Disneyland PARIS!!!

The last time we visited Disneyland happened to be the week before we moved to Munich, in September, when there were no other people at the park.  Spring Break is a very different story – there are people everywhere!!

Our girls are troopers, and even with the line for the parking lot, the line for the ticket counter, and the disappointment of a 2 hour wait to get into the park, they held onto their excitement, and loved every second of it! (Sophia & Alexandra with their bribing gifts – the line for tickets was so long, we were going to drive back into paris, go to the disney store on the Champs Elysee, and return the next day.  However, after lunch the line was gone, and we were able to walk right in!) Sophia was so excited for her first time driving, and declared herself ready for her license at the end of the ride. Should I tell you how much our monkey loved the rides? Sophia loves anything that has a princess story, so the castle was a huge hit! It’s a small world… after all… and the paradewith princesses and Mary Poppins  We watched from the platform at it’s a small world, great place to see everything if you can’t get to the front row of the parade route.  Just don’t stand on the grass… then back to the dumbo ride and play time on the pirate ship

Easter Monday at Versailles

It’s becoming a bit of a tradition, but we love going back to Versailles (and look forward to the day when the girls can rent bikes with us!) and wandering thru the gardens on Easter Monday. It’s another holiday in Germany & France, so there are usually tons of people there, but as it is such a huge park it doesn’t really matter.

However, given the vastness, we should have used the stroller earlier… Sophia was often 100 yards/meters ahead of us, and Alexandra had her own pace. She still has really short legs… and while Sophia took off up the hill, Troy ended up carrying Alexandra most of the way up, tickling her to get her to stay in his arms.

Then we had a snack break, where most of the snacks fell on the ground due to the spinning legs on the marble benches. And then back down to meet up with the Marc & Kate & their kids…

And then back for some play time on the balcony.

Easter fun

The best part about Easter in Paris, is all the fun we have in the afternoon.

Brunch with Benjamin, girls fawning all over him already I think he was a little overwhelmed by the attention.

The off to the Champs de Mars for carousel rides and bikes…  As we were walking up to the cars & bikes I asked Troy (who was walking with Alexandra) if he wanted to run her around the course?  His reply – No I think Sophia does fine on her own.  I had to remind him that Sophia was already riding on the cars, and I was actually asking about Alexandra. He was just so used to doing this with Sophia, that it took a second to realize that Alexandra is the exact same age Sophia was when we lived in Paris.   Alexandra was very into the cars, to the point of trying to climb over the small wall to get to them. 

Riding on Aladdin's carpet, Alexandra’s head started moving to the club songs playing over the sound system. and trying to sing along.

Alexandra sat out the last couple rides while Sophia went on her own (Sophia could ride the carousel for hours!!).

And at the end of the day we were all happy, and a bit exhausted.  A perfect holiday.

Joyeux Pâques in Paris

We spent an amazing Easter Day in Paris. In what has become a bit of an Easter pilgrimage for the Z-Family, we have returned to Paris for the holiday for three years in a row. After all, we needed to go to church on Sunday, and we’ve found no better church experience and community than at the American Cathedral in Paris. We started the day at the Easter service, and then had brunch with great friends at the Cathedral. In the afternoon, we made our way over to the Champs de Mars under the Eiffel Tower, and then to Parc Monceau in the beautiful 17th arrondisement. The girls entertained themselves posing in front of the Eiffel Tower, riding on the go carts, and of course chasing pigeons – all in their Easter dresses. The girls were quite a site, bright spots against the fashionable French black. We even had elderly French women come up and say how pretty the girls’ dresses were. If they only knew they came from Target…

Easter morning in Paris

The girls have been sharing a room in our apartment, and this morning Sophia, again, woke Troy & I up with complaints that Alexandra had woken her up.  At 8am.  Not bad really, considering that Troy & I have really tried to avoid putting them in the same room because Alexandra hasn’t been a sound sleeper, and we didn’t like having two sleepy (cranky) girls during the day.  This trip changed all that.

Every morning Alexandra would wake up, part the curtains surrounding her crib, and start calling Sophia’s name out.  Her voice would get louder & louder until Sophia woke up (Troy & I were usually awake & listening at this point).  They would talk, and then at some point Sophia would either get in the crib with Alexandra, or figure out a way to pull Alexandra out, unzip her sleep sack, and the 2 of them would run into our bed for a little morning family cuddle.

Easter was a bit different because it marked the day when Sophia realized that she & Alexandra could wander a bit, and she found the Easter baskets… New Books, bubbles, umbrellas, and a few chocolates (the Easter bunny loves the Boulangeries in Paris).  An egg hunt around the apartment, and everyone was happy!