Euro Disney and Versaille. Dec. 30-31 2009

So here is part two of our Parisian vacation!

We went to Paris Disneyland on Day 3! It was very fun and was pretty much just like the one in Cali or Florida. Although, the kids liked Space Mountain here better. There was also this very cool Toy Story eating area that was off the beaten path so it wasn't all that crowded but the rest of the park was! I bet you didn't know that you can buy beer, lots of beer here at Euro Disney.

My favorite ride and I think it is Luke's too is Buzz Light Year. As you can see I am by myself on this ride so I felt it necessary to use both guns like Jack Bauer or Jason Bourne or something! :)

We also went to The Rain Forest Cafe for dinner which is always fun! It was a nice and relaxing day compared to the day before in Paris!

Day 4 was all about Versaille! Wow! Now, that was fun and interesting and educational. The kids even enjoyed most of it because of the handy dandy head phone tour that we did. That is definitely the way to go!

Unfortunately, it too was extremely crowded. One of the workers there gave us a little help and took around and up these other stairs so we didn't have to go thru this extremely busy area. That was nice of him. He said that it was normally not like this but because of New Years everyone was visiting that day!

I also lost my ring this day! :( It was stolen from my bathroom counter at the hotel we stayed at. I remembered about 45 minutes after we checked out and when I called, they said there was no sign of it! Bummer huh? Anyways, it was insured and I am looking at replacements.

Paris: Christmas Vacation Trip: 12/28th and 29th 2009

This was our last big adventure of 2009! It was very fun...but cold...and crowded! We weren't thinking of the crowds that would be there to bring in the new year so we were surprised at the long lines and the crowded trains. It was a bit stressful keeping Luke and Sophie close by but we all made it back home safe and sound.We stayed at this very nice Marriott Golf Resort that was very affordable due to it being off season. In the On-season, the rooms we stayed in were about $600 per night, off-season 1/3 of that. Not bad, I'd say. Anyways, it was just a couple miles from EuroDisney which is about 1/2 hour away from downtown Paris.

There was a swan outside our condos, so Bev took a picture of it. I edited it

a bit but I thought it was a very cool picture!

The first night, we just went down to a local mall and ate dinner there. It was sooo good. We had Italian.

Grandpa bought some very tasty hot chocolate at a store there at the mall and Nana bought some gloves and I bought that brown hat that you will see in most of the photos. Did I mention that this mall was HUGE!? It just went on forever.

The next day, we took the train/Metro into Paris. It was really neat coming up the stairs from the underground to behold the great Notre Dame Cathedral! That's a neat memory. I remember Dave being very impressed by that.

We then took a bus around to the other sites like The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, and The Arc de Triomph. That was a busy day! And the metro was sooo busy. We all were getting back on to head back to the Marriott and Dave literally had to push his way on because it was so crowded! But, he did make it on just before the doors closed and I apologized to one of the ladies that got a bit smooshed from it!

The Louvre was closed which is fine because we weren't planning to go in anyway. But, we were looking for a bathroom there. You know how hard it is

to find a bathroom in Paris??? Poor Luke was dieing there for awhile! Finally, Dave Sr. just took him into a restaurant and they let him use their bathroom. I guess usually they say no but for a little kid, they had mercy! Merci restaurant people!

The Eiffel Tower was great but we didn't get to go to the top of that either because the lines were absolutely crazy! Oh well, even if we got up there it would have been so crowded that it wouldn't have been fun at all. Instead, we bought lunch from a street vendor for over $100 total and that consisted of a few pieces of pizza, three ham sandwiches and a few chocolate, chocolate banana, and ham n cheese crepes which are so tasty! Yummy! We also, bought a few things from the guys that stand out front and sell little souveniers like Tower key chains and

little sculptures. One guy almost had

Dave convinced to

buy a painting. They were pretty, and we were

tempted but then declined.

Let's Start with the Heidelberg Christmas Market

On December 22nd we took my in-laws to the Heidelberg Christmas Market. It sure was fun! There are actually 7 markets in the city and I think we went to 3 of them which were all close together. Christmas is such a fun and magical time over here because of all the markets. There are tours from America just for the Christmas Markets! Fun! I must admit that Dave and Bev did really good considering they had just gotten off the plane that day!

Sophie riding a bike on the Carrousel. She sure pedaled hard! She was glad that the chain was hooked on right. The first bike she hopped on didn't have the chain hooked on to the pedals so the back tire didn't spin. I'm glad we found one that worked properly!

Here we are in front of a huge...thingy. I can't remember what they are called but a normal sized one is run from the heat of candles...the heat makes the wheel on the top go around. Totallly cool!!

And here is the castle up on the hill! It looked really neat! There was an ice skating rink right below the castle. There were so many people out and about having fun on this last night of the Christmas Markets!

It's a Brand New Year

It's a brand new year and along with that comes goals! One of my goals is to blog 3 times a month! Do you think I can do it? I think I can do it! I think I can do it! Can she do it? Yes she can!

So, I will start with the infamous opening of the PJs on Christmas Eve! The boys liked their PJs much better this year. If you want to see last year's, go to Dec. 2008 entries.

Here are the kids in their PJs and I must say they all look really cute! But, Brett did complain about his, he doesn't like the buttons on the shirt, they are too uncomfy. I remember being frustrated and I told him not to worry because this is the last year I am getting them for him. I felt a little bad...but, he said, "Well, I like them but I prefer just t-shirts with no buttons." Hmmm, isn't Christmas about giving and not receiving? Picky picky. But, I suppose next year I'll still get him a pair and I'll try to make sure they are super soft and comfy with no buttons. Maybe a flower design?

The kids got an extra bonus this year: SLIPPERS!!! They were so excited to get them. Dave and I even got some because to be honest, it is sooo cold here. No, really it is. You know your house is cold when ladies from the book group start putting their coats back on and that's just what happened and I had the heaters on high! :)