Screaming baby on a high speed train, no portable crib at the Madrid hotel, bumped from our bulkhead bassinet seats to middle of economy, screaming baby laying on the airplane tray table, and 3am wakeups for several days…where do I begin?! We left our apartment in Sevilla the morning of March 26th (my mom’s 61st birthday) and headed to the train station. We had booked a high speed train from Sevilla to Madrid so we could take the direct flight back to Dallas on the 27th, and

On Tuesday morning, Brennan and my dad were up and getting ready early to get our rental car. We decided to take a day trip to Córdoba and explore a new Andalusian city. We all packed into a (tiny) 7-seater car and we were off. The drive was a little less than 2 hours, and we made it with only one stop. I was glad we left the city of Sevilla so that everyone could get a glimpse of the Spanish countryside. There are olive trees for miles and miles, Spain is actually the world’

On Monday morning, we were fully expecting the crowds to die down from the weekend, but they really didn’t! Seems like as the city prepares for Semana Santa, it gets busier and busier leading up to this Saturday at midnight when the festivities start (basically Palm Sunday at midnight). We had booked a guided tour to the Maestranza Bullfighting Ring that morning at 10, which gave us enough time to have a slow morning. Silas is getting really good at entertaining his sister wh

We woke up on Saturday to the sounds of peacocks and very chirpy birds outside our window from the Real Alcázar gardens, which are just behind our apartment. We were going to visit the Real Alcázar Palace at 12:30 that day, but had the whole morning to relax and find a breakfast spot. We started walking through a garden area adjacent to the Real Alcázar, separated by a stone wall. The walk was filled with different flower smells, chirping birds and a quiet peacefulness…it’s n

Clementine decided to wake up at 6 this morning instead of her usual 6:45. We rolled with it, as we needed her to get a long nap in the portable crib before we traveled the rest of the day to Spain. Our flight wasn’t until 3:45 out of Marseilles, so we could relax that morning and get everything packed. We were flying a budget airline to Spain because it was direct to Sevilla, but as I started trying to figure out how many kilograms of luggage I paid for versus how many kilog

We wake up on our last full day in France to more beautiful weather. Apparently the mistral winds we had over the weekend are always followed by amazing weather days. We all eat breakfast at the house - Clementine eats some fromage blanc (a french yogurt type food), and Silas got a surprise for breakfast that I grabbed the day before at the supermarket…pain au chocolat! It’s Wednesday, which means it’s market day in Saint Remy! We drive into town and notice the square we alwa

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day in Saint Remy! But our first priority today is to get ready quickly and go into town to finally get some crepes! We found a couple crepe places open today (that were closed on Mondays), but they don’t open until noon…now we’re really confused. The restaurant yesterday told us they only have crepes in the morning and now the creperies don’t open until noon? We decide to just drive into town to the main square where we saw “crepes” on the awning of the

On Monday morning, the sun was shining again and it seemed like the wind had died down a little, so we decided to go up to the mountain village of Les Baux-de-Provence. We arrived around 10am, again just in time for Clementine to nap on me in the carrier. We’ve really got this travel nap situation figured out (we think)! It’s a short 15 minute drive up the mountain and we were strangely able to park in the lot right by the entrance to the old town. As we got closer to the tow

We wake up on Sunday morning to Silas asking “mommy, daddy can I come down the stairs?” As annoying as it may be to get out of bed at 6:35am, at least he isn’t trying to down them alone. He’s fully trained to ask us anytime he wants to go down them. Almost every step is a different width or at a different angle! The sun is shining today but it’s a little colder - in the 40s - and the wind is blowing like crazy! 30-40mph expected throughout the day. We want to visit the mounta

The first morning in Saint Remy brought us abundant sunshine, birds chirping, butterflies fluttering around the yard and bunnies hopping through the field behind the house. Yes, it’s as idyllic as it sounds. We take our time getting around and making the kids breakfast. We’ve been doing baby-led weaning with Clementine and it makes me so nervous when she actually puts food in her mouth! She’s doing really great though, haven’t had a choking scare (yet). I ran a load of clothe

Well it’s our last day in Florence and of course we have to visit the Duomo before we leave! Both my kids have spots all over their faces (nowhere else), no idea what caused it but other than that, they are acting fine. They just look a bit like cute lepers 🤣 I had booked a private tour for the cathedral & dome climb and it’s the ONLY way to go. The line wrapped around the church when we got there and we were taken right in with a private tour guide and in a sectioned off ar

On Tuesday morning, we all woke up and got ready to see the world’s most famous sculpture at the Accademia - Michelangelo’s David. It was a quick walk, and we got capps on the way. We booked a “skip the line” tour and highly recommend them. We walked right in with a tour guide and she gave us a quick rundown of the museum. We saw a painting that had been recreated as a sculpture so that vision-impaired people could experience it. Silas enjoyed it too! There was a room dedicat

We have had a very eventful last 2 days! On Sunday, we planned on renting a car and going to Pisa, but we couldn’t pick the car up until 12:45, so we decided to go to the Da Vinci museum. Before we left, we realized we were out of hot water for the 3rd day in a row. At this point, we know the host knows about this issue and chose to rent their unit anyway. I’m personally unbothered by this because like I mentioned in a previous post, Europe does not have the same amenities/co

So the kids finally realized they had been sleeping in, and woke up at 7 today. And again, we woke up to no hot water in our VRBO! The host did get it fixed but not before we ended up heading out for the morning. En route to Pitti Palace The first stop today (besides cappuccinos) was the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. We got there early enough to have no lines, and Silas enjoyed chasing pigeons and trying to decipher what the statues looked like. He loves picking flowers fo

Day 2 in Florence and the kids allowed us to sleep in again! I’m not sure if the jet lag hasn’t quite hit them or what, but I’m okay with sleeping until 8:30 every day! In an ideal world, they are awake 8:30-8:30, to accommodate a mid-afternoon long nap and late Florence dinner times. Will report back on whether or not we succeeded with this tomorrow… The day started out with the hot water not working in our VRBO. The host was very responsive and had someone here within 20 mi

We all got to sleep in a bit on our first full day in Florence! I woke up around 8:15 and started getting ready, we woke the kids up around 8:45 to try and get them acclimated to local time. Clementine had her bottle and Silas took his toast to go and we were out the door on our way to the Uffizi Gallery for a 10am timed entry. The streets of Florence in the morning were bustling with people and it was a beautiful 60° day, with the sun shining bright. We were nearly to the mu

After 2 flights and 18 hours of travel…we made it to our first stop! Let me just say, trans-Atlantic traveling with a 6 month old is not for the weak. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and honestly it was about how I expected. I think I just didn’t realize that even if both kids fell asleep around at their normal time around 7:30 and slept the whole flight, that was only about 5 hours of sleep compared to their regular 11-12 hours per night! And that wasn’t even the rough part…the

Today we celebrated my grandma’s 84th birthday at her house. We are lucky to live only a short hour and a half drive from her. We indulged in fajitas and Nothing Bundt Cakes, and visited with a lot of my family who got to meet Clementine for the first time. Silas actually went to her house yesterday with my brother Geoff and they spent the evening fishing with my dad and uncle! Silas is getting to be a really good fisherman. Silas spent the night at my grandma’s, whom he call

I'll try to capture an "ordinary" day in the life at least once a quarter, maybe once a month. Things change so much with babies, I want to make sure I'm capturing it all! Today is Clementine's 6 month birthday. I hardly remember when Silas was 6 months - what are routines were, what he was eating, etc. So I'm going to make sure I try and document both kiddos going forward. Clementine had her checkup yesterday and has leapt up in height since her 4 month check up! No wonder s

Since becoming parents in 2022, we've traveled a lot with our son - mostly domestically and one international trip to Canada. This will be our first major international trip (overnight flight, significant time zone changes) but I'm going to pack a lot of the same items we've used on past trips that have made our lives easier. Car Seats / Stroller Situation Doona for the 6 month old; this doubles as a stroller and car seat WAYB Pico+ Carrying Case for the 3.5 year old - cann