Sunday Walk with Papi & Laurent

Houston Fine Art Museum

Special exhibit:

Shadow Monsters

We walked in front of white screens and our shadows were projected into Monsters 

that would appear on the wall above us.

Our very own Monster shadows! 

It was really fun!

Papi loved the Pre-Colombian Art!

I loved the african Elephant head...

Food truck for Lunch across the street.

Papi had never seen such a huge copious TEXAS Hot Dog in his life!

Souvenir Photos

We only saw less than half of the exhibits. 

A whole day can and should be spent there!

Thursdays are free and have extended hours till 9pm!

We had other plans that evening;

Like a Halloween/Chili Cook Out at our Church!

Healthy Living Heritage

Good tasty food is a guilty pleasure of mine.

I love good food.

I've always been interested in healthy living, and have strived to make it my lifestyle.

It started early in my youth, having a fit active hard working father, and a mother who created wonderful tasty healthy meals from whole foods - a big portion of which were home grown and raised.
One way I knew she loved us kids was by her diligent dedication
in feeding us and making such wonderful food.
She would often ask me what I wanted to eat and a few days later,
there would be the requested dish for dinner!

We always had:

* Regular meals as a family

* A vegetable garden & fruit trees - I would often sometimes help plant, weed, 

water, pick, cut and help can our goodies.
My favorite caned good would be the cherries from our Cherry tree or the plums...

* Chickens
 I loved collecting the fresh eggs as a kid!

And lets not talk about how much I loved the oven roasted young chickens from heaven where a few of us 4 kids would fight for the golden delicious drumsticks!

* Ducks
The baby ducklings were too adorable!

* Rabbits
 So cute as babies, which I was careful not to get too attached to as they ended up in a
delicious stew on my dinner plate!

* And the occasional goat
Fresh goat cheese, which I never ate as a kid, I soooo regret it now!

Let's face it, French cooking and food is the best on the planet!

We were not "rich" as to money but "rich" as to food goodness! 

Our physical needs were always met, I never had to go to bed hungry.

I feel so blessed to have had such examples in my early years.

And blessed to have grown up in France.

Merci Maman et Papa!

I strive to pass on a little bit of this way of living to my kids.

It hasn't been without challenges.
We had dinner every night as a family and I am saddened that this tradition has been mostly lost...

SometimesI think that I have failed in so many ways...

I feel sad to think that this healthy heritage from my parents will be lost.
But there is always hope... Especially as you kids get older.

Also I've had some picky eaters - you know who you are!
Amelie has been my try-everything-eat-salad-and-fruit kid from the time she was a baby!

There are other food influences in our home that have not been cultured in quite the
same way in their upbringing. 

[Food 'snobness' intended]

I find the American way of eating not the best to say the least.

And yes, a lot of it has influenced our eating as it is often fast, instant and convenient.

I hope my Kids - you reading this? - will see some value in what I have tried to teach them and feed them. Even if it's later on in life.

My philosophy has been.

Try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. 

But try it again later on, then again and again. 

One day you may like it.
Partake of Mother Earth's goodness!

 I was a little picky as a child too - for french standards - and now regret not eating all the wonderful things my maman would make.

Mushrooms & Memories

In the woods today, I saw lots of mushrooms.

I searched for some edible one, looking on my phone for pictures.

I found 2 Boletes, but when I tasted them they were too bitter...

I'll keep looking though!

It reminded me of my tween years with my dad.

In the fall, he would wake me up early on Saturday mornings.

"Let's go Mushroom hunting!"

Being the morning person that I am and was back then, 

I would get up and go with him and our dog Patau.

My dad was usually successful at finding yummy mushrooms. 

He had a knack for it.

Or should I say a nose?

It was so fun and exciting when we would find some. 

I loved it! 

It was like a treasure hunt.

I believe that is partly where and when I got my love for the woods and trees...

My favorite was "Trompette de la mort" 

(Translated literally "Trumpet of death" or 'Trumpet's death')

even though their name sounds deathly they are so good to eat!

 We would bring back our basket of delicious mushrooms to my mom,

who would create delicious meals with them.

Sauteed in butter, garlic and fresh parsley!

A real delicatessen!

For the longest time I thought these delicatessens were meat.

( I was a meat eater)

I still remember the day I found out they were a fungus! 

I was shocked!

Papi

Here is my Dad. He is 73 years old and still working! I kinda love this picture of him, that is how I know him! Always serving us. He can rarely say no to his kids. My wish is his command; when it comes to anything that has to do with the house or the yard. If he has the time he gets it done! It is so nice to have him around for a few weeks, everything that needs fixing gets fixed! I feel bad cause he did work a lot! I told him he didn't have to do it all, but he still worked until the last day he was here! Thank you Dad...

Voici mon papa. J'aime bien cette photo de lui, car c'est "lui". Il a 73 ans et il travaille toujours!Toujours a notre service. Il a du mal a dire non a ses enfants. Mon souhait est son ordre: pour tout ce qu'il y a dans la maison et le jardin. S'il a le temps: il le fait. C'etait bien de l'avoire avec nous pour quelques semaines, toutes les petites reparations ont ete reparees! Je ne voulait pas le faire travailler tant! Mais il a quand meme tout fait et a travailler jusqu'au dernier jour qu'il etait ici! Merci Papa...

DownUnder Family Trip with Papi

Papi was visiting from France for a month.

I'm not sure about the date.

This was a neet Caves/Australian Farm/Zoo located in Kentuky.

Lots of Fun and learning about that awesome country.