June 1, 2010

Paris

we spent 2 days in paris. we mostly stayed on the tour bus, but we did hop off to see a couple of key sites. i was very happy with this setup since i don't speak any french, there was no worries about translation issues! hiding on the bus not only gave me a chance to sit so my back wasn't so sore, but we got to see so much of the city, even if only from the outside of the buildings. i loved it.

one of the things we were off the bus for was to see the louvre. we absolutely did NOT go inside - there's no way i am paying to take 3 kids inside where i would spend the whole day saying "sshhh!" and telling them not to touch! lol art is not really my thing or kevin's either, and while i could have appreciated it, going inside was not high on my list. but it was really beautiful architecture!





on the bus...

i wasn't going to put this picture in here, but then i figured maybe you would enjoy a laugh!

of course we got off the bus for the most famous site of paris!


climbing the stairs... and yes even i did it! (of course i took my pain meds first! lol) all 670 stairs to the second level! (you had to pay for the elevator to get to the very top, that gets a little pricey with 5 of us!)



what in the world? well, i guess ya'll just needed another laugh!

some of the views from the tower...










kevin's pride and joy picture of the arc de triumph - he had to run into the middle of the street to take this picture (don't worry he stood on the center divide, not IN the traffic lol) but it was worth it - what a beautiful shot!

on the bus again, just can't wait to get on the bus again...


jordan was pretending to sing along with the music in her headphones (they were for the tour, you could just press your language and listen to information about the city, but when there wasn't talking there was background music playing)




notre dame cathedral...





i couldn't resist a scenery pic squeezed in here... lol

hands down one of my favorite pictures i have EVER taken. i got so lucky! i love how zachary looks so serene, and i love the shadow of the bird that is taking off. LOVE IT!!!

eating crepes... the boys LOVED them (we had them for breakfast and they wanted them again for dinner!). jordan thought they were ok, but she didn't get a messy faced crepe picture because she opted to be ultra american and have subway for dinner instead!


i did enjoy the crepes for breakfast, but tried something a little different for dinner - a grilled sandwich. it was soooo yummy!

ok, kevin was being very sweet to take the luggage because my back was hurting so bad, but he is really hamming it up here! this was us loading onto the train to go from paris to london.

Barcelona

ok, i finally found some motivation to put up the rest of our vacation pictures. here is barcelona. this is where the disney cruise ended. we were here for two days, before taking a train to paris.

riding the tour bus...


this picture makes me laugh. i put the camera over my shoulder and just clicked, catching kevin off guard lol

jumping down the stairs (kids don't care about the amazing views or old architecture - this was way more fun to them! lol)



these next two pictures are like where's waldo... find the dennerts! lol they were so tiny against the huge buildings!



absolutely LOVE these next two pics...


ok, so here's the story... my husband sees a lady about to throw this thing away. so what does he do? RESCUES IT FROM THE TRASH!!! really? this thing is now in my house! grrrr!

this was a park we found for the kids to play awhile. they had great fun on these giant metal slides. i of course slipped on one and fell on my rear end - whatever!





you can tell this guy does NOT have kids! hee hee...

kevin is easily amused by statues with plumber bum issues...

barcelona was full of interesting and beautiful buildings and statues. here are a few of my favorite shots...

the smiling lobster...