Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower

Paris or Bust!

We left Jason in Switzerland to go to work and we arrived in Paris on Monday the 13th. We didn't realize that the museums are closed on Monday. So off we went to see the sights on foot. We did tons of walking. We did get to see Napoleon's tomb. That is a beautiful place.We were having some fun on the Seine.
That evening we were at the Arch de Triumph.

We went up to the top and had a gread view!

The next day was a holiday - Bastille Day. We waited 2 hours for the military parade to start. Let's just say that we finished watching it at the hotel on the tv. Definately have to be a military finatic to have enjoyed it. Since it was a holiday, almost everything was closed. We did go to Notre Dame and that evening we watched the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. That was well worth the wait. However, they didn't start until 22:45. My pictures didn't turn out but I did get some good video. I'll see if I can post it.

The cousins at the military museum at the Invalides.

The armor was beautiful. However, I couldn't believe that children this small went into battle. Maybe it was only for protection when traveling from one place to another. I don't know but it said it was for "enfants" (children in French)

The brothers messing around with the brother in-law taking the pictures.

Katelyn doing some thinking.

Kecia and the family in front of the Louve.

Katelyn and her Uncle Zeb having some fun. I wish the picture was more clear.

Trying to catch up on some sleep. They were heading back home the next day.

We had fun! They definately did a lot of walking. We saw quite a few places during their 2 week stay. Many games of Spades and Rummy were played. Lots of pasta, pizza, salami, cheese, crackers and bread were eaten! Our house is so quiet now. We miss them but will see them soon. Memories were made and will be reflected on many times over.

Onward to Venice!

The next morning we met up in Milano at the train station. We had some time to kill before catching the train to Venice.
We checked into our hotel which was nice and directly across the street from the train station - Venice Maestre. After we checked in Jason went and bought tickets for us to take the train over to the islands. That sign on the bottom left had some very important information but we didn't see it and the ticket lady didn't mention anything!

The most important thing to know in Italy is that you have to have your tickets validated at the yellow machines. Well Jason passed out the tickets and we hopped onto the train. We didn't know about the yellow machines because all of our tickets up to this point have been reservations. There was the ticket guy standing right by us on the platform and got onto the train with us. Well he informed us that our 13 (1 euro/tickets) were not valid and we had to pay the fine. Which was 50 Euros per ticket and paid in cash!!!! Needless to say we were targeted and very upset! The only good thing was that we only had to pay for 7 and not 13!

That little incident did us in for the rest of our time in Venice. We were only there for one more day and it seemed one day too much.

Anyway, here is a cute picture of the cousins, Isabella and Katelyn!

They had a gondola ride. I don't think it was a romantic one for the lovebirds.

This is a great picture of Kecia and her family!

This little guy, Sergio, was a trooper! He did great! He had a rough start with the time change and sleeping but he finally caught up and I think his mom and dad finally got some sleep too!

U2 Concert in Milano

They were able to get in some sight seeing before the concert. Abe & Kecia in front of the cathedral.
Jason, Kecia and Pasquinel somewhere in Milano.

All I can say there were tons of people and they had excellent seats.

It was a great performance and Abe got some great shots with his camera!

They had a great time!

Trip to Stresa, Italy

Hello everyone! I hope to finish posting all the trips from the past 2 weeks but I don't know. I still have to pack for the U.S.A.

We made it to Stresa, Italy and stayed at the wonderful hotel "La Palma". It definately wasn't the typical european hotel that we normally stay at. It was very nice! This was the view from Zeb and Kelly's room. We all had rooms facing that direction but Kelly took a nice picture to show everyone! We had quite a few clouds the first night but it was really nice. The weather was perfect! Zeb, Kelly and Tira had some fun taking a snapshot of themselves! We took a boat the next day to see what was on 2 of the islands in Lake Lugano. Jason and I snapped a picture of ourselves. Jason had me pose. The views were definately very pretty. Zeb and Kelly got a good picture of a peacock. Some of us headed up to the top of the mountain via a tram. Jason, Kecia, Abe and Pasquinel headed to Milan for the U2 concert.We didn't realize we had another 20 minute hike up to the very top. It was hard pushing the strollers because the road was so uneven. Katelyn and her Uncle Zeb were happy campers at the top!We thought it would be funny for Zeb to take a picture with me enjoying the view since Jason headed to Milan. Everyone always says that they look so much alike and everyone would probably think it was Jason. Anyway, it's a great picture of the mountains. The kids had some fun on the lake side.

I had to post a picture of Zeb and Kelly. They were having their date night. They considered this trip their pre-honeymoon. They are getting married August 8th in Albuquerque.

So I say goodbye to Stresa and hello to Milan and the U2 concert.

The Family has Arrived!!!

4th of July finally came and we were very excited to have Jason's siblings coming to visit us. We decided to go up to Zurich early and walk around the down town area. It was a nice day but that sun was hot. We headed over to the airport early and Jason had some Starbucks coffee.
The airplane landed 15 minutes early and they didn't have any trouble. In the following picture, Uncle Jason explained to Isabella and Francisco about the trains and standing behind the line. Those trains go really fast thru the depot.

We had quite a few laughs at the airport. There was 14 of us, 1 dog and tons of luggage. When we arrived in Neuchatel, I had to get a picture of us walking down the main street in the rain!

Katelyn was thrilled to get a matching Hello Kitty outfit that was the same as her cousin Isabella.

Sunday morning, we set out to explore Neuchatel.

It has been pretty humid since they have been here and the high has been around 78 degrees. They haven't been able to see the Alps because of the haze.

Pasquinel had fun comparing himself to a Smart car.

Today, we did the toboggan run. I think the big kids had as much fun as the little kids!

We had some incidents. Poor Francisco got a good burn on his hand. Devin got stung by a bee 4 times on his back and hand. Kecia got thrown off the toboggan. They all kept on going for another ride.

I think everyone is caught up on sleep or they may just keep taking those afternoon naps. We shall see what tomorrow brings. We are heading to Italy. Ciao!