"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn

I've never been to Paris, so I don't know how true the quote in the title is, but when a young lady asked our girls to go with her to Paris because she was going to run a half-marathon at Disneyland in Paris, Doug and I were glad to give them the opportunity.

Victor Hugo (author of Les Misérables) said, "Breathe Paris in.  It nourishes the soul."

I think the trip did indeed nourish the soul of my girls, and they are still talking about it.  

I've heard differing opinions about how people feel about Paris (dirty, dark, magical, amazing, full of life, romantic, quaint, etc), but for now, I'll stick with the pleasant descriptions given by Kylie and Karis.

This is our friend who invited and travelled with the girls.

Notre Dame.

The girls weren't prepared for how cold it would be, so they ended up having to buy some sweaters.  Then they saw the forecast on the day of the race - - rain, so they had to buy some raincoats.

No problem.  These girls went with the flow and never complained, walking mile after mile each day.

Their favorite place was the Palace of Versailles.  They spent almost an entire day there.

Race day.

These are actually the mouse ears we bought them when they were 5 and 3 in 2007, when Doug's parents took us to DisneyWorld in Florida.

Sainte-Chapelle.

And "us-ie" with Mona herself.

It was a fun experience to live Paris through the eyes of these two beauties and to hear their stories of adventure.  Thomas Jefferson spent a lot of time in Paris, and he said, "A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life."

I'm just glad these two will be able to say, "We'll always have Paris."

First Day of School 2019-2020

One of the rare times I get my kids to pose all together (semi-willingly) is the first day of school, so I try not to miss the opportunity.

September 1, 2019

But of course, sometimes pictures take a downhill turn.

As long as everyone is having fun, right?

First Days of School in Uganda

First Days of School in Texas

First Days of School in the Middle East

Hedgehog Café and Coming Home

My friend Hayley introduced me to the concept of a Cat Café when I was in Dubai.  She told me about it, and I laughed because I thought she was kidding.  I couldn't get my head around going to a café for the sole purpose of having a cat to pet and sit in my lap while I ate a meal.

I like cats, but I don't like their hair getting everywhere (plus cats have been known to cause my eyes to water, my skin to break out, and my airways to close off - no big deal).  The amount of hair flying around our house from me and the girls is enough, why would I want more? 

In my mind I just knew I would never go to a cat café (because I might have an asthma attack), and that was pretty much the last thought I gave to it.

Enter Thailand.  

We had the opportunity to go to a Hedgehog Café, and I seriously couldn't believe my kids were excited about it, but they were, so we went.

You purchase a certain number of drinks and a dessert, and then you get some hedgehogs brought to your table.

They set us up with bowls of mealworms with tweezers and a few hedgehogs to annoy feed and love on.

The waitress told us the names of each hedgehog, and my children quickly became attached naming their favorites.

The fun didn't stop there.  Soon it was feeding time for the guinea pigs.

A lady beat some grass against the wood, and out they came, crossed over a bridge, and entered into a "feeding area," where many small children abused fed them.

Keira was gentle and patient - even as other kids came and stole grass out of her hands!

We stayed for quite awhile, and it was one of my kids' favorite things, so I'm so glad we did its. 

And yes, I did hold one hedgehog for a very short amount of time.  I thought he was going to skydive off my hands, so I quickly passed him off to Caleb as all the kids laughed at me.

Too quickly, our time came to an end, and we left the lush green of Thailand's hills to return to the vast desert in the Middle East.

 

Summer was officially over.  Time for school to start.

Seventeen! In Thailand!

We were in Thailand for Kylie's 17th birthday.

We had a low-key breakfast at an outdoor café, where it actually rained on us a little while we were there.

Kylie and Doug rode on a rented scooter to breakfast,

while the rest of us climbed in the back of the island's version of a taxi.

After breakfast, we went swimming and then we walked to get some sandwiches and coffee for a late lunch, early dinner. 

After sundown, we walked to a restaurant on the water that looked worthy of a 17th birthday dessert.

We all tried smoothies, and most of them were pretty good, but the view was definitely the best part.

When the restaurant heard us singing "Happy Birthday" to Kylie, they brought her something special, but it wasn't a cake.

Bet you never saw this coming...

Crackers with chocolate dipping sauce (H.B.D.)

Yep.  You heard me correctly.



I think this was one of the sure signs that it was "off-season" on the island.

We ate a few, but mostly we just played with the letters.

Kylie is a pretty fantastic human being.  Being the firstborn, she is the guinea pig for a lot of things, and she bravely takes them on.  She pitches in around the house, helps fix her sister's hair, cooks, and works hard at all she does.  She has a creative streak that I only dream about, and she gets excited about planning events and following through with all the details.

She is strong, protective, honest, loyal, self-confident, stylish, and fun.  She is a lot of things I had always hoped to be, and I'm so proud of her.



She's looking ahead at all that is to come, but...



I'm looking back, remembering all that was :)

Happy 17th, Kylie!