Easter

Easter 2012

We spent the day in D-ville with my Grandparents and my mom's side of the family.  Although we didn't get to see either sets of our parents or our immediate families, we enjoyed our time with my extended family and got lots of yummy food!

Here's a self-taken picture in our front yard - what a beautiful day Easter Sunday was!!

European Adventure Recap - Under the Eiffel Tower

Sunday October 25, 2009

Paris, France

I'm regressing a day, but I forgot to share this video I took from Under the Eiffel Tower...it's not terribly exciting, but it gives you the full effect of the strobe-ing-twinkly lights on the tower that I mentioned here.

European Adventure Recap - Starbucks in Paris

Monday October 26, 2009

Paris, France

 (Can you believe it - we're into a new day?!!??!)

After a late night going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we still got up pretty early to enjoy our last day in Paris before heading to Rome.

This was the Patisserie we ate several meals at....I won't lie, I mainly ate pastries....they were SO good!  

Rachel and I are both coffee drinkers so I decided to take advantage of her French-speaking skills again and we ordered some fru-fru coffees from Starbucks....which were also yummy!

After getting coffee and heading out towards Notre Dame, I not so slyly got a picture of a man in a kilt....cause you just don't see that every day.

Visit from the Outlaws....I mean In-Laws!

I'm trying to keep up with my blogging.....but I still seem to be a tad behind....

 At any rate, on Saturday March 31 (the day of the big Bluegrass Feud), Brandon ran in a half marathon.

The race started and finished at Keeneland Race Track.  Brandon's parents came in town and went with me to meet Brandon at the finish line (and seriously, can I just say that Keenelnad's grounds are bigger than you think and that we saw nearly every bit of it as traipsed around trying to find the "people race" and not the "horse race"!)

When we finally found it, we staked claim to a spot really close to the finish and began the lookout for Brandon - wearing all dark clothes and a white hat.

The race started at about 8:00am and around 9:49, The Hubs appeared - see that cute bearded man behind that blurry guy in the red shirt?

Beverley (B's mom) had walked down a ways from me and his dad to try to see him and signal to us that he was coming - he's waving at her here.....

....and then I think looking rather confused as he tried to find me and Jimmy (his Dad), especially since I was behind the camera.  But I put it down in time for him to pass and cheer him on.

After the race, we came back to our place and grilled out (we had burgers, grilled corn, baked beans & chips).  It was yummy!  And I learned that burgers should be flattened out a tiny bit more to go on the grill.  They shrunk up smaller than the buns!

We weren't sure if we'd see Beverley again before her birthday, so we surprised her with a little sweet treat to celebrate.

I think she liked it...

...and we *know* this guy did!

Brandon's parents left with enough time to get back to C-ville before the big game, so that left Brandon and I without any referees in our "House Divided"

European Adventure Recap - From Atop the Eiffel Tower

Sunday October 25, 2009

Paris, France

After eating dinner & coming across some sweet rides, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower.

The tower was lit up in blue.....

....but would also change to strobe-ing white lights....

...and then would just be all lit up like normal.

This is underneath the tower, we were heading to the line for tickets.

We visited two levels of the tower.....the middle section and all the way at the top.

It was so cool!!  And so pretty!

There's a light that shines out of the top of the tower that goes round and round

The Tower was "built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair." 

At 1,050 feet tall, it "is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world...and is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower."  (source)

In the left-hand side of this photo, you can see Notre Dame.

I just love all the bridges and lights along the Seine (and way off on the Horizon, you can see the Sacre Coeur)

A self-portrait

See that light beam?  That's the light I mentioned above that shines out from the top of the tower.

One of all three of us

There's the Arc de Triomphe

So many lights!!

This random mannequin scene was in a room you could see into at the top of the tower - originally designed as "a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests." (source)

Weird, huh?  (the life-like models)

We had a great time at the tower - I took TONS of pictures from atop, but most are pretty similar so I chose the above to show.  On the way back to our hotel, we rode in a double-decker train!  How cool!  (I'm so easily impressed/amused!)

European Adventure Recap - Wheels in Paris

 Sunday October 25, 2009

Paris, France

Check it out - we saw an Alfa Romeo dealership in Paris!

We also saw this sweet ride - a mo-ped with a windshield! - pretty cool huh?