Ciao from Rome

Well, we were without wifi while in Florence so I am finally able to update you all oin our last week or so.  The kids are pretty tired by the end of each day and lack the desire and enthusiasim to update the blog, so I;ve decided to take over the job.  Beau's ability to expound endlessly on a subect is only evident verbally.  He has a future with Cliff note writing.
To elaborate on his previous post, Paris was wonderful.  We visitied the palace of Versaille, which for those of you who have never been, is an unbelievable display of art, antiquities and indulgence.  The gardens themselves are not to be believed.  They seem to go on forever and are intricately designed and maintained.  It was a very warm day, but well worthe the effort.
The following day, we went to Sacre Cour (sp) and the surrounding area of Montmare.  Once again, very warm (84 F) and VERY crowded.  Wanted to take the 250 steps to the top, but the line was long and slow moving, so we opted to skip it.  That evening we headed to the Eiffel tower around 10:30 to view at night and to dhopefully avoid long lines.  We still waited in line for almost an hour, but at least it wasn't in the sun!  The view at night was fantastic though, and the kids did pretty well. (except for nick. see photo)  Had to leave the next day for Venice, but really would have liked a day or 2 more in Paris.  Traveling with kids definitely slows you down, but they have truly enjoyed themselves and each other for most of the trip.

Battery is dying on the laptop, so I will re charge and continue in the morning.  Ciao!!

Yesterday we went to Versailli and it was really cool and it was huge!!!  Then later we went to see the Eiffel Tower at night and it was amazing it looked golden!  The next day/today we flew to Venice and took a water taxi to our flat.  

Bon Jour!!

                                                                  Tower in York

                                                              View from bridge in York

                                                                In front of Notre Dame

                                                              View of Tonia's backyard

                                                              

Hi all.  Finally have WI-Fi again, so we need to catch up a bit on our adventures.  We stayed in the Yorkshire Dales with mary's friends, Tania and Robert until Friday morning.  It rained for the most part, but the kids still enjoyed walking the dogs and feeding the chickens and playing cards and hide and seek.  Our hosts were wonderful and fed and entertained us all.  They have a lovely 5 room farmhouse that is probably 2 or 300 years old.  Took the kids to Wensleydale and visited the cheese factory.  Wensleydale cheese was made famous by the Wallace and Grommet series.  It's Wallace's favorite cheese.  Lots of free samples and we got to see them making the cheese.  Again, surprisingly, the kids loved it.  Went back to York on Friday and the moms had a girls night out with Tania, Libby, and Sara (another friend of Mary's). Had a great meal and many laughs then had to get up at 6:30 for our train to London.  Just made our connection in London for the Chunnel train to Paris.

Arrived in Paris around 2:00 and took a taxi to our flat and met up with Mary's friend Ramona, her daughter Kirsten, 10yrs old, and most importantly, Jacob, our 17 yr. old helper/babysitter.  He is a HUGE help navigating 4 very boistorous children.  Spent Sunday on the hop/on, hop/off tour bus around the city and saw Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, and the park near the Eiffel Tower.  Decided to visit the tower at night as it's less crowded and the city lights are said to be spectacular.

Today's agenda includes Sacre Coeur, Monte Mar, a river cruise and then evening visit to the Eiffel Tower.  Tomorrow we go to Versaille and maybe some shopping.  Mom's did have a night out last night for a wonderful French meal and had a great time.  But that is another story.....

We have skipped a few days so we are going to write 3 days worth.  We went to the Tower of London and saw the royal armoury.  We saw Henry the 8th armour and it was huge!!!!  Then we saw the crown jewels and one of them had a 564 karrot diamond on it!!  Then we went to the torture chamber and there was only 3 torture devices in it.  After that we went to Trafalgar Square and climbed on the giant lion statues, then went back to our flat.The next day we took a train to York and went to stay at our friend LIBBY'S house.We went to the park and played on the spinny thing and the zip line! We went for hot chocolate and we got to make our own. They gave us warm milk, chocolate shavings, and whipped cream. I (Maya) put the chocolate into the hot milk and then put some whipped cream in, and mixed it all up. Then after, I put the chocolate into the rest of the whipped cream. It became chocolate whipped cream!!The next day, we went on a big car trip to the Yorkshire Dales. On the way there (to Tania's house - mom's friend) we went to the Forbidden Corner. First, we had a picnic and all the ducks followed us in a giant parade (because we had food!). And they "attacked" us when we ate. All the kids sat up on top of the picnic table to escape. The Forbidden Corner is a huge place, partly outside, partly inside, made up of puzzles/word games and tunnels and freaky stuff. It was so darn cool!!! Now we are at Tania's house, (was a farmhouse), in the dales. This is Maya speaking and have a great day...

Oops!

Just found beau's draft from yesterday so I posted it as well.  Pics are obviuosly before and after.  We are new to this whole blogging thing, so be patient.  Don;t you love Maya's retro 80's jacket?  She LOVES it!!

today we went to Camden Market, Maya bought a green checkered jacket to replace the jacket that she left on the plane and I bought a sorpion necklace.  Then it started to pour, we got soaked and we home went after that but went back out for dinner at a Italion resturaunt.

Day 3

Beau's post from yesterday did not get uploaded, so I'm going to give a quick recap. We had planned a day of sightseeing on Sunday after a visit to Camden market.  It didn't say anything about rain in the forecast, but by 2:00 it started to pour rain and became very windy.  We rushed to the Tube station (luckily,  moms were prepared with umbrellas) but the Camden station was closed due to overcrowding, so we had to walk another 5 minutes or so to the next station.  During this time, our shoes got soaked and our spirits a bit dampened as well. Kids did relatively well, considering the circumstances, but not a very good start to the trip. The kids are a bit wound up with all the excitement and new experiences, but all things considered, they are doing really well and are pretty good travelers.
The kids will add a post tomorrow about their trip to the Tower of London today. 
P.S.  Not sure if you heard about the riots in North London, but we didn't even Tube stations were closed  because of it.