May Photo A Day 5/23/13 - 5/28/13

5/23/13 - "PJ's"

 

My favorite warm, fuzzy fleece pajama pants.

 

5/24/13 - "Go"

Go to the rodeo and ride a sheep.  Arianna at Friday night's rodeo.

 

 

5/25/13 - "Us"

 

5/26/13 - "Fave Thing To Do On Sunday"

Snooze.

 

5/27/13 - "Can't Live Without"

 

Our daughters' respiratory therapy machine.  They use it every day to stay healthy.

 5/28/13 - "What You're Doing Now"

 

Nostalgic Musings on the Charms of a Small American Town

People are many times surprised and curious when we tell them that we are going to our house in a very small town (pop. 102) in North Dakota to spend our summer.  For starters, we live in Southern California which is a tourist mecca year round; so many people pay good money to come and visit the area in which we live.  Why would we purposely leave it during the summer?  (1) So.Cal. is a very populated region and sometimes it's nice to get out of town and see the wild blue yonder.  (2) It's really hot here during the summers, especially since we live inland and not on the coast.  95 -105 degrees days are common, and bearable, but not necessarily comfortable.  (3) Whenever we have our summers at home, inevitably, we focus more on home improvement projects and the like instead of taking family outings and doing fun activities.  When we are away from home, we have left that behind and can focus on having an adventure.  (The work will always be there, anyway, right? But, the years will pass quickly with our children and if we don't take advantage of our time together now, one day we won't have that opportunity.)  And, then, the other question is:  Why go to a small town in the middle of farm land in the northern part of North Dakota that isn't your typical "vacation" spot and just hang out for a month or so?  (1) We own a house in a little town in ND that came about as part of our summer adventure 2 years ago when we bought a house on e-bay in that town.  (The house that we live in and the house that we bought are on adjoining lots, but are not one in the same. For more on that topic, see the beginning of my blog.).  (2) There is something wonderful about really disconnecting from the worries of one's daily life for a time, stepping back and being able to evaluate the year or past years, and not having the chance to daily connect with technology and the like.    (3) There is the harder-to-describe qualities, the je ne sais quoi aspect, of living in small town America that inevitably draws us back after we have been gone for awhile.

Sunrise over the grain silos.

 Here are some of the reasons I love our little town in North Dakota that we are privileged to be welcomed into as very part-time residents:

• Truly genuine friends and neighbors, that are without pretense, and are friendly, kind, generous, and caring.  This is demonstrated in so many ways, but one that really stand out to me is watching a neighbor to houses down that is in his 80's come over to the neighbor's house across from ours and mow her lawn because she is a widow, they are all friends, and it is a great help to her.  Such simple gestures say so much.
• The easy way in which neighbors drop by each other's houses and ours to simply say "hi", bring by some fresh veggies to share, or hang out with each other on their lawn chairs for a chat in the evening.  (This whole concept is completely lost on the Southern California culture in which people are almost always offended or surprised that others don't call ahead to be sure it is okay to stop over.)  I can't even count the number of bags of delicious, fresh-from-the-garden greenbeans we enjoyed during July courtesy of our neighbor's gardens. 
• Attending  church gatherings or town gatherings in which everyone pulls together to make it happen, fun is had by all, and even the out-of-towner's from California (us) are genuinely welcomed into what is going on.  Our kids make friends and play with which ever kids are around and it is as simple as that.  
• Being able to walk (or job) anywhere in town and it only being about a 1 mile loop around the circumference.  
• Having a playground kitty-corner across the street from our house where the girls can go play whenever they want (at the old school yard) and just enjoy being kids.
• Seeing sights that are uncommon to our everyday life in California: tractors driving through town, people driving Arctic Cat and Polaris utility vehicles and four wheelers as in-town transportation, the more senior crowd getting a ride behind an antique tractor on a trailer retrofitted with old school bus seats drinking their Bud Lights as they enjoy each other's company on a ride around town in the evening, driving past the beautiful crops (wheat, canola, sunflowers, flax, corn, barley) every time we go out to the other close by towns for a shopping trip, seeing the combines out in the fields harvesting the winter wheat in July, and the list goes on. 
• The peacefulness that settles over us as we take our own personal retreat from our "other", normal life and take the time to pray, read, be with one another, and just be.  

So, even if we can't make it back to our North Dakota house every summer or if it seems like not one of the smartest investments ever, we will be back and enjoying all of the aforementioned delights for many years to come.  Investments can't just be measured in monetary terms and this is one of those cases.  This experience for our family is priceless.

A Few More Summer Roadtrip Pics

#3, #2, and #1

 One of the really great stops we made that was sort of an after-thought, was at Devil's Tower National Monument. In fact, it was the first National Monument, made so by Teddy Roosevelt, in the era when he really got the National Parks movement off the ground to preserve spaces of natural beauty and wonder in the U.S.  As we drove up to this place, Augustus and I were thinking, "What in the world did we do, stopping off to just see this big thing made of rock columns sticking up into the air?".  Once we got closer, though, we could tell that this was a really great stop and a special place; so neat, in fact, that we stayed right in the campground facing the tower and went back up to it the next morning to get a closer look and let the girls get their Junior Ranger badges for completing their required work.  Incidentally, the Devil's Tower is open for climbing 24 hours a day, 11 months of the year, and if you saw it, you might wonder how anyone could climb up such a rock structure.  Before we went to bed at night, we could actually see 3 climbers at different stages of their climb on the Tower with their headlamps on (actually, the headlamps were the only part of them that we could see).  So, I would definitely recommend this as a great stop for anyone traveling in the northeastern part of Wyoming or the southwestern part of South Dakota (near the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Sturgis, etc.) 

 Devil's Tower

Contemplating a rock, or some other fascinating object at the campsite.

View from our tent.  Pretty awesome!

The next pictures are out of chronological order in our trip because we drove through Sturgis even before arriving at Mt. Rushmore and then drove on to Devil's Tower.  Anyway, we knew that the Sturgis Rally (motorcycle) was starting up just days after our stay in the area, so we drove through town just to get the sight and feel of what goes on.  It definitely is a unique event and almost makes you want to own a Harley, just so you could drive it to Sturgis for the Rally every year.

There are bikers and bikes everywhere.

The History Channel had a truck for their cross-country cookout show in town.

Wordless Wednesday 8-29-12

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #4

When your children are old enough to be excited about going on trips and understand the idea of destinations, start including them in the vacation planning conversation.  This happened for us, more inadvertently than on purpose, but it turned out to be a happy coincidence.  We love to take trips and road trips as a family and we always start talking about it ahead of time.  Last fall, we planned to stay home for Christmas, but the older girls mentioned that we hadn't been to Oregon for a Christmas vacation for awhile.  We took them seriously, took a week of our 2 week Christmas break, and went to my in-laws house for Christmas and it was a wonderful time. 

While beginning to discuss our summer plans in the late spring this year, our girls mentioned that they had heard about Mt. Rushmore in school and would really like to go see it.  So, as we planned our summer driving schedule out, we put Mt. Rushmore in the plan.  I was a bit wary that it wouldn't be all that exciting, for the kids or us either, but I was definitely wrong (for which I am happy).  Mt. Rushmore is a sculpture on a grand scale done right into the face of the Black Hills in South Dakota.  As we found out more about how it had been sculpted and the lengths that were taken to achieve this monument, we were all amazed by it.  The 3 oldest girls did the Junior Ranger Program that most National Parks and Monuments in the U.S. have and it kept them engaged and gave them a badge to take home as a memento of their trip.  So, if you have a chance to visit Mt. Rushmore one day, I would definitely recommend it as an interesting family stop.

Little D at Mt. Rushmore.

Mommy and Dakota

Wow!

Lilah at Mount Rushmore: In profile with George Washington

As you leave Mt. Rushmore taking the highway south, there is a spot where you can stop and see just the profile of George Washington very clearly.  Here is our "Lilah gnome" looking at him.

Lilah at our North Dakota house

Being a good girl and staying in the yard, unlike last time when at 9 months she would take off running around town laughing her head off (in a doggish way, of course) and getting joy in the chase.

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #3

Well, despite my best attempts at getting to wifi, it just didn't happen that often during this summer vacation.  Maybe by the next time I try this, I'll have a smart phone (hopefully), and be able to blog on the go.  Anyway, I'm going to put some vacation posts even though we are finally home.

As we were driving on the last leg of our journey, I asked my hubby if we should stop for something (a bathroom break or, maybe, lunch) and he said, "My rule while traveling with the kids is, 'If they don't need to stop, then neither do I'."  After traveling approximately 4000 miles this summer with 5 girls, ages 9 and under, I would have to say this is a pretty solid tip for traveling with little ones.  We definitely stop when they need to: for "potty" breaks, running around breaks at parks or open spaces, meal breaks, etc.  So, when everyone is back in their seats and settled and happy, there is no need to bother them.  We just keep on trucking until the first complaint or request comes and then assess the situation.  Our last day of travel was from Salt Lake City, UT, to SoCal again, just a little over 700 miles.  We made it in almost exactly 12 hours which was a pretty nice accomplishment, if I do say so myself.  :-)

Lilah at Glacier National Park

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #2

My hubby and I have learned the hard way that pushing hard for very long distances in the van for 2 days or more results in very grumpy children, frustrated adults, and a road trip where no one is having much fun.  Since the idea of road-tripping is to actually see sights as you drive through the U.S., we decided to make more frequent stops this time around.  After leaving Southern Oregon, we stopped in Portland for a brief visit with my sister-in-law, a quick walk up to Multnomah Falls after leaving Portland, and also a short walking tour of a fish hatchery along the Columbia River Gorge where we saw some sturgeon that were over 50 years old and bigger than many sharks.  That night, we camped in  a National Forest in Idaho.  And the next day we reached our destination of Glacier National Park and camped there for two nights, as well.  So, the lesson we’ve learned is to make frequent stops, plan in several extra days for camping and sight-seeing en route to the destination, and make intermediate destinations between the start and end goal to break things up and keep everyone happy.   

National Forest camping stop-over.

Isabella enjoying the beauty of Glacier National Park.

One of the many old-time tour buses that makes the trek back and forth on the Goind-To-The-Sun-Road.

One of the many waterfalls being diverted through a waterway in the road.

More Oregon Adventures

My plan to keep blogging this summer has so far been thwarted by lack of internet access.  So, a digital record of our summer adventures is going to be more difficult than I anticipated, but nonetheless, I’ll try and do what I can.  Here’s a little recap of our last few days in Oregon.  My hubby and I went on our yearly date to Ashland, OR, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  We stayed at a lovely B&B in the hills above Ashland and saw a excellent production of Henry the V in the outdoor Elizabethan theater. 

Hubby on the beautiful grounds of the B&B.

Downtown Ashland.

At a local winery.

The next day, Augustus, Isabella, Arianna, and I went on a hike past Galice (an area where raft trips are launched on the Rogue River) to Rainie Falls.  The other girls stayed home with the grandparents.  We hoped to see the salmon jumping up the stream, but to no avail.  We were probably a week or so too early.  The great excitement came when we saw an otter swimming in the river and then saw him jump and play with yet another otter.  They then went to their den where we spotted at least 4 baby otters in a little cave by the river. 

Rainie Falls behind me.

A view of the Rogue River from above.

Our last big event was attending the annual Rooster Crow celebration on Saturday in Rogue River.  The girls always love attending the parade and walking around afterward to see the goings-on.  We were just beginning to watch the rooster crowing contest get underway (with actual roosters), when it started to rain.  Needless to say, we didn’t stay to see the rest, and I can only imagine that the roosters were not crowing to the best of their abilities in that wet atmosphere.  As much as we didn’t want our Oregon fun to end, we had to get on our way because we had places to see and go, so after packing on Sunday, we hopped in the van on Monday morning en route to Glacier National Park in Montana. 

Little D, cheering at the Rooster Crow parade.

The fam.

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #1

Traveling with small children in a crowded vehicle for many miles at a time can be quite a challenge.  One of the biggies is finding good places to stop where they can get a nice break, stretch their legs, and get some energy out.  Rest stops usually just don't cut it for us.  There isn't a lot of space to play, play equipment is non-existent, and even the dog walking areas are pretty limited.  Instead, why not stop in a town off of the highway and find a local park to chill out in for an hour or so.  We did just that on Thursday in a suburb of Sacramento.  We just looked for a developed community, drove down a few main boulevards, and ran right into a small community park with two playgrounds, picnic tables, and lots of grass for walking the dog around.  The girls ran around like crazy, were able to eat their sandwiches, tumbled on the grass, and exclaimed over the beauty of our stop (which rarely happens when stopping at rest stops).  This turned out to be the perfect solution to our kids-going-bonkers-in-the-car problem. 

Finally . . . Vacation, here we come!

A week ago, our girls were done with school and we set our sights on getting our summer vacation under way.  Finally, on Thursday, we were able to mobilize ourselves out of the house, the van fully packed and everyone packed in, including our standard poodle, Lilah.  Summer traveling and road trips are something we love to do together as a family.  On our first day on the road, Isabella told me, "I like to take trips like this because it is a fun way to spend time together as a family".  And then Arianna added, "Yeah, it's our family tradition!". 

Our first stop this summer is one of our traditional stops, my husband's hometown of Rogue River, Oregon, located in the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon.  Our first day here, we took the girls to a historic mill, called Butte Creek Mills.  The milling stones were brought over by ship from France in 1872 and are still being used today to grind many different grains powered by river water.  One of the miller's, Mike, generously took time to give us a tour of the process so that the girls could get a good look at the entire process.  Here is a link to this neat stop:  http://buttecreekmill.com/

Today, we went to the Grower's Market in Grants Pass, OR, and bought locally grown organic fruits and vegetables.  It was amazing how many local businesses were represented there selling lovely, fresh produce, goat milk products, fresh flowers, honey, plants, and lots of tasty homemade breads and goodies.  The girls were fairly patient during all of this, but they were itching to get down the street two blocks to go to the Grants Pass Pharmacy and drink a phosphate made rigt there at the soda fountain for you in any flavor that you can imagine - this still costs only 25 cents.  I chose a cup of coffee, which was 10 cents.  Then, the girls bought themselves a jumbo gumball with their spending  money.  It's the little things that make their day. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings.  :-)

I'm going to try a couple of things this summer as I blog while we travel (as I'm able to get internet access, of course).  First of all, I'm going to try and take pictures of Lilah in fun spots, sort of like the garden gnome for Travelocity.  Secondly, I'm going to add little travel tips here and there from our personal experiences as we are on the go. 

OSF: A Yearly Tradition

My hubby, out on the town with me in Ashland.

Every year when we visit Oregon, my hubby and I make and effort to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  It is located in Ashland, Oregon, about 30 miles from my husband's childhood home - and easy drive for us and a nice date that we can count on each summer, as the grandparents so willingly volunteer to watch the kids for us.  OSF is the oldest, or close to the oldest, outdoor Shakespearean theatre in the United States.  Not only are there Shakespeare plays done in traditional costuming, but also Shakespeare done in different time periods and creative costuming while remaining true to the original dialogue.  Many other plays are performed, as well, each summer and we have seen a couple of these, also.  Every production we have attended has been a high-quality production and an extremely enjoyable way to spend an evening out.

Summer '08 & Me, 8 months pregnant with #4, at OSF.

Two summers ago, we were able to get away for the night and stay in a lovely inn just 2 blocks away from OSF.  This summer, we had the opportunity of staying at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel in downtown Ashland, also right next to OSF.  Ashland is a college town (home of Southern Oregon University) and has a funky vibe, attracting a whole range of individuals which keeps the town perpetually interesting and fascinating to visit year after year.  I would highly recommend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and an overnight stay in Ashland to anyone traveling through Southern Oregon.  This is one summer tradition that we truly enjoy and hope to keep going for many years to come. 

The Soda Fountain

One of our favorite locations to visit every summer while in Southern Oregon is the Grants Pass Pharmacy.  It is still set up inside with a traditional, old-fashioned tall counter and swiveling stools where one can come and purchase a "phosphate" for 25 cents.  It is served in a soda fountain style glass and you can choose your flavor of syrup or combination or syrups to be mixed in.  This is by far one of the most inexpenisve, fun activities for a large family that I know of and it is always a highlight of our vacation for the girls.  Unfortunately, this summer, my hubby and I missed out on getting our phosphate, but thankfully the girls went with their grandparents to the Pharmacy to have phosphates and lunch.  So, the tradition continues.  And next summer, even we adults will be sure to make time to go in and get our old-fashioned 25 cents soda.  Some of our favorite flavors are sasparilla, grape, strawberry, maple, raspberry-vanilla, and chocolate-cherry.

Summer of 2008, Hubby with #3 (at 23 months).

Mommy (8 months pregnant) and #3, enjoying our phosphate together.

Paris on my Mind, Part 3 (and the last, at least for a while . . . )

Well, I couldn't conclude my reminiscing about Paris without sharing some of our better travel decisions that we made which greatly enhanced out time there.

1.  I loved that we rented an apartment for the week and didn't have to bother with hotel issues, maybe getting a cheaper hotel that didn't have a bathroom in our room, or not having a kitchen in which to cook.  We originally were going to rent an apartment in the St.-Germain-des-Pres area of Paris off of VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) which was all good and well until 1 week before our departure, the owner e-mailed, very apologetically I might add, to say that the last guest had broken the toilet and there was flooding and no repair person was available to fix it that quickly.  So, at the last minute, we had to rearrange our plans and find a new apartment, which we did with a vacation rental company in Paris.  The studio was located on Ile St. Louis in an area with a less vibrant nightlife scene than St.-Germain-des-Pres, but definitely not boring by any stretch of the imagination.  We were a 3 block walk from Notre Dame and I couldn't imagine a better location for my hubby and I to have stayed.  It was lovely to be able to walk past the Cathedral on a daily basis, and over the bridges to the lovely little island on which we were staying.  It was also great that we were able to grocery shop and cook many of our meals in our own apartment, thereby staying within budget on our travel plans and not having the pressure of looking for a place to eat out at every moment of the day (especially with a 12-month-old baby in tow).  The studio, like many apartments in Paris, was very small, but sufficient for our needs.  We had a bed, bathroom, kitchen, and dinette set which is all a tourist really needs when spending the majority of the day out and about sightseeing.  I would recommend this idea to anyone and will look for similar accomodations in the future on other vacations. 

Enjoying a morning cup of French press before heading out for the day.

2.  Buying the Paris museum pass (not online before we left which may cost more or be the wrong one, etc.) in the Louvre (and for sale at other sites, as well) was great!  It allowed us entrance into almost all of the major museums, sites, and monuments.  Because we already had it in hand, we were able to bypass some lines because we didn't need to purchase tickets and also revisit favorite locations at our convenience (such as the Louvre, which is too huge to even get a small glimpse of in a day - we went back 3 times).  It was nice that place such as the Arc de Triomphe and Versailles (absolutely worth the trip & worth of many pages of blogging on its own) were included on the pass, too.  Of course, the Eiffel Tower was not included in this because it is such a major tourist money-maker, I'm sure. 

In the gardens of the Rodin museum.

Me and #4 in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Petit Trianon, given to Marie Antoinette by Louis XVI.

3.  It is very tempting while in Paris for a limited amount of time to try and do as much as possible, see as much as possible, etc.  And in some ways, we did do this because we wanted to immerse ourselves in the Paris experience as much as possible.  But, I am glad that we also were able to give ourselves permission to leave Paris for a few and very worthy side-trips.  The first was to Versaille which is absolutely decadent and amazing in its size and furnishings; just being in the building brings images of the time period to life very vividly in my imagination.  This trip can also include seeing the Trianon (a summer house for kings), the Petit Trianon (Marie Antoinette's special house), and all the surrounding gardens and re-created buildings from this time period that are equally as beautiful and breathtaking in their simplicity.  The second day trip we took was out to Chartres to see the spectacular stained-glass windows in the Chartres Cathedral.  It was delightful to ride on the train through the French countryside, visit a smaller French town that is not connected to Paris, and slowly meander our way through the Cathedral and gaze at the intricate windows through which centuries of Christians received instruction of the Biblical narrative. 

Livia watching the world go by on the train to Chartres.

#4 in front of the Trianon.

One of the many beautiful windows in the Chartres Cathedral.

The Chartres Cathedral in the town of Chartres.

4.  And lastly, I was glad that we did not buy an expensive train ticket for the Metro because we ended up doing so much walking anyway that it probalby wouldn't have made much sense for us.  Rather, we just purchased a 10 pack of tickets (twice over) and used them when we wanted, either on the Metro or the bus when we were either tired of walking or wanted to go somewhere that was quite a long ways away (the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, Montparnasse Cemetary).

Being in Paris for a week in 2009 was an incredible gift and as you can see, I am still enjoying my memories of it as we speak.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Paris on my Mind, Part 2

Ah, the taste of a warm baguette just bought from the boulangerie down the street from our rented apartment as we walked back to it from a long day of sight-seeing - a crunch as you bite into it with a soft warm inside that has the ultimate, perfect bread flavor.  And then, proceeding up the stairs, sitting down at the small dinette set with a pat of delicious French butter and a jar of Nutella and eating most of the remaining baguette right then and there. 

Of course, I realize that part of the wonderful experience of eating baguette's while in Paris was very much influenced by my surroundings and my overall enjoyment of the place in which I was vacationing.  But, nonetheless, there is a big difference between the taste of a baguette (even farther still the "french bread") that can be bought in the average (and even not-so-average) grocery store here in the U.S. and the product that is so common place in any bakery in France.  Based on this baguette experience and my dissatisfaction with the baguettes to be found here locally, I set out to bake my own with quite a bit of trepidation.  I am happy to report, though, that so far the results have been quite satisfying and not nearly as scary as anticipated. 

Baking in the oven.

I've never really baked a bread that needed an egg wash, or in this case an egg yolk/water wash, but now that I have used it, I understand its purpose.  The egg wash gives the bread that wonderful golden brown color and cruchcy texture on the outside.

The finished product - hot and ready to eat.

I am still honing my baguette baking skills and would like the outside to retain its cruchy-ness for longer, but other than that I think this is a pretty darn good tasting piece of bread and a start of a tasty family tradition.  My daughter Selah (#2) has even declared that Mommy's baguette's are better than the ones bought in the bakery and that is a good enough seal of approval for me.

Paris on my Mind, Part 1

Every once in awhile, I think back to my time in Paris and feel very sentimental about it and think about how I would love to go back . . . someday.  Paris seems to keep popping up on my radar in one way or another.  It might be in a taste of bread and a sip of a cafe au lait, in a passing conversation where something vaguely reminds me of being in France, in something I read (such as the Vogue that I have started to receive from my airline miles which is rife with fashion references to Paris), or most recently in a conversation with someone else that wants to visit Paris.  Recently, I was talking with a friend's husband and he mentioned that she would love to visit Paris this year which got me excited all over again about this oh-so-famous-yet-fabulous destination.

There have been many times when I've read or heard about a destination that is receiving plenty of hype and yet, when I finally go there, I find myself a bit disappointed with the experience.  So, when I thought of going to Paris for the first time, I wondered if this might be the case, but was sincerely hoping it would not be.  I am here to tell you, that although it may be one of the most visited cities in the world and a place about which much has been written, Paris (at least for me) did not disappoint.  It lived up to my expectations and surprised me in the ways in which it also exceeded them.

Hubby in front of Notre Dame.

A year and a half ago, in July of 2009, my hubby, #4 (the baby at the time), and I took a week long trip to Paris.  For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of traveling to Europe and Paris was the top of my list for choice destinations. This trip all came about with me griping about the hubby going on trips for work, etc., and me staying home with the kids (it sounds silly, I know, given how many blessings I have in my life here in the U.S., but this is the truth nonetheless).  I told him I was ready to go on a trip myself and he asked, "If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?".  To which I responded, "Paris".  That being said, he hopped right on the computer and began searching for flights and continued to do so until an absolutely mind-boggling, cheap fare came up one night and he bought the tickets on the spot (having, thankfully, already alerted his parents to this possibility since we would be leaving 3 kids at home with them).  To make a long story short, we flew to Paris in July on our 8th anniversary; fairly romantic, if I do say so myself, as we arrived in the City of Lights, well-known as a romantic destination.

#4 at the Louvre in front of a Monet.

As I write this, my mind is flooded with so many memories, that I see I will have to write Part 2 as my next post because this topic is so extensive.  During our week in Paris, we walked to exhaustion to see famous churches, graveyards, museums, monuments, and locations, but I think we also struck a good balance of just savoring the place we were in and enjoying the mundane moments as well.  On our last night in Paris, we went to dinner (and walked up the stairs to the Eiffel Tour at 11:00 p.m.) in the St. Germain neighborhood that is hopping at all hours.  As we sat there having dinner, Augustus told me to stop and just remember the moment.  He said that we would obviously be going back to our regular, busy life filled with not-so-leisurely moments, but that we would always be able to stop, hold hands, look at each other, and say, "Remember that night in Paris when we were having dinner . . . ".  And he was right.  Every once in awhile, we'll sit down, have a cup of coffee, and say, "Remember when . . . " and share that memory of togetherness in a different, far-flung destination.

The 3 of us in front of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica

So, when I think of Paris these days, I have two "goals" (if they can be called that) in mind.

1.  Someday, far in the future, I would love to go back to Paris (when my children are grown and not along with me) and not do the touristy things like museums, destinations, and monuments.  Instead, I want to spend a week just strolling, meandering, taking my time, and smelling the roses.  Stopping for a coffee, grabbing a crepe to go, munching on a jambon et fromage paninin in the sun while taking in my surroundings, and doing whatever it is that strikes me on a whim.

2.  I've told the girls that my goal is to take all 5 of them with us on a family Paris trip when #1 is 17 and a senior in high school, and #5 is in 5th grade.  It will give us time to save up for it, the girls will be old enough to appreciate it thoroughly, and all the family members will be mobile and able to take care of themselves (for the most part).  It's a lofty goal, but worthy of making.    J'adore Paris!