New Do

Ruby's mohawk has slowly been disappearing as her hair has gotten longer.
Instead, she now sports a Flock of Seagulls do.

Now let's all dance to an 80's throwback!

BookBug Thursday

Today we went to our favorite activity - Bookbug play group for singing, dancing and reading books! We also played with scarves and played peekaboo.

Chilly!

It was chilly today so we bundled up in fleece head to toe (hat, zip up, pants) before heading out to buggyfit this morning.

We even had fleece booties!

Happy 2012!

Hi all,
Welcome to the first blog post of 2012!
We ended the year with a lot of airplane travel and a lot of family.. all the travel was well worth it.
Here are a few shots from our adventures... keep checking the blog as I promise to have more updates for 2012... you know how the holidays are.. poof! time passes so quickly.

Here we are at the airport about to board our plane for Newark, NJ then from Newark to Detroit.  Ruby posed at the big champagne bottle.

Ruby was awesome on the our flight over to the USA. Smiles, sleeping and playing.. as well as flirting with all the airplane staff. We were not in Michigan long as a few days after we landed, we were off to Ohio to visit with all the Ridge family.  Our first stop was with Grandma Ridge on her farm.  Here we are on her farm.

Here is a shot with Ruby and her Great Grandma.

In Ohio we attended the Ridge Family Christmas party.. a party of 45 members of immediate family! Here is Ruby with her cousin Sawyer (3 months younger than Ruby). Ruby wore her kilt to add a bit of Scottish flair.

Soon after.. we celebrated Ruby's 10 month birthday! I found these cupcakes at the local grocery store. How cute are they? and festive.

Happy 10 month birthday Ruby!

Grandma Susie was nice enough to babysit one night for us.  Brent and I went to Detroit (about 1 hour from Brent's parent's house) and went to the Detroit Art Institute as well as the MGM Grand Casino.. as you can see below with my voucher of $0.03 -- I was not a big winner.. but I had fun anyway.

and Santa visited us in Michigan.. how cool is that.. he just knew it was Ruby's first Christmas.  He looked an awful lot like Uncle Bob.. but, no matter.. a man in a red suit saying ho ho ho.. must be Santa!

After our Michigan visit, we headed to Boston for New Year and a lovely visit with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Dave. I had the opportunity to immerse myself in a lot of yoga and shopping for Ruby. Finally we returned to Glasgow a few days ago.. and yesterday enjoyed a nice lunch in the pub (a cozy pub by our place with couches and a fireplace).. a well deserved break after a busy holiday season. How was yours?  Happy New Year and a wonderful 2012 to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! A few years back when I was living in London on Thanksgiving, I actually forgot that it was.. I was working and on my lunch break trying to pick out a sandwich.. then, I saw a turkey sandwich and thought.. turkey.. hmm.. Oh my goodness! Today is Thanksgiving.. of course, I chose to eat the Turkey Sandwich for lunch.
A very USA holiday.. but we are NOT alone! We all will head to a neighbor's house early this evening for a lovely feast with some ex-pat friends.
To get in the holiday spirit, we went to a tree lighting last week... here are a few shots.

It's SANTA coming down the escalator! Yes, that is Santa popping up from my head. ;-)

A Scottish Santa!

Outside, we saw actual reindeer. I have never seen ones like this before.. (from a farm not far from the City Centre) - they were just like the movies. Fuzzy antlers and soft and furry. AMAZING!

Happy Holiday Season Everybody! x

Peek a Boo

Ruby's new favorite game is Peek A Boo.
We cover our faces with a towel and she takes the towel away .. she now understands that we are actually behind the towel rather than simply letting the towel sit there. She also loves Peek A Boo books... I recommend.. Bedtime Peek A Boo. She loves opening and closing the pages.

Last week when we attended our BookBug Story time.. we played Peek A Boo with some scarves.  Ruby LOVED it.

Here is the Mall Atrium where we attend BookBug - which is an initiative by Scotland's Book Trust to get kids interested in reading.. we sing songs, read a book together, participate in activities.. it's really fun.  We sit on the little book rugs.

Where's Ruby?

Peek a Boo! We love our Bookbug group!

ps: it also isn't bad that the mall has loads of cafes inside it.. perfect for a post-BookBug coffee.

I love Paris in the .... autumn!

What a fab trip!
After a week in Paris, I feel wonderful.  Even though Ruby will not remember this trip, she was a perfect travel companion..and it was simply amazing to share all the sights with her.. oh, and with Brent too! ;-)
We stayed in the 15th district and spent loads of time in the Left Bank, Montparnasse, St. Germain de Pres, Marais, The Latin Quarter, Invalides and Montmarte.


Here is Brent getting his daily breakfast of Croque Mondieur (delish ham and cheese toasty goodness) from a patisserie on the corner of our hotel (founded in 1947!).

Ruby loved the "bohemian" St. Germain de Pres neighborhood - we had a coffee in Le Deux Magots together and were haunted by all the famous writers and poets.

A caramel eclair for lunch in the hilltop village of Montmarte - we took a little tram to get to the top.

Ruby's first view of the Eifel Tower.. and what a view!

Brent views the lights of Paris at night at the top of the Eifel Tower (FYI.. there were hardly any baby diaper change places in Paris.. but the top of the Eifel Tower had a great one!).

Walking the streets of Montparnasse.. with a baguette Ruby's new fav food. The crusty bread was perfect for teething (on that note, she now has a tooth! - lower right). NO more gummy smiles for Ruby.  We explored Montparnasse Cemetary, the oldest in Paris.  Brent paid his respects to the Surrealist artist, Man Ray.

Inside the magical Luxembourg Gardens.

A Halloween pumpkin visits the Centre de Georges Pompidou (the modern art museum) - this is the crazy fun looking fountain outside the museum square... reminds me of a Tim Burton film.

Inside the Centre de Georges Pompidou cafe. A chic rooftop cafe.. Ruby and I enjoyed the sunshine.

Inside Notre Dame.. can you believe the window behind us is 60 feet tall?

At the entrance of the Louve Museum... we enjoyed the Muse de Orsay too!

Overall un gran voyage!