Trip out West

I had initially decided against making a trip to Pecos this summer. Momma and Myrt Myrt had been traveling around Texas for two weeks in July, the next week was Art Camp and I wanted to potty train Robert the week after that. I fully expected his potty training to take forever, so I didn't think that would leave enough time for a trip.

Since he trained in a day, I decided to go ahead and do it before school started. So we left for Pecos on Aug. 7th, one short week after potty training. I asked Linda if she'd like to join us for the drive and visit her mom in Carlsbad and she agreed to. She had planned on taking a trip the next week anyway.

So the kids and I left about 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, stopping first in Temple to switch to Grandma's car. We left there around 10:00 and Grandma unloaded us in Pecos a little after 5:00 before finishing the drive to Carlsbad. The drive went very quickly having someone else to talk to and the kids were perfectly behaved, glued to the DVD player we brought. Robert even managed to stay dry the whole day! That kid amazes me.

On Thursday, my mom and dad drove us to Carlsbad so we could see Nanny for a few hours. Robert could not sit still and ran around like a crazy child the entire time.  

A rare photo op with Grandma and Bia.

On Friday we went to Wink to hang out with Linsey and the boys and play at the splash pad. Brody came back to Pecos with us. That night, Clara and Brody got popsicles after dinner.

Robert refused to eat dinner, so he didn't get one. I had to keep an eye on Bia to make sure she didn't sneak him a bite. He was not pleased with me, so right after I took this picture, he charged at me, knocking my camera into my face. It busted my lip and knocked me onto the ground. I was not a happy Mommy.

It took Robert a while, but he finally warmed up to Brody and ended up having a fun time with him. Robert watched a video called "Potty Power" when I was potty training him, so I got him to put his arms up and say "I have Potty Power!" He does it over and over and it is beyond cute. Brody joined right in on the chant that weekend. Cooper even chimed in on Sunday and was all excited to be a big boy and try to pee on the potty.

Linsey came back on Sunday for church and we hung out at the house the rest of the day. Linda came back by on Monday morning to pick us up and head home. The kids were a little more ornery on the drive back, which is standard fare, but they still did great. We spent the night in Temple that night and finished the drive home first thing Tuesday morning. We had to get home in plenty of time to rest before heading out to meet Robert's new teacher that night.

Abilene

I loaded up the kids last Thursday morning and headed to Abilene for my cousin Nathan's wedding. The wedding was Friday night, so I decided to go a day early since I didn't think it very nice to make the kids sit in the car all day and then expect them to sit through a wedding.

Robert did pretty well on the drive. He got a good nap in and he was interested in the movies that were playing, so that definitely helped the trip go more smoothly. We stopped at a rest stop and Clara showed him how to blow dandelions. He thought that was pretty neato.

We got to Abilene around 6:00 and got checked in to our hotel. I went to pay for gas when I realized my check card wasn't in my purse. It wasn't in my pocket either. I frantically looked everywhere for it and then decided to use a credit card. We went to Denny's for some dinner and I dug through my purse again and then decided to go ahead and cancel it. I was sure I had used it for lunch earlier in the day.

It took some time, but I finally found the phone number and cancelled it. Thankfully, no charges had been made. (The next day I figured out why no charges had been made; I remembered it was in the back pocket of the shorts I had worn the night before.)

My parents and Linsey weren't getting to town until right before the wedding, so I decided to take the kids to the zoo on Friday morning. Abilene got some much needed rain for a few hours that morning and then the skies cleared and it was nice and cool when we got to the zoo around 10:00. We got in free with our Houston Zoo membership.

Clara is pretending to be a flamingo in this picture.

This peacock strutted around with his feathers up the entire time we were there. Robert was fascinated by him, but Clara found him to be a bit intimidating and wouldn't let me take a picture of her near him.

The wedding was beautiful (what I saw of it anyway). Robert was just about as wiggly as he could possibly be. I saw the procession and Katie walk down the aisle and then I quickly escorted Robert out. Linsey got there a few minutes later, so the boys played outside while the wedding took place. Clara got to stay and watch with Bia and Pawpaw.

The reception took place at the new performing arts center at ACU and everything was beautifully done. My dad has 6 siblings and they were all there along with several of my cousins, so it was fun catching up with everyone. The only problem was my darlings were acting crazy! I was sweaty from wrestling with Robert the entire time. Clara spilled her drink, it was late, I couldn't let Robert down without him bolting, so we left before it was over. Surprisingly, once in the car, they completely mellowed out. And they fell asleep fairly quickly after a full day. I took zero pictures that night because my hands were full.

Linsey wanted to go to the zoo too, so we all went back on Saturday morning. I was able to get all of us in free with my membership. The great thing about going back was that now I could get some pictures with me in them. He wasn't strutting his stuff on Saturday so Clara reluctantly consented to a picture with the peacock since I was right there with her and he wasn't 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall.

The giraffes were out on Saturday and we went across the bridge to see them up close and personal.

It took Brody awhile to warm up to the animals. This was his first visit to the zoo and he was freaking out at all of them for about the first half hour. Linsey let him out of the stroller and he finally loosened up and enjoyed looking at all of the animals.

After the zoo, we went over to Uncle Howard and Aunt Jacki's house with all of the family. We had lunch and dinner there, the kids played in the backyard and everyone enjoyed holding babies and watching the little ones play. They were so sweet to have such a large, loud crowd hanging around all day. I think there were twelve second cousins there, Clara being the oldest. So there were a few fits and fights that afternoon.

Lindsey holding Ashton.

Here's my dad playing guitar and three of his siblings.

A few of the cousins stood still long enough to snap this next picture. Clara, Clara, Laney and Benton.

Gracie and Clara swinging with Aunt Sally.

My parents stayed in our hotel room Friday night and they spent Saturday night at Howard and Jacki's house, so Linsey stayed in the hotel with us that night. It was fun trying to get all four kids to sleep and Brody coughed a lot the first part of the night but we eventually all got a good night's sleep and woke ready to make the long drive home.

Linsey and I left our luggage at the front desk and told them we were going to put the kids in their carseats and then pull around to load our luggage. (We both wondered how on earth single parents of young children handle hotel stays. What a pain!) We said our goodbyes in the parking lot, Linsey turned her car on with the remote, got the kids buckled in, and shut the door. The second the door shut she realized she had locked the keys in. Oops!

Thankfully the a/c was on and she has Onstar. Only problem was her phone was dead and the phone number was on a sticker on the windshield that she just had replaced. I stayed outside with the kids while she took my phone and went back inside to find the phone number. She talked with them for a couple of minutes and then Voila! The doors magically unlocked. I have to admit, that was pretty darn cool.

Other than that, it was a fun trip and I love getting to see family, meet new family members and introduce my kids to their Great Aunts and Uncles. Can't wait for the next get-together!

Day 9- London to Houston to Albuquerque

I can sum up day 9 in two words.

Very long

I'll write more about the rest of the trip later, but for now I will move on to more pleasant topics than puking, jet lag, colds, recovering toddler with antibiotic induced diarrhea, screaming toddler minutes before boarding plane, tummy bugs and emergency rooms.

Oh come on now, you know you're dying to hear all about it.

Day 8- London

We were both pooped when we woke Tuesday morning. Had we been staying longer, I'm pretty sure this would have been a 'do nothing' day. We had eaten the breakfast buffet at the hotel the two previous mornings, but I wasn't all that impressed with it so I talked Chris into eating breakfast at a charming little shop near our hotel called The Muffin Man. It turned out to be a nice little spot. Unfortunately they didn't take credit cards and we were almost out of cash, so we had to scrape together all of our change to pay the bill.

We went on over to the British Museum and although it's a great museum, we just weren't into it again. We walked through several rooms and then encountered mass chaos as we entered the room with the Egyptian mummies. Oh my goodness, we were waist-high in school children. There were hundreds of them packed into that room peering in at all of the mummies. We couldn't even get near most of the cases. I'm not sure if it's that packed every weekday, but it was nuts. We had to get out of there. I did get near enough to snap a picture of this unfortunate fellow who seemed especially gruesome to me.

And then some teacher decided that the doorway leading out to the main atrium would be the perfect place to regroup and count heads. There were maybe 50 6th or 7 th graders all converged in the doorway and were not moving. We eventually had to resort to nudging the little dears to get them to stop gabbing long enough to step aside and allow us to pass. We had both been looking forward to looking through that area and were a bit disappointed that it was that chaotic. I was a little surprised they would let that many school groups in at the same time.

We were both a little put off at this point and like I mentioned earlier, probably just a bit cranky and tired, so we decided to forgo an afternoon excursion. We had thought about going to the maritime museum, the Tower of London or St. Paul's Cathedral. So they're on our list for our next trip :)

The whole time we were in London, we had been on the lookout for a certain brand of very expensive scotch a friend asked us to bring back and hadn't had any luck locating it. The concierge said to try Harrod's, which is a massive store filled with just about anything you might possibly need, so we spent a couple of hours browsing there. No luck, though we did find several souvenirs to bring back and had lunch there.

This Steiff display was in the toy section and was very large. All of the animals moved around, so I guess a video would have been a bit more impressive.

After Harrod's, it was back to the hotel to get packed up to fly back to reality the next morning.

Day 6- London

Each day in London, we purchased unlimited transportation passes that were good for one day and cost 6 pounds. The only drawback was you couldn't use it until 9:30, but that didn't effect us at all. It was a considerable savings over the normal price of 4 pounds per ticket.

Our fist stop was Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We got there a little early, so we toured the Royal Mews first. It is the palace stables and it houses all of the historical carriages and the queen's vehicles. They don't usually keep the horses on display though; only a few of them were there. This carriage was a gift from Australia, hence the kangaroo and emu on the side.

This is the Gold State Coach and it is huge, weighing 4 tons. It has been used for every coronation since it was built in the 1760's at a cost of 6,000 pounds.

There was a big collection of children's carriages that were made to be pulled by ponies, donkeys and one was even labeled as a goat carriage. Wouldn't it be the cutest thing ever to see a little prince or princess being pulled along in this little carriage?

After the tour, we headed on over to the front of the palace because the ceremony was getting close to starting. It starts at 11:30 and when we got there a little after 11:00, people were already starting to gather. As it got nearer to time, outside the palace was jam packed with people sitting around waiting. 11:30 came and went and still nothing. We eventually walked away around 11:45 with most people still waiting.

I checked their website for dates before leaving on our trip so I guess it was canceled at the last minute or something. When I checked the site later, that day was not on the calendar. I really wish I knew if everyone there was also under the impression that it was going to take place that day. I hope so, otherwise it would seem that I am quickly going crazy.

We had lunch after walking through Green Park and then rode the subway over to Trafalgar Square. One of the great things about London is all of the free museums and galleries. The National Gallery is located at Trafalgar Square, and although we weren't just dying to go there, hey, it's free. Why not? We only stayed a few minutes because both Chris and I felt horrible in there. It felt as though my sinuses were about to explode. You know the momentary painful feeling you get just before you sneeze when your face is all scrunched up and your eyes are watering? It felt like that, only it wouldn't go away. We quickly browsed through two or three rooms and then found a couple of the works that we would recognize, Van Gogh's sunflowers and a Monet (he's my favorite), and called it good.

And here's a mailbox.

And a garden growing up the wall of this hotel.

We walked up Regent Street making sure to stop in Hamley's Toy Store, which is 250 years old and encompasses seven floors. It was impressive and was filled with employees playing with all of the toys and showing the kids how they work. I'm not sure I would've wanted to go in there with the kids. There would have been much kicking and screaming at the mere mention of leaving.

We picked Robert up some die cast cars. He got a double decker bus, a black taxi and a mini and they've been a hit. I found a hard cover copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Clara as well as a Paddington book. We've started reading Paddinton and he's a hit. She's even letting me read with a British accent! She wouldn't let me when I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Alice in Wonderland, so I'm pumped. I don't do it in front of Chris though; he's not very encouraging.

Day 5- Brussels to London

I was sure to have Chris double check the time on our train tickets to London. I can't be trusted. Then we had an amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel (with an amazing price tag to match). I'm not sure we would have enjoyed breakfast there had we known how expensive it would be.

We got on the train and wouldn't you know it, they served us breakfast. It would've been nice to know that ahead of time. We were seated in a row with forward and backward facing seats with a table in between. Across the aisle was an older couple that were returning to London from a 2.5 week trip through Europe, having visited nine different countries I think. Wouldn't that be nice?

The set up of the row we were in was perfect to have a nice conversation with them. We talked so much that we had been in the tunnel under the English channel for about 15 minutes before Chris even noticed. We learned that Will and Kate will be having a fruit cake for the wedding cake, which is the traditional wedding cake in England. We told them that in the U.S., fruit cake is kind of a joke and made fun of and they weren't aware of that. Mary explained how to properly make a fruit cake, which includes lots of ingredients that I have never heard of and it also requires that you poke holes in the bottom, pour brandy or whiskey on it, wrap it up and do it over and over again for several weeks I believe. It's called 'feeding' the fruit cake. Still not sold on the idea of fruit cake. She said she would think of us every time she makes a fruit cake from now on.

Once we got to London, we grabbed a taxi. They are so nice. There is no seat next to the driver, so you can put your luggage up front. Also, in the back, there are fold down seats on the back of the front seat, so there is a ton of room if you don't need those extra seats. There's a glass window behind the driver, so you have to push a button to talk to him. I only had one problem with our particular taxi; our driver opted to take us on the scenic route to our hotel.

We were in an older hotel, but not old as in quaint, charming old. Just old. I think Chris was allergic to something in the hotel because he seemed to have breathing problems when we were there. Just around the corner was an Underground station, so that was nice. There was also a coffee shop nearby, so we spent time there every day.

We had lunch in a pub; steak and ale pie for Chris and fish and chips for me. We walked down a street near our hotel that was lined with lots of shops, browsing through a couple of them. Later that night, we went to the coffee shop and didn't do much else that day. I know, pretty boring.

Day 4- Paris to Brussels

We had tickets to ride the train to Brussels on Friday morning. Our train wasn't supposed to leave until around 11:30, so we leisurely had breakfast and took a taxi to the station, getting there fairly early since neither of us knew what we were doing.

We didn't know if we were supposed to check our luggage or what, so we got into a line that looked promising. When the employee looked at our tickets, she said, "You've missed your train, it left about 5 minutes ago." What!?!?! Um, yeah, someone might have possibly been looking at the wrong time on the ticket. 11:30 was our arrival time in Brussels. My bad. So we got into a longer line to get new tickets. Of course, ours were non-refundable so we had to buy new ones. I beat myself up about that one for a very long time. It wouldn't be so bad except that this would actually be the second time I've done this exact thing. I am such an idiot.



Our train left about an hour later, at 11:30. We both really enjoyed traveling by train and were served a nice lunch. It was about a 15 minute taxi ride to the Sheraton where we spent the night. We only had one night in Brussels so I have to be honest, I had done no research at all on what there is to do in Brussels. We went to the concierge and told him we just got there and were leaving in the morning and asked what we should do.

We got really lucky and our hotel was really close to some cool stuff. He pulled out a map, and marked a few spots of interest that were just down the street from us. We walked across the street to a shopping mall where we spent a few minutes walking around. Then we strolled down the streets for a couple of hours. We grabbed a waffle from a shop and I had to splurge on one dripping with warm chocolate syrup.



We peeked into a church and then walked to the Grand Place, which is a big square surrounded by huge, beautiful buildings.



We went into several lace and chocolate shops and then kept walking towards something the concierge had pointed out on the map. He had told us to be sure to go see "our little boy". We weren't sure what he meant but knew we were getting close when we saw a large group of people up ahead snapping pictures. This is the "little boy" they seem to be so proud of. Click on the picture if you can't tell what he's doing.


Then we got a little lost on the way back to the hotel and came across this massive church.



We made it back to the hotel and were really tired from all the walking on cobblestone and uneven surfaces. After a rest, we had a late dinner at a cafe around the corner. Chris had a second waffle for dessert. It was covered in whipped cream, strawberries, ice cream and strawberry sauce. It was quite yummy. One thing's for sure, they sure know how to make a good Belgium waffle in Belgium. Neither of us knew what to expect in Brussels so we were both pleasantly surprised and glad that we decided to stop there for a day.

Day 3- Paris

We only had two full days in Paris, so going to the Eiffel Tower was the only other thing we wanted to make sure we did. Thursday came and it was rainy in the morning, so we decided to browse a huge department store called Galeries Lafayette. No purchases were made since the merchandise was largely designer stuff. I believe one entire floor was devoted to women's shoes.

After a short time there, it had cleared up a little and there were just light intermittent showers, so we walked around the area looking for a toy store that I had discovered online. I had us walking in the wrong direction for a few blocks, so we got turned around the right way and after several blocks and a few glances at the map, we finally found the store. We walked up to the door and it was closed or had moved or something. Oops. Wasted about an hour on that one.

We hopped on the subway and had lunch at Hard Rock and then walked to a passage nearby. We saw several of these passages. They're like pedestrian alleyways lined with shops. It would be a lot of fun to hit a bunch of the passages if you had the time (and if your significant other enjoyed shopping). We went into a couple of small toy stores and found some unique toys to bring back for the kids. Now this is a toy store. Look how charming this store front is. So much more character than Toys R Us or Wal-Mart.


The rain had passed through so it was clear enough to do the Eiffel Tower. That thing is massive. We opted for the elevator, but for a cheaper price you can take the stairs. The Eiffel Tower is basically a whole lot of waiting. You wait to buy tickets, then wait to get on the elevator going to the first level. Then you get off and look around, take some pictures, buy some souvenirs, then wait to get on another elevator going to the top, look around some more and then wait to get on the elevator to go back down. And this was during the week on a chilly, overcast day. I can't imagine what the wait must be at the height of tourist season.

In this first picture, you can see the Arc de Triomphe. Such a tiny thing from way up there. It got chillier and windier the higher up we went. The wind was ridiculous up at the very top.





Oh, I have a quick story I need to tell about my encounter with a subway turnstile. In the Paris subway, you feed your ticket into the slot and then proceed through a turnstile and a small gate. The gate is a little hard to push. Well, I got through the turnstile and pushed on the gate but I guess I didn't push hard enough and it locked back. So I was stuck in the tiny area between the turnstile and the gate. At this point, we weren't sure if the ticket was valid for only one trip or if it was good for a length of time. So I climb halfway over, reach way back and with one leg sticking over the turnstile, I try to stick the ticket in again. Nope. Only good for one trip. So there I sat with a leg hiked up over the waist high turnstile. I eventually had to climb over a waist high section next to the gate. My husband loves me. There is no photographic evidence of the aforementioned scene. He did, however, have a look on his face that said, "Really, Kelsey? Are you really stuck in a subway turnstile?"

Day 2- Paris

We got up and showered and I was feeling a little "off". While I finished blow drying my hair, Chris went to the front desk to find a good breakfast spot since breakfast hours were over at the hotel by that time. They insisted that we eat there so Chris didn't argue. I started feeling worse while blow drying my hair and laid on the bed for a minute hoping it would pass.

We sat down in the small dining room and our trays were brought out to us. Since breakfast was over, we were the only ones in the room. I started feeling ill again and I couldn't even stomach the idea of eating or drinking anything. I was very grateful for the privacy we had when I suddenly started feeling hot and then dry heaved for about 5 minutes straight. There was nothing in my stomach, so I knew nothing was going to come up. When that was over, I felt just fine and actually enjoyed my breakfast. I'm guessing it was either jet lag or dehydration. Although I felt fine afterward, I was shaky and had to rest after walking up stairs or overexerting myself the rest of the day.

First on the agenda was a short subway ride to the Louvre. The Louvre is the largest museum in the world and as such, we only made it through maybe a third of it. And we were there for several hours. It was impressive to be sure.

I knew that the glass pyramid was at the Louvre, but I didn't know that it was the entrance to the museum.


Everywhere you turn, there is something exquisite to look at. I couldn't get over all of the amazing architecture we saw on our trip. It was all so beautiful and so big. Pictures just don't do it justice.


Me and Venus hanging out. As was expected, there was a large crowd of people taking pictures with her, so I opted for a picture from the side.


Here's a cute little mummy kitten.

And mummy row. Actually, I guess it was more like sarcophagus row.

And the Mona Lisa. There was an entire wall devoted to her and both of us were surprised at how small the painting actually is. The crowd in this room was huge and we didn't feel like fighting them all to get a closer look.


And then opposite the Mona Lisa is this humongous painting. The symmetry in this room is just all off.


We ate a late lunch at the cafe there and then went back to the hotel to rest for a bit. Another cafe for dinner and then we went back to the Arc de Triomphe to take the tour up to the top. It was 284 steps to the top. No elevator. We were tired. It was a spiral staircase and we had to step to the side to rest half way up. Everyone else was huffing and puffing and wondering why they thought this was a good idea as well, so I didn't feel too bad.

Once we got to the top, we had a lovely view of Paris at night.



It was late by this point and we were pooped, so we called it a night. This was the front of our hotel.