France Trip # 2 (Stop 2 of 3 - Bordeaux region)

Our second stop of France trip #2 was a little south of the town of Bordeaux along the West coast of France. It was much warmer here than in Versailles which is near Paris and this was by far Alex's favorite part of the trip - once you see the pics below no explaining is needed. We drove on Carlye's birthday (August 29th). It is tradition for us to go out to dinner to celebrate birthdays. This year is no different.... Best birthday dinner ever!!!



Europeans LOVE to go camping. So we thought we would see what it was all about. In Bordeaux we stayed at a Campsite in a trailer. (This is considered to be the very finest of camping experiances) Definitely different quality of beds etc than the hotels we stayed in during our trips to France. But we had fun grilling outside and you see Alex really enjoyed eating his breakfast outside in the morning as well.

The reason this was Alex's favorite part of the trip (without even mentioning that he did not get dragged through museums) can be seen below in the video. I think we thought it would be a good idea for Oma and Pa to install something like this in the backyard that way Alex, Jaxson and future grandchildren could play all day. Only no short shorts or speedos allowed.

Here are some pics of Alex enjoying the various portions of the kiddy pools - the water was quite cool the first few days and it warmed up the last day we are there so not too many pictures of mom in the pool with him -

As much as Alex enjoyed the kiddy pool his favorite part of the entire park was the big boy slides. I think at one point he and I went up and down these things 25 times in a row. Here are some various pics of us coming down the slide including going into the water - I did my best holding him up out of the water at the end.

There was also a lake near the campsite and the water was a bit warmer so mommy and Alex went looking for shells and other interesting items in the sand -

Awww - isn't that sweet

Next stop - Normandy.

France Trip # 2 (Stop 1 of 3 - Versailles)

So Carlye, Alex and I made another trip to France at the end of August and the beginning of September. We made three stops - first in Versailles to see the Palace for a day. The Palace is massive and the gardens and grounds behind it are acres and acres of land. We spent the better part of the day going through the palace and then through the gardens and other buildings throughout the property.

We drove the entire trip (almost 3000 KM) so Alex was a trooper in the car. He started out reading one of his books but he got most excited when we were driving through the tunnels as seen below -

Here is Alex in front of the statue that sits in front of the palace the night before we went exploring the grounds - he had fun for a good 30 minutes running around this thing and playing peek-a-boo with mom and dad.

Here are some pictures from outside the palace -

Front of the palace -

Looking out at the gardens from the palace -

Looking at the back of the palace from the gardens -

Here are some pics from inside the palace -

This is the hall of mirrors -

Alex really did not appreciate the inside of the palace and thus I did not get to appreciate it as much as I probably would have since no strollers were allowed and Alex could not get on my shoulders (guess they are worried about him knocking into something). So Alex decided he wanted the listening device for the guided tour that I was trying to use and he also made sure to try and go beyond the ropes whenever it was possible.

Once we were outside he got to run around some more and inspect the palace.

Carlye and I got a picture in front of Marie Antoinette's house. She decided the Palace was too much for her so she decided to live in another building back behind the Palace on the grounds.

Next stop the Bordeaux region

Monkey Zoo and More

So here in the Netherlands they have a zoo which is mainly primates. The thing is the smaller monkeys are allowed to roam around and interact with the patrons. Alex really enjoyed the monkeys running around as you will see below.

Awwwwww



Here were some of the monkeys running free in the zoo - the one on the left was in the middle of howling (it was quite loud - scared away most of the kids that is why I was able to get such a close up with out anyone around) -

These monkeys were quite curious of Alex in his stroller -

They got quite close -

And then decided to invite themselves into the stroller with Alex -

We then went into the area where the smallest monkeys were (no strollers allowed) - Alex got real close to them (you are not suppose to touch them but it did not stop Alex from chasing them up into their habitat - we had to chase after him before we got thrown out).

The zoo also had a petting zoo - Alex did not really have any fear of the goats - he also like the chickens (see videos - they eventually just ran into the coop) -

This seriously went on for a good 15 min. Back.....

..... and forth.

Petting the snake - like I said no fear (its fake we are not that bad of parents)

Here are some other pics from the month of July -

Alex keeping Noah company while he is going potty - we are still working on Alex on the potty training front -

Alex after he had been swimming at "Moms and Tots". Carlye and Alex attend this every Tuesday its a group of english speaking Moms and the kiddos get together (usually somewhere outside - all depending on the unpredictable Dutch weather). This particular day Alex decided to get "naked" and play in the water. Unfortunately Carlye did not have a swim diaper with her that day so he is riding a little low. Who knows... maybe he'll be a plumber.

Alex wishing Grandpa Stan a Happy Birthday and also feeding Mommy

Alex doing his best Angus impression (Jake from Two and Half Men)

Alex as a Kitty