I Just Called to Say...

My friend Ashley from Charlotte came to visit. We were buds when we were only two years old. We used to hang out together at the gym while our mamas worked out.

Actually, Ashley lives in Oklahoma now. Her family moved there when we moved to Atlanta. I guess she couldn't stand the thought of living in Charlotte without me.

Last week, Ashley's family stayed at our house on their way home from Disney World. It was cool to hang out again. After they left, I kept talking about how funny Ashley is; how she made me laugh. I think Mama noticed I kept talking about her.

Mama: "Do you like Ashley?"

Me: "Yeah."

Daddy: "Do you wanna kiss on her?" (He means "kiss her". He throws an "on" in there to improve the cadence.)

Me: mumbling

Mama: "Huh?"

Me (sheepishly): "Yeah..."

Mama: "Do you want Ashley to come visit again?"

Me: "Well I can't kiss her over the phone..."

Smokey Mountains

We spent last weekend in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. It was about a three hour drive from our house. We had to drive through North Carolina, my home state, to get there. I was excited to see my home state again, even if all I saw was pavement.

The place we stayed in Tennessee had an indoor water park where we swam the first day. It also had an outdoor playground where we played every day. Other than that we just slept in and hung out.

On our drive home through Smokey Mountain National Park, we pulled over and took a little hike. While McKenzie fell in the mud, Daddy and I took pictures.

After we got over the mountains and were driving back through North Carolina, I got the urge to go. Daddy said he'd pull over when he found a respectable looking gas station or restaurant. There wasn't much to choose from, though. A few miles later I warned him it was an emergency. "I'm bound to go in my pants," I urged. He pulled over at the next station. Crisis averted.

I'm Thankful For...

Daddy asked me what I am thankful for. Here are the things I told him.

• Daddy & Mama
• McKenzie
• Grandmas & Grandpas
• friends
• teachers
• the trees
• the sky
• clouds
• the sidewalk
• the sun
• the moon
• the stars
• flashlights
• colored leaves
• cars
• pencils
• books
• houses
• walls
• fences
• stairs
• running
• stickers
• fish
• sharks
• plugs
• things that go into plugs
• the oven
• the microwave

Hartley's

We went to Whole Foods last week. One of the things we got there was some Hartley's Strawberry Jam. That's the kind of jam we used to get in London. We'd put it on Mama's homemade biscuits. It's delicious. Whole Foods is the only place we can find it here in the States. They have it in their "international foods" aisle.

The funny thing is, we used to go to Whole Foods in London (the one on Kensington High Street) to get stuff that was hard to find over there, like pumpkin pie filling so Mama could make a pumpkin pie, or aji amarillo so Daddy could make lomo saltado and papa a la huancaina.

Speaking of pumpkin pie: Happy Thanksgiving.

It's Been Such a Long Time

It's been a long time since I've posted. I've been pretty busy with moving into a new house and being in school. I've also been a little sick. I got strep throat and then an ear infection.

The day I was diagnosed with strep throat, I came home and took a nap in the afternoon. When I woke up it was dark outside and I thought I had slept all night. I had something like the following conversation with Daddy:

Daddy: "Do you have to stay home from school tomorrow?"

Me: "I stay home from school today."

Daddy: "You went to school today. You stay home tomorrow."

Me: "Today is tomorrow."

Daddy: "Huh?"

Me: "Mama, why is it still dark outside if I'm awake now?"

I assume you saw Mama's post about Halloween. McKenzie and I had a great time. We got to go trick or treating like three times. We had so much candy we started to give some of it away to trick or treaters.

We're settling into the house now. It feels like home. Mama painted my bedroom. She's going to post some pictures on her blog, so I won't spoil the surprise.

Going to California

Mama and Daddy went to California a couple of weeks ago for a friend's wedding. They left us at home with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a good time, but from the pictures it looks like the scenery was better in California. The wedding was in Mendocino, a few hours north of San Francisco on the coast.

The day after Mama and Daddy came back, we bought a house. We've been moving in slowly over the past few days. More to come on that in future posts.

Gee

Daddy took us to the park a few days ago. Yes, we drove there.

It was the park where we had a run in with the geese last year. This time, we kept our distance and just played on the playground. I expressed my position on whether geese were welcome at the playground: "We don't want the geese to come to this place. We don't want anything to be in this place, especially bad things."

But I allowed for a few exceptions: "Turtles... they can be here."

"Snails." (We used to get snails on our back door in London after a good rainfall.)

"Dogs."

"Cats."

"Slides."

"Swings."

"Popcorn."

"Pinecones."

"But not geese."

Then, with my newfound appreciation for plural nouns, and noting that geese is plural: "If it's one, it's gee."

"Uh, it's goose," Daddy said, stifling a giggle.

"Oh."

Preschool

I just finished my first week of preschool. I go to school at a Methodist church down the street. They're going to teach me the alphabet. I haven't had the heart to tell them that I'm already reading (much less writing my own blog).

I admitted to Daddy today that I liked my school in London better.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Trains."

"They had toy trains at your school in London?" he followed, as if to make sure I didn't mean the real train tracks just a pitching wedge from the school there.

"Two."

I do like my new school, though, even if they don't have trains.

Just Keep Swimming

We've been hanging out a lot at Grandma and Grandpa's pool since we got back. McKenzie has taken to the water like McCain to Bush's tired policies. She keeps doing the same thing over and over. Check her out.

For a while I was content to just watch from the sidelines. I'm not that strong a swimmer. But with McKenzie showing me up, I sucked it up and went for it.

I'm planning to start jumping off the diving board the day after tomorrow.

We're Back

We made it back. After an hour taxi ride to Gatwick, a nine-hour flight to Atlanta, an hour-and-a-half getting through customs (you have to go through passport control, collect your luggage, go through customs, recheck your bags, go through security, and then re-collect your bags), and an hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we were pretty tired. We slept, went to church, then slept some more (after church... not during).

It's been fun to be back. I got to go to primary with my friend Riley (Benjamin was away on holiday... er, vacation). And I get to sleep in my old bed.

We're trying to get back into the lifestyle: driving everywhere, fast food on every corner, high fructose corn syrup. One thing I didn't miss when I was gone was political news coverage. Like this one, which was the "top story" on Daddy's My Yahoo! page: Election a Study in U.S. Patriotism. The story leads with this summary:

The U.S. presidential election presents a sharp contrast between two types of patriotism: John McCain stands as a war hero. His rival Barack Obama calls Americans back to the can-do spirit of the nation's founders. In November the candidates will find out which style appealed more to voters...

Huh? This election is about patriotism? Excuse me, but I think that's ridiculous. Shouldn't it be about whether everyone here has access to good healthcare, like our friends in other countries? Or about whether our country acts like a bully on the global playground or like the kid that everyone wants to have around? Or about whether we're going to stay addicted to petrol?

Is patriotism all you've been talking about while I've been gone?

Goodbye London

Tonight is our last night in London.

Last night, we ate at a noodles place called Wagamama near London Victoria station. The train ride there and back was my last train ride in London. Walking around the streets today, we realized that it would be the last time we would walk around these streets we've called home for the last nine months. This afternoon we went to the park near our house for the last time.

I'm excited to go back to Atlanta, but I'll miss London. I made a list of the things I think I'll miss the most.

5. The fresh air - It never gets too hot here. None of the houses even have (or need) air conditioning. On a nice day, we'd open the windows in the front and back of the house and just let the breeze flow through. It felt so nice. Even when it rained, we'd keep a few windows open a crack and listen to the rain tap dance on the pavement.

4. The food - You might not believe it (unless you've read The Omnivore's Dilemma) but the food tastes better here. The strawberries are better; the blueberries are better; the blackberries and raspberries are better; the eggs and the cheese are better. They taste like they came from the farm in your backyard.

3. The sites - There are so many great museums here (that are also free). And I loved seeing the London Eye whenever we took the train into London. I'd shout, "Look Mama! The London Eye!" loud enough for the whole train to hear. Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, the HMS Belfast... there's so much cool stuff to keep a kid busy and happy.

2. Cities and towns built for walking - We survived for nine whole months without ever driving a car. We walk to the library, to the grocery store, to school, to church, to the restaurants, to the train station. The cities are built for trains and walking (or for kids like me riding their scooters), and it feels so good to get out and walk every day. Not to mention that we've been completely oblivious to (and immune from) gas prices. In Atlanta, we'll have to drive to a park to be able to have a place to walk around.

1. My friends - I've made some good friends while I've been here: friends from school and friends from church and friends from a lot of different backgrounds and countries. It's been really fun.

There are things I've missed about the States that I'll be glad to have back, like my friends in Atlanta and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, but I'll write about those things some other time. For now, I'm saying goodbye to London.

My Toys Moved to Atlanta

Remember nine months ago when my toys moved to London? Well, yesterday they moved back to Atlanta. The movers came and packed up all our toys and stuff and sent it on its way. The house looks pretty bare now.

After all our stuff was gone, McKenzie turned to Mama and asked, "Is this our house?" It is for two more days.

Clapham Common Ward

Today was our last Sunday at church before we go back to Atlanta. We said goodbye to all our friends. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've told you much about our ward: the Clapham Common Ward.

Our ward is a pretty small ward, and a very diverse one. There are a lot of people who were born in Africa, some who are from Jamaica, a few born-and-raised Brits, and a handful of Americans, like us. And for semesters at a time, there are exchange students from BYU who come to the ward to help out.

Our first Sunday here, there were about 70 people in Sacrament Meeting. These days, it's probably closer to 90. Mama plays the piano in Sacrament Meeting and is in the Primary Presidency. On many days, she would play the piano in Sacrament Meeting, teach the lesson in the older Primary class (there are only two classes: one for those less than 8 and another for the older kids), lead Singing Time, and run Sharing Time. When BYU exchange students are here, they often help as primary teachers and sometimes take over the piano playing.

My Primary class has about 3-5 kids in it. I'm the youngest. The next youngest is my friend Kae (he's 6). When I showed up, he was so excited not to be the youngest anymore that he took me under his wing and helped me out.

Daddy teaches in Elders Quorum. His days aren't quite so hectic. But he tries (not very successfully) to keep me and McKenzie entertained on Sunday afternoons while Mama takes a nap after her busy morning.

Anyway, we said goodbye to all that today. I'm excited to be able to go to church with my friends Benjamin and Riley when I get back to Atlanta, but I'll miss my friends here in London.

Thames River

We're down to our last week before we go home to Atlanta, so we've been cramming in some last minute sightseeing. This last week, Mama took McKenzie and me to the Victoria & Albert Museum and to Buckingham Palace. Yesterday, we took a boat ride down the Thames.

We rode on the City Cruises line. We got on at Waterloo Millenium Pier and cruised out to Greenwich. Along the way, we passed the HMS Belfast, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, and the Tower Bridge, all sites I've experienced close up.

It was raining the whole time, so it was hard to take pictures, but it was still fun. When we got to Greenwich, we checked out the National Maritime Musuem. We had been there months ago, but it was cool to go back. One thing I'm really going to miss about London is the museums. There are a lot of them; they're really cool; they're free; and they have fun stuff for kids.

Bekonscot Village

Saturday was my birthday. I turned four. To celebrate, we went to the Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield. To get there, we took a train to London Victoria, then a bus (a double-decker) to Marylebone Station, then another train to Beaconsfield. Bekonscot is the oldest model village in the world. It's big, too. It had a model zoo, model churches, and model country clubs and a golf course. My favorites were the model trains. They would stop at the stations for a few minutes as if to pick up passengers, then they would move on. McKenzie's favorites were the model playgrounds, complete with slides and swings.

After we got home, we had a bunch of friends over for dinner and birthday cake. You can read about that on Mama's blog.

Besides getting to ride on trains and double-decker buses and getting to see the coolest model village, I got some other things for my birthday. I got a toy pirate ship, some books to read, and a new train. I wish I could have a birthday everyday.

See Jane Run

Mama's been teaching me how to read. I think I'm getting pretty good at it.

Covent Garden

On Saturday, we went to Covent Garden Market. To get there, we took the Northern line to Leicester Square and transfered to the Picadilly line to Covent Garden. (For you out-of-towners, here's how to pronounce Leicester.)

The Covent Garden tube station is one of the few stations that doesn't have an escalator. You can either take a lift or the stairs. We didn't feel like waiting in the queue for the lift, so we took the stairs. As you turn to go up the stairs there's a sign that says that there are 195 stairs. Daddy looked at Mama with a look that said, "You up for this?" Mama nodded and up we went.

195 stairs is a lot of stairs. It was easiest on McKenzie. Mama carried her half the way. I climbed all 195, but admitted to being tired. Daddy didn't admit as much, but he was breathing heavier than I was.

There are some shops at Covent Garden Market, but the coolest bit was the street performers. The best were these two jugglers.

After Covent Garden, we took a bus over to Hyde Park. We got ice cream cones, ran around a bit, and then walked along the Serpentine. It was a beautiful day; a perfect day for a walk in the park.

English Countryside

We experienced a bit of the English countryside yesterday. Daddy's friend from work, Clive, and Clive's wife Jen invited us out to their place in Goring. Goring is about an hour train ride west from Paddington Station.

Goring is a beautiful little village along the Thames River. We walked along the river for a bit and then had a little picnic by the riverside. We played fetch with Clive and Jen's dog, Saphy. After the picnic we fed the swans. That's Saphy in the picture, helping me feed the swans.

After the swans, we walked to a village pub and had some hot chocolate. It was my first British pub experience (or any pub, for that matter). Village pubs are more like little cafés: good places to sit and chat and have a beverage.

After hot chocoloate, it was time for us to go. We had so much fun in Goring, we slept like logs all night.

The Queen's English

Daddy thinks I've picked up a bit of an accent. He says my os are sounding more like a combination of "oh" and "oo". I guess it's particularly noticable when I say Volvo.

I've picked up a few colloquialisms as well. It began when I started using the term garden like the British do, and stopped thinking of the phrase "paved garden" as an oxymoron. Then, I started refering to airplanes as aeroplanes. Finally, Mama caught me pronouncing schedule like the British, where the first syllable sounds like shed.

I suppose I've truly begun speaking like a proper Englishman.

Black Pudding

Yesterday, I did something else my ancestors might have done: I tried black pudding. Black pudding is part of a traditional English breakfast, along with baked beans, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast.

I didn't eat all of those things, but I did try some black pudding. The first bite was alright, but by the second bite I couldn't do any more. When we got back to the hotel room and did a Google search for black pudding, I realized why.

Black pudding is also known as blood pudding, as in you make it by cooking blood with a thickener until it congeals.

My ancestors may have eaten blood pudding, but I think I've had enough to last a lifetime.

Roots

While you were celebrating the launch of an insurgency that went on to overthrow an occupying power, I discovered my roots yesterday.

We took a two-and-a-half hour train ride from London north to Preston. Daddy spent a few hours in the Lancashire Records Office poring over some old parish records while Mama, McKenzie, and I wandered around Preston and stumbled across some memorials to early church members.

Daddy found the birth record for my great great great great great great grandpa John Bromley (Brimley). He was born in 1739 in Leyland, near Preston. He also found the marriage record for his dad, John Bromley in 1732, and a few other records.

Next, we took a train five minutes south of Preston to Leyland, where these ancestors lived. We went to the church there, St. Andrews, where they were all christened and married. It's a really old church with a big cemetery. We wandered around the cemetery looking at gravestones. We saw some from the 1800s. There were some older ones, but they were so worn you couldn't tell what they used to say. I kept asking Daddy, "Does this one have grandpa's name?", but we couldn't find it.

Anyway, it was neat to walk around the same area where my ancestors walked as long as 300 years ago.

After Leyland, we took a train an hour south to Liverpool. Liverpool is where my great great great grandfather, William Jedediah Brimley, left England with his family to go to Utah. He was seven years old at the time.

By the time we got here to Liverpool (I'm in Liverpool now), it was late so we just grabbed some dinner and hit the sack. Today we went down to the waterside and went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They had an exhibit about emigrants that left from Liverpool to go to other countries. They had this little room set up like a ship's lodging quarters would have been in the old days. Maybe this is what my great great great grandpa's ship was like.

I wonder how they felt when they left. Maybe like I felt when I left to come to London: missing my family and friends and toys, but excited about the new adventure. I wonder if they imagined their descendants might come back. I wouldn't be surprised if they did, but they probably never though that we could get here in less than a day (with a half-day flight from the States, and a two hour train ride from London). Well, I've completed the circle.

Wimbledon Village Fair

Last Saturday we went to the Wimbledon Village Fair. You've probably heard of Wimbledon. They play tennis there.

We weren't at the tennis courts, though. We were at a park. They had big slides and a merry-go-round and a bunch of booths selling trinkets. They also had face painting. Mine is a lion. McKenzie's is a butterfly.

Ten Year Old Shadow

Last night after dinner, Daddy took us to the park. By the time we were done playing, the sun was kissing the horizon. I noticed my shadow and told Daddy, "My shadow is really tall, like it's ten years old."

He said that when the sun gets close to the horizon, it's gravitational pull distorts the time dimension and makes our shadows get older.

South Bank

Yesterday we walked along the South Bank of the Thames. We took the Northern Line (that's the tube for you out of towners) to Waterloo and then just walked along the river.

Just after we came out from the Underground, we saw a procession of different planes flying in formation overhead. There must have been an air show somewhere.

We also played at a playground near the London Eye, saw a bunch of street performers, and got some ice cream cones from an ice cream truck.

We walked down past Shakespeare's Globe theatre and on to the HMS Belfast, almost to the Tower Bridge.

The HMS Belfast is a navy ship that doesn't ship anymore. Now it's just a museum. Here's me in the captain's chair. "Let's get this tin can turned around!"

A Little More Challenging

Every night, before I go to sleep, Mama reads me a few bedtime stories. Usually she reads me one of my favorites, or a book we've checked out from the library. This week, she started reading me A Bear Called Paddington. Seeing as how we've been to Paddington Station, she figured I might want to know about the bear.

I wasn't getting it, though. Last night, as she was reading, I interrupted her.

"Excuse me, mama. Can we read something a little more challenging, with pictures in it? 'Cause I don't know what you're talking about."

She laughed and then read me Goodnight Moon instead. Then I think she wrote about it on her new blog, A Mother's Prerogative. Her blog is more about our day-to-day lives from a mother's perspective. Hopefully she won't tell all my embarassing stories, like the time I got up to pee in the middle of the night and slipped and fell into the toilet.

Half Term

It was half term this week. That means that I didn't have school all week. We filled up the time with a lot of activities. I'm worn out.

On Monday, we took the bus tour I told you about in my last posts.

On Wednesday, I went to a jump zone with my Iranian friend, Danny. Actually, Danny was born in the UK, but his parents are from Iran. I told him I was sorry about the whole Shah thing. He said he didn't hold me responsible. Now we're allies.

On Thursday, I went to the Natural History Museum with my Jamaican friends, Kae and Lynden. Actually, they're more British than they are Jamaican, but they do have Jamaican blood in them.

On Friday, I was supposed to go to the London Aquarium with my Russian friend, Katrina. She couldn't make it, though, so we went ahead without her. We realized that we've already been to the best aquariums in the world (the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta). The aquariums in Paris and London are okay, but they don't compare.

On Friday night, I had my first sleep over. Kae and Lynden came over and spent the night.

On Saturday, we went to Richmond and walked around. Richmond is a short train ride west of here. It's known for being a posh inner suburb of London. Mick Jagger lives there (the Rolling Stones were discovered there). We walked along the River Thames and up to the highest point in Richmond Park. It's a pretty place. I can see why Mick Jagger gets his satisfaction there.

Stonehenge

Our last stop on the bus tour was Stonehenge. I think Grandpa's going to be jealous that we got to see it, so I'll give him all the details: It's a bunch of rocks out in the middle of nowhere.

Actually, it was pretty cool. It's an impressive sight. Those Stonehengers must have been pretty strong to lift all those rocks. Unless, of course, they had help from the aliens...

I guess the story of Stonehenge and the mystery is what make it so interesting. Maybe Grandpa will tell me about it some day.

We took about 15-30 minutes walking around Stonehenge and taking lots of pictures. Then we got back on the bus and headed back to London. It was a busy day visiting three cool sights, but it was fun. As the tour guide said, we can now tick all those boxes.

Bath Time

From Windsor Castle, the bus drove us about two hours west to Bath. Bath has a pretty interesting history. Back when England was part of the Roman Empire, the Romans built Roman baths from the hot springs. They must have had pretty big families, because those baths were pretty big. The Great Bath was the first thing we checked out when we arrived.

Mama's favorite author, Jane Austen, lived in Bath for a while and wrote some books there. We paid homage by going to the Jane Austen Centre and perusing the book store there. If we'd had more time, we would have gone through the museum, but the bus wasn't willing to wait for us.

We did get to walk through some of Bath's streets. We walked past Sally Lunn's, home of the apparently famous Sally Lunn's Buns. It's been around since 1680, so maybe even Jane Austen enjoyed a bun or two. There was a line out the door waiting for buns, though, and the bus was getting anxious, so we missed our chance to try a 300 year old bun.

Windsor Castle

Monday was Memorial Day in the States and Spring Bank Holiday here in the UK. That means that I didn't have school and Daddy didn't have work. We celebrated by spending six hours on a bus.

It's better than it sounds. We took a tour bus to some sights we'd wanted to see. We took a train to London Victoria first thing in the morning, then walked to the Victoria Coach Station, where we started the bus tour. Our first stop was Windsor Castle.

An interesting thing about Windsor Castle is that the Queen still lives there sometimes. You can walk through the State Apartments when she's not there (which we did). There's a huge dining hall, the Waterloo Chamber, with a big long table that would fit my whole entourage of pretend friends, and then some.

There's also a huge doll house (Queen Mary's Dolls' House) on display at the castle. It was big enough to park a bunch of my big toy cars in its garages.

We only had about two hours to spend at Windsor Castle before we had to get back on the bus. I'll tell you where we went next in my next post.

Wrapping Up

On Wednesday, we went to the Paris Aquarium. It was actually kind of lame compared to other aquariums I've been to (Chicago & Atlanta).

When Daddy finished work, we all went to Angelina, near Jardin des Tuileries. It's supposed to have the best hot chocolate in Paris. I don't drink hot chocolate, but Mama said it was good. But what really got her talking was the chocolate pastry we ordered. I tried some of it too and it was great. Tasted like silk, but a lot better, since I don't imagine real silk tastes all that good.

Thursday morning, we headed back to the Gare du Nord station, boarded the Eurostar, and headed back to London. The week in Paris wore McKenzie and me out so much that we slept all the way home.

Versailles

On Tuesday, Daddy had to do some work in Paris, so Mama, McKenzie, and I went to the Palace of Versailles. Versailles is south of Paris so we had to take a train to get there. Now, you know I like trains, and I like double-decker buses, but get this: they have double-decker trains in Paris! We rode on one to get to Versailles. Versailles was beautiful. The grounds were cool. We walked all over and checked out all the fountains. These French really know how to do their palaces.

After we got back, and after Daddy finished work, I talked Mama and Daddy into taking us out at night to see the Eiffel Tower lit up. We didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight, but I've decided I like the nightlife.

Jardin du Luxembourg

On Monday in Paris, we took a stroll down the Promenade Plantée, an elevated park in east Paris. Then we went south of the river Seine to the Jardin du Luxembourg, one of the largest parks in Paris. There's a big pond/fountain in the middle of the park, where kids bring their little sailboats and push them in. They wait for them to sail back to the edge and then push them back again. Check out the video.

There's also a statue of my Uncle Jed in the park. At least it looks kind of like him...

After hanging out in the park, riding the merry-go-round there, and sitting down on the grass with hundreds of other people while we ate a snack, we walked north across the river to the Île de la Cité. There was a group of inline skaters there showing off. Here's a video of one of them.

I can do that too, and I don't need skates to do it...

Our Lady

After we checked out the Louvre, we walked East along the Seine and across to the Île de la Cité. The Île de la Cité is an island in the middle of the Seine. Apparently, it's where Paris started. It's also where Notre Dame is.

We admired the cathedral from outside, then took a walk around inside. It was neat. That makes the second large and famous Catholic church I've been to. Maybe I'll go to St. Peter's Basilica next...

After we had walked around most of the city, we figured it was time for a boat ride. We floated down the Seine. Apparently that's a very touristy thing to do in Paris, but hey, we're tourists. It was a great way to see the city. We saw more great views of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.

Toward the end of the boat ride, we floated past this statue. They call it the Statue of Liberty. Apparently, they made a bigger one too, but they gave that one away...

Champs-Élysées

On Sunday we took the metro to the Charles de Gaule Etoile stop. That's where the Arc de Triomphe is. We checked out the Arc de Triomphe for a while and then walked down the Champs-Élysées. If you're having a hard time pronouncing these names, join the club. But here's a website that helps: http://www.languageguide.org/francais/grammar/pronunciation/. And here's another that teaches you some French: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/. The Champs-Élysées runs from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de Concorde. There are a bunch of shops along there that sell stuff we'd never buy. But there was a cool Puegot store that had some race cars. Check me out in front of my favorite. We walked all the way to the Place de Concorde (a little over a mile) and to the Jardin des Tuileries just beyond Concorde. The Jardin des Tuileries is where the Louvre is. It's a cool park even without the Louvre, but having the Louvre there doesn't hurt. We didn't go in, but we checked out the big I. M. Pei pyramid out front. Mama thought it was cool. Daddy thought it didn't fit in. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new. (By the way, happy birthday Grandpa. He's 70 today. I can't count that high, but Daddy says it's a really big number.)

Eiffel Tower

After we arrived in Paris, we checked in to our hotel. We stayed in La Défense, a business district in the Northwest part of Paris. We then took the Metro to the Champs Elysée Clemenceau stop and walked across and then along the river Seine. We walked toward the Eiffel Tower, but stopped at a little playground on the way. McKenzie got a kick out of the slide.

After a few times down the slide, we headed on to the Eiffel Tower. It was a pretty busy day, so we had to wait in line for tickets for about an hour and a half. The time passed quickly for me, though, cause McKenzie and I took a nap while we waited.

We went up to the very top of the tower. Mama got a little nervous on the elevator ride up, but once we got up there everyone was fine. It was a sweet view from up there. We could see the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and all along the Seine. And from that high up, people look like sprinkles and cars look like candy.