Summer: Nice and a great month at home

Monaco

Granny & Baba at the baby shower

Allison, Ciara, Nikki, Vanessa, and Sarah at baby shower #1

Beautiful Shower for Baby Leckie!

Cupcakes after swimming. Thanks JoJo and aunt Alice!

In June after the final days of Ciara's first successful year at AIS, we took a few days to recoup and get our things situated for the summer. And an enjoyable summer loomed ahead.

In the first phase of our celebration of summer we hopped on a plane and headed to the Cote d'Azur, Nice specifically. We rented a flat near the old town in Nice and tried to enjoy some time on the beautiful French Riviera.We spent most of the days there waking up and heading across the street to the bakery we became regulars at and purchasing a croissant, quiche, some bread or all three. We then would let the sun shine on our faces as we sipped on some juice and enjoyed some fruit and french pastries on our balcony, a great start to the morning! Our days from there continued with a general theme of wandering through the old town of Nice and finding wonderful spots to enjoy food and shop for soaps and other items native to the Riviera and Provence. We also spent some time sunning ourselves on the packed, pebble filled beaches of Nice. The world cup was in full swing so we found a place called Wayne's where we watched most the games. We also spent quite a bit of time walking the water front and taking in the views, a climb to the top of the Chateau de Nice provide the a wonderful vantage point of town, the sea and the port. The views from there were beautiful.
We also took a stroll up the hill to the Henri Matisse museum. It turned out to be a little bit further that we anticipated from looking at the map. Over the course of our few days there we left town only once for a day jaunt to the Principality of Monaco. The Euro bus ride there was quite picturesque. Windy roads along the cliffside of the Riviera. Once there, we wandered the 2 kilometer country, passing the famous Monte Carlo and awing at the insane cars, yachts, homes, and fashion that filled the place. Monaco is big pimpin'!
The French Riviera was a great way to start our summer. Beautiful weather, beach living and great food!
Next we headed back to Vienna and got ready to head back home to Seattle for a month.

On the way home we had a long layover in Amsterdam so we headed into town for dinner and a stroll around the Dutch city in the evening. It was nice to take a little stroll through the narrow streets and canals. Then back to the airport for a nap in the airport and then the long flight.

We headed home for a wonderful month of time with family and friends. With the help of all of our family we felt like we had never left. Our parents had a car for us to drive, Destiny got our phones up and running, and we were able to have our own room where we slept in our own bed at the Hopkins home. We could not have felt more at home everyone was so amazing. It was a warm home coming. We had a wonderful 4th of July at the Plumis cabin on Stretch Island. Fun, family and fireworks. Such a great way to begin our time at home. A month always seems like a long time, but I will say the month of July seemed like a blink of an eye. We had an amazing time at home but it seemed as though there wasn't enough time in the day to catch up with all of our loved ones. We had two amazing showers one hosted at the Fosters house by Allison, Renae and Vanessa. The other one hosted by the sisters, Destiny, Marissa, and Alice at the Hopkins home. Unforgettable parties with moments with people that warmed our hearts. The outpouring of love and excitement for baby Leckie was overwhelming.  It was so great to be at home and share time with everyone we could. We truly appreciated all the effort everyone made. We only wish there was more time to connect with everyone. It was great to get to Safeco for an M's game and Quest for a Sounders game. The Udaho trip took place and a San Francisco jaunt to catch up with Sammy J. Some swimming with the nieces and quality time with Baba and Granny. All in all it made us feel extremely blessed that we have a home with such deep roots and share so much love.

But on August 3rd we had to say good bye and take the  long flight back to Vienna...