Bastille Day in Paris

Bastille Day in Paris was spectacular!  We had the best time exploring the city, eating crepes and seeing the sites.  Incredible city!

Everybody's favorite...Eiffel Tower

The love locks bridge.  All three bought a lock and wrote someone's name on it :)

After putting our love locks on and checking out the Seine, we headed to the Louvre.  Honestly, with three little kids who don't care that much about art, it was a pretty quick trip.  

Rug rats in front of Mona Lisa....

Kennedy practicing her Top Model poses in front of the Napolean art.

Then we went out to the Tuileries Garden that runs from the Louvre to Place de la Concorde.  Gorgeous!

We were standing around, trying to decide what to do next, when President Hollande's motorcade drove by. 

Then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower.

Snack break...

We decided to climb to the second level.

When we got back down, there were some break dancers putting on a little show.  When it was over, Kennedy  decided that they should teach HER how to break dance.

Once it gets dark, around 10, the Eiffel Tower glitters for 5 minutes, at the top of every hour all night.  It's beautiful!

The next morning we watched the big military parade go down the Champs de Élysées.  Total zoo, but the kids loved it.  Their favorite was the flyover that let off red, white and blue smoke.  

Afterwards we made a quick stop by the Cathedral Notre Dame

The biggest Bastille Day attraction in Paris is the fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower.  To get a spot at Champs Mar--the best view, you have to get there pretty soon after lunch, so Ethan and Kennedy spent the afternoon hanging out over there, and the older two and I jumped on the subway and headed to the Arc de Triumphe.

We climbed to the top.  Awesome view of the city!

By the time we made it back to Champs Mar, it was so crowded, I could barely find Ethan and Kennedy....but luckily we did!

The fireworks and concert were awesome!

Such a fun weekend!

The next morning, the kids and I ran into horrible traffic and almost missed our flight to Charlotte--stressful!!!  We got to the airport way too late, but the nicest US Airways employee EVER helped us out.  I could've kissed her for letting us on that flight.  We are so happy to see friends and family :)

Ken's Birthday Party & Kermesse

We celebrated Kennedy's fifth birthday last week--so hard to believe!  She really wanted to have a big birthday party, so we went for it and let her invite as many friends to her party as she wanted (English speaking or not...what was I thinking?!?!)

It was everything she had hoped for--loud, chaotic, full of giggling, running, squealing little friends to play dress-up with.  Dress-up is definitely the universal language of five-year-old girls.  They spent the entire party running all over the house in their undies and plastic high heels, trying to find a new princess dress, cheerleading uniform or flamenco dancer costume to try on, and then they would trade dresses, accessories or shoes.  So funny!  

I wish I had gotten more pictures, but here's Juliette, one of Ken's best friends.  I love watching them play.  Kennedy talks and talks to her as if she can understand, and Juliette politely looks at her until she's done and then they both erupt into giggles!

This weekend was Kermesse--the big end of the school year party for Massillon.  It was awesome!  One of the most fun nights we've had so far.  Each class did a dance.

Ken's class did a Hawaiian dance...

Emory's class dance was adorable, but I can't remember what the theme was supposed to be...

Baylor's class did a surfing dance.  Clearly he's really into it.  Ha! 

After the dances there was a barbecue, and lots of time for the kids to dance onstage together, play soccer and just hang out.  It was a great way to wrap up the school year.  Only two days left!

Father's Day

There was a huge road race that went by our house on Father's Day--Courir A Clermont.  Nobody in our family ran, but we did walk down to Place de Jaude to get in on some of the fun!

And the kids gave Ethan all of the little goodies they'd made for him at school.

...gotta love a man who will put on the butterfly hat and act excited about it!

This Girl Has Grown!

She started gymnastics class in February, literally too nervous to even move a muscle...scared to be turned over to coaches who yell a little bit...not knowing enough French to befriend the other girls....generally not the happiest of campers.

Now...she's so happy to go, has learned quite a few skills, likes her coaches, speaks as much French as she can and has made lots of friends.

So proud of her!

Carcassonne

On the way back home we stopped by Carcassonne.  It's a fortified city with a medieval castle--great place for these three to burn off some energy.

When we got back in the car I asked the kids what they like better, vacations with lots to see (castles, cathedrals, museums, etc) or vacations with lots to do (skiing, hiking, fishing, beach).  All three chose vacations with lots to do, so that may be our last castle for a while- ha!  

Barcelona: Day 5

As soon as we walked out of the train terminal in Place Catalunya yesterday, we saw a big group of people marching toward the Bank of Spain.  It was the PAH (Mortgage Victims Platform) protesting the number of home repossessions in Spain.

We grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the science museum, Cosmocaixa.  We had planned on just spending a couple hours here so that we could also see Montjuic, but there was so much to see and do, that we stayed for the entire afternoon.

This was a really cool exhibit.  There were five stations that represented various bodies of water--the Bering Sea, Dead Sea, Mediterranean, The Carribean and one other.  The kids had to put their hand on a pad to feel the temperature of that sea, and then they put their hand under a laser and it squirts out water that they're supposed to taste to determine how salty that sea is.

The olive oil exhibit...Ken's favorite.  This exhibit was about how olive oil from different parts of the Mediterranean tastes differently--one had a green almond flavor, one had a tomato taste to it, another had an apple taste.  Ken tried each one at least three times and went through an entire stack of napkins trying to get her hands clean.

Examples of various Mediterranean markets...

Morocco

Turkey

Spain

France

Baylor and Emory's favorite thing was this computer portal where a doctor on the screen taught them all about blood--everything from how a nurse draws blood, what it looks like under a microscope and the difference between red and white blood cells.

And the worst part of my whole vacation...

This thing-

Seriously, what IS that thing?!?!  A rat? A pig?  No idea, but I liked the science museum until we got to this creature...The kids went BANANAS when he got up and started walking around.  Disgusting.

Loved our time in Barcelona!  I will definitely miss waking up to this

Barcelona: Day 4

Playground equipment on the beach...best idea ever!