Levi & Harry still Best friends Forever

After leaving Provence, we arrived in London and had the privilege of staying w/ our dear friends Ben, Kristi, Harry and Emily in their new beautiful flat in our old neighborhood Marleybone. Levi was was able to spend every moment w/ his best friend Harry (who mind you is only 45 minutes younger) and I was overjoyed to spend a entire week w/ his mum Kristi!

Our mornings consisted of our daily walk around the neighborhood, popping in and out of shops until the boys simply started protesting.

We were delighted to finally meet Emily, the newest addition to the Gulliver fam. She's nearly 5 months old and has beautiful blue eyes like her big brother.

The boys truly were inseparable. If one went to wash his hands, the other was quickly behind

Dined together for every meal

Showered Emily w/ Kisses

Learned to share Harry's sporty car....

... and water

Hit the playground daily at Regents and Paddington Parks
Made each other laugh at the littlest things

Watched the rain

Enjoyed snack time together

Even if they were playing with different toys, they were always in arms length of each other

Harry taught Levi how to eat whole apples (a new favorite activity). As Kristi pointed out, it's like giving a dog a bone...they work on them for nearly an hour

Created tidal waves in the bath together

Hugged and snuggled each other daily. For both John and I, watching Levi play w/ his best friends Harry and Nicolaj was hands down the greatest highlight of the holiday.

Our last 2 days in Provence

Ulrik, Maureen, and Nicolaj left a day early, since they were driving back to London with stop over in Paris. We were sad to see them leave, so rolled out when they did to tour Sault, the lavender capital of Provence.

We took the scenic route there along Les Gorges de la Nesque, an extremely narrow, white-knuckled drive that was absolutely gorgeous

Overlooking the recently harvested lavender fields in Sault

Levi learning to use our Flip camera

Why do little boys insist on playing w/ their mama's make up?

Our last stop before flying out was at Isle de la Sorgues (one our favorite antiquing towns)

Picnic by the river at Isle de la Sorgues

Levi, nearly 22 months and as cheeky as one can be

We were sad to leave Provence, but felt so lucky to have an entire week w/ our dear friends in one of our most favorite places.

A day in St. Remy

We packed up our day bags and headed to St Remy, one of our favorite Provencial towns and also where Maureen and Ulrik tied the knot (cocktail fact: we share the same wedding anniversary as the Fugmann's).

Strolling the markets in St. Remy

The boys required a bit more distractions in order to buy us some additional time to shop

Our little Levi is not so little anymore

We then headed to Dalmeran winery (friends of Maureens and Ulriks). The owners (French and English) had prepared the most amazing lunch for us, accompanied by their Rose wine

We experienced a traditional French lunch including homemade pasta, Rabbit, figs and cheese for dessert!

The Chateau sat up on a hill, surrounded by Olive trees and acres and acres of freshly cut lawn.

Perfect for two little busy bees

Complete with garden hoses...

Sprinklers to turn on

and various smaller buildings to explore

Not to mention lots of sculptures and trees to climb

An afternoon of hanging out

and being with our favorite people

Exploring the neighboring towns

While the villa sat on top of a mountain over-looking all of Provence providing absolute serenity, we were only minutes from quite a few darling villages. We managed to check out quite a few, which included:

Pernes-les-Fontaines

The dad's and their sons

There is no doubt, that Levi is JWG's son.... ice cream anytime, anywhere

Maureen didn't miss a beat, despite being 7 months pregnant with baby #2 (it's a boy, and we can't wait for his arrival)

Picking out our local 'boeuf' for another home cooked meal

The beauty of having a toddler is that the simplest things can keep them entertained for hours...like this little ramp

Blauvac Provence with the Fugmanns!

After nearly 20 hrs of traveling: Chicago -> London -> Marseilles -> and then a 2-hr drive to Blauvac, we finally arrived just in time to enjoy dinner prepared by our lovely friends Ulrik and Maureen from London, who arrived earlier in the day with their son Nikolaj. They joined us in the Alps of Provence for 1 week...it was heavenly.

Our dear friends, Simon and Serena, from London let us use their villa for the week, so we indulged ourselves in home-cooked French cousine, pool time, and the hot summer sun.

Nicolaj and Levi picked up right where they left off in Jan, exploring every nook and cranny, rarely leaving each others sides.

The villa sits on a large piece of property, so the boys spent many hours exploring the grounds, chasing grasshoppers, and just being boys!

Where one would go, the other would follow...

...sometimes dragging parents along for their adventures

Finger painting by the pool

Despite the water being a little chilly, the boys took daily swims

Levi swam multiple times a day, until we fished him out due to blue lips and goosebumps

It finally occurred to us, that the boys are just starting to get to an age where they can help with chores...like cleaning the pool!

The weather was amazing...low 80's during the day (zero humidity) and warm summer evenings

We just did a lot of relaxing...

even Levi took time out to hang

And when he was tired, he would retreat with his babies to his favorite chair

We would spend quite a bit time on these steps...they became an essential part of home base in the evenings

At the end of the days, the boys would take long baths and then the oh-so-wonderful-kids-are-in-bed time of the holiday would begin...

A bit of French cheese, accompanied by cold Rose under the Mulberry tree, Cheri FM, and gorgeous sunsets