Beach Family Vacation

We just got home from a beach trip! We joined my parents, sisters, and my sisters' families for a week at Corolla Beach in the Outer Banks. It was such a fun week of playing in the ocean and on the beach, hanging out by the pool, eating way too much food, and enjoying our adult time in the evenings once the kids (all 9 of them!) had gone to bed. It was Madeleine's first trip to the beach, and she absolutely loved it! It was such a joy to watch her enjoy the sand and the water like both Caleb and I do. For the first time we stayed at the 4x4 part of Corolla, which is less crowded since it's accessible by 4WD only. There are wild horses that roam that section of the Outer Banks, and they would walk right through our yard! I'm always sad when a vacation like this comes to an end, but I'm grateful for the fun memories we made! Here are a few pictures, if you'd like to see...

Girls' beach weekend

A couple of weekends ago I met my college roommates at the beach for a long-overdue reunion! Here are a few pictures, if you'd like to see...

On Pregnancy: Taking a Babymoon

Last month we took a babymoon to Savannah! You can click through to see more pictures, if you'd like...

Gulf Coast Vacation

We returned home Saturday from a week at the Gulf Coast with my whole family. We had such a great vacation laying in the sun, playing with the kids, and mostly just being together. All seven of my nieces and nephews love playing in the sand and/or water, so it was really fun to be in the sand or out in the water with them! The three oldest girls are also learning to swim, so it was so cute to watch them get a little braver each day. One night the girls went shopping and another night the guys went fishing, and we also spent a cloudy morning at the Naval Aviation Museum. Other than that and a few donut runs, you could find us playing on the beach or in the pool or hanging out in the condo after the kids went to bed. A real vacation for me is bathing suits all day and no makeup or having to fix my hair! We are so thankful for the time we had together, especially since as the years go by we seem to geographically spread further and further apart! Here's a few pictures of our week, if you'd like to see.

Dominican Republic Vacation

Last week we spent the week in paradise: we went to the Dominican Republic for vacation! It was actually our first time staying at an all-inclusive resort, and it was my first time in the Caribbean. We had a wonderful time and it was SO relaxing. We were completely unplugged for the week: no phone, no TV, no internet. I didn't even take a watch so I never knew what time it was. It. was. glorious. We spent our days on the beach looking at the gorgeous water and soaking up the sun. We had perfect weather for our whole trip, which was such a blessing. I read several books, and Caleb spent a lot of time learning to windsurf.  We went kayaking and snorkeling, and we ate delicious food (and a lot of it!). We really enjoyed taking a break from our routine, especially because we were in a gorgeous place! We are always so thankful for the time we have to get away together! Below are a few pictures of our trip, if you'd like to see...

Planning a Trip to Paris

I've had several people ask different questions about our trip to Paris and how I planned or where we stayed. I've put together a summary of the logistics of our trip and a few pieces of advice, if you're interested...

Paris {Part 3}

We spent the day at Versailles on Wednesday. What an incredible palace! The audio tour was really interesting to gain insight on some of the history of the palace, and the grounds and gardens were breathtaking. After touring inside, we spent the rest of the day walking around outside, sitting by the ponds, people watching. It was a gorgeous day, and we're really glad we took an entire day to spend there. 

On Thursday we headed up to Montmarte to see Sacre-Coeur. There was a service going on while we were there, so we were able to hear the nuns singing and worshipping. It was a neat experience to be in such an intricately built and old basilica, listening to a bunch of nuns singing in either French or Latin (couldn't really tell). Afterwards we did a little shopping and saw the Place de la Bastille, the Place des Vosges, and toured the home Victor Hugo lived in while writing Les Misérables (one of my favorites!). We ended our day at Pompidou. As I mentioned before, I really like art, but modern art is sometimes a stretch for me. Pompidou had so much interesting (and sometimes weird) art, but it was so fun to look at it all! 

Friday was our last day in Paris, and it was pretty rainy. We spent a little while sipping on Starbucks waiting for it to warm up a little and stop raining, but it kept drizzling so we just ventured out with umbrellas in hand. We spent a good amount of time in Le Bon Marche (such good shopping!), so that was a nice break from the rain. We went to the Eiffel Tower so I could see it one more time, and then we grabbed lunch and headed to the Pont des Arts where we locked our love on the bridge and threw the key in the river. We walked by Notre Dame one last time and bought some paintings by the river. It really was getting to be quite cold and damp out, so we headed back to our hotel to read for a bit before going out for dinner. We left Paris Saturday morning feeling like we saw and did everything we wanted to do. Our trip to Paris was such a dream come true, and we loved every minute! Paris was everything I hoped it would be, and I'm so glad I got to experience it all with Caleb.

Paris {Part 2}

On Monday we took the metro right to Saint Michel. Around the corner from the fountain, we stopped in Shakespeare & Co. The bookstore has floor-to-ceiling books with ladders to climb up to reach the books at the top - a dream! We perused books for a little while before heading to Sainte-Chapelle. The sanctuary has huge stained glass windows that are so beautiful. We then went to Notre Dame, which ended up being one of our favorites of the whole trip. The cathedral is just incredible, inside and out, and we also went up to the outer walkway near the top for a beautiful view of Paris. After lunch we went to the Conciergerie, the prison where many were kept before heading to the guillotine (including Marie Antoinette). We then stopped by to the Jardin des Plantes and the Panthéon before strolling down rue Mouffetard (one of the older roads in Paris) and finding dinner.

On Tuesday we set out for the Musee D'Orsay, but it was closed for an unknown reason. We quickly switched gears and went to the Rodin Museum to see The Thinker and some of his other works. Nearby was the Hotel des Invalides where you can see Napoleon's tomb. We stopped by one more church, St-Germain-des-Pres, which is the oldest church in Paris. Nearby were the famous cafés Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore, and Brasserie Lipp. We picked up some lunch and went to sit in the Jardin du Luxembourg for a little rest and some people watching. The park was full of people, and there were tons of kids who were sailing boats in the fountain. It started getting really cold, so we hopped on the metro to see if the Musee D'Orsay had re-opened; thankfully it had. I love impressionist art, so I enjoyed the Musee D'Orsay even more than the Louvre. It's in a beautifully restored train station which makes the entire experience that much more enjoyable. Tuesday night we found dinner near the Eiffel Tower so we could see it all lit up and sparkle. It was beautiful and felt so magical! Definitely one of my favorite moments of our trip:)