Castles, old cities, gardens, Paris, Disneyland

After the wedding we had more fun, seeing castles, old walled medieval cities, more castles, towers of the Eiffel sort, and even Disneyland Paris. Sometimes I wish we hadn't stopped there as our last point of call, because it was what the kids then remembered most, but it is what it is, and it was actually quite fun for us all.

It's so hard to be brief with the photos. 

There are so many photos to troll through, even after I've spent hours deleting!

Princess and knight dancing to their own beat

Exquisitely manicured gardens 

Holding up the princess, or so she would like to think!

The prince...?

Ahh that's better - the princes holding the princess!

Feeling so relaxed. This is St Emillion, 

a little walled city, very quaint, very beautiful. 

Could have spent days there.

Big high tower!!

This skirt was actually that bright, no filter!

Castle built into the river...

Honestly, how beautiful is this?!

But even with that view, the pond with fish is still more interesting...

The first view of the Eiffel Tower!

The closer you get, the more impressive it becomes

Nighttime sparkles on the hour

Ready to brave the chaos!

She was more than ready for the princess castle

A bit of Buzz Lightyear game competition 

No selfie sticks allowed in Disneyland, woohoo!

I was so sick of selfie sticks by the end of the holiday.

And no, I don't own one. 

Mum can be girlie too!

Very excited to get to drive!

Big R2D2 saving the young maiden,
who doesn't actually need saving, need I remind you!
(cue the Brave soundtrack) 

So here the trip ended for my family. 

Not for me however.

I put them on a bus to the airport and sat there with my one bag and backpack.

Couldn't believe my luck.

3 weeks traveling with 6 people, and now I'm only responsible for myself?

Couldn't be, couldn't be...

Anyway, Andrew promptly fell asleep on the way to the airport.

Clearly he needed to prepare himself for the return journey flying solo with 4 kids.

What a champion.

And so begins my Euro40 holiday. 

More on that later.

 

Pre-wedding fun & Dan's birthday

A week in France before the wedding meant lots of hanging out and relaxing. 

At least for us it did, since we weren't the ones getting married!! :)

We stayed here - apartments in an old converted barn.

And had this view, with sunflowers in bloom!

and some of us slept like this (exhausted every night!)

We had a couple dinners like this, at Eugenie's house, where her family hosted us and many others, with large amounts of food! Her dad makes an impressive Paella, I wish I had taken a picture of it!

Dan had a dream of a birthday. 

Uncle Luke found some particularly fun things to do on the day - 

first kayaking around a little city surrounded by river,

...and then we went go-karting! 

Who needs presents when you have a birthday while on holiday in France?! 

I think it was about 10 or 11pm when we finished dinner and sang happy birthday.

Daniel had kind of figured there wouldn't be a candle and cake, so it was a fun surprise.

What a day!

Dan, we love you so much. What a fine young man you are becoming.

Laura got a special treat and got to go to a pottery class with Eugenie's niece. 

Making new friends 

Getting excited about all the wedding and flower girl duties

Trying on shoes, many of them!

Do I like France...or do I love it?!

It's so good being a big cousin

A local summer evening food festival in Eugenie's hometown, St Yrieix la Perche

 

Goodbye St Yrieix (however you say it!)

Thank you for the less than touristy experience of France, it was perfect.

Europe 2015

Long time coming, this post from our July trip. 

I'm not into having to really 'catch up' on my blog, but this trip was worth blogging, and as much as I have slowed my blogging efforts, I really don't want to end just yet. It's such fun to go look back and read stuff, some of which I wouldn't remember otherwise...

Dubai

47 degrees. (that's 116F!!)

What in the world do you do (with kids!) in that kind of heat??

You go inside (shopping mall). 

You find water (water park). 

You go back inside (and up the world's tallest building)!!

The Burj Khalifa, extraordinarily impressive from the outside! 

Going up was definitely a highlight for Daniel, and it was cool (cooler than the temp outside!), 

but honestly I thought the outside was more spectacular.

Such a desert out there!!

London

Cool by comparison, but still warm, especially when we were staying in an apartment on the 3rd story, 87 steps up with no elevator. Wow. Seeing London sights for 2 days was such whirlwind fun. Didn't know what I'd think of London, but I enjoyed the bustling fun of the city. We did all touristy stuff, and the kids loved it. Once we got a replacement pram for our lost one, grrr... we were off!

Chillin' at Buckingham Palace

Stuck in a phone booth.

'Mum, what did you need phone booths for back then?'

 A [fake] Buckinham palace guard.

Kissin on the London Eye

Double Decker bus

 Camera filter fun... the London Eye is huge.

Thank you London for the touristy fun. I hope our pram of 11 years is happy in its new country. Having traveled across the oceans with us countless times, trying to lose us multiple times, it finally succeeded and will most likely live out the rest of its days in the lost baggage cupboard of Heathrow airport!). Farewell. And by the way rogue stroller, your replacement doesn't even compare.

Updated.

Hey Erica, this is for you. My blog. Officially updated!!

(but just quietly I think you should encourage your mom and Aunt Jill to update theirs, as their last blog posts are older than mine. just sayin...)

Eugenie et Luke!!!

What a trip, what a wedding, what a couple.

They're just a little bit too good looking, don't you think?!! 

What a wonderful wedding day, it was a spectacular setting, full of color and fun, all the way from 11am till 5am the next morning! We left at 2am, but most did not! The kids lasted the whole way, except the youngest, who happily fell asleep in the corner...

Congratulations on the best day of your lives!

Sweet flower girls!

Josh must have thought she was pretty cute, 

he brought her flowers!

Cousins looking spiffy

And my boys, though still in shorts, 

are looking clean, and in button up shirts no less!

Hey princess, is that your prince behind you?

A whole lot of family! 

And, you know, getting a photo next to an old castle cause that's what you do.

This was the reception venue!

Pretty awesome really.