Ou est le Tour d'Eiffel?

So I haven't been very good at keeping this blog updated so here's my second post in the same day. Right after our trip to Scotland, we went to Paris for the weekend with Bryan's parents. We rode the Eurostar from London's St Pancras to Gare Nord in Paris and stayed in a hotel about four blocks from the Louvre. I used my limited French vocabulary "Ou est la wc?" and saw some of Paris's famous landmarks. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower despite my fear of heights and visited Notre Dame and the Louvre.
I have always wanted to go in the Louvre and was not disappointed. We wandered around one wing of the Louvre looking for the Mona Lisa and then the Venus de Milo statue. We only found the statue after we stopped looking for it and started looking for the exit.
The last day in Paris we took a short train ride out to see the palace at Versailles. We toured only the house but I'd love to go back for the gardens. The thing I liked the most about Paris is that its truly the way people portray it, with lots of sidewalk cafes, beautiful architecture and a wonderful vibe to it. For the kids, there are some parks for them to play in and lots of carousels for a quick ride. Touring the Louvre and Versailles did get boring for them but there was lots of wide open spaces for them to burn off steam after the tours were done.

Did we find the Loch Ness monster?

We took a four and a half train ride from London's King Cross rail station to Edinburgh for our first big trip. We spent two days in Edinburgh, exploring the castle and the streets as well as doing a little shopping. I think most people would be surprised to know that castles are wonderful places to take young children.

This picture is of the boys outside the Scottish Parliament. We just happened to be in Edinburgh right after the Lockerbie bomber was released from prison and the political aftermath of that decision.

After a few days in Edinburgh, we drove north to the Highlands. It took us four hours to drive from Edinburgh to Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. The roads were super narrow and it was the first time either of us had driven on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car. We stayed in the Highland Club on Loch Ness, this neat old abbey that has been turned into self-catering apartments. We drove all around the Highlands, going on lots of nature walks. My favorite walk was to Upper Nevis Falls. The scenery was breathtaking. We made sure to visit one distillery (Glen Moray) and see the bridge at Glenfinnan while we were there. Our seven days there quickly came to a close. We all had loads of fun and I would recommend it as a place to visit.

Christian turned four last Wednesday. He got a basketball goal with NBA stickers for his present from us. It has taken its place in the garden. Jacob really enjoys the new red couch from Ikea in the reception room. The old couch and loveseat are in the garage now but we found an Ikea couch that would fit up the stairs.

We've been in our house for a month and we've quickly unpacked our stuff and loaded up with Ikea furniture. This cabinet is in our kitchen and is my scrapbook cabinet. It's much nicer than what I had in the US but costs about the same. Anyways, I'm very excited about my scrapbook cabinet and look forward to using it to organize myself.

Stroller aka "The Minivan"

In the past few weeks, it has occurred to me how our stroller has transformed itself into my new van. Living in a city, we don't have a need for personal vehicles, choosing instead to walk and use public transportation. When we had a car, the stroller spent most of its time folded up in the back of the van. Now, it's always ready to go at a moments' notice, loaded up with blankets, water, diaper bag, scooter, and whatever else we could possibly need.

Natural History Museum

We visited the Natural History Museum in London on Sunday. It was the second visit for the boys and Bryan, my first. They have a very cool dinosaur section, filled with bones and even dinosaur robots. Christian and I saw the T-Rex robot.

American food store in London? in The AnswerBank: Food & Drink

American food store in London? in The AnswerBank: Food & Drink
Look, they sell American food. One store even sells Zatarain's jambalaya mix. Both sell Kraft macaroni and cheese. It's amazing the foods you miss! Now, if I could only find a place that sells KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce.