Friends in Seattle and friends in TX

We had our first visitors in April.  Amanda and Jessica (my dear friends from high school) and their husbands came for a long weekend.  We ate lots of seafood, explored all the sights, and drank (or should I say Patrick drank, for 2.  We had to throw them off until we were ready to tell them we were pregnant.).  It was a great time. Thanks for coming guys.

Patrick and I took a trip to Texas in May to spend time with family, see my cousin graduate from SMU, and tell everyone we were pregnant.  Patrick returned to Seattle after a weekend and I stayed on to torture my poor mom and sister with my first trimester woes.  And the last weekend I was in TX, I drove down to Austin with Bonnee, Charlotte, and Shannon (we met Anna there) for our annual girl's weekend.  It was a blast.  Lots of laughter and bbq.  Friends are good!

They were moving the big old silver can so we could have a bonfire that night.  We did and we cooked s'mores.  Yum!

Fetus Wille-2 months

Not too bad...are bellies are still relatively flat.  And check out Pat's new hair.  I like the longer/grayer look.

Our new digs-Downtown Seattle

Our little boy is growing up...Patrick's first hair cut in 4 months

Texas to Seattle-A road trip

My college car was still alive and kicking, so my mom and I planned a road trip from Dallas, TX to Seattle, WA.  We shared lots of laughs and scary passenger moments for my mother (I really am a good driver).  It took us 5 days with stops in Santa Fe, NM, and The Grand Canyon.  Then we had a few days to see Seattle before mom flew back home.  Patrick, the wonderful husband and son-in-law that he is, welcomed us to Seattle and our corporate apartment with flowers, fresh Washington apples, and very sweet cards.  It was a great start to this new life adventure.

(A church in Santa Fe)

Cool scenery in New Mexico/Arizona

The Grand Canyon-surely a wonder!

And we had to stop to let elk cross the road leaving the park.

An In-N-Out Burger in Arizona.  I love this stuff!

somewhere in California

And somewhere in Oregon.  (Stupid...no pictures of Seattle.  I'm an idiot.  She'll be back)

We wrapped up our fabulous world tour with a sunny, relaxing bow in Cancun.

The perfect end to the perfect trip, Cancun.  Nice beach, good food, and margaritas...you can't beat it.  We relaxed and laughed and remembered our travels.  Oh, and we continued to eat.  The fish tacos at our hotel were amazing!

Our encounters with MTV reality shows wasn't over just yet.  The cast of The Real World-Cancun was living at our hotel.  Patrick tried to get a shot. 

Patrick relished his new long, bleached hair 70's style.  Doesn't he look groovy?!

The trip of a lifetime was worth every cent, argument, and stress.  We are changed and enlightened and grateful.  Stay tuned for our new life in Seattle.

Oui, Oui, Paris-We met our museum quota and ate enough crepes for a small army.

We were worn travelers but excited to be in Paris.  We found our awesome hotel near Luxembourg Gardens.  We dropped our bags, returned our car and took the subway to do a walking tour of Paris...

First, Notre Dame, then on to the Jewish Memorial, Latin Quarter (with a view of the first sewage system-a dip in the middle of the alley), St. Michael's Place, and Ponte Neuf.


The next day we started at the d'Orsay Museum, then the Rodin, Army Museum/Napoleon's Tomb, Arc d'Triumph, and Champs l'Essey; eating crepes at every turn.  It felt so cool to see such iconic sights and amazing art.  

Continuing our tour of Paris, the following day we went to the Eiffel Tower and took lots of pictures.  Also, at the park below the Eiffel Tower we witnessed the "ring scam".  There were teams of people trying to sell a fake ring to anyone they could.  It was amazing to watch and we soon picked up on what made a successful scam artist.

Then we went to Monte Marte, the famous artist area with an amazing cathedral and views of the city.  We bought some art, ate yet another crepe and found the Moulin Rouge in honor of my sister Andrea and our love of the movie.


Next, to the Pantheon with a really cool pendulum and tombs of famous French people.


We went to meet my friend from New York, Melissa who was in town visiting her sister Andrea (yup, our sisters have the same name).  We had a nice time chatting with a familiar face and they recommended an awesome steak place that we loved.  They served they're steak with this mustard-tasting, green-colored sauce and delicious fries.  We were stuffed yet again, wondering how long it would take our waist-line to recover from Europe.

We had purchased a museum pass and Patrick was determined to get our money's worth out of them.  So our 4th day in Paris was spent eating crepes (big surprise), going to the Concierge (Marie Antoinette's jail), St. Chapelle, The Louvre, and finally a boat ride down the Siene River.  St. Chapelle had the most brilliant stain glass we've ever seen.  And we got to pass by one of the original metro stops.  I love the design of the sign.

The Louvre was huge and overwhelming but we made it through and liked it.


Patrick tricked me.  I walked around the corner and asked very interestedly, "What are you looking at?"  A blank wall.  Isn't the use of color amazing here.

More crepes and the beautiful night-time boat ride down the Siene.

Still not done...on our 5th day, we went to Versaille and saw the opulence that baffled us at every castle we visited.  I am a bit fascinated with Marie Antoinette so that was cool.


We still hadn't met our museum quota so we explored the sewer museum (actually really cool)...

and the Tuileries Gardens and the l'Orangerie Museum.  We loved the large Monet Water Lilly and I loved the impressionist art downstairs. 

Finally, with our tired, museumed-out feet, we journeyed down Rue Rivoli to the Bastille Tower.

Then back to the hotel to pack and reflect on 4 months well spent with one more stop left.