Bird Mauling

We were at Notre Dame and a man put some bird seed on Kenzie's head. At first it was cute because there were just a couple of birds, then it got a little out of hand! This is the stuff that nightmares are made of...and showers are mandated.

Kenzie takes a break from the bird selfie to be amused by her grandmother's attack

Evidently, they have claws

Sights around Paris

Train from the airport to Luxembough station

Inside the train station before we found our hotel

Just outside the train station

Our hotel was right next to the Pantheon

A few steps from the hotel is a view of the Eiffel Tower

Posing outside our hotel

The Pantheon

Grammy on a park bench outside Pantheon

Luxembough Park

Averill girls in Luxembough Park

Grammy at Notre Dame

River Seine

Next to bridge over River Seine

Next to the Pont des Arts

Eiffel Tower

Park bench at the base of the Eiffel Tower

We had lunch at the Mini-Palais, inside the Grand Palais (once we found it)

We took a boat ride on the river for a different view of the sights

Meanwhile, in Puyallup

Ermias is a very happy boy with his cousins at his beckoned call. 

Arrived in Paris

We landed in Paris after a 10 hour flight that was during our day. However we arrived at 8:30 am local time, so missed the chance to sleep entirely. We also found that the November Paris attacks increased security and caused 2 hour customs lines. Luckily ours was only about 1.5 hours as they pulled us out of line when Mom busted out her walking stick. 

We took the train back to our hotel, which is right next to the French Parthenon. We found our friend Thomas and went to lunch, then pinched ourselves to try to stay away until bedtime. 

Sleepy eyes...even coffee doesn't help

The Eiffel Tower is in the background. 

 

Almost a Mexican Citizen

Whitney had quite the hassle of getting Mason on the plane in Mexico. Even though we had signed a notarized letter, the ticket agent wouldn't let her as a nonparent put him on the flight to Las Vegas where Sarah is meeting him. She then instructed them to go into the wrong line and by the time they got the attention of a manager, the flight had boarded. The rest of her family was still at the house on the other side of the city and she was planning to return, pack, get them ready, and head back to the airport for their trip out. However, Mason's rescheduled flight left only 50 minutes before theirs so she had to stay with him. She sent a driver back to wake up her family and return with them. She kept Mason at the airport for hours and eventually put him on one plane and dashed back to meet her crew. Amazingly they did it. 

Criss-crossing the world

We dropped Ermias off last night with David and Daniel. Oh yah, and Randy and Sary-Jo. He is being totally spoiled with a mini-spa from Tia Jo, shower assistance from Daniel, and a bed buddy with David. He was so excited yesterday all day we could hardly calm him down.

Mason is wrapping up his final stint in Mexico. He has moved to Mexico City, where they have eight full-time maids. It's quite the different life than he led on the farm and he seems to be taking to it just fine. Every day is an excursion.

We have been able to FaceTime him now that he has wifi. His cheeks are peeling and he looks very dirty. We also got a notice that he had incurred over $100 of roaming charges, so he wasn't actually on wifi.

The driver picked them up today and took them to the roller coaster. They keep a frenetic pace the entire time, and I think he is looking forward to a bit of quiet as he camps in Zion next with Sarah and Kyle. 

Meanwhile, when we went to Europe this last summer we cashed in frequent flyer miles. However for the return trip, the cheapest way home was to buy round-trip. And now it would just be wasteful to not use that other ticket back to Europe. That's the logic that got us to plan a quick girls week that starts in Paris.

You did what

Kenzie imitates Cindy's look when she finds out I bought shrimp pots. Yes I may be allergic to the little buggers but that doesn't mean I don't want to catch them for others to enjoy. Or maybe for myself. 

De Nada

Mimi

Today I was warned that Mason was going to ask to bring the puppy home so I was prepared when he called and started talking about "your present." This may be a difficult partying, but we know the puppy, Mimi, has a family that loves her. he told Whitney today that he was not going to proceed onto the next phase of their vacation unless he could bring the puppy and that he would stay in the country forever.  

He also went horseback riding today, ATV riding, and flew kites. He told me that he was going 38 when he crashed the ATV, but we aren't clear whether that's miles or kilometers. Regardless he is fine and having the time of his life. 

New friends

Whitney sent us a few texts today. We learned that Mason and the kids played with the newly hatched chicks this morning, went tubing on the lake, bought street tacos, ate ice cream out of the back of a truck, and lit fireworks off of the roof. It sounds like Mason is having the time of his life. He has also adopted a new puppy as you can see in the pictures. Evidently he takes it everywhere. Anybody else see this ending badly? 

They are staying in the mountains near Mexico City right now. 

Notice the puppy in the sweatshirt 

The white boy is getting a bit of a sunburn on his neck 

Ding and Dong viajen a Mexico

Mason was invited by Wils family to go to Mexico for eight days. We left the house at 3 this morning. They will travel to Mexico City and then to the country, visiting family the entire time. He will travel from there directly to Vegas to see Sarah and Kyle, as some of us have other plans!

I told Wil "he's gonna miss his Mommy. You're gonna have to snuggle him." He told me, "that's not a problem, Julie, I got that."

This is one happy kid!

Baseball Time Again.

January 31, 2016

Once again, another anniversary spent at baseball tryouts. Mason has decided to play baseball again. I think he's even more excited this year than last. We are hoping he gets his same coaches again but if not, at least, a good coach!

Grammyism

Yesterday on my way to work I got a phone call from my mother. She said that she had very bad news. She processed and my heart sank. She proceeded to tell me that she had a stack of magazines and a her cell phone sitting on top of the toilet and the cat single-handedly swiped the phone into the toilet precisely as it was flushing. The phone was completely lost. I told her that I was worried that maybe it was stuck in the neck of the plumbing, but she assured me that they had a "modern" toilet that didn't have the same pipes. It went straight into the ground. I tried to dispute this but she reassured me. Still driving to work, I convinced her to stick her arm down the toilet, presumably into the ground, and fish for the phone. No luck. I then told her that we should probably call a plumber because the phone would certainly show up somewhere. 

Fast forward to about four hours later when I get a text with two random characters from her. I replied "mom, did you find your phone?" 

She replied "The lost is found when I got home Cindy was calling and I traced it down it was in my robe pocket in the bathroom by the toilet."

I still giggle when I remember the splashing sound on the phone of her sticking her arm in her modern toilet.