Au Revoir!

Brantley Family Photos will be on hiatus for the next little while Brian and I go on our first vacation without the little ones. We will be traveling to France(!!!!) on Thursday and will be returning the following Wednesday. Our children are staying with their incomparable Brantley grandparents and are sure to have a wonderful week. To say that I am grateful to my dear mother-in-law is an understatement of near criminal proportions.

Here's a brief itinerary of the week.

Days 1 and 2: Normandy.

Brian and I have been preparing for this part of the trip for several months by reading books on the invasion, watching Band of Brothers (you've got to watch it if you haven't yet), and learning as much as we can about our personal connection to this incredible military campaign. Brian's grandfather was a tail gunner who flew missions over France on D-Day. More on his incredible story when we return from our trip.

Joining us for the Normandy leg of the trip is my dad, a serious history buff who will be able to match Brian's enthusiasm for the subject if my eyes should start to wander away from the subject at hand and towards breezy outdoor cafes, chic tiny boutiques, intoxicating boulangeries, sinful chocolateries...... sorry, where was I?






After immersing ourselves in WWII for the weekend, we will be ready for the second half of our trip, which will be spent drinking wine in Burgundy. We have also engaged in very serious preparation for this part of the trip. How, you ask? By drinking. Heavily.

We will be staying in Beaune, in the heart of Burgundy, and we have appointments scheduled with several of our favorite winemakers. We also have a dinner reservation at Ma Cuisine, a highly recommended restaurant in the region.






We will cap off the week with one night in Paris. We will be staying at Hotel Muguet and will be eating dinner at Au Bon Accueil.

Should be a pretty amazing week, right?! Please pray that I don't hyperventilate or throw up when I get on the plane and realize that I actually will be a continent away from my children. We'll post real pictures when we return!

Jump!

Elizabeth tries, with great gusto but little success, to jump. If you want to get to know her, watch this video. It is a fun little glimpse into her 16 month old personality.

Thanks to Aunt Suzanne for capturing this fun moment!

Elizabeth meets the elephants at the zoo

One of Elizabeth's first signs was "elephant." We went to the zoo today to look at the live ones. We've gone before, but I think this was the first time she was old enough to really enjoy it. Amanda is beside her trying to climb into the elephant habitat.

Our Little Ballerina

Amanda's first ballet class. What a cute group of girls! Amanda is on the back row, second girl from the right. Yes, she's the tallest girl in the class, as if that surprises anyone.

They have been practicing weekly since January and will have their highly anticipated recital next Friday night, dancing to "A Spoonful of Sugar."

Her costume came with a list of instructions on how to finalize the look. Parents are directed to sew certain rows of flowers here and sew a bow there. My mom always pulled out her sewing machine or needle and thread and fixed those dance costumes herself. I, on the other hand, took Amanda's to the tailor. There is something more than a little pathetic about a full-time stay-at-home-mom who can't even sew finishing touches onto a dance costume, especially one whose mother was such a whiz with a sewing machine. (That's why if anybody asks, I'm telling them I sewed it myself. So this confession is just between you and me, okay?)