Roman ruins, water fountains and incredible food - Lyon, France is perfect

Ahh, Lyon. Only Lyon.

I sigh every time I think back to our time in Lyon, France and can't help but smile as I reminisce about Calvin exploring the Roman ruins with boundless enthusiasm and squealing with delight as he splashed in the fountains with the other children - all running around in their underwear.

We were fortunate to have the most perfect weather imaginable - around 29C, sunny, no clouds and a light cool breeze. Lyon is one of the few European cities to have 2 rivers surrounding it, La Saône and La Rhône, so it has double the waterfront space, double the number of tree-lined walks and so many gorgeous bridges to cross. At night, the rivers reflect all of the beautiful lights and I wonder why Paris is called the City of Lights when Lyon is just as entitled to it. Lyon also boasts its own, though somewhat smaller, metal (Eiffel-like) tower, that is up next to the Fourviere basilica and is all lit up at night.

We wandered through the old town of Lyon. So charming with it's quaint street, cobble stones and boutique shops. Some might call it a tourist trap but it is so beautiful that you can forgive it a bit and still enjoy your delicious ice cream while watching the street musicians play in the shade, slowly dragging on their lit cigarettes in their mouths. Lyon also boasts a strikingly high number of playgrounds sprinkled throughout the city. We had no issues finding playgrounds for Calvin as it seemed there was one around every corner. There were two large playgrounds (one for older children and one for smaller children) that preceded a string of fountains and wading pools. It felt so warm and welcoming, that we couldn't resist taking off our shoes and wading in. While perhaps very un-French of us to do so, we really didn't care. After a day of lazily wandering the city, we felt so relaxed that standing in the water and letting Calvin splash on a hot day seemed like the best idea of all.

Running through the old town

Lyon is most known for its delicious food and a Lyonnaise special is the quenelle. I can't describe it well and the Wikipedia link doesn't do it justice. Basically it is delicious and worth a try. I had the poultry quenelle and it was so rich and creamy. Lyon specializes in offal (organ meats) and while I was a bit put off, Jon was brave and tried and LOVED pressed pig's head tureen (head cheese). If you are going to ever try it, Lyon is the place to do so.

The Roman theatre that sits atop Fourviere is also a must-see if you are in Lyon. Anytime I see Roman ruins, my mind is just completely blown by the mastery of their construction. The site is still used for cultural events and the stage crew was working busily while we were there, adjusting the lighting and stage platforms for an upcoming performance.

Only a 2 hour train ride away from Paris, I would return to Lyon in a heartbeat to spend more time. The weather was consistently beautiful for our entire stay, the people were extremely friendly and helpful and it was the perfect place to roam for a family with young children.

Happy to take part in:

Fjording in Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway is known for being extremely beautiful, extremely rainy and extremely expensive. Somehow, we didn't let reasons 2 and 3 scare us off from experiencing Bergen's natural beauty and we booked a quick (4 day) trip with the plan to picnic our way through Bergen to save some pennies.

Bergen is right on the water and for the weekend we were there,  its harbor held beautiful tall ships in addition to some old WWII ships. Calvin felt like a salty sea captain when he was allowed to man the wheel and "steer" the docked ship in the high seas.

Though we didn't have much time, we managed to squeezed it all in - a trip to beautiful Flåm on the Flåmsbanan, 5 hour fjording boat ride, the touristy fish market, funicular to a spectacular view of Bergen, a troll forest and a few requisite playground stops. We were very fortunate and managed to have 3 sunny days out of 4 - quite remarkable, actually. There is a joke that it rains 275 days a year in Bergen. The locals don't laugh but they make a ton of money selling ponchos to the tourists.

If you want any tips on how to do the Bergen-Flåm-Bergen trip, let me know. There are about a gazillion different ways and TripAdvisor reviews were only partially helpful and mostly confusing.

In short, Bergen is extremely kid friendly (though the cobblestones were rough on the stroller) and can be done on a budget (kind of) if you buy local groceries and bring your own picnics everywhere. It is a small enough place to explore in a few days and is well worth the natural beauty - just don't forget your umbrella. We rented an Airbnb apartment which was very centrally located and on one of the stops of a walking tour. It doesn't get much better than that!

We happened to be on the Flåmsbanan at the same time as the professional photographers who were updating their new catalog. They took a picture of me and the children sitting on the bench under the Flåm sign so we may be the new poster family for Flåm in 2015!

The fjords we saw during our 5 hour boat ride back to Bergen were absolutely breathtaking. I love being on the water and there is no feeling like the wind rushing through your hair, sun on your face and breathing the cleanest air Norway has to offer while looking out onto the bluest sky and water. If we had more time, we could've explored a World Heritage Site fjord Nærøfjord but our boat only drove past the opening. I managed to get a picture of it (see below) and it is probably as close as we will ever get. In short, Norway is majestic, impressive and breathtaking.

Stockholm's Endless Summer

Our first summer in Stockholm was cold, gray and rainy and had depressingly shifted to fall weather by the end of July.  We wore light fall-weather jackets pretty much every day or kept them in the bottom of the stroller "just in case."  This year has been a complete 180 in comparison and it has been magnificent!  We have thoroughly enjoyed 70-74F weather from end of May-present.  While our friends and family in the NE region have been complaining about heat waves and our Atlanta friends have seen record rainfall, we've been out enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather.  I'm not going to lie - a slightly evil laugh bubbles up inside every time I see people complain about the weather on Facebook.  It's not often that we have weather superiority over our friends and family and I've been relishing every moment.

It's been gorgeous outside, which has made it great for me and Calvin during the day.  His dagis closed early June and his new dagis didn't start until September 8th, so we had a looong four months of full-time parenting.  It's great that he had the summer off and I love spending time with him, but he is demanding and requires a lot of different activities every day.  Fortunately he loves exploring the woods and with the weather in our favor, we were able to do lots of walking, swimming and playing at the playgrounds.

The beginnings of spring weather - April 20

Flower picking - May 26

Hot pool days in June!

July blueberry picking

August gorgeousness

We really took advantage of the entire season this year - as soon as it was marginally sunny and nice out, we were out and about.  Considering there was still snow on the ground in April, we really launched into spring and summer quickly and luckily the good times have lasted!

Three cheers to Stockholm's Endless Summer - may the beautiful weather last as long as possible!

If you're not here, you're not anywhere

For my 30th birthday, my mom bought me the book, "The Happiness Project" and there was the quote in one of the chapters,

"If you're not here, you're not anywhere"

It was one of the author's daily reminders to herself to stay in the present moment.  There are so many times when I see parents out with their children but they are checking their cell phones and completely ignoring their kids.  One woman was so absentminded that she pushed the empty swing next to her while her daughter sat still in her own swing - for about 20 minutes.  Really? Really!? Come on now!  

I admit that I am also guilty of mentally checking out sometimes because let's face it, I just don't want to play in the puddles like Calvin does.  But those times when we "check out" from our kids or from anything we are doing, means that we aren't in the present moment and it's a waste of time.  And every time I really engage with what Calvin is doing, we all enjoy ourselves so much more.

Today, I was doing work and I started listening to a summertime country playlist on Spotify.  I instantly became homesick for the relaxed ways of the south.  The carefreeness of being able to hop in a pick up truck, head to the river and just be carefree on a lazy Sunday.  It's everything I want for my children -- that freedom and ability to let their minds and hearts wander without expectation and to LIVE for the hot summer time.  But I don't live in the south anymore and feeling sad about it means that I'm not appreciating where I DO live and everything it has to offer.  Different doesn't mean better or worse - it's just different.  And I was violating my "be present" rule -- I was wishing I was somewhere other than where I was.

Calvin and I spent a few hours in the sun playing in the outdoor pool down the road.  He ran through the grass, laughing and playing with this boats.  I'd say he was pretty carefree in that moment, but was I? Where was my head?  Why was I wasting these moments with my son when they are already so fleeting.  

It's human nature and it'll happen again, but the above saying will be my attempt to keep myself on track.  I'm going to put down my phone more and only check my emails once we are having "down time."  And I'll even try to enjoy the puddles like Calvin does.  

Looking for animals in the clouds