The Good Things in Life

Jeremy turns 31!

What an excuse for a party. We invited our nearest and dearest new friends to help us celebrate the occasion of Jeremy's emergence into this world on January 28, 1977. (Nancy, any tidbits about the big day?)

Never one to conform to traditions, Jeremy requested Key Lime pie for his birthday "cake". I toiled away in the kitchen all morning trying to figure out how cornstarch and cream of tartar come out of the oven in the form of a pillowy sweet cloud. Luckily, it all worked out and it was a successful blending of tart limes, crunchy graham and sweet sugary meringue.

Elliot's newest crush, our fantastic friend Ashlie! (Or "ee-ee" as Elliot says frequently)

My faithful running buddy Shannon and her gang Derek, Hailey and Dylan.

A motley crue of Ashlie, her husband William, their nephew Ben and Elliot looking unsure of the rowdiness behind him.

Fellow ex-pat Los Angelians Sid, Lisa and Luna (with lion).

Catching Up

Christmas was a big time in the Logan household this year. It was the second Xmas for us as a family and the first one that Elliot was really aware of what was going on.




To get warmed up for the big day, we went down to the local "Santa night" to get the obligatory picture with Santa. Elliot complied to the stereotype with crying and general horror at this big scary fat guy trying to give him candy. I really didn't mean to laugh as much as I did; I look like a heartless evil mother, but the whole event was truly comical...


When the gift giving day finally arrived, there was much merriment. Elliot got two huge presents! A bike from us and a rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa (not to mention the hordes of other things).

Elliot Talking to Grandma Corie

Anyone not an immediate relative of Elliot's might think "why did she post this?!". But all you grandmas and aunties out there, this one's for you.

Overcoming Writer's Block

After much chastising from various members of my family/friends, I think I may have to force myself to overcome my writers block. So, here are a few of our more interesting moments in Europe. In no particular order.
(Above: Elliot in the Parisian bidet)

The catacombs in Paris. An enormous cemetery filled with literally millions of bones. It is so deep under ground you climb down stairs that go under both the sewer and the subway. Deep and eerily creepy.

This is graffiti chiseled on the top of an abbey tower in Provence. That's something like Jan 4, 1215. Or maybe earlier. Really!


This guy had pigeons ALL over him. They were on his head, clinging to his back and trying to pick bread out of his hands. They seemed to have an understanding, though; he fed them, they didn't peck his eyes out.

Oh come on! But your hair looks so cute!

This woman is a guard at the Louvre. We were extremely startled to look over and see that she was snoring and blatantly asleep! Sacre Bleu! (being former museums guards ourselves, we are hyper critical)
The most hilarious outfits actually worn by serious military guards. These uniforms were designed by Michelangelo during the Renaissance for the guards at the Vatican to wear. And they still do. 500 years later.

Little kid fun at the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence.

A man walking his dog in the rain, right? Wrong! A butler walking his employer's dog (who is wearing a fur wrap). And the umbrella is not for the butler; it's for the dog! There is a lot of money in Italy.

In the background is the Church of San Domenico in Siena, Italy. A typical Dominican church virtually dedicated to St Catherine, the patron saint of Siena. St Catherine did a lot of great things for people and so they decided to put her finger (mummified) and her head (also mummified) in glass cases for people to pray to. Yes, you heard me. Her mummified head is in a glass case on the altar. It's 700 years old.

Tuscany and Provence

I am sitting in a small cafe on Ile Saint Louis, trying to hide from the cold and get a few seconds of quiet time. There is so much to reflect on, that I haven't the time to go into it all. I will leave a small selection of photos here to give an idea of what we've seen (leaving out Paris since we're not quite finished yet!).

Let's start in Tuscany.


We stayed in a gorgeous agriturismo and this was the view from our kitchen window.


Above is Florence. A most rich and beautiful city. So much history and so much art!!

Siena. We read that Siena is "like Florence but with less people". And it's true. Beautiful! Above is their famous church that is made with black and white marble.

The area we stayed in was filled with pottery. This is a shot of one of the warehouses we bought a few pieces from. Wholesale Italian pottery...yummy!
On our way to France, we stayed in a small sea side town on the Mediterranean. It reminded us of Malibu, but more beautiful. This is the view from our hotel room at sunrise.

Provence! We stayed in a small town called Fontvieille. It's claim to fame is all the windmills. See Moulin Daudet below.

Roma II

My internet connection is spotty and unreliable (damned Tuscany country side and their IT people) so here's the second Rome entry. For the first, please scroll down. No peeking at this one first.

Our first day of seeing the sights was by car. I know, you're probably thinking "why would they drive in Rome?!" but for a number of reasons, we had to get the car the day before we left the city. It actually turned out to be a really fun adventure!

For those of you who have never driven in Rome, let me explain. There are no speed limits, the traffic signs are merely a suggestion, lane lines don't exist and parking is a free-for-all. Romans drive incredibly fast, make three lanes when there should be one and maneuver round-abouts like nothing. Remarkably, there was little road rage, no accidents (that we saw) and people were actually aware of one another in their vehicles.

We heard stories about how hard it is to be a pedestrian in Rome, but we found that people were good about stopping if you were brazen enough to step into their path. On the flip side, I had to be hyper vigilant about people stepping out in front of me! None the less, we made it through our tour. Here are some more highlights.

View from the car onto a typical Roman street.

The Pantheon
(not to be confused with the Greek Parthenon, which I do constantly)

Corinthian columns in the entrance

View into the great dome
Coliseum drive by

Coliseum closer

Trevi (Trivoli) Fountain
(By throwing a coin into the fountain backwards, you are assured to return to Rome)

Detail of the top of the fountain

Random ruins. No name, no hoopla. Thousands of years old. -Yawn-

Viva Roma!

Wow! We made it to Italy. After a nightmare at the car rental place, then a two hour delay leaving the US, then missing our connection from London, then our rescheduled connection being an hour late...we made it! From door to door, we were traveling for more than 24 hours. Yikes!

Our apartment in Rome was very well located, quiet and warm. There was Italian TV to watch (what a spectacle) and espresso to be made. Up the street was a small park where we mingled with the locals and down the street was any kind of shop you could imagine. We ate lots of pizza and got a great Italian lesson from the guy in the Gelati shop.

Day one comprised of sleeping all day then searching for a place to eat, then sleeping again. Day two and three on the other hand were packed full of excitement. Basically, we went to the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica and all the ancient Roman sights we could pack in.

St. Peter's Basilica

Sneaky (illegal!) picture of the most famous part of the Sistine Ceiling

There are many more things to post! My internet connection isn't great (damned Tuscan country side and its bad DSL) so, I'll try to post a Roma II.

In closing, we are now in Tuscany enjoying the amazing wine, food, art and culture. Everyone is enamored with Elliot and he seems to be enjoying all the museums we've been dragging him to. We are learning the language by rapid fire here (no one speaks English) and are loving every minute.