Paris to Bruges

We have been planning this trip for a long time... a few years actually. We were supposed to go in the Fall of 2010 but due to Delta changing their frequent flier program, we were just short the miles to get us all there. So we had to wait until this Fall; but the wait was well worth it in the end.

First, we flew from Salt Lake to Minneapolis, then went onto Paris, France. Here are the kids waiting ever so patiently at the airport in Minneapolis. Finley was great and played paper dolls with Berlin. Then they both colored in their coloring books.

Berlin listening out to the Tangled Soundtrack on the plane. This child would NOT sleep on the plane, which means I did not sleep on the plane either. I was exhausted by the time we landed in Paris.

I loved where we stayed in France. It was 45 minutes outside of Paris in a little country town called Labbeville. It was darling countryside - quaint and full of old stone homes, cows, and TONS of hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas. Here is a picture of the apartment we rented (see more here).

The family that owns it lives right next to it in a fabulous french house. They had two kids, a girl (6) and a boy (7). They also had the most amazing tree house. Needless to say, we didn't see the kids for a bit as they all played together in that tree-house. It's amazing how kids don't care whether you speak their language. "Play" is a universal language and that's all they cared about.

Second, I don't love Paris. I have been to Paris before, back in 1999. However, I had been with a french speaking friend who knew his way around the city. So we hit all the tourist spots, monuments, etc and a couple days and that was that. It was fabulous. This time around however, I didn't love Paris. We took the train in that night (despite being beyond exhausted) and after walking around forever searching for the Eiffel Tower, listening to whining kids, seeing way too many homeless men, smelling way too much urine, and sidestepping trash and feces on the sidewalk, we bagged it and took the train back to the apartment. On the train the kids made up with a song aptly titled, "Paris Stinks."  Oh how true it was. And add to it the fact that Berlin got carsick and threw up all over herself, my arm, and the carseat while driving to our apartment, and well, you get the picture. It wasn't a very joyous stop. We have no desire to go back, which is sad because I remember having liked it back in 1999.

The kids on the train from Paris to our apartment. What's missing? The creepy hand of the stinky, drunk, homeless man that was sleeping on the bench just behind the kids. I love Finley's face - what a pimp!

The next morning we headed out and drove to Bruges, Belgium. Ryan has wanted to visit this city ever since he saw the movie, In Bruges, at the Sundance Film Festival a while back. We stayed in a 3-story home right in the old city of Bruges. The location was perfect and despite the musty smell, it was a great place to stay. Here is a link to where we stayed.

It was a long drive from Paris, so we just explored the city our first evening there. We found a great park, let the kids run, play, and be free. The old city is amazing, gorgeous, romantic, and a new favorite of ours. We definitely recommend it to anyone and hopefully, some day, we'll get back there.

The kids doing a silly pose. I had to just grin and bear it, because they were already sick of me and the camera. So many pics from this trip are of them being goofy.

One of the old city gate towers to Bruges.

Berlin really wanted to see Rapunzel's Tower on this trip. However, being that we saw & stayed overnight in that castle on our last trip to Germany (Fall 2006) we decided not to go again. So we told her this was Rapunzel's Tower and she was pretty excited.

The kids said that this was mother Gothel's tombstone. It was just to the side of the tower above. Don't you love Finley's Cub Scout fingers. Nice. That's what happens when you take your kids to Cub Scouts when the other leaders can't go. It became his go-to pose for a while. You will see it again in future pics. 

Finley re-enacting the human chess game from the Harry Potter movie. Berlin just doing a dance pose.

One of the many reasons that this is such a gorgeous old city.

The next day we took the kids to the Chocolate Museum. This was fun and we got some yummy samples of Belgium chocolate which is REALLY REALLY good.

We walked the streets, browsed some cute shops, and then hit up the French Fry Museum. This turned out to be one of the highlights for the kids on the trip. They had this interactive play area where the kids owned a fry shack and they could make fries and all sorts of things. They loved it and would have stayed there all day if we had let them. They also had the best french fries and pickle sauce....YUM!

Seriously, we loved this city. We were sad to leave. If any of you get over there, be sure to check out Tom's Diner. Amazing food.... the Best. Duck. Ever!

The next morning we got up and headed to our next stop: Essen, Germany. Stay tuned for that post. Hopefully I will get it posted soon.

Europe Trip 2011

This is the first of many posts to come with details and pics of our trip. I am trying to group them by the cities in which we stayed. I had meant to post while we were on the trip, but Ryan wasn't comfortable with it and I saw his reasoning, so now you'll have to bear with me as I sort thru over 1000 pics. So this may take a couple days. Sorry.

But here is a teaser of the first post that I will hopefully get up tomorrow .... In Bruges.

Berlin's Big Day

Berlin had a big week this week. She started her 2nd year of Preschool and couldn't be happier. Especially since her best friend is in her class this year.

Here she is at home. She wasn't very happy with me in forcing her to stand still and smile for one picture. Really, is one happy picture too much to ask? Apparently so.

I wish I looked this cute in skinny jeans.

I have to say her fit makes me chuckle. This is a common look from her. I get it about 10 times a day. Basically whenever she doesn't get her way. 

So Very Fun!

Here she is waiting for the other kids to arrive.

 With her two AMAZING teachers.

With her Best Buddy.

Her teachers, Miss Palmer & Miss Suzy were both kindergarten teachers and right now they only do the Pre-K year. Even though Finley was on the waiting list for his Pre-K year, he didn't get in. So we made sure to get Berlin on the list WAY early, like over a year early. I never thought I would be one of those moms. But after meeting the teachers and seeing their school, we are SUPER excited for this year.

Little Dare-devils

I was a timid kid when it came to trying new things. I learned to ride my bike without training wheels later than most, hated ice-skating, avoided being bumped in bumper cars, the high-dive at swimming lessons made me want to puke, I steered clear of any and all trampolines, and I always drove slow on the go-karts. I never wanted to get hurt.

I am sure I surprised more than a few people when I went sky-diving with a couple co-workers from Novell (back in the day), free-falling 12,000 feet from a plane. It was a blast. And since then I've zip-lined in mountains and para-sailed in Hawaii. I even tried wake-boarding for the first time in my life 2 weeks ago ... and got up! Somewhere inside is a person who loves new adventures.

Needless to say, my kids are pretty timid too when it comes to being adventurous. Berlin doesn't love trampolines, Finley doesn't climb trees like a monkey. They both get a bit nervous/afraid on the Alpine Slides in Park City. Berlin still can't reach the pedals on her bicycle (and she could care less about riding it), and Finley refuses to let me take the training wheels off for fear of tipping. They come by it naturally I suppose.

But, today it became evident that they too have a little dare-devil inside just waiting to get out. This is how they spent the afternoon today...


Sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag...

 

 

 

Yes, cautious me ignored my initial gut response of, "What the heck are you doing? You are going to get hurt! Stop!" Instead I let them continue on, fetching my camera, and asking Ryan to grab the crib mattress from the storage room. After-all, kids need to be kids, and the least I can do is make it a little bit safer. 


By the end of the day they went from sliding down to jumping down....schooled by Ryan, who (of course) did the exact same thing when he was a kid, down the exact same staircase. After all is said and done, without injury or harm, I must admit I am pretty darn proud of my dare-devils. I say this being that no injury was incurred by either child. I am sure I would feel very different if it had been otherwise.

Finley was jumping from the top step all the way down to the bottom.

Berlin started on the 3rd step and got up to the 4th step. She was the most timid of all.