This is the best vacation ever Paige!

This is what Sophie said as we walked in from dinner at the Maccaroni Grill tonight.

Paige ate so much Mac n Cheese that she felt sick, but opened up her dessert stomach just enough to polish off some chocolate ice cream!

Before we left we went for one last visit to the water park area...this is my favourite video (and there are lots!)

We spent an hour or more today at the Cub Club too painting and making 'crap' (crafts).

I said to Jay today, I think that they make the beds here so hard and only Queens so that your back is sore and you go to the spa for a massage!!  So tonight, rather than share the Queen with Jay and spend the night tossing and turning I pulled out the pull out couch.  Last night when Sophie came into bed at 5am Jay volunteered to go and sleep on the bottom bunk in the "cabin" so Sophie could sleep with me...its gotta be bad when Jay squeezes his 6'4" into a bunk!

Lazy River?

Sophie is very serious about "winning" on the lazy river! 

As is Paige!  But I can't load 2 videos on the same post...

Niagara and Great Wolf Lodge

We decided yesterday after the Bobs and LoLo concert that we would trek straight to Niagara Falls and see the falls before we checked in at the hotel.
So, we came into Niagara and parked at the first place that we saw (rookie mistake) and it turned out to be the Sheraton Hotel and Casino - $22 flat rate for a little over an hour that we were there! 
So we parked, we left the parking garage and the next photos were all taken within about the first 50 ft down the road!

 (Notice Daddy the creepy Mountie)

We asked the attendant at the $22 parking lot if at least that provided in and out privileges as we left and he said "yeah you can come back later, but you have to pay again" (Thanks Buddy) and you know Jay - comments like "That's criminal!  That's ridiculous and That's ludicrous" ensued.

We went from there and checked into the hotel...its quite a place this Great Wolf Lodge.
This is our room, or at least the Girls part of our room.

The girls are having a lot of fun at the water park.

'Cause its Fall Time?

The girls have the cutest way of saying things..when we talk about it being "chilly" or the leaves turning, Paige will say "Because its Fall time?"

Some other cute things they've said recently:

"Mom, how old will you be your next birthday?
My next birthday I'll be 36
Is that really old?
No, its not really old...
Grampa's really old...he's got bad ears"

Bobs and LoLo (a Treehouse TV short) came on TV and we were going to be going to a little local concert they were giving so I told the girls
"That's Bobs and LoLo girls!  We're going to go see them!
We're going to meet them??
Yeah! (trying to be enthusiastic) isn't that fun!
We're going to meet them for real??
Yes!
They're really real people?"

Then, on our way to Niagara Falls this weekend I put on a Little Einsteins (animated) movie and where they go to Niagara Falls and Paige said "I want to meet the really real Little Einsteins when we get to where Niagara Falls lives"

We were walking in the forest the other day, which we love to do in fall and Paige asked if I brought a drink and snack:
"Yeah, I brought Chocolate Milk for you guys
Is chocolate milk your favourite?
No, I like chocolate milk, but I wouldn't say its my favourite.  Its Daddy's favourite...
But its not your favourite?
No, its not my favourite
Because you only drink wine??"
(oh crap)

Just not the same

It's a latte (kinda) Italian style sausage, foccacia bread, olive oil and pecorino cheese...but it's just not the same :(

Welcome Home!

Jay met us at the airport and I'm so glad that he parked and brought the Girls into the terminal...as soon as they saw us they said "Mommy!!!!" and came running for a big hug! What a great way to come home!

We went straight from the airport over to Matthew and Carrie's to see Lily-Anna. Jack loves her, which is good, since all he said before she was born was "no baby". And, thankfully, she doesn't look as much like Matthew as she did in the first pictures we got :)

After that we went home, unpacked, did laundry, tried to stay up until at least the Girls went to bed...made it to 9:30 (3:30 Paris time and I had been up at 5:00 the day before...almost 24 hours).

Paige woke up at midnight complaining about a sore ear, she said Sophie poked a fork in it...I'm pretty sure she didn't...then she started to throw up so Jay took her to Emerg at 1am and I changed her sheets and stayed up until they got home around 1:40am, verdict - not guilty...ear infection, not fork. Paige was given a Gravol suppository (by me, oh joy) and slept until noon!

Sophie woke up at 7:30. I came down, turned on Treehouse for her, gave her 2 pancakes from the fridge and went back to bed...mother of the year! Jay and I slept until 10!! At least I was back on our time...still cranky, but not tired!

Now both girls are sick with stuffy noses and fevers...Paige is on antibiotics and I've resorted to making strong coffee and microwaving milk to make a latte. Fun fun fun.

Last night had Mom and Dad over for an Italian inspired dinner. Salami and Parmesan with bread and olive oil for an appetizer, Carbonara with Pancetta for a primi and porcetta for a second (I took a pork roast and cut it in a spiral until it laid flat and seasoned it with garlic and spices (we couldn't get fennel, or baby wild boar for that matter) and wrapped it back up and covered with bacon to roast.

Mom said "if someone had served me a piece of meat on a plate before Italy I wouldn't have been impressed!"...it's so true!

Paris Day 2

We got up this morning and grabbed a croissant on the go. We went to the Musee D'Orsay to see the Impressionist paintings, it failed to make an impression (and I am a fan of Monet, Manet and Van Gogh). There were very few works from each artist, and those there were were not the most widely recognized.

From there we walked back over to the Tuilerie gardens and had an early lunch at a little cafe. The gardens sit just next to the Louvre, so we walked over to see it (we didn't go in) and then caught our "double decker shuttle" to the Cathedral de Notre Dame. We finally went in a church Janice!! (though we're no longer at 'the heart of the Roman Catholic empire'). There was no line, that's why we went, and Mom wanted to see the Rose Window...we took photos of every window in there and looked up which was the rose in the gift shop...we got a picture! We walked from there down to the Luxenbourg gardens, swapped shoes because both of our feet were getting tired, walked through the gardens (really just a park) did a little shopping for Little Girl and the Girls, went home and dropped off our bags, skyped with Matthew and Carrie-Lyn, Jack and Little Girl (who looks JUST like Matthew as a baby), arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 6:15 tomorrow and headed out again.

We walked from the apartment back over to the Musee D'Orsay and got on the bus again and did the whole loop to get some more pictures of the Arc de Triomph, etc since yesterday my photos have a little glare on them from the window. We sat up top, the weather has been gorgeous!! It's a 2.15 hour loop - we had to kill some time and didn't want to stay in the apartment.

After the bus tour we got off and walked back past the apartment to the Italian restaurant we went to yesterday. Yesterday we shared 4 appetizers (eggplant parmesan, beef carpaccio, shrimp and octopus and asparagus wrapped in proscutto with parmesan). Today we shared 2 apps and 2 entrees (bruscetta, italian sausage with parmesan and then Mom ordered pasta a la Amatriciana and I ordered Veal Scalopini and we just swapped half (the veal comes with no side, so it was perfect). We arrived at 7 and were the only people in the restaurant! Another patron didn't arrive until after 7:30.

Off to bed since we have to be up so early.

Today is actually tomorrow (I'm writing his blog the day after). We're at the airport. Mom woke up at 4:30 and started thinking about her review of the apartment on HomeAway that she wants to write (not so negative that people think you're just a complainer) and couldn't get back to sleep. I woke up a little after 5 and dozed until about 5:45 then got up. Our cab was on time and he broke some kind of record in getting us to the airport in 35 minutes (we weren't late...they're just crazy drivers and there was no traffic). We have about an hour now before our flight...so we'll be home soon.

Jay wrote this morning that I have no idea how worn out he is...I think he needs a vacation! Where should we go? :)

Paris, 358•

We've come not quite 360 degrees from our original assessment of Paris and are still not 100% that we would ever feel the need to come again...but it's better than yesterday!

First, we woke up, checked our email to see if Baby Girl Dufton, who was born yesterday, has a name yet...no. Little Girl is what Mom calls her, since Matthew sent me and Mom each 3 messages on Words with Friends that all said "Little Girl".

Then we checked email to see if we got anything from the owner or the company that rented Mom the apartment regarding our complaint about it's less than clean state (there was hair in the sink in the bathroom, stains in the toilet and food in the sink)...no again. Mom's pissed.

So we went out for a Brioche and cappuccino (again, twice as much as Italy and the coffee is bitter) and then walked to the Seine...we thought.

We went into the Bon Marche because Mom wanted to buy something for Little Girl and I saw a lovely Dior dress...size 3 months, only 375€...what? Not reasonable?

Turns out we walked the wrong way and had to backtrack, back past the apartment so we both decided to come in to change into something more appropriate...never have I felt like I stood out as "North American" so much as here. We had to get dressed up to sightsee so we didn't feel out of place...it's THAT bad. If the frickin kids are wearing 375€ dresses at least I can go out in the GOOD clothes that I bought at the grocery store!


Anyway, yesterday we booked a Segway tour of Paris for today at 2, so the only thing we had to do was be there, at the South Foot of the Eiffel Tower by 1:45pm. After the backtrack, stop to change, take laundry out and hang it (though the apartment is so damp it hasn't a hope to dry - Mom is fooling herself if she thinks she'll be wearing her jeans home) and head out again...we walk to the Seine and catch the first double decker "I'm a tourist, target me now" bus we can find!

We do all the majors in an hour and it drops us off at the Eiffel tower where we have time for our best authentic French lunch yet...french fries!

Anyway - the tour was AWESOME... AWE SOME! Andre our guide was funny and very enthusiastic about his French history (he's Portuguese) and we had 4 hours of fun and information on every site we saw. Mom said she would come back to Paris just for the Segway!!

We walked back, a little over an hour and quickly got changed to go out for dinner and went for the BEST food since arriving...we ate Italian! Listen, it's our vacation, we can eat what we want. Italian wine, Italian food - tres bien.

We'll eat Italian tomorrow and surely love Paris all the more!!

Then back to the apartment...down to the dungeon...pull open the door and say "Heave!!!" Mom nearly pisses herself, she didn't pee before we left the restaurant..."stop it!" she says.

We're getting ready for bed, our nightly ritual...her reading the blog and wheezing (laughing) and me saying "what are you laughing about now?". Her answer this time? "we paid money for this apartment! I picture Aunt Jo-Anne reading this!!"