Ramblings and Pictures Galore
(Coming Soon. Maybe. It's going to take months to go through all these pictures.)

If it's not obvious by the first photo, we took our camera on a field trip to Paris. Andy had business there and we went a few days early to see the sites. I didn't want to go. I don't speak French. I'm overwhelmed enough with life with two little pipsqueaks, when do I have time to pack a suitcase? Much less plan a trip to an exotic place like Paris. And ride on an airplane for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT?!? He insisted. So, we left the kids with Grandpa and Grandma and had a great trip.

So here's where the ramblings part comes in. I want to tell you something about the Atlantic Ocean. It has special powers. Somewhere, between here and there, several strange changes take place. When you board the plane in Chicago, everyone gets on speaking English. They pay for their Duty Free goods in dollars. And it's 1:30 pm. Then, you sit suspended for 8 hours in a blue sky, looking down at puffy white clouds, and more blue water. If not for the enormous marshmallows, it would be just a blue abyss. When at last the plane lands on solid ground again, your English speaking companions suddenly speak nothing but French. Everyone's dollars have transformed into euros. Except yours. You have to pay 14.5% at the money changing counter. And even though you only sat for 8 hours, it's 14 hours later and 6 hours of your life have disappeared. Namely the 6 hours that you were going to sleep that night. But don't worry. Those 6 hours of living will be kept safe and sound in the blue expanse and you can pick them up on your way home. Your euros won't need to change back to dollars because you'll have spent them all. And you'll return home speaking French. At least a little anyway.

That's all there is to France, right? The Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, now we can go home!

I'll keep plugging away as the children permit. (I only took about 450 pictures, so it should only take a few minutes. Ha.)