,

dirty air...