France, Day 2

For our second day (our first full day) in Paris, we decided to take the hop on/hop off bus tour suggested by Rick Steves (that guy has NEVER let us down - can't say enough good stuff about his suggestions). It was pretty typical, and fairly informative - and it is a fun way with the kids to get a good overview of a city. We started our tour in front of Notre Dame and made our way to Champs-Elysees. We got off so I could get this photo of the Arc de Triomphe, but while I did that the kids played in the garden near the Place de la Concorde. We walked a ways down Champs-Elysees to catch the next bus and continued out tour.

We went around the Arc de Triomphe and then made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We hopped off after the Tower and made our way to Rue Cler (another Rick Steves suggestion) where we had a very nice cafe-style lunch. I absolutely love European sidewalk cafes, and this one definitely did not disappoint, though I figure none of the cafes on Rue Cler would disappoint.

After lunch we got back on the bus and finished the tour at the Louvre. Since it was a Monday, the Louvre was closed, but that didn't prevent us from enjoying the fountains in the old courtyard and in the gardens. In fact, Ian and Leah had fun playing in a sprinkler in the gardens. Here you can see them having a ball playing in the water with the glass pyramid of the Louvre in the background. This shot reminds me so much of our time in Miami when we went to Vizcaya and the kids only wanted to play in the fountains : )

The bus tour took up a good portion of the day (with all of the on and offs we did). I took the opportunity again that night to tour the city after the kids went to bed (thank you Catherine!). I went to the Arc de Triomphe and climbed the steps - beautiful view of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, and back towards Sacre Couer. Another thanks to an Army buddy that suggested the climb.

After the Arc I took the metro to the Eiffel Tower for the photo below. This shot took several attempts to catch the spot lights in just the right place - I definitely think it was worth the effort. I made it home a little before midnight, so all in all a very long day.

We're back from France!

We just got back from France earlier this afternoon and I'm ready to start posting some of the photos. Our journey started at the train station in Kaiserslautern. For whatever reason, they had this statue on one of the tracks and the kids thought is was neat. So Catherine and I took them to that track for the photo - Ian and Leah decided to hold the nice dinosaur's hand : )

The train was one of the bullet trains, and went faster than 320 km per hour! It was a very smooth ride into Paris (and back). Once in Paris the real fun began as we deciphered the metro system, which really wasn't difficult at all. We found our hotel and then we were off for some early sightseeing and met up with my mother, who happened to be on vacation with an aunt and cousin of mine. We all met up and went to see Notre Dame, Ile de la Cite, and Ile Ste. Louis. It was on Ile Ste. Louis that we found this chocolate/ice cream shop and my mom treated the kids to a super special treat. Every day after that was a constant barrage of "I want ice cream", "when can I have ice cream", "can I have ice cream now", "what about now", well - you get the idea. It didn't matter if they had JUST eaten and complained about a full belly, but as soon as they saw an ice cream place (sometimes even that was not necessary) the questions started right up.

It was a late day for the kids, and I wanted to check out Sacre Couer - a friend had told me that she had seen some neat stuff there after dark (fire jugglers, etc.) and I was not disappointed. The area immediately around Montmartre and Sacre Couer was gorgeous, and the "show" on the steps in front of the church was very fun. However I decided to walk to Moulin Rouge and encountered the seedy side of Paris in a hurry. Nothing dangerous, just seedy. Glad I saw it, doubly glad there was a metro stop immediately adjacent to the Moulin Rouge so I didn't have to walk back through that mess to get to my original station.

Happy Birthday Ian!

We celebrated Ian's birthday today. Hard to believe my big boy is already 5 years old and will start kindergarten this year. We invited several of the neighbor kids (one from upstairs, the other right across the hall) as well as some of Ian's friends from pre-school. Catherine went all out with food, party games and fun, goody-bags for the other kids, and all that.

Ian received a couple of transformers - which he absolutely loves. It just means when Ian wants to play transformers I have to as well. This first photo is of musical chairs. All the kids really enjoyed it, none more so than Leah.

This one below is of Ian and Chloe from upstairs playing with the balloons. Amazingly the only ones that popped were when I was blowing them up.

And finally, this photo below is of Ian blowing out the candles on his birthday cupcakes.

Tomorrow we are off for Paris. Getting packed and ready. Ian and Leah are looking forward to the ICE train, should be interesting. I'll post photos as long as we have internet access along the way, otherwise I'll catch up when we get back next week.

Cheers!

Marc

A walk in the park

Yesterday I took the kids for a walk on a local nature/fitness trail. It was a great way to burn some energy and help wear the kids out while taking in some of the local scenery. We've been there before as a family to pick berries and just go for a nice walk, but yesterday was a shorter walk than normal - I think the fun meter was pegged for the kids earlier than normal, which was fine.

The photo here is of Ian and Leah sitting on a bench along the path.

Today is Ian's birthday, so look for more photos later today . . .

Home with the Family

Hello all! I have been home for a full day and already making up for lost time in the photo department! Which is hopefully good news for everyone out there. So amazing to be home.

So I arrived yesterday morning about 6:20 am in Frankfurt, and then hopped on a train to Neubrucke where Catherine and the kids picked me up (about a 15 minute drive to home). The kids were beside themselves - but I luckily only went into sensory (auditory) overload once. Catherine had an optometry appointment so I made use of the time to catch up with my friends at the clinic. Then it was home where the kids and I played tickle, tag, tickle tag, freeze tag, tackle, tackle tag - and about every variation on those games ever conceived. Ian and Leah both collapsed for the night and I got to enjoy a nice cold Grimbergen - a Belgian beer popular with the Belgians on Ramstein.

This morning Catherine was running some errands so I watched the kids. We went for a nice walk out at the local castle (Frauenberg Ruine) - actually the Nahe River that runs through the little valley there. The kids had a nice time running up and down the path, but the biggest bonus of that outing was the complete motherload of blackberries we found! They were too tart, so hopefully another week or so on the vine will ripen them up nicely. The photo here is of Ian and Leah together looking back in the direction of the ruins, under the bridge and on the other side of the hill in the background.

This next one is a photo of Leah earlier in the day, just hamming it up for the camera.

The last one is from Ian's second soccer practice (my first!). He did an okay job of listening, and a really good job of having fun and giving it a try. He is working on running and kicking (dribbling), but does really very well considering this is only the second time he has played soccer.

I hope all is well out there for everybody. Expect more posts to follow. We have Paris, Versailles, and Normandy coming up starting this Sunday. Cheers!

Marc

Who Needs Pictures of the kids?

So, while I was sorting through some papers here I came across the pictures we took for Leah's 2nd birthday & Ian's 3rd Birthday. I know, yes, I'm WAY behind in getting these to everyone.
These were the ones we had take in Cincy by our fantastic photographer at the JC Penny's studio there.

So, I remember giving the grandparents some frames one year for Christmas & I can't remember what size I gave you. If anyone one is interested in some of these nice shots, please reply to this blog post & I'll do my best to get these out in the next couple of weeks. Right now I'm sorting & cutting them apart.

I'm pretty sure NO ONE got any of Leah's second birthday shots due to the extraorinarily stressful year we had last year. I think SOME of you got some of Ian's third birthday shots.

Please let me know what size you need & if you want ones of Ian or Leah or both (I even have a few from Ian's third bday shots that have a couple of both kids together). I'll do my best to honor all requests. I have 8X10, 5 X 7, 4X6 and a few wallet size.

For Tim & Pam - Please let me know which ones you think Grandma Skinner needs.

For Lynne & Chuck - Please let me know which ones Nana & Grandpa Miller need.

Thanks!!

We missed doing prints for Ian's 4th birthday and Leah's 3rd birthay. Hopefully we'll get back on track with Ian's 5th birthay coming next month.

Our day trip to Bad Kreuznach

The kids & I took a day trip to the town of Bad Kreuznach where they were holding the Reinland Paltz days this past weekend. They were working on setting up the booths while we were walking around a bit seeing some of the sites.



We saw the river & this building was one of the oldest in town. I believe it's from the 1600's & is now an eyeglass shop.



Here was one of the churches we wandered into. I'm pretty sure it was a catholic church.


Here are the kids & I out by the river.


Finally one of the kids. They were excited to see all of the ducks. We had lunch by the river & then did a little bit of shopping. The kids had fun counting all the ice cream shops in town. Of course, they sampled some as well!