Paris in the Springtime, part I

We are all about creating positive memories with and for our kids. 
While we´ve tried to be intentional with this all along, the urgency has increased since my close call with the long dirt nap in October, 2007.  Now, living with polycythemia vera and Behcet´s disease, I am reminded every day that each healthy moment is a gift that should not be wasted.

Robert cashes in frequent flyer miles and hotel points for our spring break trips.  This is a nice family perq for a job that requires about 50% travel.  We want to expose K & A to the big, beautiful world beyond their hometown.   So off to Paris and Madrid we go!

Alex wants to spend his Euros on croissants and Katrina wants to eat crepes every day (she would also like a pair of fancy stilettos, but we´ll have to see about that).

We arrived in Paris on Saturday, April 3rd and took a taxi to the Hilton Arc de Triomphe.  None of us slept much on the plane, so we took a nap before heading out to explore the town.  It was a rainy day, yet the streets were full of people. 

Here we are at the Arc de Triomphe.  We quickly decided that the Eiffel Tower would be our ¨where´s Waldo¨ of Paris.  We took pics every time we could see the Eiffel Tower in the background.

 

Our first night in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower.  Life is good!

Spring Break Is Not for Wimps!

We just returned from our family field trip to Washington, DC with our two tween-age kids.
With our adoption petition in China at this time, we hope that sometime in 2008 we will be adding a couple of toddler munchkins to our happy family. Traveling with strollers and sippy cups will be a dramatically different family vacation...

This Spring Break had all the makings for a great adventure:
* 650 miles each way in the car, with no kids in diapers
* Hotel stays which cashed in the points hubby earns from all his business travel
* Monuments, memorials, and museums as far as the feet can carry
* Thousands of families with the same brilliant idea

In an effort to avoid arguments and endless queries like "what's next?" we prepared a calendar of events for each day (by hour) for the week. Yes, some might think that a bit overboard, but it was a helpful tool. While we didn't stick to the schedule, each evening we used this as a departure point to compare what we did see and recalibrate the following days.

Through our Congressman's office, we got tours through the Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court. Yep, they did require our social security numbers for the White House visit -- I guess we passed!

Souvenier tip:
The kids decided early in the trip to collect cloissonne pins from each place we visited. The gift shops were only too happy to oblige. Still, from $2 - 6 each, it was a better value than a t-shirt from each place. Each kid got a Washington, DC baseball cap and added the pins as they got them throughout the week.

The kids were great travelers. I only needed to shout out my famous, "Don't make me stop this car!" once. We played the license plate game there and back. We kept a running list of all the states' license plates we saw during the trip. I think we saw plates from 35 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Every sighting had to be verified by another passenger -- no making it up!

Robert was on a mission to see everything -- it was like speed-dating for historical buffs!
My toes got blistered despite my unattractive, orthopedic-looking, supposed to be comfortable shoes I brought with me. By Tuesday, I was hobbling around our nation's capital like the old arthritic woman I may one day become!

Now, I'm off to recapture the magic of spring break as I plow through the mountain of laundry we brought home (mom's souvenir!).

peace,

Marina