Dedicated follower of fashion #"itmatches" #Igiveup #she'llonlydressherself #knowshermind

Baby love #theyearofthebabe

What we have also done this week is welcome little Elliott Moyal into the world: he's a little brother to Rose and Clara, Kelley-Anne's two whom we adore. I'm sure we'll love him just as much as he grows up. It's really been a baby-year, which has been lovely :)

Speaking of which, the two that got the ball rolling at our visit to the Cité des Sciences today:

And at home after:

Cutting it fine #rentréehair

Our rentrée preparations started at least...oo...2 months ago with the purchase of Small Fry's school bag, everything that goes in it, plus new school shoes (ie trainers). As a present this summer he got a great mid-season jacket from Moon and Abuelo, so all there was left to do was get the Big Boy haircut.

Before. Also, introducing crevette's new wheels. Well, it's her old wheels with the baby crib swopped out for a new sit-up-face-forward seat rest.

I've always found it a bit tricky to get the hair cut I want for Small Fry in France due to a certain apathy towards the use of a shaver for some reason...you just can't get as close as cut with scissors (I spy a business model there requiring your clients to return more often)...anyhoo, this time we went to a barber's. The barber's that we have walked past every day for the better part of 4 years. So about time we gave it a go.

During. Small Fry doesn't really have super blonde hair, but it is compared to the pure black locks that were there already.

And after: not so easy to see in this action shot. But you get the idea I'm sure...

Of course I'm a bit sorry to see his gorgeous locks go, but maybe later in his teenage years he'll want them back - and long - again. But for now he's more Mbappé-minded. 

Nuit de folie #Brittanyholidays

Sleep. It's been the worst summer for it. And it's not even really been crevette's fault. I mean, she's just a baby and it's kind of part of the deal (although to be fair, the lack of routine over the summer probably made it worse). But it was the other two who were each up a few times almost every night. Just for the fun of it (and a cuddle) mostly. 

So here is a photo of crevette - note that it's only dawn. Poor daddy was "too tired" to get up...

But the person who had the absolute worst worst worst summer was Fingerling. The girl is a mosquito magnet. We all had a relatively bite free summer thanks to our Fingerling taking one (or 100) for the team. 

This was one of the worst:

Possibly a spider bite?

Her whole ear was completely swollen and painful to touch. Kinda cute though:

Anyway, the final 2 weeks of our summer holiday each year is spent near Brest in Brittany, with Moon and Abuelo. We always arrive in time for Moon's birthday. And we all get to take part:

Even though it's a great start to the holiday, we can't spend the whole time partying: there's work to be done. By which I mean, sailing.

Unless you are Fingerling. Who point blank refused to get on a boat. Yes, yes, she's sporting all the gear, but don't be fooled.

We could not get her to join the class for love nor money, and we tried both of those and threats and more appetising incentives as well. Nada. First the problem was her staples as "the doctor said I am not allowed to get them wet". Fair enough, except that they won't get wet (cue reminder of Small Fry's unexpected dunking last year). Then the problem was the lifejacket: "I don't like the thing that goes between my legs to keep it on".

But look, see...no problem putting it on while we are nowhere near water...

So just Small Fry did the class. And Fingerling watched me drink a coffee. For 2 hours. Because there's no treats to be had while you miss a sailing class I've already paid for.

So in the second week we found alternatives. Such as horse riding.

Crabbing...

And visiting the WWII bunker along the coast.

And having classic bath-time fun.

But when in Rome... so while in Brittany, each year we hit the beach. Regardless of the weather. Which meant a couple of stormy days (coming up in a minute), but also a couple of really nice ones. Sunny enough for sunglasses even.

Terminator

I'm not a huge fan of rain and fog, especially on my summer holidays. But honestly, after the summer we've had in Europe (which began in May pretty much), it was quite nice to have a change. OK, OK, not even cold enough for socks, but still...

We once again visited the beautiful Phare de Saint-Mathieu...

...and even tried it at night time. Fail. Because we didn't realise we had to book in advance. 

For crevette, the holiday was all about the food. Boy does she love her food.

And also music. Seems like we've got another dance on our hands:

And it was also about the cousins. This was the first time we met the beautiful Noa, only 14 weeks younger than our crevette, but a whole load blonder and blue-eyeder.

As every year, we finish off our couple of weeks in Brittany by celebrating Mamie's birthday. Unfortunately, this year she is very poorly and so we brought the celebrations to her in the hospital.

And if you've spotted extra faces with us in these photos, then you'd be right. This year we enjoyed having Nandi, Steve and Thomas and Samuel staying in the holiday village just around the corner from Moon and Abuelo's. Having our English friends close by has meant builder's tea for me...

And plenty of playmates.

But as always, we have Moon and Abuelo to thank for a special two weeks of beachside and family fun. Next year, can we have the same with some extra sun on the side please?