In all the baby books you read it seems like tantrums are introduced or talked about around 2 years of age. Well, I think Audrey is an advanced-tantrummer (if that's what you call it). Not necessarily anything to brag about, but it's pretty funny nonetheless... If she's doing something and you pick her up, or if she wants something and you take it away, or if I put her in her highchair she kicks and squeals like crazy. Rachel's never really been the type to throw a tantrum by kicking and screaming (no worries, she has a different style), so Audrey's come up with this all on her own. Here's a mild example:
This past week Rachel decided she should feed Audrey, so I lowered the high chair to Rachel's level and she did a fabulous job:
Audrey doing her salute early one morning:
Each night when we got back to our hotel we'd plop Audrey down on the bed and she'd go to town with the diaper bag, lunch pail, and her toys:
Fooling around with Daddy while Mommy got ready one morning:
One of our stops to feed:
Rachel's working on her sandwich and Audrey's examining a blade of grass:
One of our biggest complaints was that 90% of the paths you couldn't walk down, so you weren't able to get very close to many of the flowers. It's probably like that for a reason...
Obviously I understand why they gated off this path:
Anyone familiar with Claude Monet's paintings can appreciate the lily pond:
We thought we would try to get a cute picture of Audrey sitting on the ground, but all she wanted to do was play with the pebbles. She even threw a fit when Andy picked her up when we were ready to move on.
We were able to coax a cheesy smile out of Rachel and in return she got to take a picture of each of us:
Andy in front of Claude Monet's house:
Cute picture of the girls - too bad there's so many shadows:
From Giverny we headed to Rouen, which was our final destination of our trip. Rouen is the historical capital of Normandy and most known for being where Joan of Arc was executed. We were expecting a small French town, but quickly found out that was not so. Once we got there we went on a search for some dinner. Along the way we found some cool architecture and an astronomical clock.
The underpass of the clock:
A memorial and the modern church of Saint Joan of Arc:
Now there's a genuine smile:
After walking around for awhile we finally resorted to getting Rachel a happy meal from McDonald's. We found several French cafes, but none of them would serve us until 8, so we just grabbed baguette sandwiches at a little stand. And just in case you were wondering Audrey enjoyed the sites of Rouen in the Beco:
We stayed in Rouen that night and then headed home the next day. So, that concludes our adventures in the Province of Normandy. We enjoyed the opportunity we had to see some more of Europe. The girls did really well considering the amount of time we spent in the car every day and the lack of good, quality naps. Our traveling is going to slow down now that cooler weather is coming. It's tricky to travel with two little ones and it's almost torture to travel with two little ones in the cold. So, who knows when our next adventure will be... 
Rachel and Andy in one of the castle towers with a church in the background: 
Checking out the weird animal statues on top of really tall poles:
Sometimes Andy makes me really nervous:
The main entrance (as we exited) to the castle:
Hotel de Ville:
Audrey's into the flowers, Rachel's into the pebbles:
From Caen we drove to Bayeux to check out the Bayeux Tapestry. No pictures were allowed, so we don't have any. The tapestry is 230 feet long and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England. After seeing the tapestry we grabbed some lunch and then headed to Mont Saint Michel.
We climbed the hundreds of stairs to check out the abbey. The girls were really good as we toured around. Audrey even made friends with an older French couple, but it only lasted a few minutes. Once the lady realized I couldn't understand her she raised her voice, I guess assuming that would help me understand French better, and she made Audrey cry.
One way to make sure Rachel is willing to pose for a picture is to allow her to take a picture first:
The cloister:
After we toured through the abbey we got some dinner and then made our way down to sea level. Rachel and Andy explored through the water while I fed Audrey. I'm glad Andy was the lucky one to trek through the mud with Rachel! :)
The results:
I told Andy he was going to have to walk back to the hotel (only a mile or two away), but they were able to get themselves cleaned up. The next day we were off to...
