We visited the zoo for the first time today (Montpellier Parc Zoologique zoo.montpellier.fr/) It's a ten minute drive from our house, which is awesome, because we all know, how much I love driving. It is such a big and beautiful space! The kids and I loved it so much, that we made a plan to come back every Wednesday for a morning walk.

Another {minor} detail is that the zoo is free! Yay France! There is an Amazon Greenhouse exhibit that is paid (6.50EUR for adults and 3EUR for kids (free under 6yrs old)), but we haven't visited it yet, and it looks pretty small compared to the whole zoo.  It's on the list for next time for sure. We only explored one third of the (free) grounds and saw zebras and rhinoceros, parrots, flamingos, and many other animals. There's so much more to discover! 

Oh and there was this beautiful white moon in the middle of the day! Dominykas noticed it and said that Kotryna was with us. And she was. She was with us on the moon, and with the butterfly that followed us for a good ten minutes. I am so thankful that Dominykas still remembers her and tells the butterfly (or the moon) that we miss her very much. Even Liepa has learned that her sister is "on the moon" or "sent a butterfly". She most likely doesn't understand one bit of what that means, but she goes along with it anyway. 

​After so much walking we had coffee and ice cream. Then played on the playground within the zoo. I was very impressed. There are also many picnic tables around the zoo where you can sit down and eat. I am realizing how much the French really love their picnics. They REALLY love them. Everything is centered around lunch and the convenience of having a high quality lunch at that. Granted I don't know a lot, and we've only been here for barely two months. All of the opinions are pretty much first impressions. 

*** All photos were taken with my iPhone, so don't mind the quality. And I didn’t retouch them, filter them or make them better in any way, because… well, I’m lazy.  And I am trying to get into a habit of posting regularly. I have to keep my perfectionist  expectations to a minimum, and just start doing stuff. So far I am not very successfu, but at least I'm trying... right? RIGHT??!!!!

It got much colder in the last couple days. Quite suddenly too. One day it was hot and humid and the next, it's a cool and crisp Autumn day. I absolutely love it. I've been dreaming about that fresh air smell and the cool breeze while the sun is shining in your face. My favorite combination.
Another new favorite - our Saturdays. Mostly, because we're all together after a week of work and school, and also because of the Farmer's Market next to our house. It's becoming a tradition that every Saturday morning after breakfast, we go to the market and get our week's worth of veggies and fruits. We have found a few favorite stands, and we're starting to get a handle on the best local ingredients and how to prepare them. A few new discoveries include "moule frites" (mussels with fries), a huge variety of olives and marinated garlic (yum!), tomatoes that are unbelievably flavorful. The stands are so beautiful and colorful full of mostly local produce that I wish I could go to the market every day.

Oh and Dominykas got a skateboard (in Barcelona) last weekend. He's been practicing and getting better every day! His second favorite thing after the bike.