J'adore Paris

I can't believe we've been back from Paris for almost two months now. It almost feels like it was all a dream. I loved every second of our trip and have been negligent in posting pictures because Blogger takes 50 million years to upload photos. But here are the shots you've been clamoring for (okay, not really). But it will help me remember since the City of Lights is now the happy place in my head. Andy teases about the fact that I took almost 500 pictures during our ten days. But I prefer to collect memories, not souvenirs. So the posts will be broken up into small bits, so as to not overwhelm me from the enormity of the task or you from trip overkill.

To begin with, we owe major thanks to both sets of parents. This trip wouldn't have been possible without Andy's parents turning 60 and his mom deciding to celebrate the momentous occasion by renting a flat on the I'le St. Louis for the month of October. Thanks to her gracious hospitality, we crashed with her for most of our stay. The location made the trip particularly magical since we were on one of the two islands in the middle of the Seine, within spitting distance of Notre Dame and easy walking distance to everything else. We walked our little feet off and got to see the city so much more since we didn't have to spend much of our time on the Metro.

I love this picture of Annette, as we're crossing one of the bridges from the I'le St. Louis to the Left Bank. It captures not only her European flair (love the scarf), but her exuberance for the adventure.

The trip also wouldn't have been possible without the magnanimous help of my mom, Grandma Lori, who watched Ben and Lucy while we were gone. Or Grandpa Jeff, who kindly parted with her for almost two weeks without complaint. The kids had a wonderful time and we were able to enjoy ourselves all the more since we knew they were in such good hands. That's code for: Andy was surprised that we didn't miss them all that much; I wasn't.

On our way to the airport: Ben showing us the prize he got for selling Mumkins at school. I should have skipped buying the overpriced Mumkins and just bought him some Peeps. He would have been just as happy. Lesson learned. He was a champion helper for Grandma while we were gone.

Stoic Lucy wouldn't look at us the whole way there once she figured out we were leaving. Thankfully my mom arrived a day early so Lucy could ease into the transition.

Flying with no kids: can you sense the giddyness? Even though our plane from Columbus to Toronto left late, which left us running through the Toronto airport to catch our connecting flight to Paris, it was heaven to just be able to sit back, relax, watch the shows, sleep a little, and not have to entertain little bodies.

Paris, here we come!