Little Miss Cal

Vincent and I met and fell in love at UCLA, we have excellent memories of the school and are proud Bruins (despite the fact that we never, ever went to a football game). Nontheless, and thanks to her Uncle Michael who is a Bear, our daughter has more Cal than Bruin apparel. It's sad. She's confused. Olivia, if we still live in Southern California, please don't go to Cal, it's way too far and we would miss you so!


Here's a picture of her just as the sun was setting.

A Shower of Petals

Olivia was so excited that we were showering her with roses! Here she is anxiously awaiting the rainfall.


This was a fun game for about 10 minutes, until the rose petals got a little wilty.

Bathtime

Olivia really enjoys bathtime, I sometimes give her two baths a day (on weekends) because it entertains her so much. When I ask her if she's ready to come out I always get the same response - the headshake "no."

She comes out looking like a prune.

Party Dress

Grandma bought this dress for Olivia when she was a newborn, I remember looking at it and thinking to myself that it's going to be forever before she gets to wear it. Well, forever is now. Time flies when you're having fun. Here she is at Chrissy's baby shower admiring the balloons.

Olivia's Secret Garden

Ok, it's not so secret since it's grandma and grandpa's garden...but doesn't it look magical?


One of my favorite's - Olivia smelling a scentless little flower. She was probably wondering where the smell went.


Still searcing for that smell...


As Tyra Banks says, this girl can smile with her eyes!

She's She's becoming so flirty!

She's She's a Pamper's girl. Olivia likes to pull her pants down and point to Elmo on her Pamper.

Sailor Dress

Here's Olivia in her pretty sailor dress. She walks around the neighborhood like she's the mayor ;)

Hello Mr. President

Olivia was very attentive while watching the historic inauguration of our 44th President. Although we were not among the 2 million visitors for the event, we were able to witness and celebrate the lauching of the presidency nontheless. I just had to capture the moment.

Olivia is so serious, as if she is aware of the daunting responsibility that our new President faces.

President Obama's promise for a new way forward and his threat against terrorists resounded well with Olivia. OK, maybe she was just clapping along with the rest of the audience.

Au Revoir Paris

Olivia having fun with Tati Joelle.

The crazy cousins. The boys were all Spiderman obsessed. Santa brought them the costumes and they pretty much wore them every day - totally gross but I guess that's what young boys do. Thank goodness I have a girly girl.

New Year's Eve was spent at the house. We danced so much that the windows started to fog up and the guys took their shirts off since they were so hot. I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking as they walked by the house.

The Allegre clan the night before everyone went home. We had a fantastic vacation and we hope to be able to spend more time together soon!

French Food

The familiar sight of Mami at work in the kitchen. She did an amazing job of feeding 13 mouths for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The woman was constantly in the kitchen cooking and cleaning - but she certainly loved having the entire family at home for the holidays!

We feasted on fresh oysters

and frog legs (not my favorite, but it does taste like chicken)

Meanwhile, Olivia enjoyed french cuisine - Nutella crepes

...and deodarant!!! I layed her down for her afternoon nap while we were eating lunch. She cried at first, then was very quiet so I thought she was asleep; a few minutes later more crying. When I went upstairs to pick her up she had a familiar scent - the little bugger reached the side table and decided to taste some french deodarant. Good thing it was at least alcohol free!!

Papi and Mami's 40th Anniversary - Part II

Here's the family acting goofy right after lunch. The big boys got their faces painted like Spiderman. We had so much fun and we ate so much!

Olivia all bundled up and fast asleep.

We walked across the street to the park where the kids enjoyed the carousel. Here's Carine with her nephews Antoine and Arnaud.

The Allegre Jr.'s

The Newlyweds - Happy 40th Anniversary!!!

Papi and Mami's 40th Anniversary - Part I

Marie Claude and Francois celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year and they took the entire family out to the most delicious buffet at the Club Med Restaurant in Paris. We usually go to the Paris Hilton which overlooks the Eiffel Tower, but this year they were closed!! It was a nice change and still delicious! Here's a picture of all the kids before we left for lunch.

Papi and Mami and all their grandchildren. It wasn't easy getting a good picture. I purposefully chose a crazy picture, you can see all the personalities in this one!

Here we are in the restaurant. We were under the "cabana." You can double click on the picture to make it bigger and you'll see Olivia's smirk. Just like her daddy, she's so excited for a buffet!!!

Sam had a hair-raising experience.

The kids got their faces painted. I was a little concerned that Olivia wouldn't let the lady put makeup on her, but in true diva form, she sat there and held very still until she was done. Olivia had a butterfly on her right cheek and flowers on her left. She was very excited to be made up so pretty.

Paris with the Allegre Jr.'s

Daddy and Olivia getting ready for the train ride to Paris. There was not a cloud in sight this day but it was very very cold!

We went to Paris with the Allegre Jr's. Here's Herve, Antoine and Joelle (Arnaud stayed home with cousin Leo), crossing the street to the Hotel de Ville.


Enjoying the carousel ride in front of the Hotel de Ville. The city of Paris had free carousel rides during the holidays - how very chic!


We then made our way to Notre Dame. Here we are freezing our butts off!


Nutella crepes at the Latin Quarter are excellent reward for a cold day out! Look closely and you'll see Olivia making her sign for "more."

Cousins

It was wonderful for Olivia to finally meet her cousins. We hope that they become very close and are there for each other throughout the years. Here's little Sam playing with the trombone Olivia got him for Christmas. It was a big hit and he was quiet good at it!

The three rugrats, I mean, little princes!

Olivia and Sam got along very well, but it's still good that Tati Carine was there to make sure they didn't smack each other too hard. "Gentle" is not yet in their vocabulary.

The Allegre grandkids!