Paul and Ashley in Alaska

While Nicole and I went to Europe, Paul took Ashley to Alaska (something she's always wanted to do).  They took a plane ride to see all of the wildlife and also went rafting with Brad Cosgrove on a class 5 rapid.  Ashley was one brave girl... before you could even get in the boats, they made you get in the river and swim down a ways so they could make sure you were a confident rafter.  The water was so cold they wore dry suits.

 Riding go-karts during a long layover

 Brad & Shannon Cosgrove

 Getting ready to go rafting

 

 

 

 On the way home, Paul surprised Ashley with seats in First Class

 

On to Paris!!

Nicole and I decided to stay in Europe after the group left and spend a few days in Paris.  We flew over in the afternoon (which turned into evening after all of our delays) and ended up getting into Paris about 9 pm.  Nothing beats being greeted by the Eiffel tower all lit up!!

Our first day, we went on a tour of Paris by Segways.  Both of us were so excited to drive one and it was a BLAST!!  They were very easy to operate and a great way to get around fast.

One thing we wanted to do while there was rent bikes at the "velib" stands and see lots of Paris but for some reason we couldn't get the stations to work (operator error) so we ended up walking a lot.  

We rented a little flat across the river from the Louvre and it had a yummy bakery right down on the corner that we got quiche and croissants for breakfast... SPOILED!! It did make me appreciate our abundance of space at home though when there is only 2 feet of space on either side of the bed.

 This is what a bored teenager looks like.  After an hour of sitting on the plane in Rome (again 94 degree heat) for an hour waiting on mechanical issues, I was so thankful to have a teenager and not a toddler.

 Our cute "little" flat in Paris

 The view from our balcony

 AWESOME!!!

 The Louvre

 Pont des Arts - Lover's Lock bridge

 For those of you who haven’t heard of them, here's the story. A couple writes their names on a padlock and locks it onto one of the bridges. They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love.

 We had gorgeous weather - very similar to Moscow in June with the exception of the day we climbed up the Eiffel Tower. 

Oh yummmm

Quiche for lunch with an eclair - we commented how many French foods we eat on a regular basis and don't think about it (quiche, crepes, croissants)

The Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees.  

Nicole was so excited to see the Champs Elysees but after we got back to our flat she said she was disappointed because she thought the street was going to be solid white marble and that it was going to be only pedestrians.  Funny what our expectations are.

 Notre Dame - from the river cruise that we took

 NIGHT CRUISE ON THE RIVER SEINNE

 The famous pyramid at the Louvre

 On our way up the Eiffel Tower.  We were as far as you could go for about 25 minutes before a rain storm blew in and we decided not to wait for the elevators and ran down all the stairs.