Last post - home in Washington at last

This is our last posting and, in fact, was written by the boys on the trip home and after we arrived back in Washington DC on August 20 – so it is a bit of a catch-up. We had a great time in Paris and had a very comfortable trip back home. It is great to be back and I think our biggest challenge is keeping all of our memories straight from the trip – we did so much this summer. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, and was a great family adventure!

How do you feel about going home today?

K1: I feel refreshed about going back to the familiar. It feels like a long day of work done. I look forward to seeing my cats and my room.

K2: I feel good that I am going to see changes in the neighborhood and see my friends again.

KK:I feel excited about going home today because I want to see my house, friends, and ,pets. I also want start playing sports the second we get home.

Name 3 things you will always remember about this trip and why?

K1: I will always remember paragliding because it was a new and exciting experience. I will always also remember my day in Euro-Disney because it was a day I went on more roller coasters than I ever have in my life. Finally, I will never forget the barge because it was the most laborious week in my life.

K2: I will remember Euro-Disney because Kiernan went on a lot of roller coasters then he ever did. I’ll always remember paragliding because I never ran off a cliff. I will never forget the barge because Kiernan hates the word “locks” now

KK:I will remember euro Disney because it was smaller then the Disney in Florida but more advanced. I will also remember paragliding because that was the only chance to almost jump off a cliff but then fly with the birds. Last but not least well yes least but going sea tubing because your on top of a tube and being dragged by a boat and that Kiernan fell off his tube.

What is the single most important thing you learned on this trip and why?

K1: I learned the practice of team and hard work.

K2:sign something for life insurance before trying to fly.

KK: You can’t go on a barge with 3 people or less. You can’t because you need 2 stick people a driver and 2 rope people

Say 3 things about our visit to Switzerland:

K1: In Switzerland they have very good chocolate fondue. Also they have snowboarding & skiing during the summer on top of the mountain. Lastly, regardless of how much snow there is, Switzerland is hot during the summer.

K2: in Switzerland it was a snowy heat wave in the mountains. We saw two husky dogs up in the mountains. And the chocolate is great there.

KK: In Switzerland you are always at least 1,000 ft. above regular ground level. And the chocolate is by far the best in the big world. And of course also paragliding.

Say 3 things about our barge canal trip:

K1: On the canal there are three jobs and they are stick boys, lock boy and captain. Stick boys hold long plastic sticks and push of shore if were too close (Kyle & Kerrick). The lock boy helps open the locks with the lock keeper(Kiernan). And the captain steers the boat (Dad)

K2:Everyone had a job. me and KK are the stick boys and we were supposed to push the boat so nothing hit it. K1 was the lock boy and he helped open and close the lock with the lock keeper. Dad was the captain and he drove the boat.

KK: you must make sure that you can always have a big city to stay at, at for the night.

Say 3 things about our Paris visit:

K1: Paris has many various museums, most of which are art. They also have many media stores and electronic shops. Lastly, they have many easy to recognize landmarks.

K2: In Paris we saw the Mona Lisa. We went to Euro-Disney and went on a bunch of roller coasters. They had two great malls too.

KK: Near Paris they have Disney land called Euro Disney. And the eiffel tower of course. But also the home of the Mona Lisa.

How do you feel about going home today?

K1: I feel refreshed about going back to the familiar. It feels like a long day of work done. I look forward to seeing my cats and my room.

K2: I feel great because I can see what has changed in the neighborhood.

K3:I have emotions, Happy, Exited, and, supercalafragileisticexpealadosios.

Name 3 things you will always remember about this trip and why?

K1: I will always remember paragliding because it was a new and exciting experience. I will always also remember my day in Euro-Disney because it was a day I went on more roller coasters than I ever have in my life. Finally, I will never forget the barge because it was the most laborious week in my life.

K2: I will remember paragliding, Euro-Disney, and I will remember the barge because it was rainy all week.

What is the single most important thing you learned on this trip and why?

K1: I learned the practice of team and hard work.
K2: scary things seem safe when you do them.

Our last leg - a week inParis

It is Saturday, August 18, and we have been in Paris since Monday. What a culture shock after floating around in the French hinterlands and to be staying in Paris. The weather has improved somewhat (at least it is not raining ALL the time) but it is also slow as you would expect Paris in August to be. We are having fun doing all of the touristy things eg museums, Montmartre, boat rides up and down the Seine, etc. Kiernan has been honing his French and Madeleine has slowly ceased speaking Italian to French waiters. Our hotel is very cute and quite comfortable in the 8th Arrondisement (it was used in the remake film "Something about Charlie". We are trying hard not to think about returning in a couple of days but it's hard... Also I'm trying not to think too hard about the market meltdown either... Anyway, this will be our last post from Europe - it's been just an unbelievable trip! Thanks for joining us via blog!!!

Canal Barge in France

After Interlaken, we drove to Corbigny in Burgundy to pick up our barge for our (what we thought) leisurely cruise through the French countryside. As it turns out, it was a lot of work with the whole family pitching in: Kiernan was our rope guy who landed at each of the 60-odd locks we went through, Kyle and Kerrick were our 'stick boys' who made sure we didn't ram into anything, and Madeleine who guided me into each of the narrow locks. It pretty much rained almost the entire time and each day we struggled to make the required distance and find a decent landing to tie up in (i.e. somewhere with electricity, water, and food). And of course, the best part was adapting to life on a 38-foot barge with its weird nautical plumbing... Anyway, it was a great experience and the family was happy but exhausted at the end of it when we tied up in Joigny. We then made our way by train to Paris.

Hi there! For a bunch of reasons, some technical and some not, we haven't posted anything in a while. Therefore, here are some catch-up of Switzerland - including the paragliding thing the kids did... We went up to the top of Junfrau and had a visit with my friends Anna and her family and Jennifer and her family. We traveled to Interlaken from Venice by car in one day through some very long tunnels and through some beautiful mountain passes.

Last day in Italy...

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

We have been in Venice the past 4 days and are leaving Italy tomorrow AM for Switzerland (we’ve been here for about a month!). The heatwave has definitely broke and the weather has been glorious. Anyway, from the kids…

K1

We have now come to Venice. But before Venice I’d like to talk about one of my favorite places in Rome, the Cat Sanctuary. The Cat Sanctuary is a set of ruins where cats mysteriously started to inhabit. A group of people built a center in the ruins to help the cats. In the center, there is a room where the cats that are handicapped sleep, eat and rest. Here are some pictures. Now for Venice. In Venice, road streets are replaced with canals, and cars are replaced with boats. Taxis are motor boats and pleasure rides are in Gondolas. The city is almost entirely man built. Neighborhoods are entire islands and to cross over canals you have walk over bridges.

K2

We have come to Venice. But back in Rome was great. In Rome we went to a place with a bunch of cats called the cat sanctuary. The cat sanctuary is made up of four temples with unique names that I dare you to remember, temple a, temple b, temple c, and temple d. Well in Venice we went to the grand canal, rode a gondola, went to a music concert, and we went to the glass factory which was giving a demonstration of how glass was made there.

kk

Hello, we are in Venice right now. Venice is the place with the water streets and boats as there special transformation. We’ve been on 2 boats. 1 is a gondola which doesn’t have a motor and you use a paddle to move. The other is just a motor boat like usual. We’ve also seen how they make glass especially for this island. Next there is no danger hear because the land is on water. There is amazingly 420 bridges and 420 gondolas. But what sucks is that the water is almost like poison. There is 1 big square that has over 500 pigeons in it. And remember we are in VvvvEeeeNnnnIiiiCcccEeee!!!!

Finally in Venezia

Well, we had a good train ride up from Rome (about 4 hours and the A/C worked almost all the way up). Our hotel in Venice is great and in a wonderful part of town. There are not that many tourists here for some reason (it seems only 2/3rds full). Anyway, here are a couple of shots...

2 more of Rome...

A small dome in the Vaticann and Piazza Navone...