Paris Day One

My birthday celebration continued with a trip to Paris.  We had such a great time.  Paris with our two young children was an amazing adventure.  We felt very fortunate to be there together.  

our hotel

view from the balcony

walking to the Eiffel tower

we found it.  it was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  very convenient.

stopping for a quick snack

then we boarded our taxi boat for some more sightseeing along the Seine  

crossing a bridge on the Seine

stopped at the Louvre to play in the fountains

and on the ground

Collin loved it here.  His first impression:  "Look mama a big triangle"

It was really magical as the sun started setting.

then back to the boat for a ride back to the Eiffel Tower and the hotel

It was so fun to see the tower lit up at night from the boat.

The first part of every hour the twinkly lights turn on.  It was so pretty.  We had to walk backwards part of the way home, so Collin could still see the lights.  He loved it. He said "it's shining, the tower is shining"  the whole way home.

twinkly video

Birthday Cake

I had such a great 30th birthday.  I was so busy having fun, I barely had time to dwell on the fact that I am no longer in my twenties.  My very thoughtful friends baked a cake and brought it to me.   

It has a frosting brain on top  :)

The bakers- Melissa and Cat

New wheels

Watching Collin ride this bike puts such a smile on my face.  It has only been three days and he is already getting really good at it.  We are so grateful to his therapists for getting it for us.  Physical therapy and fun rolled into one, you cant beat that.

Messes

It was a very windy day and a big gust came through and slammed this door.  There was glass everywhere.  It was quite a process clearing away all the glass while keeping two curious kids away.

As soon as I heard the crashing sound from the other room, I knew just what had happened. So, I figured I might as well grab my camera and preserve the moment before I started cleaning up.

Cancun

At the end of June, Johnny and a fairly large herd of mathematicians descended upon Cancun, Mexico for the annual ILAS (International Linear Algebra Society) conference.  He was gone for a week and we missed him soooo much!   Then he returned and I saw the photos of the hotel and the beach.  I was still happy to see him, but also very jealous.  

Hotel on the beach

Visit to Mayan ruins

Daddy is Home!

Just a few pics from one of those exciting  "daddy is home from work" moments.

Efteling

My mom says that my blog makes it look like all we ever do is go to amusement parks.  Well, that is not totally accurate, but here are some photos from an amusement park here in The Netherlands.  It was very picturesque for a theme park.  It had way more trees and flowers then I have ever seen at this type of place.  We had a really fun and exhausting day.

I didn't realize it at first, but this was actually a garbage can.

Ethan in the fairy tale forest

Collin and Grandpa in a mushroom

A dedicated mom risking motion sickness to take her toddler on some sort of spinning butterfly contraption.

Lunch break

Collin and Grandpa going for a drive.

Snack break

Collin and Grandpa about to get wet on the river rapids ride.

The best part about this park was all the rides that Collin got to go on.  I think the safety standards in Europe are bit less stringent than in America, because I couldn't believe some of the rides they let a 3 year old go on.  The following 2 photos are just a couple of the things he went on.  There were a few other really fast coasters that he was able to go on.  He begged to go on every one (multiple times) and he loved every minute of it.