I had always heard that Paris is a city for walking and wandering, and I now see what people mean: We walked miles and miles each day. And while the museums and touristy spots were certainly a highlight, some of my favorite memories are of when we just strolled around and discovered places and things we hadn’t read about in the guidebooks. We stumbled upon a random restaurant (which really looked and felt like more like a bar) on our first morning, for example, and it wound up being our favorite place to grab a tartine and coffee each morning. (It wasn’t fancy and seemed like a place that locals, versus tourists, would go.) And on our way to the Eiffel Tower one afternoon we walked through a pretty and quiet (read: non-touristy) street and suddenly stumbled upon the Place des États-Unis and a park called Square Thomas-Jefferson! Given our love for the musical Hamilton (and Jefferson’s role in it), it was a very cool (albeit random) find, and we wound up stopping and sitting for a while to enjoy the sunshine… A good memory indeed!

-M

Our last full day in Paris meant a visit to the Musée d’Orsay, where we saw tons of Impressionist paintings and Zoe grew to appreciate art. (One of the first things she did when we got home was write a paper on Mary Cassatt – for fun!) We then took a boat ride and walked along the Seine and explored our neighborhood before having steak frites and the best creme brulee I’ve ever had! (I had to laugh when Zoe said, “That’s the best one I’ve ever had, too! I mean, it’s only the second time I’ve had it – but it was the best.”) Before jumping on an afternoon flight to Scotland the next day, we spent the morning enjoying croissants and café crème (see last photo) and visiting the Musée Picasso.

As I told friends when I got home, I had been looking forward to visiting Paris but I didn’t really understand what the fuss was about. Now I know. It’s an amazingly beautiful city, and I love that I got to experience it with my family. When I’m feeling blue or having a down moment I can just shut my eyes and think back to our time there – and to the streets, the cafes, and the museums – and smile. The memories we created were lifelong ones, and I can’t wait to go back someday and make more.

-M

We packed a lot into our 3 1/2 days in Paris. After a full first day, we spent our second one exploring the beautiful Sacré-CÅ“ur and Montmartre district, visiting the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées and walking through the city until we reached the Eiffel Tower. (We didn’t want to miss the big stuff!) We ended it all at our apartment (see last photo) in the Le Marais district, which was the perfect little spot for us.

-M

Q had long wanted to take me and the girls to Paris, so we made plans for a quick visit after Tel Aviv. I had, of course, long heard how beautiful the city was, but even with all the expectations, my mind was blown. I felt as if I was walking around in a postcard, and tears sprang to my eyes on more than one occasion – like when I first saw some of the art in the Notre-Dame or the Musée d’Orsay – because of the beauty there. I have some amazing memories from our time there – and some great photos, too. Here’s the first batch, which include Avery’s first bite of a real Parisian chocolate croissant, the view on top of the Notre-Dame (where we spent our first morning), and our visit to the Louvre.

-M

Seeing family – including Lily and the girls’ newest cousin, Carmel – was also on the agenda for our trip. We went to Haifa (about an hour-long train ride from Tel Aviv) on the first and last day of our time there, and then Gil and Lily came down one other afternoon to play…

-M

When we visited Israel last year, we did tons of running around and sight-seeing – so this time around we decided to be a bit more mellow and stay mostly local (see previous photos). But we did still do several things we didn’t get to last summer, including visiting the ancient city of Caesarea and hitting the (beautiful) beach.

-M

The reason for my blogging break was our summer trip: We just spent 16 days in Israel, Paris, and Edinburgh. Our first week was in Israel, where we spent a good chunk of time just wandering around, exploring the streets of Tel Aviv, shopping and eating. (The girls visited their favorite restaurant, Da Da & Da, at least four times! And I think we had ice cream every day.) Here’s our first batch of pics…

-M

Like last summer, I’m taking a little blogging break. I’ll be back – hopefully with lots of good photos and stories – in a few weeks!

-M

Zoe’s always working on little projects on the computer, and I sometimes get emails from her where she gives me access to a Google doc or invites me to some event she’s hosting. She recently discovered a pledge page on the American Girl website, and the other day the note below popped up in my in box. Seeing her name in the from line always makes me smile, and the girl-power message behind this little project made me even happier.

-M

Speaking of my birthday, Avery came in after helping her dad in the front garden a few weeks ago and handed me a tiny shell. “I found this, and I wanted to give it you as an early birthday present,” she told me with a little smile. “No one lives in it anymore.”

-M

The day before my birthday, Q and I discovered this yummy little coffee shop with fun (and colorful!) drinks. They also have a great menu of non-caffeinated beverages (think Nutella hot chocolate) so we were eager to go back with the girls. Mission accomplished.

-M

The girls were fans of the musical Hamilton before seeing it in the spring, but now they’re really big fans. It’s no exaggeration to say that the soundtrack is all they listen to (Q got so sick of it that we once issued a temporary ban in the house and car) and they now have most of the lyrics to the 46 songs memorized. We all quote the musical on a daily basis, we’re huge fans of a 285-page book on the show, and we reference Daveed and Lin (actors in the original cast) as if we know them.

I read somewhere that Hamilton is like Frozen for adults – and I certainly have been reminded of the Frozen days these past few months. But people’s love for the show (certainly mine and the girls’) goes way deeper than anything I’ve seen before. I don’t know if it’s the music, the lyrics, the charismatic stars, the unique way the show captures history, or a combination of it all – but the show has crawled into our hearts and minds and won’t let go.

-M

As previously mentioned, the girls have been at plenty of new camps — where they knew no one — this summer. But making friends hasn’t been a problem, and one night Avery explained to me how she meets new people. “You say, ‘Hi, what’s your name? My name is Avery,'” she told me. “And then you play or you just start chatting.”

-M

The girls’ summer itinerary has been a mix of new (math camp, sports camp, and coding camp) and old (Galileo and zoo camp). Last week was their return to the latter, and it seemed to be a good one; below you’ll see them “meeting” a spider tortoise (Avery) and Firestone, a rubber boa (Zoe).

-M

Inspired by the San Francisco and California landmark projects she did in third and fourth grades, Zoe decided to do something similar for Wisconsin. Shortly before our trip the two of us came up with a list of, and did some preliminary research on, 25 landmarks and points of historic interest in the state. When we got to Madison she then assigned Grandma, Grandma, Sandy, Avery and me several landmarks, and for each one we found a photo and compiled a bunch of facts.

The project was a fun way to expose the kids to a place they don’t know much about (and even my parents, lifelong Wisconsinites, learned some things). But I had to laugh: This was such a Zoe thing to do on vacation!

-M