From Mason: My Trip to Mexico

I took a video of the plane landing


I fell in love with Mimi, the dog.

Mimi's a little afraid of the goat.

Ouch my face. It's a little more aggressive than you think.

Photo bomber

It was hard to get up there.

I'm standing on a bird.

Light it up. (Mom's not happy about this one.)

They made corn tortillas.

Top of pyramid

It got a little crazy at the birthday party. There were two bands and I went to bed at 3AM.

This is at the airport.

I tried to just take pictures....

But this one wanted a selfie

So I obliged.

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.