Disneyland: Day 3

Our final day of Disneyland, we opened & closed the park. The weather was perfect and everyone remained happy all day long. Disneyland tends to do that to people. Not to mention Brad got to see his crush...he's more obsessed with Elsa than a 4 year old little girl. 

The rides in France were Bea-U-tiful!!! It's like they added a little extra sprinkle of Paris charm to everything. I normally hate the Teacup ride but, how can you deny that charming ride a spin of the cup!? So pretty. 

Fantasyland has 'Alice's Curious Labyrinth' ... a wild maze with all sorts of fun Alice in Wonderland characters to discover along the way. Brad joined the caterpillar in his hookah games...

The view from the top of the Queen's Castle was just happy. Oh, D-Land...I miss you! 

We wandered back through the park, stopping on occasion to window shop & for photo-ops. We were heading over to the Walt Disney Studios park so I could ride the Aerosmith ride (crazy fast and loud...maybe I'm getting old?) and I think Brad might have done Tower of Terror again? Then we caught the parade they had, whilst snacking on ice cream. 

I was super happy with this picture that a guy took. He went to great lengths (laying on the ground!) to get us and the castle all in the picture. I couldn't have done better myself! Thank you, Mr. Asian Man! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Disneyland where we saw a few characters in passing & one super cute TinkerBell window display: 

We somehow timed it just right that we were able to see the parade in Disneyland too...whilst snacking on more sugar. Hey - it's Disneyland! ;) 

Apparently, restaurants close at 6:00pm there? Which is totally bizarre because most normal humans, eat dinner around that time. We were able to grab food at this restaurant and then watched them close up the doors. We got there in the knick of time! So weird... 

The rest of our time was spend shopping, wandering and catching rides that had really short lines. We were sticking around for the firework show they do each night. It was well worth the wait. 

This storefront was so darling! 

Dad whooped our butts at the Buzz Lightyear ride...his job training must be paying off! 

So fun, wonderful, magical & happy. Disneyland is one of our favorite places and we loved creating, the first of many, memories there as a family! Can't wait until our next adventure at Disneyland!! 

Paris

Brad & I had been to Paris before without Kason, (back here), but Kason really wanted to go to Paris so he could see the Eiffel Tower and eat macaroons. So, we hopped on the train and headed into the city. It's about an hour train ride, if I remember correctly, so it gave us enough time to eat some lunch (we ate pb&j's a LOT on this trip and we were soooo done with them by the time we were back at home and could eat real lunch!) and rest our feet before our afternoon of walking. 

Our first stop in Paris was the Rodin museum. We wanted to see this last time we were in Paris but it was closed on the day we tried to go. We also tried to go see the Orsay Museum but, it was "free Sunday" (every first Sunday of the month) and the line was insanely long, so we opted out of that. Rodin is home of the 'Thinking Man' statue. It was also free to get into the Rodin but, there weren't nearly as many people. 

These boys sure make our adventures fun! 

The 'Three Shades' statue is also kept at the Rodin. 

Kason needed to run to the bathroom so, I told him to go in by himself and I would meet him there. On my way to meet him, he came to me crying and holding the top of his head. He had ducked under the railing, on the stairs, and stood up too quick which caused him to hit the railing, on the top of his head, and split it open. We went over to a small patch of grass to clean it up where we got yelled at by the workers that "you're not allowed to sit on the grass". It made us laugh... 

We washed it out, determined he didn't need stitches and besides having a sore head, he was fine! So we headed off to the Eiffel Tower. But first...we had to stop and get the boys some eclairs, they live for those things! (I don't really care for them...give me a Pain au Chocolat instead!!) 

Wasting time in front of the Eiffel Tower...

On our way under the Eiffel Tower, we had decided we wouldn't be climbing up the tower this time (we prefer the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe instead), but Kason really wanted to TOUCH the Eiffel Tower, which we thought would be an easy feat. Nope. All the bases are fenced off and on pillars. So...determined to help him live out his dreams, we taught our child how to trespass. We found one of the four bases that wasn't surrounded by people, threw Kason over the fence, he ran and touched the tower and ran back over. I should have taken a picture but, I think we were all just concerned about having him get over and back before security took us all to jail. Well, we succeeded and laughed about it the rest of the day. 

Kason took a couple pictures of the Eiffel Tower for us that day...

We walked up Champs-Elysees to find some dinner (which we failed miserably at...dinner was NOT that great, so we supplemented with ice cream...) & make our way to the Arc de Triomphe. We stopped in the Louis Vuitton store and I was blown away by those prices. Even if I was rich enough to afford a $3000+ purse, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't buy one! 

This picture is the epitome of Paris, beauty surrounded by garbage. Paris is a beautiful city but, it's also a dirty city. Much like any big city, I would presume. But, I just love how there's a Ferrari and a pile of trash right behind it. 

After dinner and ice cream we waited at the Arc de Triomphe for it to get dark. Brad took a nap and we talked to a family from the States, whose daughter was over in Paris for a study abroad program. As soon as it was dark, we climbed the stairs to the top of the arc, took some pictures, and then took the train back to the hotel! 

As much as I love Paris, I definitely loved it more with just Brad. Taking a child to Paris instantly gives it a different feel...much less romantic!!