Adventure to the Northern French Coast

We went on a little family day trip almost directly north to a quaint little town called Le Treport.

Perfect as it's only 2.5 hours from our house... and with enough to do to entertain us for several hours and enjoy time as as the French 5! 

Playing on a large ship anchor!

We learned as we were scoping out cities to go that most every northern city in France has a carousel with bright immaculate colors and designs. I think most are situated right near the coast line... Here is

the one in Le Treport.

We walked out on the rocky beach and waited for the cold water to hit our toes!!! 

It was sooo fun!

Fun family pics... with amazing backgrounds!

The cliffs of Normandy...

Here is the large church that sits high above the town... 

Le Treport has a funicular that (is free!!!) and takes you to the top of the cliffs!

A view from the top... it's amazing!

Thankful for our fun day together and for the adventures we're able to experience here in France!

Statues Around Town...

You NEVER know what you will see here in Paris. This man... painted himself in gold and plays a small pretend violin. He is a "statue" until someone puts some money in his little bucket... then he'll "play" you a song and will move, and give you a wink. 

This was was especially notable, as he SITS THERE like this (somehow)...

Well, it was cool.

My 34th Birthday... Really?!?

There are many a day when I wake up and feel 25 years old... and wonder where these three kids came from. I laugh at myself, seriously, as 25 is nearly 10 (!!!) years ago. Where as the time gone and whose kids are these? They're cute and fun... so I'll keep them... but I'm not old enough to be a mom. At least, that's how I feel. 

I am blessed beyond measure with a husband who loves me, is faithful to me and is an amazing father to my children. He's taken me around the world and shown me sights and wonders I dreamed of as a young girl. What a guy!! Love him. Thankful for him. Will forever keep and treasure him.

I am blessed with 3 heathy and beautiful treasures... and am thankful for each moment with them. They exhaust me, make me want to scream (well, lets be honest... I do from time to time...), and they are 100mph every day. They are loud, dirty, silly, fun, crazy, and wonderful. Yes, they are the reasons I'm starting to see a little salt among my brown hair. I wouldn't trade them for the world. 

I'm blessed by the assurance of my future. Jesus loves me and He holds my tomorrow in His hands. Whatever I face, I'm not alone. I know it won't always be good, but the One who will be there with me is my good Shepherd. 

34 years... Wow. Really? I'll take it. And I feel like every laugh line on my face was earned... as well as every gray hair. 

Here are some of the joys of my day:

 Cookie cake, my fav: 

Homemade from scratch by Stephen. 

Decorated by Sadie...

 and Noah

 A new lens for my camera!! 

50mm... what i've been wanting!!!

forgot to take a pic of the decorated cake until we got here...

it was SOOO GOOD!

And... birthday smiles from my baby...

Happy 34th birthday to me (on Sept. 21st, trying to post in a timely manner)... 

oh what a blessed woman I am.

My Own Little "Madeline"... in Paris!

Remember her? The cute little girl named Madeline in all the books...

 at the Louvre Museum?!? 

And how she went with her class on a "Sortie" aka, in English "Field Trip"...

Well, I have my own little one... she's cute... and she's...

making her own little drawings at the big museum. 

With her class learning... 

(far back of pic beside lady in red shirt)

This is the lady explaining different paintings. 

And here they are walking around and seeing different masterpieces! 

She even got to see the Mona Lisa!

This is Little Miss "I won't smile for your picture"...  

out in front of the glass pyramid, the entrance! 

And here she is with her buddy Khawla, on a picnic on the grounds!!! 

What a fun little life she is having! 

Fun adventures around every corner! 

Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days)

This past weekend here in France was Patrimonie Day, Heritage day... day where we celebrate, uhhhh.... Our French Heritage (?)... I guess. Well, Elijah can fully celebrate being a little "frenchy" at least!
It's a special weekend when things not normally open to the public Palais de l'Elysèe (my apostrophe is wrong on that, but I don't know how to make it go the other way!), which is the equivalent to the White House. Other things like museums are also open... but when you have a 5 year old, 2 year old, and a 4 month old... you go to... NESTLE Factory!!!! I know my 3 little ones would not wait in a 3+ hour line to get to see the Presidental Palace. Maybe when they are older...? And, from what I gather, this weekend is the ONLY days of the year the factory is open! So... we went to enjoy and see behind closed doors...
I'll be honest, I was expecting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was disappointed that it was NOT that. I mean, who wouldn't be, right?!? Basically it's an OLD factory, no longer in use, but they have LOTS of free-be's inside. Ice cream, coffees, chocolate, and their other products as well. Who knew Nestle made other things besides chocolates! Here's some of the fun...

This is us walking up... notice the line down the left side of the pic! 

(Thankfully, it went fast!)

 Clever idea to have Nestle products being distributed outside while we waited. 

Coffee or hot chocolate, in a book bag!!! Amazing!

  Little Missy with her hot coco! 

Noah with his... cheers! He LOVES chocolate!

Cool old building that the dam runs under...

"I scream, you scream, we all scream..." (Really loudly) when it's 

FREE ICE CREAM!!!!

Ok, so Noah loves ice cream too! 

We also love our Knacki Hot dogs

(France's "Ball Park" hot dog!)

Part of the old chocolate factory!

And at the end, we all left with a goodie bag of chocolates... 

1,2,3... "Chocolate!" (Again, Noah= SUPER excited!)

Fun day, thankful to celebrate France! 

Greece, Summer 2013

This fun family...

Got to go to Greece for a work conference. 

In our down time, we had lots of fun doing this:

    

And after the swimming, we looked like this:

and this...

Noah liked this much better (than the pool)...

 And this was Elijah and Noah's first time in the Mediterranean Sea...

And we also got to do this

(we love friends)...

And it was sad when we had to go our separate ways and do this...

 (We have been friends with this family since before Stephen and I were married and before any of us had children... We've been to 7 countries together and now we have 6 kids between us...) 

 We also got to have fun doing this... 

(With other special friends who I have known since college and also now have 6 kids between us!) 

(trying to get 4 kids to jump at one time: impossible!)

We did this and could see jelly fish out the ferry window...

Girls just wanna have fun... doing this!

Greek Yogurt... oh la la!

I got to do lots of this, and I loved it...

Then we went into Athens and got to see some of this...

(market street)

And this... 

(The Acropolis from Mars Hill)

And have fun with friends...

Amazed at all God has blessed us with... 

friends who are like family, amazing sights and experiences, and fun story to top off the 2013 summer! I am THANKFUL!