neither here nor there

most of my September instagram posts:

joys of motherhood: september

A lot of times my kids say something funny and I think "Oh i gotta write that down. I'll remember that for sure." And then sure enough by the time I think to write it down I don't remember. I hate that feeling. The feeling that mom brain won again. Oh well, here's what I got:

Nolan is pure confidence. He's not always super competitive but he is aggressive and it's as if there's no question that he could do something. We were at the park and there were a few older boys running around and Nolan just walked up and said "Guys I'm faster than you. I'm faster." And ran off. Like where did that come from and why did he feel the need to assert his dominance? We'll never know.

Caitlin: is obsessed with doing her makeup right now. She always wants to have a full face of makeup and she'll sneak it in her room or do makeovers for her friends or anyone she can get her hands on. She loves makeup and everything that goes with it. I think it's so cute but I also don't want my 5 year old going out everyday with electric blue eyeshadow and hot pink lips. So we try to take it in moderation if we are going in public.  She knows certain parts of my makeup routine that I will usually say yes to and will always ask for eyeshadow or blush or, my favorite, a little "brownzer"

Nolan says, "When I grow up I'm going to be a dad and a firefighter and a cowboy." Sounds like a winning combination if you ask me.

Usually the kids are pretty good about telling me about their day at school. I get a few things out and then more comes out as the day goes along. This was my school conversation with Nolan the other day:

me: Nolan what was your best thing at school today?

N: When I met a real live ninja turtle.

Really? You did?

Yup.

Really?

No. I didn't.

So what was really your best thing today?

When my teacher took us to the farm and we saw a horse and a cow.

Really? Oh like maybe you sang about it in old McDonald's?

No. We didn't do that.

So what'd you do?

We all took a trip to the moon. My whole  class. And we even took real astronauts! They were our parents.

...Either he has an active imagination or his teacher is the best preschool teacher ever.

There is a biulding being built right by the kids' school and the other day when we drove past it was just being framed so it was full of vertical wood beam being framed in and not much else. I asked the kids, "What do you think they are building right here?" Caitlin answered, "It looks like I think it's gonna be a zoo!" Immediately all the other kids jumped on board. "Yah they will keep the animals behind those bars and they will have bears and lions...." I was laughing so hard because I could totally see how they would think they were building a bunch of big cages.

The other day I asked the kids if we should have another baby now that Maverick is getting bigger and walking and they both said "Yes but this time we need to get a girl one."

VSLR Europe Trip

The vivint.solar incentive trip for 2014 was a European cruise. We were so happy to be able to go and we had a fantastic trip. Ten days surrounded by co-workers could sound hairy but we are lucky to work with some of our best friends which made for such a fun time and lots of laughs. It was a great time to bond with others, spend time as a couple, and of course see some of the great sights of Europe!

|| Flew to Rome with the Deelstras and Allreds. and arrived early in the morning after flying through the night, but not really sleeping. We stayed at a hotel near the piazza del popolo. We tried to freshen wake up and set out to explore. We saw the Spanish steps, got on a hop on bus and rode to the Roman Forum/Colosseum. Toured the forum then went to the Vatican. We breezed through the museum and saw the Sistine chapel and then St Peter's. We met with a big group that night for dinner, then ended at Piazza Navona where we ate gelato (for like the 8th time that day) and bought a painting. 

|| Toured the colosseum and learned a lot about gladiator fighting! This was Paul's favorite site of our whole trip. Then we took a pedicab through terrific traffic to the pantheon. For lunch we went to "Alfredo alla Strofa" the original birthplace of fetucinne alfredo. They made us a huge plate of alfredo at our table.. the only ingredients being parmesan cheese, butter and fresh home made fetucinne noodles. It was amazing. They brought out the gold fork and spoon and asked who was the youngest at the table. It was me, so I was the "principessa" and got to eat with the golden utensils from the platter. Our best meal in Italy. 

From there we went out to Civitavecchia to catch our cruise ship! We were one the Norwegian Epic and it was a great cruise. The boat was very nice, great restaurants and we had a wonderful time. That night we hit up the late night buffet and the hot tub.

|| Livorno was our first stop, the port closest to Florence. We went into Florence for a few hours and got to see The David sculpture at the Accademia de Bella Arte. There are SO many tourists in Italy and people know how to take advantage of them. We fell for a few scams along the way, trying to skip lines and join tour groups and things may have gotten a little heated in line at the museum but it all worked out ok. After the museum we did some shopping at the market and got some leather goods. I love the colorful marble cathedral or Florence. 

On the way back we stopped by Pisa to see the leaning tower! It was so much fun to see. It totally leans! Of course we had to take all the funny pictures with it and then we headed back to the ship. That night was had a vivint cocktail party, ate at the Teppenyaki restaurant and got late night cheese fries on the upper deck. 

|| Our next stop was Cannes France. We decided to stick around and it was a cute little town! We went to the local farmer's market and sampled cheese, fruits and meats. We had lunch with friends and did some shopping around and Paul got a little suckered into buying a white linen beach shirt, very appropriate for european crusing. He tried it on at the store and had been wearing it around for so long finally the worker came to him and said "yup looks great!" and pulled the tag off. Then We rented tandem bikes with the Deelstras and cruised down the boardwalk. Paul did not lay off our little horn once. The French riviera is incredibly beautiful. The ocean water is SO blue. The beaches were pretty crowded and european beaches always allow to interesting people watching. They have a beautiful historic Ritz Carlton hotel there and across from it a private beach resort. As we were riding by a few workers motioned for us to come down the stairs on our bikes. Paul took it as a challenge. I hopped off and buried my face a little as Paul rode down the Ritz Carlton beach stairs on his tandem bike, linen shirt and hair blowing in the wind. Don't ever tell my husband he can't do something he wants to do. Luckily the workers thought it was funny, but said "Don't do that again." 

We had a dinner all together and saw a cool Cirque du Soleil show on the boat. Pretty impressive when they can do their stunts on dry land but on a rocking boat! I was impressed. 

|| We cruised all morning, Paul and I got to sleep in and get massages. That afternoon we arrived in Palma de Mallorca. We didn't have any real concrete plans for the day so we decided to rent these tiny cars called "twizy" basically a street legal go-cart and we rallied them around town. We got lost a few times and even took them on the freeway which I'm pretty sure they were not meant to do. We drove around town and saw their cool cathedral that looked like a castle and had lunch at the beach.

That night on the boat we saw a magician show. 

|| Our boat docked in Barcelona the next morning and after disembarking we went to the airport and flew to Paris.  We get dropped off at hotel, and found out our hotel was very fortunately close to La Duree so we stopped in for macarons first thing. Then we went to lunch at a nearby Cafe and I ordered French onion soup and it was perfect. We went and saw the arc du triomphe and walked down the Champs D'Elysées then that night went to Montmartre, place du tertre and had dinner. 

|| The next day we were with a guide for the majority of the day. A very nice lady who took us to the Eiffel tower, the Louvre and Notre Dame. And answered all of our many questions. I'm convinced she knew absolutely everything about Paris. The Eiffel Tower is always so fun. It's so iconic and it gives me the "I'm in Paris!" chills whenever I see it. We got to go up to the top and spot all teh big famous buildings and it was a lot of fun. She gave us about an hour tour of the Louvre and we loved seeing certain paintings come to life and of course seeing the famous ones like the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Nike of Samothrace. We ended with her a Notre Dame, and then went over to Sainte Chappelle and barely made it in to admire the beautiful stained glass windows. That night we went to a restaurant across from our hotel called "Le Relais de L'Entrecote" We had noticed the line going out the door every night and were curious. Turns out they do not take reservations. They open at 7 for dinner and they fill all their tables and if you don't make it in you wait in line until one opens up. They serve the same meal every day: a specific salad, steak with a secret sauce, french fries and then you get a choice of dessert from a dessert menu. Simple and delicious!! We loved our meal and loved our desserts as well. Paul got the creme brulee and it was the best he's ever had. Our waitress was very down to business and totally chose favorites at the table and didn't have time to explain much, just expected us to keep up and keep quiet and go with the flow.

|| Our last day we spent at Versailles. We took a bike tour and it was cold and a little drizzly. We took a train out to Versailles and then go our bikes and rode to the market to get supplies for a picnic. It was rainy at the market but we got some yummy food and then we rode to Versailles and began touring the grounds. With the rain and wind things were miserably fun and everyone was trying hard to stay up beat. Luckily the rain let off and the sun came out! We toured Marie Antoinette's Petite Trianon and then her petit Hameau. The grounds were beautiful and fun to see and ride around. We stopped by the grand canal for our picnic and had a French feast. The boys were crazy on their bikes and cut new bike paths and found jumps wherever they could.. probably more so than those over used beach cruisers were used to handling. In face Paul's kick stand broke off! After our picnic we entered and toured the chateau. The massiveness and luxury and over-the-top style of the chateau and amazing. It's fun to see and imagine their lives. We learned a lot about all the King Louies and Marie Antoinette. Afterward we took the train back to the city, made a final (daily) stop at La Duree and went to dinner at a cafe in town. That night Paul and I went to the Eiffel tower one last time and got crepes (another thing we had stopped for many a time) and admired the twinkly lights of the Eiffel tower! It was a magical way to cap off a fantastic trip!

Europe is always a fun adventure and I'm always reminded how different it is from the United States but how much there is to enjoy and embrace about another culture. It was fun to be able to go back to a few places I remembered and also experience some new ones and to share it all with Paul. He's not the museum and sight seeing type traveler but he was very patient and we've found our mix that works for us to both have a great trip. Plus with enough delicious meals and yummy treats who wouldn't be happy?!