putu with mischa and sascha

the she's joined us for putu with ammamma and appappan. our kids taught their kids the fine art of banana squishing!

ammamma and appappan's visit

ammamma and appappan stayed for a week while the girls were in europe and then stayed to help out when we got back. here they are the day before they left, along with jackelope, who visited with noble this week from school (it's a school project where they get to take jackelope on adventures and document them).

final stop: madrid

we visited the hoglunds in madrid. natalie and mahala had lots of fun together and we toured the city while she was at school. jennie cooked some wonderful food that was a welcome switch from plain european food!

city of gaudi

barcelona is filled with work by architect antonio gaudi, who is known for his wild organic forms and colorful mosaics. we saw sagrada familia cathedral (my highlight) which has been under construction for years and will be for years more. also visited park guell, filled with whimsical forms and colorful mosaics.

with the bortolatos

our good friends, the bortolato family, live in chavanod, france, near annecy close to the border of switzerland. they have two older boys and twin girls that are mahala's age. mahala was able to join in the girls school for a couple of hours where she was treated like a rock star! they took us through the old town of annecy, up into the mountains to view annecy lake, and then higher up into the mountains to view mont blanc, the highest peak in europe, then to switzerland to see a museum and to go swim in the warm water of natural springs. we also toured the old city of lyon before heading off to barcelona by train.

must-sees of paris

we spent many hours touring the louvres's most famous pieces. mahala was impressed with the crowds at the mona lisa- but she did see it! and then we saw notre dame cathedral and finally rode the escalators at the pompidou center to view paris from up high.

sunrise to sunset in france

our first full day in paris was a full one! mahala wanted to see the sun rise at the eiffel tower so we woke up early, grabbed some chocolate croissants and jumped on the metro. and we made it! it was a beautiful morning. then we boarded the train for a 30 minute ride to versailles, palace of the kings and queens of france.