clowning around...

Last week my Italian friend Giovanna hosted a fantastic party in her garden for the kids and she even invited a clown to entertain them.  There was no occasion really, it was just a great thing to do for all of these adorable kids we've got in the INSEAD community.  It was a wonderful event...

...a little clown of my own...

Click here to see more photos of the Clown Party.

happy mother's day!

We are sending lots of love and our very best wishes for a Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grammies we are missing over here in France.  Personally, it's quite an honor to be the mother of such a great dancer...

Seriously, I couldn't be luckier to have this crazy guy as my son.  Max is the best gift I've ever received...

Happy Mother's Day!

(and check back again soon - we have lots of updates in the works!)

kerensa visits!

Lucky us!  The lovely Mrs. Williams was able to come to France and spend a week with us!  It was a fantastic visit (and the weather was mostly good!)... one of the greatest things about having visitors here is that we do things we don't ordinarily do when we're caught up in our daily routine.  For example, Kerensa, Max and I went to Versailles for a picnic and to see the fountains turned on in the gardens (this only happens at certain times, and only on the weekends).  Incredible!  Kerensa and I were also able to sneak away to PARIS for an afternoon of wandering around, looking in shops, eating and drinking (we took the train...).  It was magnificent!  We miss you, K!

Click here to see more photos of Kerensa's visit.

a moment...

Our friends live in a village nearby and the road to get there passes through the most beautiful countryside and farmland.  Recently the fields just exploded with these incredible yellow flowers, so we had to stop and have a moment with the flowers.  Here's a little video and below is a link to more photos.

Click here to see more photos with the flowers.

10k...

Lately Brook and I have been trying to embrace exercise as much as we embrace French wine, bread and cheese (the scales are still heavily tilted toward the latter), so when I saw information about a 10K road race in Fontainebleau, I insisted that we sign up.  I'm not sure either of us was fully prepared for a 10K, but we did it and lived to tell.  It was actually fun because it wound through the center of town and the finish line was directly in front of the big chateau.  

Post-race, looking sweaty but proud of ourselves

The finish line

all the way from tucson...

Max's Papa came all the way from Tucson to visit him!  We had a great time together... Brook and Ric ate dinner at the local restaurant in our village and we (minus Max) also went to a Belgian restaurant for crepes.  The weather cooperated for the most part and it was a really fun visit.

Click here to see pictures of an outing to the park.