Reunited in Paris...

We crashed, and slept well.  I was on my own without my soldier husband to navigate the foreign country.  I was pregnant and with 2 children... I got a map of the city while Aeris was still sleeping, and was not afraid to ask the concierge the easiest way to get to the Eiffel Tower.  If Rick had been there he wouldn't have asked and may have ended up going in circles before we made it to the tower (I'll explain about that when I talk about our trip to Berlin).  I spent some time in the wee hours figuring out the map and the train system.  I didn't want to miss Rick at the tower, so we got ready and left.  I didn't know how I was going to find him and that was my only thought, not that I was about to see and experience a huge icon of the world.  I just wanted to make sure that I found Rick.  We followed the crowd once we were out of the subway... and it didn't take long to be at the foot of the tower...
Again, my only thoughts were on Rick and how to find him, and not the magnitude of what I was then standing directly under.  Aeris stood in awe and Elliot had a potty mouth.  We walked around and back and forth the tower, and I was essentially pacing to find him.  I didn't know what he was wearing and the more I looked around at the crowds I had NO IDEA how I was going to find him.  Panic began to set in...  It was busier than I had expected, why?, I guess I was just naïve... it is the Eiffel Tower.  I was making my third pass with Aeris close by my side admiring the architecture, and Elliot was lagging behind, when I heard a faint scream and movement out of the corner of my right eye.  I turned quickly and found Rick "stealing" Elliot away... Relief set in and I could begin to breath again.  That's when I looked up and understood the gravity of where I was standing.  The tower was MUCH larger than I could've ever imagined.... WOW!
Much of our trip was run of the mill... we went to the Louvre, walked around, went to the Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame... saw the basics...  nothing too notable except for the stories below and then we went home.
Louvre--- first and foremost the Mona Lisa... OVERRATED! I mean Really?!?!  Stand 15 feet away in a crowd to see a 15 X 18 painting... REALLY?!?!?  but I can honestly say that I saw it.
Okay... this is a funny one.  We were in the last room that we were going to visit for the day.  It was not filled with any famous paintings or sculptures... so no guards standing over you.  Rick and Elliot were looking at a painting of the same painting of the same painting... you know the ones that go on and on and on and on... well Rick picked up Elliot to get a closer look and I MEAN closer.  This sound kept going off like an alarm but we didn't know where it was coming from... Rick insisted that Elliot was in the painting and they were just goofing off, when the alarms kept going on and off.  Finally a guard walks in and goes straight to Rick and Elliot.... oh so that's why they alarms were going off...oooppps! Rick apologized and we quickly left the room and the museum.  Good thing that was the LAST room or we may have never seen the Mona Lisa.

We saw the icons and had some time... there just happened to be an indoor water park the building right next to our hotel, so we thought... why not?!?  We didn't pack out suits, but lucky for us there was a sports store right next door as well.  The waterpark didn't allow "shorts" for the boys, so they needed speedos... he he he, and I had quite the pot belly so I had to get a maternity suit (which came in handy at other times too).  Aeris and I picked out matching suits for Daddy Rick and Elliot... they looked so cute in their tiny little suits...  What was really cool was that if you didn't have a suit you can purchase one from a vending machine at the park... yes, a vending machine.

It was a nice trip...