Europe 2024 - Paris!

Day 1:  Our flight left at 1:30 in the afternoon - a nonstop flight to Paris. We went on Air Tahiti Nui airline, an airline I never heard of before but ended up being just fine.

The three of us did not sleep on the airplane at all and arrived in Paris at 9:00 in the morning. After immigration and an hour and half drive to the Airbnb we dropped our luggage off and headed for Montmartre on the subway. The girls and I made it through lunch at a pizza place and then we headed back to the rental as we could not keep our eyes open and everyone was, shall I say, testy. Dar and Don walked to Sacre Couer without us.

This girl NEVER falls asleep except in her bed.

Our airbnb is right here on the right. The girls and I had the attic bedroom which was supposed to be air conditioned but was stifling! The place was also small and dirty. We stayed two nights and then moved to a hotel. I would love to go back and stay at the little hotel with Dan sometime.

Day 2: We were up and out early the next day for croissants and Versailles!

Here is our tour guide, from China. He kept talking about the Revolution and how the king and queen were so nice. LOL

So so many statues...

...and beatiful art work!

The Hall of Mirrors was quite impressive. I can see how the peasants revolted against the excesses of the Crown while they themselves were starving.

Later that day, the girls were happy to stay in the rental while us sisters went out for a beer in one of the thousands of outdoor cafes. Behind us they were cheering for France in the Euro cup inside. 

Day 3: We got to sleep in a bit because our time at the catacombs wasn't until 12:30.  Is was a nice walk from our rental.

After the catacombs, we had some lunch and then headed over to the Louvre. As you can tell by the girls faces, it was very hot and humid!

A sphinx stolen by Napoleon when he was in Egypt.

Venus de Milo.

This was my favorite statue.  You can see the size of these masterpieces by looking at the people on the right.

And as for the Mona Lisa, there has to be a better way to view this than a hundred people just pushing their way to the front! 

Tiny little Anna was able to get up front and snap this pic!

Day 4: Once again we boarded the subway and headed to Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie. After a tense few hours when we thought we didn't have tickets we found out it wasn't even necessary to purchase them online and sold out did not really mean sold out.

Conciergerie was really fun for the girls. They gave you a tablet when you entere and there was a game to be played that took you around the parts of the building.

Here is where Marie Antoinette was held before she was beheaded.

Next store was Sainte Chapelle. The stained glass panels depict every book of the Bible.

Notre Dame was close by so we walked over even though it is still not open due to the fire.

We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe where I took this pic of the cathedral. Darlene and Donna went to the Arch de Triumphe from here but the girls were DONE walking so we headed home.

We got some rest and then headed out once again for our Eiffel tour time of 10:30 PM. It was a nightmare to get these tickets so we were grateful to be going. It was still light out when we got there at 10:00!

Ready for the Olympics!

The view from the second floor is better than the top! The Seine River looked beautiful.

Due to a mishap with a taxi, the girls and I got to see the tower sparkle from 12:00-12:05.

Day 5: We all kind of did our own things on this day. Darlene and Donna went on an unsuccessful hunt for  a thrift store while the girls and I went to a lovely Chinese restaurant next to our hotel. I did some laundry and went on a walk and then had dinner with Dar and Don at an outdoor cafe. 

I truly loved Paris and can't wait to go back, maybe without teenagers. 😂

Random June 2024

On the first day of June we gave Denise a surprise 60th party. We met for dinner at a restaurant in Long Beach. She was very surprised and a little flustered! After dinner we told her we were all going to a nearby speakeasy. Dave took the long way so we could all surprise her again!

At the speakeasy we had a whole new crowd of people!

Becky, Dani and Madyson, the cousins!

Aunt Helen and Uncle Bob with Bailee and Josh.

Denise and her daughters. Dave's daughters came too but I don't have a pic of them.

The sisters.

The next weekend we went to Vegas to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mike and Lisa with Elvis.

Top Golf is one of our favorite summer activities.

Kinga had her first swim lesson. She did amazing! She didn't do so well for the second and third when Becky was there.

Can't wait for Kinga to swim so we aren't looking through a grid anymore.

Well, that was exhausting!

Maks got promoted to middle school!

Someone thought it was a great idea to have a party the day before we left for our trip. 😂 The guys were already gone so Dar, Donna and myself threw a little party for all the family here so Donna could see some of the little ones she hadn't seen yet.

Everyone wants to hold Mae.

After everyone left Mia taught Dar how to use a VR set.

And Anna gave us a power point presentation on safety in Europe!

And we were off to Europe!

Random May 2024

We got Mia's La Crosse pictures back. The team didn't do very well but I'm sure they learned a lot.

She got an award for having a high GPA while being on the team.

We celebrated Oliver's ninth birthday at our house...

...and at the bowling alley/arcade. 

Anna's spring pictures came out beautifully.

My little helper.

With Joe and Karen we went to see Brett Goldstein in L.A.  

He was hilarious, but everyone is so raunchy these days.

Anna had a pretty big part in the drama department's presentation of The Single Guy. Unfortunately, the administration thought some of the topics covered were not appropriate for the middle school audience so none of her friends were allowed to come to see it.

We went to Vista for Memorial Day Weekend. 

Doesn't everyone make a cake while they are on vacation.??

The skateboard parks were a hit!

The first thing Kinga does when she gets to our house is to go grab one of her babies and feed them in the high chair.

Both Oliver and Maks had music recitals, Oliver with the violin and Maks with the trombone. 

For some reason, I don't have a picture of Maks. :(

It's a wrap for May!

 

Random April 2024

The newest thing for local seventh graders is apparently hanging out on the Queen Mary. Since we had to drive Anna over there we decided, why not go on a tour? Dan and I took the Hollywood tour, basically the regular tour with a couple of famous old names thrown in.

This is the room where Becky and Arek had their reception. They finally replaced the carpet, which was supposed to be replaced before the wedding.

La Crosse season has ended. It was a good experience for Mia. Her coach does not cut players and has everyone play. So their record is pretty dismal, but they learned a lot. Varsity is the competitive team. 

Our friend, Gregg, passed away after a very long illness. He was Dan's classmate in high school. He made quite an impression on people and was a great friend to many.

She had fun earning her snack.

And then discovered she could touch the girl in the window with her hand.

I had a mother-daughter date with Mia that included watching her horseback riding lesson and then going to a cool cafe. We had to buy a few stuffies because there are never enough.

The next day Anna and I had a mother daughter date at Starbucks and then furniture shopped for a new bed. Sorry you four engineers who spent Christmas Day 2022 putting up the loft bed!!! She's done with it. And frankly, we are too.

On to May!