Bon Voyage Frenchies!

We had a FABULOUS time this summer with our friends from France. From shopping, bowling, swimming, roller-coasters, to the ocean, we did it all! We are trying to figure out what is it we "normally" do now and are looking forward to Fall. Meanwhile, enjoy this video from of McKenna singing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af37-EKitJA

Too Busy to Blog!

We now have the girls parents and brother here for their holiday! We have been very busy going to Lake Natoma, Old Sacramento, touring the California State Capitol building and the Railway museum. I will post more pictures when I have time. I will also post pictures on my other blog Carrot Creek Times of my friends beautiful home. Stay tuned and I will catch up as soon as I can with photos from Lake Tahoe and more!

Clos du Lac - South of France in California

Today the girls and I were invited to my friend Jan's house in Loomis. Their home is styled after homes in the south of France and the girls were delighted to be there. Jan had everything perfect for us, even a beautiful cake to celebrate all of our birthdays. We had lunch outside by the pool and the girls swam all day. Afterward we went into their home theater and watched the movie "Blast from the Past." The girls said it was a perfect day! I completely agree!

Lise and Claire relaxing in the spa!

In the home theater watching "Blast from the Past"

SEVENTEEN and Crazy!

We celebrated Lise's 17th birthday today! She woke up to party decorations and gifts, followed by breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. We went to Old Sacramento and the girls went crazy in the hat and costume shops (Okay, we all did)! We took the girls to an old-time photo store and had their pictures taken in costume! It was so fun! Lise wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe for her birthday dinner. We all had hamburgers and the waitress brought a chocolate sundae with a birthday candle for Lise. Afterward we came home to continue watching the series "Eureka," Lise's new favorite. Enjoy the photos!

Gifts and flowers for Lise!

Claire guides Lise down the hall for her "surprise".

The girls both got matching "Sister" bracelets!

Old Sacramento

And the craziness begins...

No surprise, Claire is a clown for sure!

There are so many great pictures of everyone with hats and more that I think I will add a slide show so you can see them all!

Deja Vu

Today we went to the mall, AGAIN! Dan seriously deserves a medal for this! The house has been full of whispers and secrets because of the upcoming birthdays for both girls. We've all been trying to find the right gift(s). Tomorrow we will celebrate Lise's 17th birthday! She said she doesn't want to be 17 because 18 will be around the corner and with it, more responsibility and growing up! She wants to go to Old Sacramento to celebrate and to eat at Hard Rock Cafe. We didn't take too many pictures today because we have done the same thing...a few times! I made BBQ hamburgers tonight and the girls loved them. They had hamburgers for lunch and want a hamburger tomorrow. (Don't worry Francoise, I've made them salad and fruit too.) They are now watching a television series before bed. I have mysterious work to do tonight to prepare for the birthday-bash tomorrow!

Lise is counting her last pennies for day.

Claire is happy at the grocery store picking out cereal!

Taco Night!

At Lise's request, we made tacos tonight! This seems to be her favorite me and Claire liked it a lot too. We stayed home and rested all day and watched the series Eureka and also Mama Mia! I think we all needed to be lazy today. It's been great.

Santa Cruz & Capitola

We hit the road early this morning to celebrate my birthday in Santa Cruz at the boardwalk! It was a long car ride but iPods make everyone happy. To wake everyone up, we bought tickets for roller coasters and Dan took the girls on a crazy up-side-down ride. They loved it! Next I went with the girls on a wooden coaster that has been there for years and we screamed our heads off. It was great! I had my favorite junk-food treat, a corn dog. It just makes my day. The girls went on a log ride and I went with them on the first ride again and I think that may be the last up-side-down ride I want to go on. Yikes!


We drove to nearby Capitola and had a late lunch at Margaritaville, a popular restaurant by the sea. While we were so close, I had to make sure we were able to put our feet in the sand and ocean. The weather was perfect, not too hot, clear skies, and a breeze.

I love the perfume set the girls gave me from Paris! Dan got me beautiful flowers and more kitchen items I had been asking for. It was a great day! Enjoy the pictures!

Here they are dangling from a piece of metal in the air.

Approval!

Waiting in line for my turn on this thing!

Here they go!

Splash!!!

The girls...

Claire enjoying the beach!

Mel's Diner and MORE Shopping!

Today we took the girls to Mel's Diner! We had a juke box at our table and put in our quarters to listen to our favorites oldies. We had burgers, fries and a chocolate malt...very American.

Afterward Dan took the girls to go shopping (I believe there was some birthday shopping for me!) while I went to a movie and dinner with my friend Wendy to celebrate my birthday a day early since we will be gone to Santa Cruz and Capitola tomorrow!

Dan is a great sport with all this shopping!

Dan and Lise...tellement mignons
!

Claire and Kim ...vraiment mignonnes !

Dan and Kim ...Kim est tellement mignonne mais Dan ... pas vraiment !

(Captions courtesy Lise and Claire!)

Another HOT Day

Once again the temperature was over 100F. We went to Lake Natoma Aquatic center to swim and had a great time. A woman next to us asked us to watch her things while she went to get something to eat and when she returned she brought us eight double-cheeseburgers from McDonalds! We had just been talking about cheeseburgers so it was a great surprise! The water was much nicer and more refreshing than Folsom Lake which made us all happy.

We had pork ribs, salad, and artichokes for dinner and the girls liked this meal very much. We will make it again when the rest of the family is here.

Claire came with me (Friday) to take McKenna to puppy school. She took some photos of McKenna as my very serious co-pilot in the car. She may look like she is ready to parachute with all of her "gear" on, but she must have her seat belt harness on so that she doesn't end up in my lap while driving. She has learned how to lean into turns, which is adorable to see. Claire listened closely to what the instructor told me about teaching McKenna, who by the way obeyed every command beautifully for the instructor (not so much for me). Claire says that I am too nice to McKenna so she doesn't obey me as much...very true!!

Claire

Lise

McKenna as co-pilot

McKenna says it's safe to turn now.

Silly Girls

The girls asked me what the word "silly" means and I think these photos explain it better than I could.

We had another day of shopping and just plain silliness. I took Claire to the art store and she has found a project that she will work on. She is an excellent artist and I would love to have her art become part of Carrot Creek Boutique someday. Lise is very content watching Stargate and since the weather is very hot outside, it seems appropriate to stay cool and watch a movie. We hope to go swimming again tomorrow at Lake Natoma.

I was DELIGHTED and overwhelmed to receive a gift from the girls. They made us an album/scrapbook of their time in California with us last year as well as our time together in Paris. I was so moved that they spent so many hours beautifully crafting this album. It is so special and I will cherish it forever.

Dan was equally thrilled with a replica of Napoleon's black powder pistol from France that was given to him by the girls. We were also given T-shirts from Paris! We are so thankful to have found such great friends.

We're having lots of fun planning our week ahead, and thanks to Claire's organizational skills as well as artistic ability, we will have a lovely calendar of events to view very soon (I will take a photo). Claire saw my closet full of markers, paints, and art supplies and I think it took her breath away. I know this feeling well.

Enjoy the photos!

They're all-American now!

They even got Victoria in on the silliness.

These are glow sticks Dan gave them.

Movies and Shopping

We had a very busy day today! This morning I made eggs, potatoes, bacon and toast for the girls (an all American breakfast) and after watching some Stargate (again!) we left to see Harry Potter at the movie theater. We then took the girls to Olive Garden where they were amazed at our endless refills of soda, salad, and bread sticks. We know first hand, this does not happen in Paris or Milan. I'm not sure if these refills are a curse or a blessing.

After resting at home, we headed off to the mall to take the girls shopping. They found many treasures and we have heard repeatedly today, "I am so happy!" With that, our job is complete for the day.

At the movies

Claire wearing two left shoes

Dan was incredibly patient considering he was at the mall with three girls...


Claire watching television

Claire said she will be dreaming of her new Converse shoes tonight. :) I completely understand.