Friday, July 27, 2012

2012 London Olympics Cadbury Gold, Silver, and Bronze Bars

In honor of the 2012 London Olympics that start today, here are some Cadbury limited edition chocolate bars: Nuts for Gold, Silvery Creme, and Bronzed Creme Crunch. I'd have to say that the gold is indeed the best, although the bronze is pretty good, too. In case you're wondering about the contents: gold is milk chocolate filled with praline and carmelised hazelnut pieces; silver is milk chocolate with a vanilla flavour filling, and bronze is milk chocolate with a toffee flavour filling and carmelized hazelnut pieces. Buy them while you can!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Paris: Le Grenier a Pain in Montmartre

  Another Paris eatery posting: after touring Sacre-Coeur and walking by the Moulin Rouge in Montmartre (and taking a peaceful stroll through the Montmartre cemetary), we picked up some amazingly good little cakes from Le Grenier a Pain (38 Rue des Abbesses). Winner of the 2010 Golden Bagette award and President Sarkozy's favorite bakers, their cakes definitely lived up to the reputation.
  We had the cakes packed up and took them to the Royal Palace's garden (Jardin du Palais Royal) behind the Louvre, where we enjoyed a lovely treat while feeding croissants to the sparrows. Probably one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. Definitely get one of their chocolate cakes if you get the chance...and then go feed some birds!
 
                             Sacre-Coeur

       
                                                         Montmartre Cemetary


                           Feeding the sparrows in the Royal Palace Gardens (I love how the foremost bird appears to be photoshopped in)

Yes, my kid is eating the bird food. Better croissants than birdseed, at least.


                                      Wonderful cakes from Le Grenier a Pain

Friday, July 6, 2012

Keila's 20 Month Update

  A break from talking about Paris: It's time for Keila's monthly update. And yes, at some point I do intend to finish writing about our Paris trip, just not sure when. Written driver's test has been passed, but now we've got company arriving tomorrow and an upcoming weekend in Dublin. Hopefully I'll get a few more posts in before the end of the month!
  Without further ado: Keila!

1. This kid is a TALKER. She's coming out with new words every day, but her favorite thing to do is repeat the last word of anything you say to her. Which obviously leads to some humorous moments. Keila is a bit slower than I thought she'd be about combining her words (she had just started before the 19 month update) but she is consistent about the situations in which she does it. For example, if she's done with her meal, she will tell me 'More...no!'. She also now yells 'EYES' if any water gets into her eyes during bath time.
 2. No new teeth. Where are those final molars hiding?
 3. Sleep took a backslide after our Paris trip, so we're again waking up about once a night, usually around 5 am. But Mom can deal with once a night.
 4. Running around has now been combined with ...CLIMBING! Ahhhhh! I caught her just before she toppled off the back of the couch yesterday, and she's discovered that she can climb onto the spare bed too. Trouble!
 5. Not much new in the food department. No new allergies (thankfully), still won't drink milk on its own. But otherwise Keila isn't too picky (yet).
 6. New actions.....Keila will tell me if she has 'TWO' of something (two crackers, two pictures, you name it) but I can't get her to count 1 or 3. Will work on that. Potty training is s-l-o-w-l-y coming along, but we're not going to push it. Keila has also started hitting and biting when she doesn't get her way, as of yesterday. Not allowed obviously but I need to figure out how to make that point clear, quick! The Terrible Twos are beginning...
 7.  Keila was about 12 kilos when we weighed her last week. Maybe one day I'll measure her height again, too!
            Click on this link http://keilaeveryday.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/stickering-cat.html
if you haven't already seen the pictures of Keila 'stickering' Wasabi. Wasa is way more patient than I gave her credit for!
  That's it for 20 months!