November 10, 2013

Today we visited the Notre Dame.  We went inside and circled around to see all of the chapel areas and the beautiful stained glass windows and caught a few glimpses of the mass taking place in the nave.  We had a museum pass which we could have used to climb the towers, but the line was over an hour long so we decided to skip it.  I thought this was a lovely photo spot on the side of the cathedral.  It was hard to get a photo in front of the facade because they have erected these awful looking bleacher type things for people to sit... and I guess stare at the building?  But they are too close to be able to get a nice photo without including the bleachers in your shot.  Disappointing!

November 9, 2013

This morning we visited the Arc de Triomphe.  The sky was finally clear but it was super cold.  We climbed the stairs to the top and got a great view of the city.  After coming down we noticed several tourists hurrying out to the center divider of the Champs de Elysees to get a photo with the Arc.  So yes we are standing in the middle of a busy road here but it does make for a pretty cool picture!

November 8, 2013

When we visited Paris five years ago we took the elevator from the base of the Eiffel Tower all the way to the top.  This time we opted for the stair climb.  Even though it was rainy and cold I definitely preferred the stairs.  I was glad that we could take a little more time and get a better view of the inner structure of the tower.  It feels enormous once you are inside.  We climbed to the first two lookouts but the elevator is the only option to get to the very top.  I actually thought the view was better from the lower lookouts (like the one pictured here) because once we got to the top, not only was it totally clouded over but we were so far removed from everything that it started to feel more like a birds eye view.

November 7, 2013

Charlie & I have been obsessively checking the weather forecast for Paris for the past week or two.  It keeps changing but unfortunately it looks like we will see quite a bit of rain while we are here.  Today was supposed to be one of the rainiest days so we decided to make it our shopping day.  This morning we visited all of the food and specialty shops and in the evening we headed to a few department stores.  We've been kind of disappointed to find all of the same clothing brands that are available in the US and not much that is unique to France, however the architecture and design of the stores themselves have been anything but disappointing.  This beautiful stained glass dome is inside the Galeries de Lafeyette which is the oldest and largest department store in Paris.

November 6, 2013

After checking into our hotel this evening we stopped by a market to pick up a few essentials (most importantly, diet Coke for Charlie) and then went for a long walk along the Seine River towards the Eiffel Tower.  The best spot for a photo of the Tower is across the street at the Trocadero, but unfortunately I didn't bring a good camera tonight.  

November 5, 2013

Today is Charlie & my 8 year wedding anniversary.  To celebrate we are going to Paris!  Quite the celebration, right?  Especially since his parents are so nice to stay with our boys.  This is the first time we have ever left them.  I’ve been away for a couple nights when Isaac was younger, and Charlie travels often for work, but we’ve never gone away together and I’ve never left Luke for more than a couple of hours.  I am anxious about leaving my little loves but excited to have the alone time with Charlie.  I snapped this photo with Luke on the way to the airport.  He was excited to ride in Grandma’s car and was happily waving goodbye to me.  But when it was time for me to get out of the car he and I both teared up. 

And now Charlie & I are off.  As much as I’m looking forward to Paris, I’m also really enjoying all of this quiet time on the airplane. 

November 4, 2013

I spent most of the day finishing up a few last things before our trip.  The boys were excited to have Grandma & Grandpa here.  They both loved hanging out on the couch with Grandpa watching the Packers game.  Especially since Isaac took over Grandma’s iPad with a new Star Wars game, and Luke got full reign of our iPad.  Screen time overdose.  

November 3, 2013

Luke has been horrible at bedtime lately.  Ever since we converted the crib we have been keeping him in his room at night with a  baby gate across the doorway.  He recently decided that he HATES the gate.  He screams and cries “I don’t like gapes!” over and over again until we finally relent and take it off.  And then he gets up and joins us in the living room over and over again until one of us goes and sits on his floor and waits for him to fall asleep.  It is totally irritating and we are at a loss about what to do about it.  I’ve been skipping his naps all week in an attempt to tire him out, but he was still up until 10:30 tonight.  It’s exhausting.

November 2, 2013

One day a week Luke’s preschool has an Occupational Therapist that comes in.  She has been teaching them yoga and she has an animal name and a song for each position that they do.  Luke sometimes practices his yoga routine at home and it totally cracks me up.  This is his favorite position.  I’m not sure what it is supposed to be (I don’t do yoga myself).  He always tells me he is “just stretching.” 

November 1, 2013

After lunch we headed out to run errands.  First things first: haircuts!  Isaac has been growing his hair out so that he could have “Luke Skywalker” hair for Halloween.  It was looking super shaggy and I was counting down the days until we could cut it.  Next we headed to the carwash (with Dum Dums from the hair salon).  It rained earlier this week and made my car really dirty.  Luke noticed (he does not like dirty) and kept insisting that we needed a car wash.  Seriously, every time we got in the car he would tell me “Mom, we NEED a CARWASH.”  We’ve only been to this particular wash a handful of times but I’ve decided it’s my new favorite.  The big windows are perfect for my little audience.  

I skipped Luke’s nap again in hopes that he would sleep tonight.  And Luke fell asleep in the car again.  I know he is tired.  Why won’t he go to bed?!