Warning: This is an extremely long post with no pictures. I will post pics later. Do not feel obligated to read this entire thing or even part of it. I just wrote it all down for my own good.
Get up after 3 hrs of sleep, gets kids ready and out the door to the airport. Rush to get in line & after waiting for a while realize you are in the wrong line, and actually you aren't even flying on that airline. poop. Grab kids and baggage and RUN to the other end of the airport, get checked in only to wait in another beautifully long line for the security check. And no, you can't go through the family/handicapped line, that is for double strollers only. Let me say this right now, I have been through security lines all over the country and in other countries & Orlando's is by far the WORST. Seriously, no help, no ushering the single mom with her 3 kids to the front of the line, just wait 1.5 hrs to get through this huge line and then you had better hurry it up to get all those kids things in the right bins and get them all through that security thing, one. at. a. time. sheesh. Finally get through security. James asks if we can get breakfast, I look at my watch. Our plane LEAVES in 10 mins. kids. grab your bags & run! I didn't even put Sophie's shoes back on. We ran onto the plane and the plane pulled out. Close call. 5hrs later we land in Phoenix, and one more 1.5 hr flight we were all safely landed in UT. We then met with family and friends throughout the day, it was so great to see them all. Then that night I met with all my old friends from Spring Creek Ranch for a Carb load. I had so much fun with all of them. They are like an extension of my family to me, my other sisters. Love you girls.
June 10th.
tried to get 8 hrs of sleep. not really working out. Carb load, drink water. Pick up my packet. Let kids play with their cousins and friends they had all missed so much. Pack James & Harrison up for Fathers & Sons. They were going with their Grandpa Morrise & had a fabulous time. They are still talking about the bonfire. Apparently it had 12 pallets piled up. Thank you Marshall for doing that with them, I am sure they will never forget it.
June 11th.
Day of the Utah Valley Marathon. 2 amazing hrs of sleep, up @ 2:45 am to get ready and off to the busses for the race. Went with my brother Jeremy & sister Amy. I was freezing, didn't realize how much I had gotten used to warm FL. We were all really nervous about the race. I didn't know how the dry air, elevation and rolling hills would affect me. Amy had had a bladder infection that week and still wasn't feeling well. Jeremy's wife had just had a baby and he had been with the baby the past two nights in a row. Yeah, we were in all really good shape for the run. we all started together, pretty slow. I wanted to see how my lungs were doing before I picked up the pace at all. At about mile 5 or 6 I realized my lungs were fine and so I picked up the pace a bit and held about an 8:30 the rest of the way. It was a great race. I just had 100% fun with it. Enjoyed chatting with Amy & Jeremy as we ran along and other runners. THen was excited to see Jay @ mile 18 to finish with me. I have never run the second half of a marathon with anyone before & I loved it! He kept me going and those last few miles weren't as painful as they typically are. I came through the finish line at 3 hrs 52 min. And I was perfectly happy with it. My family was there to cheer me on and it was great to see them all. After May and Jeremy came in we took pics and then went out to lunch to Mimi's Cafe' & then off to Jay's soccer game against UVU. Super fun day, so glad to have those memories.
June 12-16th:
Recover. as fast as I can. Ragnar starts 5 days after the Marathon. Lots of protein, lots of cycling, lots of ice, and a little running just to test the waters. I also spent time with old friends and family. My kids got to play with their Friends, Jaxson & Jakson and I got to catch up with everyone i had missed so much. It was great. James & Em came into town and then it was off to to do Ragnar. My kids stayed with Morrise's, I know I left them a lot during this trip.
June 17th & 18th:
Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. For those of you that don't know what the heck I am talking about. It is a 192 mile relay. You have 12 people on your team, split into 2 groups. Van #1 & Van #2. Van #1 has runners 1-6 & Van #2 has runners 7-12. I was in Van#1 with my tow brothers James & Jay. Along with my sister in law Emily, her Dad Ed, and her brother Chris. Our start time was 5:00 am which meant we had to be on the road at 3 am. Another night of no sleep BEFORE the race even began. awesomeness. Once again, I was freezing. We were in Logan and we were running through mountains. I'm not going into details of the race. But I'll say this, it was awesome, it was fun, it was exhausting, it wasn't that hard to do, and I will definitely do it again. I ran a total of 18 miles, I tried to sleep in a HS gym with 300 other people, & almost smothered the man snoring next to me. took my first communal shower, and I no longer feel bad about what my body looks like. throughout the entire race only one guy passed me and I passed 91 other people. Awesomeness. It was a waaaay fun experience and am excited to run it again next year.
June 20th-30th:
Get up early and get to the airport on time cause I'm going to London, England! I once again leave my kids with Gma & left with My brothers Jay & James. And sister in law Emily. After flying hours and hours we get to the London Heathrow Airport, the next morning. So we slept for about 1.5 hrs and went to go see some sights. It was amazing. I love London. I don't love how $$$$ it is, but I love it there. I love the men in their suits, soooooo handsome. I love their accents and I love the respect they show "Her Majesty the Queen". I don't love how cold it is there. I love their hot chocolate and I love Waitrose. That was a little grocery store near our hotel and we went their in morning for bfast. And here is the truth, their breads were better than the ones in Paris. okay Things I want to remember about London....
-Mind The Gap
-Steak & Ale Pie
-Corner Taverns & Pubs
-"I am simplifying it for you, because you have a simple mind!" (old man talking to his wife...hilarious)
-Little boy begging his dad to tell him a story "but daddy, tell me the stoory..." "oh yes, well that is a fantastic story, see...."
-Men there wear gorgeous suits. Ben, you should dress like that. A lot. ;)
-Women there, don't do their make up, ever. except mascara.
-They like bright colors. socks & scarves included, men included.
-Toffee pudding. YUM.
-Hot Chocolate. Lots.
-People there run weird. Prance really, and they always have a backpack one. What is that all about?
-you always need an umbrellar
-Being royalty is the bomb and now I wish I was a princess. or that Ben had been born a prince and fallen in love with me and we could be royalty. Yep.
-Westminster Abbey is so so so so so cool. I didn't even know what it was until I went through it. I was amazed by all the people buried there and all the history there.
-The worlds largest diamond is huge. huge. and is on the end of a gold rod for some king. crazy.
-people live in the tower of London. Weird.
-Love all the corner taverns, pubs, and places like that.
-Buy your train tickets to France well in advance or you will be paying full price to sit in the luggage car. This was my own fault. So just go order food and sit in the dining car. That's what Jay & I did.
& That brings us to France. We were there until the 30th of June.
As soon as we got off the train in france and went to get our tickets for the subway a bunch of Gypsy girls started asking us for money, they wouldn't take no for an answer. You finally just had to be straight up rude and practically yell in their face and they would yell back. I'm not going to lie, I was afraid for my life in that subway. I noticed everyone wore black and everyone hugged their purse close to their chest. I followed their example. We were soon to our apt and discovered it had not been cleaned and did not have sheets or towels and we had no phone to contact to owner. bummer. So here are the French adventures & highlights:
-Emily R & I wandering the streets of France looking for a phone or someone that could contact the owner for us to let them know that we need the apt serviced. WE finally found a kind french lady that let us use her iphone (mine didn't work out there) and we were able to get the situation taken care. THank you kind french lady!
-French women are very kind and will generally help you. French men, not so much.
-The language was not a problem, most places had english menus or the waiter could translate. We never had a real problem with the communication.
-"Tok tok tok" What a french lady said to us as she motioned for us to walk.
-Chocolate, oh French, be proud of your delicious chocolate.
-The lady at the chocolate store, telling us about each type and how it was made and what it is used for. Loved her.
-Bike tour. #1 thing for Europe trip. Touring paris on a bike. does it get any better? I don't think so. The thing I loved about that most was that they didn't just take you to the super touristy sites, you saw all the little things that you would never have known about. like how all the elementary schools have this little black sign on them in remembrance of all the jewish children that were taken away & killed during WWII. very very sad. Or, on a lighter note, how "the invader" had come to paris and put 80's video game characters on buildings to make a map. It was super cool and if you ever go to paris, that is a must.
-The louvre is awesome. my favorite thing was a sculptor called "the gladiator" It was amazing to me. The artist had every vein and muscle exactly right. they didn't miss a thing in it. I could had studied that thing forever. It was super cool. Also really like the broken angel on the ship, can't remember what it was called.
-Food at the Louvre...duck was simply amazing and probably the best thing I ate while in Paris.
-"Merci" "Pardon" "Bon Jour"
-Little shops all over. Very pricey, but beautiful work. People there are very proud of what they sell and they should be. It is all amazing. I'm not talking touristy stuff, I'm talking where the natives shop.
-Mono Prix. Local grocery store where I bought lots and lots of food.
-Flower shops everywhere, my dream. Bring home flowers from the local flower stand.
-desserts desserts desserts. good thing I ran a marathon before I came. I needed to run a marathon EVERY DAY to keep up with the calories I ate there. oh boy. But man it was goooood. Best one...lemon cream tart. and then maybe the tri-chocolate mousse.
-Jan & I ran to Eiffel tower, along the river and around the Louvre. Glad to get some exercise in there.
-Everyone, and their dog, smokes. Everyone. even the kids.
-tiny apt. had to share a bed, a couch bed, and my brother. he was mortified, I laughed.
-no hot water. cooooold showers. But it was hot there so that was okay.
-Hiking up the eiffel tower on the stairs. I'm not going to lie, I was a little afraid.
-Going shopping with Jay to shops, getting treats, creme brulee sandwiches, scarves, shoes and other things for people. Soooo much fun.
-Their roast beef is the best. USA, you don't know what roast beef is.
-Cheese. USA you don't know what cheese is. I hate cheese here, but I couldn't stop eating it there.
-Buying a brick of soft cheese only to realize later that it wasn't a brick of cheese, but a slice of cheesecake. It was a good surprise.
-Pizza with eggplant & mushrooms all rolled up is yummy.
-Versailles. you are cool. insanely cool. meaning, that king was insane. the little village nearby is much more my style. I would live there if I could. The little gardens and cottages were charming and seemed straight out of a fairytale.
-I hate hate hate my suitcase. I will never haul it around again.
And then after a 12 hr flight, 8 hour layover and another 4 hr flight. We were back in UT. Exhausted. Dead. Beat. But we had had an amazingly awesome time so it was worth it. Can't wait to go explore another part of the world next year. And I know I know. I need to post pics, I will. I have some on my phone, my bro has more and when I get to it I will post it all. Right now I have 2 yr old that is screaming at me about Hello Kitty Bandaids. Take care friends.
2 comments:
It took us 17 hours to get to Paris. The village at Versailles was built for Marie Antoinette, who was a commoner and lonely for her old life. We were going to eat at the Louvre, but the day we were there, there was a tremendous rain storm that broke the windows of the Musee D'Orsay across the Seinne from the Louvre and flooded the metro so that we could hardly get off the island. So the outdoor cafe was a no-go. I was so close to one tiny painting, my nose almost touching, that a fussy french docent came bustling up and yelled at me. Like I was GONNA TOUCH IT.
I did not love London, but I did love Paris. I've been there a couple of times in my life, strolling along the book booths along the river, grabbing the gorgeous patisserie, wandering down tiny, dark streets and finding the oddest shops - I just love the feeling of Paris. And only two people out of ALL the people were the least bit rude to us: a nasty restauranteur behind Notre Dame and an English girl in a money-exchanging pit at Montmartre.
they let me try to speak French and were very kind about answering so I could understand.
Lucky you, little girl from a little town in the desert!!
Cam's Lorri ran in one of those marathons you talked about - she did a half. I will not do EITHER half.
It was fun seeing you and I'm glad you had a blast! One of the names for that statue is Winged victory. It was a ships bulk head and was supposed to be the goddess Nike. There were several that were found, and that one was the most intact... funny isn't it!
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