Awe Paris!!! This is one city that I have wanted to visit since I was a little girl. We have been watching airfare for a bit and I thought it wasn't going to happen, but then we found a deal for the perfect dates that we couldn't pass up. Was I ever delighted! And Paris did not disappoint. Doug and I have already decided we will be back minus the kiddos in a few years. This trip we were also able to coordinate going to the LDS Temple open house as well. The Temple itself is absolutely stunning. The stained glass was beautiful! I told Doug after spending this time in Europe, I am really digging all the stained glass and would love to add some to our house in the future, but we will see! I loved the grounds as well. There is a huge statue of Christ in the middle of the courtyard that is just so welcoming. The downfall to our trip was that Matthew was sick. He had been a little difficult from the beginning of our trip, but I didn't think much of it at first. He wouldn't let us put him down during the temple tour and started complaining of his ear. He didn't feel hot to me but seemed to be in pain. Luckily one of the sisters located an ER to take him to. It was just a few minutes away. When we got there they took his temperature and it was at 104 degrees. At that moment I felt like a complete failure as a mom. I didn't even realize he had a temperature. The doctor looked into his ear and told me it was blocked and then gave me both ear drops and antibiotics. It was the next day that he broke out into the same rash that David had the week before, just a little worse. So it wasn't just an ear infection but scarlet
fever as well. Luckily we had him on antibiotics and it started to ease his symptoms pretty quickly. But the poor little guy was still not himself
for pretty much the whole trip. He was a trooper though. It just meant
lots of baby carrying for Doug and I. We even tried to fit both of them in the stroller at one point but to our dismay it didn't work at all. The next day we visited the
Versailles Palace. This place was no joke, it was huge and beautiful.
It really opened my eyes to the lavish lifestyle that they lived. We
ended up renting a golf cart to tour the gardens. We had the cart for
two hours and still did not see everything the garden had to offer.
That is how massive it was! It is amazing how my ideals have changed since I was a little girl. Standing there looking at the garden from the house, it dawned on me, that that is what I use to dream of. I use to dream of owning a huge house and having a beautiful manicured garden just like those of Versailles. And as beautiful as they are, the grown up in me realizes my dreams have completely shifted to a more practical, kid friendly sort of dream, which I am completely happy with. I mean who would want to clean a palace that big! After Versailles we took the train and headed into the city. Our first
stop was the Eiffel Tower. We all (minus sleeping Matthew) were able to get pictures in front of it, and we also enjoyed some crepes. We walked around for a bit, and that evening we took a boat tour on the river. I loved seeing all the lights and beautiful bridges along the way. We got home late that evening and had only one day left to explore. Saturday was a pretty exhausting day for us. Matthew still lacked energy and between him and Caleb we were holding kiddos a lot. Hiking up and down the tram stations and up the hills took lots of energy, and so we ended up not seeing all we had planned but all in all we got a good taste of the city. We were able to visit Notre Dame, The Arc De Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Pantheon, and the Luxembourg Gardens. We ended the night at a nice french restaurant. All the food we had in Paris was amazing. The one thing that surprised me about Paris was how friendly the people were. I actually imagined quite the opposite. But we had people offering to help us left and right. Matthew had a meltdown in one of the train stations as I was trying to help get the stroller up the steps. He just sat down and wouldn't budge. A kind woman picked him up and carried him up the stairs for me. It was amazing to see the kindness of others. We really had a great trip and I have learned that you just have to take your time while traveling with kids and just roll with the punches.
Awe Paris!!! This is one city that I have wanted to visit since I was a little girl. We have been watching airfare for a bit and I thought it wasn't going to happen, but then we found a deal for the perfect dates that we couldn't pass up. Was I ever delighted! And Paris did not disappoint. Doug and I have already decided we will be back minus the kiddos in a few years. This trip we were also able to coordinate going to the LDS Temple open house as well. The Temple itself is absolutely stunning. The stained glass was beautiful! I told Doug after spending this time in Europe, I am really digging all the stained glass and would love to add some to our house in the future, but we will see! I loved the grounds as well. There is a huge statue of Christ in the middle of the courtyard that is just so welcoming. The downfall to our trip was that Matthew was sick. He had been a little difficult from the beginning of our trip, but I didn't think much of it at first. He wouldn't let us put him down during the temple tour and started complaining of his ear. He didn't feel hot to me but seemed to be in pain. Luckily one of the sisters located an ER to take him to. It was just a few minutes away. When we got there they took his temperature and it was at 104 degrees. At that moment I felt like a complete failure as a mom. I didn't even realize he had a temperature. The doctor looked into his ear and told me it was blocked and then gave me both ear drops and antibiotics. It was the next day that he broke out into the same rash that David had the week before, just a little worse. So it wasn't just an ear infection but scarlet 
fever as well. Luckily we had him on antibiotics and it started to ease his symptoms pretty quickly. But the poor little guy was still not himself
for pretty much the whole trip. He was a trooper though. It just meant
lots of baby carrying for Doug and I. We even tried to fit both of them in the stroller at one point but to our dismay it didn't work at all. The next day we visited the
Versailles Palace. This place was no joke, it was huge and beautiful.
It really opened my eyes to the lavish lifestyle that they lived. We
ended up renting a golf cart to tour the gardens. We had the cart for
two hours and still did not see everything the garden had to offer.
That is how massive it was! It is amazing how my ideals have changed since I was a little girl. Standing there looking at the garden from the house, it dawned on me, that that is what I use to dream of. I use to dream of owning a huge house and having a beautiful manicured garden just like those of Versailles. And as beautiful as they are, the grown up in me realizes my dreams have completely shifted to a more practical, kid friendly sort of dream, which I am completely happy with. I mean who would want to clean a palace that big! After Versailles we took the train and headed into the city. Our first 
stop was the Eiffel Tower. We all (minus sleeping Matthew) were able to get pictures in front of it, and we also enjoyed some crepes. We walked around for a bit, and that evening we took a boat tour on the river. I loved seeing all the lights and beautiful bridges along the way. We got home late that evening and had only one day left to explore. Saturday was a pretty exhausting day for us. Matthew still lacked energy and between him and Caleb we were holding kiddos a lot. Hiking up and down the tram stations and up the hills took lots of energy, and so we ended up not seeing all we had planned but all in all we got a good taste of the city. We were able to visit Notre Dame, The Arc De Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Pantheon, and the Luxembourg Gardens. We ended the night at a nice french restaurant. All the food we had in Paris was amazing. The one thing that surprised me about Paris was how friendly the people were. I actually imagined quite the opposite. But we had people offering to help us left and right. Matthew had a meltdown in one of the train stations as I was trying to help get the stroller up the steps. He just sat down and wouldn't budge. A kind woman picked him up and carried him up the stairs for me. It was amazing to see the kindness of others. We really had a great trip and I have learned that you just have to take your time while traveling with kids and just roll with the punches. 
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