Paris Day One... a trip to Disney

We made it through Italy, so it was time to venture into...

France!

The wonderful part about driving through all of this, is to see the countryside up close and personal.  Flying is great, and I'm a big advocate! but there is something special about the scenery from the road.  Unfortunately, since my good camera was out of commission, all of the pictures I took from the car looked like I took them from a moving vehicle... oops!  In any case, we were excited to arrive in Paris because of the cabin Greg had booked.  We hadn't told Brady about it and thought he was especially going to be excited because it was a...

 

 Treehouse!  

If you look on the left hand side, you can see the ramp that leads you to a back porch and the door.  We drove partly for this cabin and the one on Normandy because it was necessary to prepare our own meals, and basically we were camping.  Every morning someone brought us a basket (seen on the left behind our car), attached it to the long rope hanging in front off the balcony, and we pulled it up to enjoy the fresh bread and croissants, butter, coffee, and juice.

The first day was especially for the kids and we went to Disney.  After a walk to the train station and a ride across the city, we finally arrived at the "Most magical place on earth."  And life was good.

 Sorry for the poor picture quality, but it's necessary to show Juliette's dessert plate and the fact that she was eating with 2 spoons!  Did I mention life was good?!

And then, things took a turn.  Before we entered the park, we told each child they could choose one thing to buy.  It could be whatever they wanted, but we were only going to buy one thing each.  Brady found a Stitch doll while we were renting the stroller.  We had barely entered the park and after talking to him about it, he decided to not buy the first thing he saw.  So, we went on our merry way.  The Buzz Lightyear ride was the hit of the day and both children decided to buy a Buzz toy.  

Juliette chose a laser gun and Brady chose a talking Buzz Lightyear (the exact one he already had at home, but he was able to choose whatever he wanted.)

She enjoyed shooting the princesses...

and Brady had the best toy ever until...

He spotted that same Stitch doll as we were returning the stroller.  So then he thought he would be smart and give Juliette his Buzz toy which meant she had TWO toys and poor poor Brady had no toy at all.  I'll give him credit that it was a good try, but it didn't work.  We say ONE toy, we mean ONE toy and yes, we are those parents.  Well, it didn't go over so well because the results were this...

and this...

then this...

and finally a time out, mostly because he hit his sister and it was all getting a little too dramatic.

We were standing around waiting for time out to be over when a family came up to us and told us they thought we were doing a great job!  They said they had been watching and listening way back at the stroller return and felt like we were doing the right thing.  Wow!  It was great to get positive feedback in the midst of a total breakdown!  In a world where parents are barely able to "parent" their own kids, what a nice reminder that maybe we aren't screwing up so bad after all!

A Christmas Thought...

I've been having a bit of a pity party for myself during this Christmas season.  The peace and tranquility I tried to create for myself and my family just didn't happen the way I had imagined it.  Funny how that goes, right?  You get a picture in your head of how something should be, and then get disappointed when it doesn't happen that way.  Instead of family evenings spent at small Christmas markets or even a trip to our piazza to see the Nativity, the past several weeks have been filled with Greg working late nights and leaving in the early morning.  There have been several days at a time where the kids haven't seen him at all.  In the meantime, the kids and I have been doing our own thing, which has included advent activities, but they weren't part of the family time I had imagined.  I wanted our usual family dinnertime around the table discussing our favorite part of the day (which has now resorted to a speaker call to Greg so he can participate) and then gathering together to discuss the Advent story/activity for the evening.  It wasn't until this morning (while Greg was still asleep since he didn't get home until 2:30am and the kids were watching t.v.) that it dawned on me I didn't know about true inconvenience and disappointment.

I was staring down at my large pregnant belly and thought about how I would react if Greg came home to tell me he was going to hoist my large behind on a donkey, make me ride for several days, then I would give birth in a barn.  With animals.  And itchy hay.  AND my baby would have to sleep in the feeding trough.  Umm, not so much.

Yet, Mary, in all of her discomfort, aggravation, disappointment, and life interrupted had a heart full of worship and peace.  A heart focused on the glory, the plan for her life, and the Savior she had the honor of calling son. 

 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.   And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.   He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.   He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,  as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his       offspring forever.”  Luke 1:46-55

So, on this Christmas Eve, I will rejoice!  It's not about me, it's not about missed family time, my interpretation of what a peaceful season is, or what I think the season should look like.  It's not about my disappointment or the pity party I was about to throw for myself.  It's about the sweet anticipation of a Savior who came in the most humble way, as a baby.  It's about what his life and death means for me, that though I am unworthy of what Jesus did for me, he continuously shows me grace and mercy.  When times seem rough, I will remember, "... for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."

Merry Christmas!

Morning at the beach and an evening in the snow covered mountains! Our visit to the Matterhorn!

This picture should have been on the last post, but it didn't make it on.  A seagull came to visit us during dinner and Brady was thrilled!  He had me taking video and you can tell by the smile on his face how happy he was to have this little visitor!

Our last morning in the Cinque Terre area was spent at the beach.  Let me tell you, the water was freezing!

 

Finally we clean ourselves up, load back in the car, and make our way to the Matterhorn.  Do you know what that is?!

The Matterhorn (in German), Monte Cervino (in Italian), or Mont Cervin (in French) is part of the Alps located on the border of Switzerland and Italy.  The summit reaches 14,690 ft. high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps and one of the most deadly to climb (around 500 people have died on it).  I'm more than happy to look at it from a distance!

We found a little playground before checking into our hotel (and our hotel had the most amazing views!)

After resting a while, sitting outside listening to the nearby waterfall, and keeping the kids somewhat entertained, we ventured into town.  Apparently, June is the off season in a ski resort town, so we found a whole lot of empty streets, closed stores, and deserted restaurants!  It was at this point I also realized that my camera was broken!  Please forgive the next few pictures that were taken with my phone.  Oh the disaster of it all!

 I loved this beautiful stained glass artwork!

Completely famished, we finally found a restaurant open for dinner.  This place was something I would imagine a horror movie taking place in.  It seems charming and to me that added to the creepy factor.  

It was a family owned restaurant where the mother cooked, the father was the host/ waiter and I wished I got a picture of him!  He was decked out in capri pants with ruffles sticking out of his sleeves and on the front of his shirt.  You could hear children creaking the floor above us, and I don't know why, but it made me uncomfortable. There was a long family history for the property and I wished I remembered some of the stories, but too much time has passed (and I don't remember what happened 2 hours ago much less 6 months!).  The host was very nice and accommodating and Greg really enjoyed it.  Once again the views here did not disappoint!

 

The next morning, we went on a search for a screwdriver to try and fix my camera but were unable to find one.  Then we went on a search for a place to buy a new camera.  What a mess!  With a new camera in hand, we were off to Paris!

Monterosso and Vernazza... part of the Cinque Terre, Italy

The next stop on our road trip was the Cinque Terre.  I was most excited about this stop!  I had heard how charming this place was and of course Pinterest is littered with pictures of these 5 brightly colored towns.  First we had to get there and here are a couple of pictures from the road.

We stayed in a small beach town just outside of the Cinque Terre that only required a short train ride into the first town, Monterosso.

Captures the coastline

The kids entertained themselves on the beach while Greg and I took turns venturing out into the town.

We caught the train to the next town of Vernazza where we went on a search for dinner!

We struggled with finding a place to eat and just happened to come around a corner where there was a restaurant on top of a rock formation.  Lucky for us, they had just received a cancellation and we pretty much had the best table in the restaurant! 

I was hoping to catch another town, but we missed the timing for the train and decided it would be best to catch the last train headed towards our hotel!