The Eiffel Tower in Paris...TX

***Special Alert - This is the first ever post done entirely by Greg so if you are reading this you better post a comment... even if it is just to correct my spelling or grammer. - Thank You, Greg

You can't leave Paris, of course, with out visiting the Eiffel Tower.
It "Ain't nothin' like the real thing, Baby"

"Ain't nothin' like the reeeal thing"

(the "real" pictures are from my 2005 work trip to Paris when Carlee was 3 months old)

Last Christmas we were at Market Street where they put up the huge tree that is probably about the size of the Texan Eiffel tower. I had Carlee reach out her hand like she was hanging on something and got a nice picture of her "hanging" from the Christmas tree. On this trip her form kind of changed to more of a holding than a hanging, but you get the point. Look for this same form for at least 2 more items in future posts from the trip - a prize to the first person who can correctly identify all of the things that Carlee is "holding" or "hanging" from. :)

Carlee can show everyone where Paris,TX is.

The kids did a little climbing on the Eiffel Tower. The one in France has an elevator (that's just too easy).

Check out that tower topper... Ain't she perty <~ you can only correct this spelling if you are not from Texas.

We came here on a little site seeing tour before leaving Paris for Arkansas. My mom and grandma grew up here (possibly my great-grandmother also who died at 100yrs old in 1985). This was Rebekah's first trip to Paris, TX so we also, went by the town square, the church where my parents got married, and the houses that my grandparents and great grandparents owned - right next door to each other. I have lots of good memories of visits when I was a kid but I knew the Eiffel tower was not there back then. So I was curious and googled it and here is an excerpt from a humorous article that I found. Apparently Paris, TX and Paris, TN were having a little Eiffel tower war when they each errected their towers in 1993...

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But at 60-ft. tall, the TN tower was edged out of faux-foreign architecture dominance by a mere five feet. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, TX was 65-ft. tall, built by the local iron worker's union. Tennesseans battled back by replacing theirs with one 70-ft. tall.... Texas town boosters knew they were on shaky ground for an enduring and unique civic claim (and reminders that they were the "Second Largest Paris in the World" and the inspiration for the title of the 1984 movie "Paris, Texas" were feeble at best). So in 1998 they added a large red cowboy hat to the tip of the tower, tilted to push a few extra feet into the lower atmosphere.
Many decried this as the dumbest idea ever, but to us it seemed in the spirit of other local attractions: a grave monument with Jesus in cowboy boots, and a junior college whose entrance is decorated with a statue of their cartoon dragon mascot.
Turns out the Cowboy Hat idea came just in time. The following year in 1999, Las Vegas almost humiliated all the little Paris's when they erected a 540-ft. tall Eiffel Tower Replica along the Strip. At half the height of the original (which is 984 ft. tall), this replica is nearly ten times taller than the other replicas.
But no hat.

Sleeping in the Hotel

Due to the lack of video's on the car ride to Paris, the first nights sleep started with a short video to calm the kids down from the excitement of getting to sleep in the same bed and being in a hotel for the first time in their lives. Carlee and Zachary had never slept in the same bed. They had asked a few times before, but we knew once that got started it probably would end in disaster, since Zachary kicks in his sleep. While Greg took a quick shower, the rest of us tucked ourselves in early (since we shared a room) and I waited for someone to do something. Zachary, our little talker, was the first to start the chatter and the laughter. He made it hard to go to sleep right away. I think I had to threaten him a few times to get him to settle down. He obviously was not tired since he was cooped up in the car for 5 hours of the day. Well to make the long story short, we played musical beds throughout the night. Zachary joined Greg and I sometime around 1:30am, then Zachary drove me out with the kicking so I joined Carlee around 3am. We slept okay, I guess (It was a good thing we went to bed early).....Not the best way to start out day 2 on the road.

More to come....

Our Family Road Trip

First stop..... Paris, Tx

..... to celebrate Uncle Mark's 60th Birthday

Grammy and Paw-paw with Uncle Mark (Greg's uncle)

Carlee and Zachary made sweet cards for him in the car on the way to Paris.

The celebration took place at a popular local restaurant called "The Fish Fry", and that is exactly what they have - lots of fried fish. Our vacation meals started out with good ole' fried homecookin'. Zachary loved the hush puppies and I loved the pickled green tomato's. Daddy had lots of fried catfish, while I had the broiled catfish. The fried hush puppies about did me in.

The drive to Paris was surprisingly great! We let the kids each buy a toy at the dollar store before leaving for the trip and they enjoyed the first half of the trip playing with their plastic animals. They used their imaginations and had a fun time. They had so much fun they didn't even take a nap (which would have been helpful for that evenings meal at the Fish Fry). We only put in one Veggie Tales dvd and only made 2 stops in the 5 and a half hour drive. Traveling from Paris to Arkansas the next day was a little harder. Most likely due to the lack of sleep (more of that to come). There were more questions like "Are we almost to the mountains?" and my favorite from Zachary "Is it going to be for a long time?". The toys weren't quite as new, there was a little more whining and sibling bickering, they watched lots more dvd's, ate lots of snacks, colored more pictures and so on.

We were on this trip with Greg's brother and sister-in-law, their two kids and Grammy and Paw-paw (each family in their own vehicle - we are not that crazy!).

More to come.....

Dance Camp "Noah's Ark"

Carlee had Dance Camp last week at her ballet studio. She was there from 9 to 12:30 four days in a row. She woke up every morning excited and ready to dance. She got to enjoy the week with her best friend, Emma, who is in the second picture. Zachary and I had fun together at the park, playing at the mall and running errands while Carlee was at camp. It was nice to have one and enjoy Zachary and how God made him. Carlee was a leopard in the production of Noah's Ark they preformed the last day. Her costume fit her personality perfectly. Carlee adores animal prints, just like her mama. Too bad we could not take that costume home.

Fourth of July Festivites

We woke up early on Saturday morning and made it just in time for the start of the 4th of July parade. This year we invited some of our new friends to come and enjoy the parade with us. It was definitely a lot of fun having the Kruse Family join us. William was hilarious and yelled out the politicians names as they drove by in their nice cars (he read their names from the side of their cars). He is a hoot! The politicians were having a hard time remembering William as they smiled and waved back. All the people around us enjoyed his humor and we all laughed pretty hard. This is one reason we love this family so much. Here is a picture of Zachary, Emma and Carlee. Carlee got a balloon sword before the parade began. This year they had a lot more clowns and entertainers before the start of the parade.
The beginning of the parade always starts with fire trucks and whistles.

We got a front row seat this year. We finally drove like most normal people do to these events. In the past we have ridden our bikes or run and we end up sitting on the curb. So it was nice to have comfortable seat this year. Thank you Greg!

I love these guys. They are great to listen to- makes you feel like you are back in time.

Puffy the Pinecone riding in style.

The second part of our day was spent at Hubble and Hudson. I don't have any pictures of it, but they had a free beer and cheese tasting. It was delicious and a lot of fun. I think they had 100 different beers. I enjoyed the cheese more myself and thought it was a great way to explore different types of cheeses. YUM! The kids pretty much liked the cheddar cheese that looked like cheddar (the orange color one) and they gravitated back to it here and there, which made it hard to keep an eye on them. We lost Carlee for a second and found her at the cheddar cheese table.

On Sunday we went to TGI Fridays with Greg's parents for dinner. Mine was not very good. I made a last minute decision and it turned out to be a bad one. Oh well! Thankfully the appetizer filled me up and Greg ordered something I liked and he was willing to share. Sorry Randle for pulling you in on my decision. We will never order fajitas again at TGI Fridays. We still had a fun time!

Sunday night we went to watch the fireworks. We made it to the same spot as last year - across the freeway on the grass under the Lupe Tortilla sign. Carlee is not a big fan of the noise, so we keep our distance. This years show was wonderful!

Zachary with fireworks behind him.

We were glad to share the evening with our friends the Jack family, who just moved here from Massachusetts. What an enjoyable weekend spent with the people we love! I thank God that we live in the USA and for the men who gave their lives so we could live in freedom. Happy Independence day!

Dinner with Old Friends

The Guess Family moved a few years ago to Colorado and they got to come down for a quick visit a couple of weeks ago. All 36 church friends came to Double Dave's to hang out and eat pizza. It was just like old times. It was a lot of fun seeing their kids getting so big and beautiful. There was a lot of movement with all the kids, so I only got a couple of pictures.
Carlee remembered Addison since we keep up with the Guess Family through their blog. She hadn't seen her since she was three. I was amazed at how tall Addison had gotten. She has passed Carlee. These girls are beautiful! They are the best of friends!

It was a blessing to be together! I hope we can go to Colorado to visit soon! Carlee really wants to see real snow.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's day with our family. We saw both sides in one day and had steak at both houses. Greg was in heaven! Here's some photo's at Grammy and Paw-Paw's house.
Time for a big squeeze

Greg got some money to play golf from his parents and some Dove chocolates. SCORE!

Ed (Greg's dad) reading his Father's day card. It was a sweet one!

Greg got a sweet card from me. I am so blessed to have a husband that loves the Lord and loves his family. He is truly awesome!

Carlee picked an eggplant from her Grammy's garden that was huge. We gave it to my dad since he loves eggplant. I don't think Carlee's mouth could get any bigger.

Carlee and Daddy had fun doing some puzzles at Nana and Grandpa's house. I think Nana helped some too.

She was so proud of herself for completing it. Her smile tells it all!

All the boys playing on the floor with Josiah's toys. Well, mainly Zachary playing with Josiah's toys and everyone else watching. This was so cute to watch. Josiah was fascinated by Zachary.

Me and my dad.... I love him so much! Couldn't have asked for a better father.

Carlee loved making Lego people. She made one for everyone in the family.

Zachary loved making a big tower of Lego's.

Carlee and grandpa.... her poses crack me up

What an enjoyable day! We loved being together with the people we love most.