Ayden's 1st Birthday

Lex - Olive Garden & the Hunger Strike

Lex is so funny. My kids haven't been to an Olive Garden in years. The other night I had a particularly rough day at work and then house-hunting. I was exhausted and did not want to cook. Driving home I saw the Olive Garden and I suddenly decided that I needed Olive Garden salad and bread sticks.

After the waiter left the salad on the table Lex asked me to order him some ranch dressing for his salad. I explained to Lex that they don't bring Ranch dressing out because the salad already has dressing on it.

"Where, Mom? I don't see any dressing?" Lex argues.

"Trust me Lex. There is dressing on your salad and it is yummy," I say.

Lex gives me a serious look of doubt, but decides to try the salad anyway. His face turns from doubt to delight.

"Mom! This is the best invisible dressing I have ever had!"..."Can you buy invisible dressing?"

I smile.

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The Hunger Strike

The other morning we are getting ready for work/school. Lex brings me a coupon that he got for Valentine's Day for a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme. We were running late as it was. I tell him that we are not going to Krispy Kreme.

Lex, "Fine. If I can't have Krispy Kreme then I'm not eating."

Me, "Okay, but you'll be hungry at school."

Lex, "Okay, I am on a hunger strike. I'm not eating until you get me a doughnut."

Me, "If that's what you choose, honey."

I tell Lex that I am going upstairs to talk to Gramps and his follows me up. Gramps is sitting in his office at the computer. Lex tells Gramps that he is on a hunger strike and that he is not eating. It is almost comical to watch this little 7 year old trying to be stubborn. I just ignore him.

On our way back down to the apartment Lex opens up Gramps' cupboard and swipes a package of Fig Newtons. Ha Ha....that hunger strike lasted maybe 4 minutes.

Lessons From The Louvre

Jonny (age 11) earned two very important lessons at the Louvre on our visit to Paris last week.

Lesson 1: Circumcision
As you walk through the Louvre, there are many Grecian and Roman statues. Jonny looked at the statues first with intrigue...then, with obvious concern. I could read on Jonny's face that he could tell that the male statues weren't quite...er, right. I asked Will to take Jonny aside and give him a quick explanation of circumcision. I'm not quite sure how the entire conversation went, but I did pick up a few key words such as "elephant trunk" and "crew cut" and I am SOOOO glad that I didn't have to be apart of that one....HA HA!

Lesson 2: Art vs. Pornography
Hmmm...I think this lesson is still up to interpretation. Basically, I had to tell Jonny that if you see nude paintings in a museum it is "ART", but if you see nude pictures in a magazine or on the internet it is "PORN". Tough one!!! Such a HUGE gray area there....

Madrid in Spring

WILL & MICHEL EATING TAPAS IN PLAZA MAYOR:

VIEWING THE TURTLE POND IN MADRID TRAIN STATION:


REAL MADRID STADIUM: (I LOVE YOU RAUL!!)

JONNY & ME ON THE MADRID VISION BUS:

OSO Y ARBOR, A SYMBOL OF SPAIN:

ME & MY JONNY IN MADRID:

CRAZY FOR CHURROS Y CHOCOLAT:

HANDSOME IN MADRID:

RUNNING FROM A BULL AT RETIRO PARK:

ADMIRING THE CRYSTAL PALACE:

AT THE CHURCH AT PALACIO REAL IN MADRID:

Paris Part 2

Notre Dame is a beautiful church. The windows look black on the outside but are stunning stained glass on the inside. I tried to get a picture of Jonny at Notre Dame, but apparently he can't walk in France because everytime I tried to take his picture he would fall down. I said, "Hey Jonny, go stand by that tree so I can take your picture." He fell down like a baseball player sliding into home base. Hilarious!



The Eiffel Tower is beautiful. It is really cool at night because they have strobe lights all over the tower. They turn these lights on every little while for a few minutes. Very pretty. Very nice view of Paris and the Sienne River from the top.

SEE THE TOWER LIGHT UP:



JONNY AT THE EIFFEL TOWER:


AMBER & JONNY WALKING ALONG THE SIENNE:


JONNY & WILL IN THE GREAT HALL @ THE LOUVRE:


PICNIC AT A PARIS PARK:



AMBER, JONNY, WILL, & MICHEL @ THE LOUVRE:


CREPE-A-PALOOZA:


Jonny says that eating crepes was his favorite part of Paris. They are yummy! Jonny and Michel started a crepe eating challenge to see who could eat the most crepes. The challenge ended in a tie, 6 to 6. We've named the crepe challenge Crepe-a-Palooza. The challenge continued in Spain, but due to lack of Crepes was changed to Churro-Palooza. (I think Jonny won the churro challenge, but it was close.)

Paris is one of the most filthy cities I have ever been to. If it were not for the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, & the Louvre, I would never EVER go to this city again.

We flew into Charles De Gaulle airport and then bought 3 day Visite Paris passes for the metro. The train ride from the airport to the city was enlightening. Parisians have very little concern for personal space. On the train, people would make us move around to sit next to us. One lady made Michel hold a giant suitcase on her lap. The lady who pushed her way next to me smelled like baby formula and Marlboros...ICK! I almost threw up. I had to stare out the window and breathe through my mouth. There is SOOOO much graphitti in Paris too. Seriously every wall was covered in something.

Parisians are very rude. They smoke EVERYWHERE...like chimneys. Most buildings are designated nonsmoking, but that doesn't stop the Parisians. In fact, one couple was rude enough to light up in line for the elevator at the Eiffel Tower. They put their cigarettes out on the sign that says, "No Smoking on the Monument."

Paris Part 1

Friday 3/6/09 Jonny, Will, Michel & I flew to Paris. Business Elite is the only way to fly...YAY for first class!!! Anyhow, Michel thought the flight was as good as "Christmas Morning".

At the hotel, I needed to ask the front desk agent how to get to the Gare de Lyon Train Station. I didn't realize that the hotel is literally 250 ft from the entrance to the station. Anyhow, I ask her innocently, "What is the best way to get to the train station?"

She answers curtly, "To Walk". (Not the answer I was looking for...")

So I say, "Okay, where do I go?"

She answers, "To the building with a big clock." And points out the door.

So, I walk out the door and there is a HUGE clock, about 3 stories high. Duh! How did we miss that one? I feel like an idiot.

THE CLOCK AT GARE DE LYON STATION:

Go to Sleep

It is 10:09pm....What are those boys doing awake! Jumping around, giggling, laughing...and was that a burp? Grrrr, it is a school night! I go to firmly remind the boys..."YOU NEED TO GO TO SLEEP NOW."

Lex: "BUT Mom, I can't sleep."

Me: "Maybe it's because of all the noise you and your brother are making."

Lex: "Noise? What noise? Maybe you can hear noise, but I can't because I have wax in my ears. AND because of that I still can't go to sleep."

Nice try, but no cigar. Earwax does not keep you awake. GO TO SLEEP!