Nic's birthday........

I turned 18 again the other day...... How did the last 18 years go so fast?  How am I in the second half of my 30's? Time is just moving too fast these days!

As usual with a toddler and a baby, the day started early.  We all had colds and Astrid was in the midst of hers so managed to sleep in until almost 8am but her brother had me up at 6am for a feed, so no birthday sleep-in.  This year Astrid made me a card and some chocolates, and of course helped me open all my presents.  Soren happily played with the paper and the cards!

After breakfast, Anto and Astrid started making my birthday cakes.  For months Astrid had been telling me I was having cupcakes....... so apparently I was having cupcakes.  They decided on raspberry & vanilla and dark chocolate with peanut butter icing.

Astrid is the baking Queen, and loved nothing more than making birthday cupcakes while still in her PJs. She is very good at mixing, measuring and of course tasting.  I reckon in another year she might be baking on her own.

After the cupcakes were out of the oven and Soren had napped and had a feed we decided to head out for some birthday activities.  All the lovely outdoor activities I had mentally planned for my birthday were shelved due a cold rainy day (and sick kids and adults). We opted to head into the city and do a little shopping and give the kids a ride on the merry-go-round.

I thought it was a little shameful that Astrid is almost 3 and hasn't been on the merry-go-round we all rode on as kids, when it's a 15 minute drive from our house.  She had a couple of carousel rides in Europe, including her first on the carousel at Sacre-Couer in Paris.  Extreme slackness meant we hadn't been on our local though.  I have great memories of conning many rides out of my grandparents (and parents) as a kid.  The Civic merry-go-round is a bit of an institution in Canberra, and I'm sure there wouldn't be many local kids who hadn't been for a ride or 10.  Astrid was beside herself with excitement about it, so we didn't get too much shopping done before heading out for her ride.

I decided to ride with Astrid and Soren.  Astrid was keen to give a horse a go and I sat with Soren on one of the elephants.  I somehow managed to place both Astrid and Soren as far away from Anto standing with the camera as possible, so he struggled to get any decent shots.  We did grab a few though, and Astrid thoroughly enjoyed riding up and down on her horse, and cried when the ride was over.  Soren thought it was hilarious but wasn't yet up to begging for more rides.

It was then lunch time and since we were going out for dinner, we opted for grill'd as it was nearby and provided options we all ate.  We've never taken Astrid there before as were impressed with their kids lunches. Astrid had a chicken burger and the pack it came in with water, pencils and colouring in book was quite cute.  Speaking of cute, Soren put on his best cute faces during lunch to entertain everyone in the vicinity.

After lunch we finished our shopping, and somehow even though it was my birthday the two kids ended up with purchases and I didn't! Then it was home for afternoon naps for the littlies and the promise of cupcake icing and decorating for Astrid.

We headed out to a local(ish) cafe for dinner with 3 of the 4 grandparents (my dad had already returned to Queensland) and Uncle Mikl.  Astrid loves going out to dinner and tried a bit of everyone's dinner.  Soren mostly just grinned at people and was hoping it was time to go home to bed!

Once home and with Soren safely asleep, it was time for cake.  Astrid was excited to be allowed up late for the candle blowing out ceremony...... and most importantly, cake consumption!

According to Astrid, I had a lovely birthday!  I agreed.

18 October - Sacré-Cœur

We all woke up a bit grumpy. Anto has a cold and Astrid's teeth are bothering her. Neither got a good nights sleep. Nic was just disturbed by the both of them. Since we were all a bit tired, we decided to have an easy morning.

After breakfast we headed down to Jardin Des Halles for a play. This morning there were no other kids in the park, much to Astrid's disappointment. The equipment was all wet, but we came equipped with a tea towel for wiping things down, so Astrid didn't get too wet. It didn't stop her from finding all the puddles though.

After a play we headed to a cafe for our morning coffee and treat. Today we decided to outsmart the food thief and ordered both a croissant and a Tarte Fromboise. I think Astrid still got 80% of the croissant and a reasonable portion of the tart.

 Bellies full, we wandered back to our street and did some food shopping and picked up some supplies for the apartment. We obtained our daily baguette and mulled over which patisserie items we 'had' to try over the next few days. Even if we were here for a year we wouldn't get a chance to try everything, so it's important to plan.

 After Astrid's lunch time sleep and Anto's nap, we decided to head to Sacre-Coeur. Although it's only a few kilometres, we caught the metro to save our legs for the hill. It's not much of a hill but it's the only one in Paris, and looks rather large compared to the flatness all around. Sacre-Coeur Basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmarte, the highest point in the city. It is a major tourist attraction, and there are people and annoying street vendors/scam artists everywhere! The Basilica is very impressive standing on top of hill. The seemingly million steps up are also impressive, but it's worth it for the views as you ascend.

We could have been lazy and caught the funicular to the top, but that wouldn't have been as much fun as trudging up all the steps with an Astrid strapped to your chest. At least it made me feel less guilty about all the pastries we had been eating.

 There were plenty of street performers out the front to entertain and we even saw a couple having there wedding photos taken on the steps. There were plenty of lovely photos opportunities, provided you can fight your way through the crowds.

We did go into the basilica. Unfortunately photos aren't allowed inside, which was a shame as it was quite spectacular. Here is what it looks like:

Despite the signs everywhere reminding people it is a place of worship there was still plenty of opportunity to buy tacky souvenirs inside the basilica. We resisted any urge to do so. Unsurprisingly the line for the funicular ride down the hill was much shorter than the line for the ride up, but we decided to again take the stairs. We saw some impressive young men participating in their daily workouts carrying each other up the steps. They deserve lots of pastries for that effort!

At the base of the steps there is a carousel and we promised Astrid a ride on the 'horsies'. It was her first ever carousel ride and she seemed to enjoy it. Waving to her dad every time we went around and jumping up and down on my lap to make the horsies go faster. I'm sure she can experience more carousels at other Paris tourist traps, later in our trip.

 We decided to walk back to our apartment, since it wasn't too far and was at least partly down hill. Despite the forecast for the day being 21 and partly sunny (we never saw the sun), we got rained on quite heavily as we walked back. It was the first time we got properly soaked, and it was a little unpleasant and ruined an otherwise nice walk. Aside from the fact that the weather forecasts here are generally a work of fiction, the forecast for the next few days is warm and no rain. The 20ish degree temps predicted make a nice change from the 7-9 degrees we had last weekend. We are hoping to get some more sightseeing done while the weather remains (hopefully) nice.