Trente

While we were in Paris, I turned 30. On New Year's Eve to be exact. Am I sad to be 30? Definitely not. Coming from a big family with siblings closing in on 50 and parents well past their 60s, age is relative. Am I surprised to be 30? A little bit because the older I get the faster the years seem to go by.

I've seen lists on people's blogs about the top 100 things you should do in your lifetime. I sort of used that to come up with my own list of 30 things I've done thus far (in order of when they happened). Some you may know, but hopefully there are a few surprises. So Happy Birthday to me and Happy New Year to you!

1. Had stomach pumped after taking grandma's prescription meds
2. Got lost at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii when I was 4
3. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
4. Watched Old Faithful erupt
5. Rode motorcycles in Southern Utah
6. Herded cattle on horseback (not at a Dude Ranch)
7. Canoed down the Colorado River for a week
8. Got hit in the face with a field hockey stick
9. Lived alone for a month as a 16 year old
10. Got sent to the Vice Principal's office by my Calculus teacher
11. Went to a real Turkish bath
12. Snorkeled in the Red, swam in the Med and floated on the Dead
13. Climbed Mt. Sinai
14. Donated blood in Jerusalem
15. Learned how to fly fish
16. Hiked to Butch Cassidy's hideout
17. Drank hot chocolate while cruising next to an Alaskan glacier
18. Flew in a plane that landed and took off in the water
19. Shot clay pigeons
20. Bungee jumped
21. Walked across a frozen pond
22. Smelled chocolate in the air in Hershey, PA
23. Walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, MA
24. Nursed a baby on Pirates of the Caribbean
25. Went to a corn roast at the beach in Corona del Mar, CA
26. Gave birth to a 9 lb 5 oz baby
27. Saw the sun rise over the Alps
28. Kissed on the Rialto Bridge
29. Drove 115 mph on the Audubon for several hours
30. Laughed so hard I cried

My year of three:
3 candles on my eclair for the big 3-0
3x3 years of marriage
3 cute kids

Sightseeing With Children 101

We are learning as we go how to travel with kids. I'd like to think each trip we take is better than the last one because of the new insights.

1. Most attractions are not stroller friendly, case in point, Napoleon's tomb. There are stairs to get up into the building, stairs to walk down to view the tomb, etc, etc. It seems like the most logical thing would be to take Henry out of the stroller. But that can be difficult because 1) he usually doesn't want to get back in and 2) you never want to wake a sleeping child.

Here he is passed out

the ceiling above Napoleon

Parry, Sara, Alex, Pete and Ruby with the "coffin" in the background
(time to clean the camera lens)

2. Alex is game for any museum that involves war...especially if there are tanks. We had a chance to visit the Army Museum which is next to Napoleon's tomb. I thought that the kids would be really bored but they were surprisingly interested and asked a lot of questions. The section on WWII was really interesting for me, especially since I have been reading the Idiots Guide to WWII.

3. You should never try to see everything. There is a Statue of Liberty (obviously smaller than the one in NY) in the middle of the Seine River. Since I have never been to New York I thought it would be cool to "quickly" pass by and take a look. This might have been a good idea if Henry was feeling better or if it was warmer or if it had been at the beginning of the day instead of towards the end when the kids were tired of walking around. I don't necessarily regret our decision to go and see it, but we definitely wouldn't have missed much if we had just called it a day.




**Side note: On my last post about the Louvre I forgot to tell a funny Ruby story. I was reminded of it when I read my sister-in-law's blog. She writes better than me so I'll just quote her. "My favorite moment was when my niece Ruby, after noting the throng around the "Mona Lisa", proclaimed, "I can't see!" and proceeded to crawl underneath a sea of legs, up beyond the security barrier right to the front where she was gently escorted away from DaVinci's most famous girl." She was right in front of it...probably got a better view than any non-Louvre employee ever has. That's my girl!

Searching for clues

Back in July we had not planned on going to the Louvre. It seemed like an overwhelming task to take 3 smalls kids who most likely would not appreciate it anyway. This time around, with the Jarman family happily on board and Heather in charge of all the details (where and when we should buy our tickets), we decided to tag along. It was extremely crowded and we didn't stay to ponder the exhibits as long as the Jarmans did, but it was amazing and we are glad we went.

Paris 2.0

Those of you who have kept up with us know that our trip to Paris last July didn't end well. We decided to give it another try. I am happy to report that although Henry got sick our first day there and would hardly eat the entire time, we avoided major catastrophes.

This trip was the polar opposite of our last trip. 1) It was freezing cold. I'm not exaggerating. They had to stop trips up the Eiffel Tower because of the frost. 2) We went with family. 3) It gets dark early and so we were able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up...with the kids in tow.

For some reason I thought it was white/yellow when it was lit up.
Apparently it's blue.

Alex was looking up at...

...this!
It was still amazing even though we had already seen it.

A family shot
(a perk of traveling with family is you don't have to rely on strangers to take your picture)

the Jarman family

This time instead of staying right in the city (would have been about $1000 a night), we stayed outside and rode the metro everyday. It was crazy at times, especially since Henry is becoming Mr. Independent. He fought the stroller and the back pack and wanted to show everyone that he was big, just like Alex and Ruby.

Here he is, the experienced metro commuter

best buds

Ruby and Alex benefited from Henry's freedom.
It usually meant that Ruby got the back pack, Alex got the stroller
and Pete and I ended up with really sore backs.

Sledding in Les Diablerets

One of our favorite discoveries in Switzerland is that several of the ski resorts have runs dedicated to sledding. With ski rentals so expensive we thought this would be fun for everyone.

A little family fun (minus Christina and napping Henry) - Swiss Alps style
Ruby was fearless as we flew nearly out of control down the mountain.

Don't let the pony tails fool you, these are some daring girls.

Things went much better after our first 4.3 mile trip down the mountain and we figured out that you have to use both hands and feet to steer these things.

Clark Griswald said it best, "Later dudes. Hang ten."

Alex flying co-pilot with Uncle Parry

Gruyeres

Day 2 with the Jarman family we visited Gruyeres, a medieval village that has one street which is only accessible on foot. It was a charming little village complete with it's own castle. We were a little burnt out on castles from the day before, so we just took a quick look and then headed to the local dairy where the famous cheese is made. The dairy also had a restaurant which we stopped in for a lunch of fondu and more rosti, with Gruyere cheese of course!

Alex at the top of the "main street"

A view of the village with the castle in the background

Heather and her girls

Pete and Ruby

Pete and the kids

Alex and his cousins with the chateau in the background

a view of the valley below
This isn't a great picture of us, but check out Ruby.

She reminds me of...

She was so cold she didn't want any part of her skin exposed.

Henry inside an old cauldron used for making cheese

Sara, Ally, Rachel and Abby listening to how Gruyere cheese is made

Heather and Ruby watching the cheese and listening intently.

Don't you love Ruby's outfit?

Chateau

Don't you wish it was like this all the time?

a view of Montreux

the Jarman family

Heather and her girls

If you look closely in the background you can see...

...Henry!

Alex and Ruby each wanted a turn

Ruby shows off her skills

a view of the ramparts