Paris

It's about time for me to post about our trip. With the holidays and Dave's busy schedule, I was tempted to just skip it, but I know I will want this in years to come when I have forgotten all of the details. Plus, I normally keep a travel journal, but with Anna on this trip, there was no chance of me having spare time, or a spare hand to be writing. So as with most of my posts, this is for me, not you, fellow bloggers. I know, I'm selfish. So if you're still willing to read, be my guest, but it's going to be a loooong one! (I always include TMI!) Where to start?....Well, we went to Paris over the week of Thanksgiving. And yes, we took Anna. Some people thought we were crazy, but I just thought to myself, "Well, you don't know Anna. If you knew her like I do, you wouldn't want to leave her for a week either!" And after the trip, I would still do it again! She's at a good age for it, not old enough to be running around crazily, and yet old enough to respond to new people and places and have fun. Sure there were some rough moments, but she has rough moments at home too. So if she's going to have them anyway, she might as well be in Paris with us! We had both been there before, so we weren't as worried about missing out on any of the sites. Dave's parents and three of his brothers and their wives came along too, so Paris was lucky enough to get 11 Kellys there all at once!

The way there...
Everyone asks how the plane ride was with Anna. It wasn't really that bad. I expected the worst (her screaming the entire time), and so I was satisfied for only having to deal with little cries on and off every now and then. She fell asleep immediately on the way to Chicago, but I wasn't so lucky on the long flight across the pond. We had an empty seat in between us luckily, so it gave us more room and privacy. I think she ended up sleeping for at least 3 hours or so. As for me, 0 hours of sleep.

Bonjour Paris!
We met Ryan and Sue, and Steve and Quinn at the airport. Thank goodness for international roaming cell phones! (we mostly texted because it was cheaper than a phone call) We needed to figure out the best way to get to our hotels. When we asked the information desk, they said the trains were free because there was a strike. Ya, there was a strike, but the trains were still running. Weird huh? Once we got to the main terminal, we ended up just taking a taxi to our hotels. Dave and I stayed at a different hotel than everyone else. We originally booked the same one, but they don't allow babies there, so we had to book at another hotel 2 metro stops away. The Best Western Aramis! It was a cute and very cozy hotel. Just like most European hotels, the rooms are super small. With Anna's crib in there, we could barely fit our luggage in. It was all we needed though - comfy beds, nice shower, and a yummy breakfast in the morning. (with delicious hot chocolate!) Once we got settled we met everyone and visited Notre Dame and had some dinner.

That night we took a cruise along the Seine River and saw the beautiful sites of Paris by boat. Neither of us had done that before so it was a fun way to see the city. Anna loved being on the boat.

Right when we were approaching the Eiffel Tower, it began sparkling with hundreds of lights. It was so beautiful! They do this every hour for about 15 minutes or so. It was the perfect way to end a LONG day of traveling.

The City of Light
I didn't know why they call it "the city of light." Sure it has lots of lights, but Times Square has it beat. So when I got home, I checked Wiki and it is coined "the city of light" because of its early adoption of street lighting and because throughout history, it has been a center of education and ideas. It makes much more sense now. I love the thought of all of the historical greats that walked those same streets. The Royalty, the War Heroes, the Artists, the Writers. On Day 2 of our trip, we got to experience and enjoy what some of those greats left behind.

Notre Dame
Although we were at Notre Dame the night before, we wanted to go back to go up the bell tower and see the fabulous view of Paris as well as those creepy gargoyles and of course Quasimodo. Steve and Quinn were nice enough to watch Anna for us while we hiked up the twisty stairs to the top with Dave's parents.

I love getting a bird's eye view of cities from somewhere high. I am not afraid of heights as long as there is a gate or something to hold me in. I love seeing how everything fits together and the rooftops and busy streets below. Paris is especially neat because of how the river winds through the city and the beautiful bridges that cross it. It's also always amazing to see how big a city actually is.

Here's one of the humongous bells that makes those cute chimes. I wish we had a bell tower in SLC that did that. It's so charming.


The Metro
Anna became pretty savvy at riding the Metro around Pairs. Because of the strike, the trains were always really crowded. One night we had to wait for 3 trains to come and go until we could even fit in one. Because of the tight quarters, Anna was up close and personal with lots of strangers, but being the friendly girl she is, a couple of times she reached out and would hold other peoples hands during the ride. It was so funny. I think she made their days!

Sacre Coeur

Now it was on to the next church, Sacre Coeur. This is a pristine white basilica that sits at the top of hill for another beautiful view of the city. Dave's brother Paul and his wife Kara met up with us here since they had just arrived from Arizona. It was great to all be together.

Anna sleeping through Paris again.

The famous steps and streetlamps on Montmarte.

One of the lovely Paris bridges across the Seine River.

Time for some art - Musee D'Orsay & the Louvre

The nice thing about the train strike was that Mussee D'Orsay was free! The bad thing about the strike was that it suddenly closed early after we had only been there about a half hour or so. We didn't get to see all of the masterpieces, but we saw some Monet and Degas, so I was satisfied. Next we went to the gigantic Louvre. I'll let the pictures show the rest of the day's sites...

Bayeux
The next day we were up early to take a road trip north. Actually, Anna and I were up really early. Anna was still adjusting to the time difference, so she woke up at 3:00 am and wanted to play. When she finally wanted to fall back asleep, it was 5:00 and time to get ready to meet Dave's family. I figured it would be fine because she'd fall asleep as soon as we got in the rental car and on the road, but it took awhile to get our car and by the time we were on the road, she was crazy tired, but wouldn't go to sleep. So she just cried the whole way. I felt bad for all of those that got stuck in our car with us. This was definitely her bad day. She did manage to calm down for a quick nap before we arrived at our first stop, the cute charming town of Bayeux. She slept through most of it, but woke up right before we were leaving, with just enough time for some quick family snapshots.

Normandy

Next stop was Normandy. I'm not a huge world history buff, but it's nice to visit somewhere that carries so much history as well as a feeling of courage and peace. However, Anna was not peaceful here. She must have been feeling so sad about the tragic events that took place there or something. They just opened a new museum at the American Cemetery and it was very interesting. Anna and I missed the movie there, but a nice British worker gave us our own tour while Anna was getting her wiggles out crawling around everywhere. It truly is an amazing place. The view of the thousands of white crosses against the blue sky and sea is beautiful and humbling. I truly am so grateful for anyone who gives their life to serve and fight for freedom. Some interesting facts about the cemetery that I remember are that all of the graves face West, towards the United States and that many of the soldiers were buried 2 or 3 times before they were actually laid to rest in this cemetery. Most were initially buried where they were killed in battle, so they were moved until they had a proper burying here. I learned a lot more, but I've already forgotten most of it. Sad. That's what I get for waiting a month to write it down. We at least got a few pictures here in between chasing and trying to calm Anna. The first one is basically how my whole day went.

Disneyland!

After the nice, but hard day in Normandy, (which, by the way, was Thanksgiving) the next day we went to Disneyland Paris and made up for it all! The rest of Dave's family took the chunnel to London for the day. We decided not to go because we had just visited there 2 years ago and it would be too hard with Anna. So instead, we took a daytrip to Disneyland Paris! It was a good decision! We had such a blast! I have always wanted to go there, but it's usually not on anyone's "must see" list for Paris. So this time, it was just us and we went for it. I think I was the most excited. I love Disneyland, but I was also excited to see Anna's reaction to everything. As soon as we got off the train, I was so excited. Everything was very Disney, but with a little European charm. When we walked into the park, Anna knew she was somewhere special. I wish we had her expression on tape. It wasn't quite a smile, but a look of amazement and excitement. It was decked out for Christmas which we were excited about since Paris hadn't gotten into the holiday spirit yet. They even had fake snow in between the real Christmas trees they put up everywhere. Can you tell I loved this day? I haven't even made it past Main Street USA yet and this is probably the longest paragraph so far! We all had a great time there. We saw 2 parades, went on a few rides, saw Father Christmas, and even enjoyed a crepe and hot cocoa from what would have been a "churro cart" at Disneyland in the US. Anna's favorite was It's a Small World. At first she just liked being on the boat, but once she saw all of the singing and dancing kids, she was mesmerized. We went on that one twice. The castle there was really cool. (it has to compete with the real castles over there afterall!) Inside they have stained glass windows and tapestries telling the story of Sleeping Beauty. Another thing neat about it is that everything is in multiple languages. During the parade, the characters would alternate between English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. We met a cute Spanish family while waiting in line for Peter Pan. Their little boy was so excited to speak English to us and try and teach Anna Spanish. I love mixing people and cultures together. Especially when it's in a happy place like Disneyland. I'll stop going on about it now. We had a really fun day there together and hope to make it back there again one day! This probably sounds odd that with all of the fabulous sites of Paris, we were so excited about this day. It was all because of Anna though. I guess it shows that sometimes your child's happiness can bring you the greatest joy of all.

Versailles

You can't go to Paris without a visit to Versailles. The palace is gaudy and huge and the gardens are beautiful. Versailles is most famous for being the capital of France for awhile (sort of) and for it's tenets Louis XIV, XV, XVI, and Marie Antoinette. When we arrived, Anna was asleep in her stroller, but they won't allow strollers inside the palace, so she managed to sleep on my shoulder for about 20 minutes or so. At first I thought I understood why they wouldn't allow strollers. Probably because they don't want to damage the nice historic floors, however after Anna was awake for about 10 minutes, I did NOT understand why they would make such a rule! She was wanted to grab everything. The centuries old drapes, the fancy chairs, you name it. She could do more damage than any stroller would! She finally received some solace in the Hall of Mirrors. This is my favorite room there anyway. I could finally put her down and she could do what she wanted for awhile (as long as to not touch the actual mirrors!). She was sad at first, but I guess all she needed was a little European love because a few minutes later, the 2 cutest little Italian boys came up and totally started hitting on her! :) Anna loves other kids and she was in heaven! It was so cute to see these 3 play together. It didn't matter that they don't speak the same language because none of them can really talk much yet anyway. The boys were so cute with her and they kept wanting to give her hugs and kisses. (Those Italians start young!) After a nice playdate, it was time to move on and none of them wanted to go. We said Ciao and pulled the kids away from each other. She was sad, but this little encounter made her day and she was in a much better mood from then on.

We then took a stroll out into the gardens which are lovely even in the winter and then took a little tram to Marie Antoinette's cottage. I prefer the cottage to the palace. It's much more quaint and charming.

The Eiffel Tower

That night we went to the Eiffel Tower and is was SO cold! We waited in line to go to the top and tried to stay warm. I felt bad because Anna would not stay in her stroller which had her warm bundleme and I didn't have another blanket, so I tried to keep her warm in my arms. She also refused to wear her hat and gloves. She liked going up the first elevator and she put her head against the glass and looked down the whole way up. We didn't realize that after that elevator, there was another line for the next elevator to the top. Anna was tired, so after many rounds of me singing The Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald had a Farm in her ear, she finally fell asleep in my arms. Anna missed the view from the top, but I think she was happier sleeping. We don't have any pictures because our camera broke (great timing, huh?) and so we got some pictures with someone else's camera that I'll have to track down later.

Our Last Day

We had a nice relaxing day on Sunday and it was a great way to end the trip. Dave's brothers and their wives left that morning to spend a few days in Rome. We had fun spending time with them in Paris and we feel lucky that we were all able to make it over there together. For the rest of the day it was just the 5 of us. That morning we went to Luxembourg Gardens and strolled around the park for a little while. It was so beautiful and I wish we could have gone back there. They had pony rides for kids and in the afternoon they do marionette shows. Then we went to the English speaking sacrament of our church that was right by the Pompideu center. One thing I love about my church is that no matter where you are in the world, (almost) you can go to church and although it's very different, it's still so much the same. It was a wonderful meeting. After church we took our good friend Rick Steve's historic walk through Paris and enjoyed a nice lunch. We ended up by Notre Dame again and on our way there we saw a little play place for Anna to take a break. Not one minute after I put her down on the bouncy bunny, a swarm of Korean tourists came and started snapping pictures of Anna. I guess it must be the light hair and eyes. She was a hit! It was hilarious. She had quite the paparazzi folloing because when we made it over to the church, another group came and surrounded us with their flashes.

Luxembourg Gardens

Anna's Papparazi

The Notre Dame Christmas Tree

That night we walked across our favorite bridge, Pont Neuf and then went to our favorite spot to view the Eiffel Tower. We had some great views and watched the tower sparkle in the night one last time.

We had a wonderful time together in Paris and I'm so glad we went. You know we have the traveling bug and I hope we always do.

There! I finally finished! And I even skipped some stuff and it's still this long! At least it's documented now, and if you made it all the way through, you are patient and a good friend.

Au Revoir!

I.O.U.

To: Blog

I, Ashley Kelly, owe you:

• 1 massive post about our trip
• 1 fun post about Anna's 1st Birthday Bash
• and 1 post about Dave's crazy interview schedule

This IOU is to be redeemed when I get to it, after a few other things, but before I forget the details.

To: Fellow Bloggers

I, Ashley Kelly, owe you lots of catching up on your blogs. I can't wait to read about how your holidays are going. And if I don't get to it before, Merry Christmas everyone!

No Cash Value. Not to be redeemed with any other offer. No expiration. Offer is non-transferable.

Help make room for one more

My old friend from work has a cute little family of 3 kids and a dog. He and his wife are two of the biggest hearted people I know. They have decided, or as they put it, God has decided, that they have room for one more in their family, and they are trying to adopt a little orphan from China. She is two and they have named her Miranda Joy. She was abandoned the day after she was born and has been in the orphange ever since. And here's a sweet picture of her to tug at your heartstrings...

As many of you have probably heard, international adoptions are expensive. They are raising money to finance the cost of the adoption and the cost to go to China to pick her up. They don't know I'm doing this, but I thought I would solicit some support from my fellow bloggers. Please check out their website, Our China Girl Adoption to read their touching story and to support them in bringing this sweet little girl home. Be sure to click on the Support Us link!

Dear Daddy,

You've been gone for a LONG time! How do you like North Carolina? Is that where cousin Caroline lives? I miss you a whole lot! I bet you miss me too, so thought I'd write you a letter to let you know what I've been doing while you've been gone.

This is me thinking about what to write you.

I have really been working on growing up lately. I want to do whatever Mommy is doing. Unless she's getting dressed or getting her fingernails clipped. I hate both of those things! Ever since I got my nails professionally painted, I won't let mommy cut my nails. I'm holding out for a mani. I'm also a good helper. This morning Mommy was swifting and I wanted to help so bad! So when I finally yanked the Swifter out of Mommy's hands, I got to clean our floors up a little. You can pay me my allowance for this when you get home.I also have figured out what candy wrappers look like. I don't know how because I never have really had candy...until today! Mommy had to go take out the trash, so she let me play with the M&M's I got from trick-or-treating because you know how I think it's so funny to shake them. By the time Mommy came back from outside, I managed to open the bag of M&M's and was thoroughly enjoying the nice treat. I poured them out everywhere so I could choose which colors I wanted. Mommy said it was a good thing they were plain M&M's and that I didn't choke. What a worry-wort! I totally had it under control! I don't know why she took them all away from me. I was so mad!

I got over it soon because we went downstairs and Mommy took me cruising around the carpet in my Cruisers' box. That was so fun! Maybe if we can find a box big enough for you, Mommy can pull us both around when you get home.

The other skill that I'm getting really good at is making messes. This is by far my most favorite thing to do all day. I hope you're not expecting to come home to a clean house, because even if Mommy tries to clean while I nap, I just mess everything up again when I wake up. It's awesome!

Do you like my new sweater? I hope so because this is what you're getting for Christmas this year! We've been doing lots of shopping while you've been gone. And Mommy said she spent all of our Christmas money on my new stuff, so I hope you like this pink sweater. Don't I look cute though? Mommy says don't me mad, k? My favorite thing about shopping is standing up in those shopping carts. Those belts and leg holes are for sissies! I always try to stand up when Mommy pushes the cart around the store, and Mommy always tries to make me sit back down, LAME!

Well, it's way past my bedtime, so I should hit the crib. I can't wait for you to come home this weekend! I miss hearing the door unlock and running over to see you come in! And I miss patting you on the back and laughing at the back of your head until you wake up when you're trying to sleep in on your day off. We will have so much fun playing together when you get home! Good luck at your interview tomorrow in Virginia!!! I'll be prayin for ya!

Love you and miss you! Can't wait to see you soon! Mmwah!

-Anna

Deck the Halls

I finally started putting up my Christmas decorations and it got me so excited for my favorite time of year! (It IS the most wonderful, afterall!) Isn't it still a little early, you ask? Well, I've been meaning to do it ever since Halloween because once I get caught in the whirlwind of things to come it would probably be Easter before I could get them up otherwise. So last night I began decking my halls. I don't have any boughs of holly, but I wish I did. They sound cute. I really don't have that many decorations, but the few that I have make me excited and happy. I have a sign that says "Be Merry". How can you not be happy after looking at that? We'll wait for Dave to come home to trim the tree. And thanks to Light FM 100 and Kosy, I've been enjoying Christmas music since November 1st. So don your gay apparel and fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la because it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

all in a day's work

I love all of our trees, I really do. We have a gigantor one in front, 3 along the side, and then one more in the back. They give us so much shade in the summer and add so much color to our street in the spring, summer, and fall. But today, I do not love them. Today was the day I finally decided to tackle the task of cleaning up our leaves. They haven't even all fallen yet, but it was such a nice day, and it's supposed to storm tomorrow, so it was as good as time as any. With Dave being gone, I needed some help, so I recruited my family and friends. My mom and dad, Wes, and Amy, and Jill all came to pitch in. I am so lucky they did! I could have never done it on my own! I would still be out there raking! You guys are awesome! THANK YOU!!! It was seriously so nice of them to take time out their days to help me. I think this is one day that Dave is probably glad to be gone. We did about 30 bags of leaves! And I'm not talking about those fluffy bags of leaves, these are FULL compact bags. It can be kind of a fun thing to do, but my problem is that I always think I'm almost done, and then every time I turn around, there's another pile of leaves. Five bags would be fun. After that, it gets old.

And look how much more are still to come! Ugh! This tree is a little "special." I think he's slower than the other trees. It's always the last to bloom in the spring, and the last to drop its leaves in the Fall. It's always about a month behind the others. But we love it anyway, and maybe one day with lots of hard work and practice, it will catch up with the rest of the trees on the street. We really do love our trees, so I shouldn't complain.

After a long day's work, Anna and I went to the library. We got some good books and rented a few DVDs. Anna and I needed a good chick flick for tonight, so we got Annie. I love that little orphan! And Anna was really into it too. Must be all the singing, dancing, the doggie, and that cool guy that can make stuff float in the air. Looks like this is going to be a DVD to purchase! And remember...you're never fully dressed without a smile! And the sun will come out tomorrow! Oh boy, I'm totally going to be singing these songs the rest of the week. Another reason for Dave to be glad he's gone.

HaBEE Halloween!

I know, I'm a little late on the posting, but Anna's 1st Halloween was action packed!

First she got to hang out with Grandma G while I went to work which is one of her favorite things to do. Then because it was Halloween after all, she got to come down to my work for the big party and festivities. If every day was a holiday, I would like my work much more! I am usually complaining about something at work, but I must say, they really know how to celebrate. They have a pumpkin carving contest, a game of sort of vampire "tag" where you try to avoid being "bitten". (I was into this because I have a thing for vampires lately. If you've read the Twilight series you know what I'm talking about.) Then of course we have the costume contest which is more like a series of skits where usually most of the men dress up like women. (This year we had a little red riding hood, Britney Spears at the VMAs, and a series of beauty queens, cheerleader, etc. -- all men, and no, most of them are straight) Halloween is really a chance for those in advertising to show off how creative they are. Anyway, it was really fun and not much work gets done on days like this as you can imagine.

The best part of it all was that Anna got to meet Poe! My best friend at work, Christina, dressed up as Dorothy and her cute little dog Poe, was the perfect Toto. (I went all out and put a clip in my hair to be a flower. Slacker, I know.) Anna LOVES doggies, but she normally sees big ones, so when she saw that Poe was just her size, she was ecstatic! At first she was just excited to see him, but then she mustered up the courage to touch him, and after that, poor Poe couldn't be left alone! He was probably sick of the big bee that kept bugging him. (no pun intended) Poe was such a good sport as Anna chased him around, pulled his fur, and grabbed his collar. She was in heaven and definitely made a new best friend.

Poe gave her a serious case of the giggles when he let her play with his jingly collar.

That night we went out trick-or-treating with some of Anna's favorite friends, Trish, Amber, Sara, and Will. Anna scored some good candy for not being able to eat any of it! She didn't even have a candy bag, but everyone really wanted her to have some candy. Anna was just glad to be out with the kids. Seriously, this is one social chick. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of everyone! When we were back at Sara's, I did manage to get a picture of the awesome pumpkin costume she made her husband Mike! Isn't it awesome? Hilarious. I should have gotten a family shot because I don't know how thrilled Mike will be about making it on my blog. I love Sara for making it and I love Mike for wearing it. I wish Sara had a blog so she could share her good pics! Little Will was a pumpkin too.

After trick-or-treating, we went off to see Caroline and Grandma and Grandpa. Caroline was the cutest little chicken ever!

Checkin each other out.

Are you really my cousin? I can't tell from your disguise.

I just thought this picture was funny. Anna was unsuccessfully trying to get Caroline's attention.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween, now BUZZzzz off! :)

A Kelly Halloween

Sorry for the hyper posting of every event lately, but I'm trying to keep Dave part of the action while he's 2,000 miles away!

It was time for the annual Halloween dinner at the Kelly's on Sunday. We had a great time and appreciate all of their preparation for such a fun night and good food!

Romey and our little honey bee.

spooky dinner

Stay tuned for more Halloween pics!

the after party

As much fun as we had at witches' night out on Friday, the night was still not over for us party girls. I forgot that my friends were having a get together at Katy's new house, so Anna and I headed from Gardner Village across town to see some of our favorite people. I can't always make it when my friends get together in the day, so I didn't want to miss out on the fun while I had the chance. It was already past Anna's bedtime, but as soon as she saw her boyfriends Will and Max, she was ready to party again. Plus Katy has pretty cool toys too. I know I always say this whenever I get together with my friends, but I always think how lucky I am to have them whenever I leave from a get together. We have so much fun together and I am so grateful they put up with me. They are all great examples and I hope to be like them when I grow up! Sorry, no pics - too busy chatting.

Witches' Night Out

Anna was lucky enough to get invited to her cousin Romey's annual "Witches Night Out" party at Gardner Village. It's so cute how much those two love each other and they're 7 years apart! The criteria for the event was for Anna to dress like a witch, so I tried my Target best, and ended up with a newborn witches' hat (a little snug!) and a "Hocus Pocus" T-shirt. And they coordinated great with her black skirt and tights and her silver shoes. But I don't think Anna liked it very much...

Anna, not very happy about being a witch

After I sang her favorite song to her (Little Bunny Foo Foo) she cheered up and we were on our way. (after one small stroller wheel casualty. ugh. I'm an idiot and almost ran over my whole stroller as I was backing out the driveway. Thank goodness for replacement parts!)

The first event was a witch manicure at the salon. I wasn't sure if Anna would go for it, but it turns out that she's ALL girl, because once the lady started painting her nails, Anna was mesmerized and didn't even squirm too much. Anna chose a sparkly orange color for her nails. Yes, I know it sounds a little ridiculous that my 10-month got a manicure, but it was all in the spirit of girly-ness and Halloween!

Anna's first manicure (well actually, just nail painting)

And here we both are with our lovely new witches nails

Now that our nails were done, we were ready for the ultimate witch event, the witches' wagon ride. I had never done this before and it was so cute. Our charming witch guide took us around the village in a little horse wagon along with her toad and jack-o-lanterns. She told us some spooky jokes and rhymes and was a lot of fun. She gave all of the kids her jack-o-lantern lights and Anna wouldn't let go of hers. She thought the witch was so fascinating and loved watching all of her animated expressions.

And we ended the evening with a stop at the candy store and a quick stroll around for witch hunting. We only found a few because we were getting hungry and chilly. Thank you Romey and Sue for a fun witches' night out!