Day 3- PARIS!

I LOVED Paris. Loved it. I've always wanted to go and it did not disappoint.

The sights are beautiful, the city is beautiful, the buildings are beautiful, the people are beautiful, but the kids are especially beautiful. I don't know if it was because I was missing my own kids so much, but I could not stop looking at the little French kids everywhere. They were so well dressed and well behaved and just beautiful. I should have taken pictures! Instead, you'll just have to trust me on this one. Number one attraction in Paris - the children.

This post is going to be long. We did A LOT in one day. I don't think I've ever been more exhausted from sight seeing.

Here we are waiting outside for the Louvre to open. It was so much more massive than I was imagining it to be. Some of the art was so huge and the building was so impressive. We only spent an hour there, which I know sounds crazy since some people spend a week at The Louvre, but our time was limited and D and his sister had both been before. They gave us their own "Best of the Louvre" tour and I was content.

All I really wanted to see was this lady. She was littler than I thought she would be.


Here we are in front of the marble sculpture "Winged Victory of Samothrace" dating back to the third century B.C. I loved how at every museum D would point out something really famous, like the Winged Victory sculpture, and would say, "This is really famous. You know what this is, don't you?" Um, not exactly. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I took Interior Design instead of Humanities to fulfill my GE requirement in college.

When we left the Louvre, we walked through Tuileries Gardens and then through
Musée de l’Orangerie, an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionest paintings. When we left the museum and were walking to our next destination, we saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I had to get a picture. I was suprised that you couldn't just see the Eiffel tower from anywhere in Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside a small gothic chapel across from Notre Dame called Sainte Chappelle. The stained glass windows were amazing. Two thirds of the stained glass was original dating back to the 1200s.

Just an average apartment building in Paris. So Pretty.

Our next stop was the Sacre Couer Basilica located at the highest point in the city. Even though we were really tired by then, we climbed to the top of the dome and were so glad we did. We got a spectacular view of the city.

Paris just goes on forever. I was blown away by how big it was.

Afterward, we took the subway back to the center of the city. I swear half of our food budget was spent to support D's European Fanta addiction. Every few hours, he would complain that his blood Fanta levels were low and we'd have to stop for some.
Next Stop: Arc de Triomphe

We climbed to the top and had another great view of Paris.

And another great view of the Eiffel Tower. Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower and we made the mistake of thinking we could walk there. It doesn't look that far, does it?

Well, it was far enough to look like this by the time we got there. Warning: Tall things in big cities may be farther than they appear. We actually didn't end up going to the top because the line was ridiculously long and we were getting hungry. Plus, I've been up the one in Vegas so I figure that counts.

Next up - a trip out of the city to Versailles and Giverny

Day 2

We spent the first night just outside of Frankfurt then got up early and drove about a half hour away to a little town on the Rhine River called Bingen.

We took a 1.5 hour cruise along a section of the Rhine River with a bunch of medieval castles.

You'll be seeing a whole lot of my blue jacket. I threw it in my suitcase right before we left. It's a good thing I did since it was freezing in Europe! I just wish I'd grabbed a less obnoxious colored coat. But at least I'm not wearing the fanny pack!

The scenery was so picturesque everywhere we looked.

The boat landed in a cool town called St. Goar and we walked around for a while. D finally got his sausage, brat, schnitzel thingy he swore he wouldn't leave Germany without. It almost made us miss our train back to Bingen.

On our way into Bingen, my bro-in-law hit a curb and blew a big hole in our tire. Luckily, we were right by a parking space and pretty close to our boat launch site so we were able to leave it until after our river cruise.


D was there to lend moral support.


After switching rental cars, we were on our way to France. Our first stop was a city called Rheims. It was already dark by the time we got there, but we were still able to see the famous cathedral, Notre-Dame de Reims. Not a great picture...

We were about an hour from Paris and we arrived at our hotel right in the city late that night. This is what $80 a night will get you right in Paris. Our predetermined budget for lodging was $80/night, which was great for the nights we were staying outside of the city, but not so great when we were staying in Paris and Amsterdam. We spent so little time in our hotel room anyway, it wasn't a big deal at all.

Fancy, huh? What you can't tell from this picture is that there is a big slant in the back of the shower tub and I stepped back in the shower the first day and ate it big time. It bruised my body and my ego.


Tomorrow: Day 3 - Marathon sightseeing day in Paris!

Once upon a dream...

I went to Europe. In fact, one month ago today we were flying home from Amsterdam to Dallas. It really doesn't seem real now. We went with D's sister and her husband on their tenth anniversary trip and it could not have been more fun! We flew into Munich, Germany, rented a car, and drove through Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Day 1: Arrive in Munich, drive to Dachau, drive to Ulm, drive to Frankfurt to spend the night.

Layover in Amsterdam on the way to Munich. The time change was killer.

"Work shall set you free"

Trying not to look too happy at the entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp. It was a very reverent and sobering place. I'm so glad we got to go.

Please don't judge me for wearing a fanny pack. I only wore it one day. After coming very close to having our passports and money stolen right from our backpack twice on our last trip to Europe , I was a little paranoid. The fanny pack seemed like the right solution one night in the travel aisle at Target.

Sculpture at Dachau.

Barracks (and the fanny pack).

Ovens.

The start of our 768 step climb at the cathedral in Ulm, Germany.

The view from the top made it all worth it.


Tomorrow: Day 2 - Rhine River Cruise and we make it to France!

My little girl is growing up.

She's 3 now! I can't believe it. It's not possible. But, here we are. Parents of a 3-year-old.

We celebrated C's birthday on Saturday with a little barbecue and BYU football watching with cousins.

I'm having trouble coming up with a way to adequately describe C. Maybe you just have to experience her to really get it. She's spunky, smart, and full of life, with a fair amount of naughtiness mixed in to keep things interesting.

She's on a little bit of a Scooby Doo kick.


She even dressed up as Scooby Doo for Halloween in the costume my sister sent me that was meant for Oliver.

Classic C.

I love this picture of her. Last week I took her into the store "Claire's" at the mall to buy some hair clips. She found a few other things she liked too. It was hard to resist that face, but I did. The tantrum that ensued was awesome. Thankfully, my friend Heather was with me and took her out kicking and screaming while I paid for the hair clips. A true friend. She didn't even try to explain to anyone that it wasn't her kid.

The best thing about having a kid this age is all the crazy/funny things they say. My favorite C quotes as of late:

As we peeked in the window of the kitchen at church: "Mommy, is Jesus in there?"

When she was potty training and I kept asking her if she needed to go potty: "I will tell you when I meed to go peep. I'm not going to peep on your new carpet!"

When we asked why she did something kind of naughty (can't remember what it was): "My grandfather told me to do it."

Any time she does something naughty and I catch her: "Sorry, Mommy. It was an ann-ci-nent."

When she smells something bad: "There's muck in my nose!" (the Flake word for poo)

Along those same lines: "Mommy, if you muck in your panties, I'm going to take away your computer."

And my favorite C quote, which was repeated SEVERAL times on her birthday:

"This was a good birthday ever!"

I think she was trying to say it was the best birthday ever.

Love her to pieces.

At least they had fun...

And now I remember why we decided last year never to put sand in the sand and water table again.

Welcome Home Elder Fredline!

I can not begin to tell you how nice it is living fifteen minutes away from a huge airport. On Thursday my little brother had a six hour layover on his way home from Brazil so he was able to come to our house for a few hours. It was fun to hear about what he's been doing for 2 years and for him to meet O and get himself re-aquainted with C (she was 11 months old when he left).

O took to him right away, which is saying something for shy little Ollie.

I guess anyone willing to read him Strawberry Shortcake can earn his affection.

How did I manage to get C to smile for this picture? I used the age-old tactic of telling her to do the complete opposite of what I wanted her to do. "Don't smile C. Don't you dare smile. Stop smiling!" Disobeying me is one of her favorite things to do after all :)

Two of the tiniest people I know. Aren't they cute?

We're glad to have you back!

Wednesday night happenings

We thought she was in bed.

At least she looks somewhat remorseful.

To quote my husband:

"C is in the throes of toddlerhood. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing the other night when she came downstairs COVERED in black marker. Between that and her mangy haircut, bruised legs, and wedgied panties she is quite the sight these days. And, between this and the haircutting incident, you may be wondering why we don't put scissors and markers out of C's reach. Probably a fair question... "

P.S. It was a washable marker. THANK GOODNESS! We got most of it cleaned up pretty easily.

"One time she punched me in the face...it was awesome."

Please know what movie that's from or we can't be friends anymore.

D took a road trip to New Orleans with some of his siblings this past weekend and left me home alone with the kids. It rained all weekend here so we were stuck inside all day. I feel bruised, battered, defeated, but mostly bruised.

Look what C did to me:

She didn't really punch me in the face though. She scattered clean paper plates all over the kitchen floor and as I bent over to pick them up, she stood up and her head hit the bone above my eye. I actually think it looks kind of cool and it makes me feel tough.

*picture taken with web cam while talking on the phone with my sister...real camera still missing

**oh, and it's from Mean Girls