Luciana has become the caterpillar whisperer. She was playing outside the other day and discovered them in our bushes. She has built homes for them and feeds them oranges. She accidentally squishes most of them and today she even took one on the bus with her to camp. She couldn't leave it behind because as she says everyday "they really love me mommy".  Here  she is with at least 10 of her friends crawling on her- and yes, that is a big one on her neck!

Today was all about me! I ventured into Paris on my own as Chris is in Chicago and the kids are at camp. I drove into a familiar area, parked the car and took two metro lines to Rue de Rivoli. It is a street in central paris filled with shops. I found an English bookstore and while perusing I came across a section labeled British and American food. The British section was filled with teas, jam and crumpets. The American section had Fruit Loops, Pop Tarts and Marshmallow Fluff. I couldn't help but laugh and quickly purchased my books. I then took the advice of which I had written earlier ( but first I stopped at a cafe and had my cafe creme and croissant). I went back to the Jardin de Tulieries. As I was surrounded by beautiful gardens, amazing sculptures, the Lourve to my left and the Eiffel Tower within view to my right, I knew what to do. I sat down on a reclining green chair in front of a fountain, took off my shoes and began to read the Victor Hugo novel, Les Miserables. I ended my afternoon with a casual walk around - recognizing many streets from our nightly games of Paris monopoly. I grabbed a Nutella crepe along the way and what I thought was a perfect day ended a bit off. As I walked toward the metro, I passed over a grate on the sidewalk and had my Marilyn Monroe moment. Although mine wasn't nearly as glamorous as I exposed myself to southern France.  Regardless - what a glorious day in Paris!