My brother-in-law and sister-in-law arrived at our home from France on Friday evening with my beautiful two-year-old niece. She was so tired when she got off the plane, and shy!
We haven’t seen them since last summer when we visited them in France for her christening. It took her a little while to warm up to us. Once she did though, it was wonderful to watch her curiosity as she met our dog, checked out this foreign home, and explored my daughter’s old play kitchen we had dusted off and dragged up from the basement.
On Saturday, we took her to my daughter’s horseback riding lesson and she got to take a horse for a spin around the arena. She was so excited! Her little helmet kept slipping in front of her eyes and she used her little hands to push it up so she could see and she had a huge smile on her face!
She also discovered “les poissons” (goldfish crackers) which she loved!
My own kids are now 14 and 12 so it is so fun to see things through a little one’s eyes again without the obligatory teen-tude
They are visiting for two-weeks (gotta love the long vacations French workers receive). Of course, I only got to spend one day with them so far as I had to travel to Chicago for a three-day conference. It was so hard to pull myself away from our happy reunion, but duty calls.
I can’t wait to get back to Leesburg to get to know my niece better and see what she will discover next!
Earthwise Journal 
I love reading your blog to get a glimpse into your life! Sorry that you are missing much of the fun with your family and I’m so glad that you all have the chance to get together and get to know your niece.