{Wordful Wednesday} Mari's Awesome, Supersplendiferous, Fantasticalicious Camp Pictures!

So my baby Mari survived her first sleepaway camp. More specifically, I survived Mari's first sleepaway camp. She was gone for three... excruciatingly... looooong... days, hiking, repelling down mountains, shooting arrows, zip-lining, and sleeping in the woods with her two teachers, whom I like and trust (I guess, considering I'd only met them in person, like, twice), and her class. The only reason I didn't do the total freakout is because she went with her Uncle James, bless his dear heart, who drove, and her cousin Miles, who loves and protects Mari like his very life depends on it. I was so very happy when she got home, but you know what made me even more happy? When she came back with a smile on her face, a giggle in her voice and incredible stories about how much fun she had hanging with new friends, watching the sunrise, celebrating the Earth (she's quite the environmentalist!) and summonsing up the strength and courage to overcome her fear of heights to do the repelling and zip lining. I'm super proud of baby girl. And I know that with this camp trip, she took one more step not away from me, but toward her independence. 

To celebrate Mari's big girl moves, I wanted to share with you some shots she took with her camera, which she hardly ever leaves home without. The girl is NICE with the Casio AND nice with the verbs (she's the bold writer of the captions below each picture).  Check it... and if you're so moved, show sweetness some love in the comments section. 

This is the curvy mountainous road up the huge hill to Camp Greenville.

My pretty nice cabin (for a camp); girls on the right, boys on the left.

My activities group walking to our next fun activity through the shortcut.

One of the weird, exotic leaves that we came across on our wilderness trek, called Sassafrass.

The sky through the trees on a sunny day.

Our view of the orangey sunrise at Pretty Place.

The rules at the awesome archery range that we went to for our activities

The two targets that all of us shot at with our bows and arrows.

My bow that I used to shoot.

The ropes course that we had to WALK on high up in the air.

Some of my group members jumping across the stream   towards the water fall.

A close up of the running water in the stream.

My hand in the water while trying to take a picture. The water was freezing cold.

Me having a blast in front of Rainbow Falls (the huge waterfall)

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Wordful Wednesday: Summer in Paris With MyBrownBaby

I shared earlier this week the sheer awesomeness that was the MyBrownBaby summer vacation to Paris with the girlpies, Mari and Lila, and our son, Mazi. Simply put, we had a blast. And when I wasn't leaving my Nikon D-50 laying around creperies and subway station seats across Paris (thank goodness Mazi was more mindful of my equipment than I!), I was snapping away. Here, I present some shots of our most memorable moments in Paris. Super good times! 

An outdoor club settled between the foot of the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine.

A beautiful Merry Go 'Round near the River Seine

Mari, Lila, and Mazi chillin' on a nighttime ride down the River Seine

We took an amazing Black History Tour of Paris with the fabulous Ricki Stevenson of Black Paris Tours. Ms. Ricki took us all around the city, nourishing our minds with stories about African Americans who found solace in Paris and pointing out all the landmarks of significance to our history there. If you ever find yourself in Paris, this tour is a MUST!

Our tour guide, Ricki Stevenson, breaking it down so it'll forever be broke 

Parc Monceau, the elegant park where African Americans, barred from parks in the U.S., strolled, including Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Katherine Dunham and many more.

A monument to France's most prolific writer, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers and 600 other books he wrote in his lifetime. In 2001, the French Government gave Dumas its highest honor, reburying his body at the Pantheon with the greats in arts and letters and science, including Voltaire, Madame Curie and Louie Braille. And yes, Dumas was black (African, Haitian and Creole).

This sculpture, erected sometime within the last year, is a tribute to Davy Thomas de la Pailletierre, father of Dumas and a fiercest generals in Napoleon's army. His name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe. This monument also acknowledges France's involvement in the enslavement of Africans.

This obelisk was donated to France in 1831 by the Viceroy of Egypt; it's the oldest monument in Paris—3,300 years old. It's also home to the guillotine, where 1,300 people lost their heads, including Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

The Theatre des Champs Elysees, where the 369th Harlem Hellfighters band was honored with a post-war command performance, and where Josephine Baker made her Paris debut in the musical "La Revue Negre."

Place de la Madeleine, the church where Josephine Baker's funeral was held, four days after she made a triumphant return to the French stage at age 68. She received a state funeral, attended by an estimated 100,000 people.

That's me and the girls up top, and Nick below, hanging in Little Africa.

For the past 125 years, church attendees have continuously prayed here at the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur,  making good on a promise when the church was erected to stay in continuous prayer to atone for France's involvement in war. The church is in the highest point of Paris, in Montmartre.

Of course, the food in Paris is divine, as are the desserts, especially here at La Duree, an ornate pastry shop and tea room that's been serving up its world-famous coconut-less macaroons since 1862. We had champagne and cookies for dessert back in this stunningly elegant champagne room. (Don't worry: Mari and Lila had milkshakes!)

Of course, we couldn't do Paris without taking a day trip to Versailles, home to Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Opulent doesn't even begin to describe this place. The fountain-filled gardens, the golden gates and staircases, the marble, the art, the sheer size of the place? Yeah, let's just say that if I was starving and I knew my king and queen spent all the tax money on this madness, I would have chopped off the heiffa's head, too. #justsayin

The golden entry gate to Versailles

Mari getting her giggle on in a maze of hedges in the gardens of Versailles

One of the many houses gracing Marie Antoinette's chalet

The gardens are even more amazing when the fountains are running

The Centre Pompidou is an ultra-hip modern museum with lots of amazing and super weird art. Of course, when there's a mirror around, the Chiles girls are going to pose. Take note of Lila, who can't ever be still, even when the camera is clicking!

The Stravinsky Fountain, in the square outside the Centre Pompidou

The Arch de Triomphe is just as amazing inside as it is on the outside—and good God, you have to climb more than 230 steps to get to the top. Nobody warned me. I barely made it up. Clearly, I need more people. And exercise.

 

And what would a visit to Paris be without a stop at the world-famous Louvre? Mona Lisa smiled at us, and Mari and Lila took their beauty star turn in front of the Venus de Milo. 

We really enjoyed our lunch at Cafe Marley, a delightful restaurant just off the Louvre's square. And there goes Lila, twirling again. And for the record? Panna Cotta topped with fresh raspberries is officially my favorite dessert, like, ever. I'm on a mission to find a good recipe for this.

Notre Dame. 'Nuff said.

We spent our last night at Publicis Drugstore, a delightful restaurant in a "mall" type building with shops, book stores, and magazine stands. The food was delicious and the desserts, especially the generously proportioned ice cream sundaes and the pistachio creme brulee, were nuts.  

Nick getting a good laugh at something Lila was doing, no doubt. She's a riot. All day, er'day.

My Lila, the goofbucket.

Mari, handling her strawberry shortcake ice cream sundae.  She barely put a dent in it!

The Arch de Triomphe, just steps away from the restaurant, at night. Our last view of Paris...