Mulberry Street

When you've had your fill of driving through beautiful countryside, exploring impossible Roman ruins, and strolling through medieval villages eating fine pastries, what is there to do in Southern France? Well, dear reader, I'm glad you asked. If you are a huge bike nerd, you tackle an "Hors Categorie" climb from the Tour de France! What started out as a far-out idea became a joke, then a conversation point, then basically a dare between the two of us. (Well, more of an “I’ll try” from Alisha.) Mont Ventoux has only been featured in 14 Tours, but it has contributed some serious drama to the race. We began in Bédoin , a beautiful town at the base of the mountain. We rented bikes from a shop that had literally 1,400 bikes. It was like the Saint Peter's Cathedral of road bikes.  And while we both took carbon fiber Trek Madone 5.4s (bike nerds know that they're decent, but have mushy Bontrager wheels), Eric, for one, missed the MacAttac. Alisha couldn’t tell a dif...

My big girl wanted a princess party this year.  I did my best to give her one with lots of glitter, ribbons, and jewelery.  I even made her a castle cake (with the help of my talented mother) with pink frosting.  Genevieve had a great time with her friends and can't wait for the next holiday.  Happy Birthday Big Girl!

"All the things you said to me today, changed my perspective in every way." When my older brothers celebrated their 10 year anniversaries I thought, "Wow.  Ten years is a long time."  However, now that Eric and I celebrating our own 10 year anniversary, it doesn't seem like such a long time after all (with the exception of our aging selves).  I am so grateful for Eric.  I am grateful that he is my friend, my husband, and the father of our children.  He makes life wonderful and I love him for it.  Eric, Thanks for 10 amazing years. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring. I love you. Alisha

Eric and I signed up for the Lawyers Have Heart 10K a few months back.  We've been training to pull in some good times for his firm's team.  There has been some friendly competition between a few of the attorneys, accompanied by light-hearted "trash talk."  When we pulled into Georgetown at 7:00am (30 minutes before the start time) we read an email from the race director - due to the intense heat they dropped the distance down to a 5K.  It was weird to line up at the starting line.  How do you change your race strategy when you've trained for a longer distance?  Well, Eric's strategy was to kick it up and run his heart out.  And, he did.  He set a PR and ran super fast mile splits!  I also ran faster than I expected and managed a solid pace throughout the race.  On the home stretch we were so glad the race was almost over.  We really would have suffered through those last three miles.  Eric's...

Genevieve completed another year of co-op preschool.  We had a great group of kids and moms, which we both enjoyed getting to know better over the course of the year.  Genevieve always woke up excited on preschool days and it was comforting to know she was getting the most of her time away from home.  I appreciate the time and love each mom put into her lessons.  We had a splash party for our graduation, ate cupcakes, and enjoyed each other's company.  We were sad to say good-bye for the summer, but hope to have many play dates.

Visiting Eric at his office always promises to be a good time.  On this occasion Emory spun around in the office chairs while Genevieve wrote on the dry erase board.  They have no idea what Eric does for work (sometimes I don't either, to be perfectly honest).  Their ideas about "work" are skewed by the cupcakes, treats, and games.  One day reality will set in, but until then we'll have a good time.  Daddy thanks for sending emails, making phone calls, and eating cupcakes at work so we can have all that we have.  xoxox  

Shout Hooray! My little boy isn't so little anymore.  In fact, he is walking now, feeding himself, and identifying animal sounds.  We had a small party to celebrate him...only it turned into a "What-present-can-I-help-Emory-open?" Fiasco.  Don't worry though, he didn't mind.  He loved having his family and friends around him, showing him how to use his new things.  Emory didn't like his cupcake very much.  I should be grateful for this, but it troubles me.  He does, however, love ice cream.  He may look like Eric, but he gets his good taste from me.