Our First Stop: Paris from May 31 - June 3

The kids in front of our hotel in Paris.

Avery in front of Notre Dame.

Notre Dame from another angle.

Ashler at Notre Dame - feeding the birds...

Avery hit a growth spurt as shown 
next to The Eiffel Tower.

The kids walking toward The Eiffel Tower.  Matt climbing the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.  
Over 700+ stairs and still smiling!

First landing - yep those tiny specs are people
and food stands!  Photo on the right: Ashler and Avery at the top...

Matt and the kids at The Louvre.

Heather's 1st glass of wine in Paris!

Avery doing the splits at The Louvre.

Heather and Avery strolling through 
Luxembourg Gardens.

Avery showing her handstand skills.

Random market in Paris.

Luxor Obelisk.

View of The Eiffel Tower from our boat ride.

Mom & Avery selfie with a sleeping photo bomber...
He is so impressive with his power naps. 

The Birthday Girl on her last morning in Paris.
2 hour train ride at noon and we arrive in Liege, Belgium  

Our family began our 2014 summer adventure Friday, May 30th leaving Minneapolis on a direct flight to our first stop - Paris!  Our flight was the typical overnight flight so our plan was to sleep as much as we could to help avoid jet lag in Paris.  Unfortunately, we had a medical emergency for an Arabic lady on our flight who was having problems breathing so just before heading out over the Atlantic Ocean we were diverted to Labrador which is on the very eastern coast of Canada.  Due to the shorter run-way it was a landing which caused the plane brakes to overheat so we had to wait an extra hour for the brakes to cool before we could take off again.  So much for the direct flight but it only added about 3 hours and we were happy the lady was able to get the medical attention she needed.  We landed in Paris Saturday, May 31st about 11am grabbed our luggage, hailed a cab and sped off to check into The Michelet Odeon Hotel.  Odeon is opera in french so we were right next door to an Opera Hall and could actually hear the singing from time to time.

As you can see by the photos above, we were able to take in many of the sights in Paris and loved every moment!  We were there for 3 nights and truthfully I think we all agreed we could have stayed longer.  Ashler and Avery each got to choose one city/country to go to during our trip and Paris was Avery's choice.  What made it even more special was that she turned double digits - 10 - on our last day in Paris!!!  Oooh La La, C'est Cher!  Next stop Liege, Belgium via train...