Georgia

 I went to Atlanta to visit Paige again (wooo!), and this time Andrew came, too. BYU was playing a rugby game against the prestigious Life "University" in Marietta. After being picked up at the airport, we stopped at Steak n' Shake. Best 24 hour burger place ever.

 The next morning, Paige and I got a pre-meal at Chick-fil-a (necessary) and then had breakfast at the Flying Biscuit on the way to the rugby game. Totally better than McDonald's sausage biscuits. 

 There was nothing to do around Life "University," so Paige and I ended up attending half of the game. The other half was spent at a local antique mall.

 It was so hot and we had to sit on a car tarp because there was no room on the bleachers. Get more seating, Life "University." I may have ended up napping during part of the game.

Then we went to Stone Mountain to see the laser show. I saw this a few years ago and it was AWESOME. I was SO EXCITED to see it again.

 Waiting for the show to begin. Andrew is good at smiling.

 So photogenic. 

 Andrew and I taught Paige a new dice game. She was less than enthused about it at first (the scoring is complicated).

 But obviously she warmed up to it. 

The laser show is real patriotic.

Discoveries

We went to the White House Garden Tour with some friends. It was real cold and real wet, so we made it a quick tour.

Things I've Recently Discovered:
1. My students may be smarter/more knowledgeable than I am. Case in point: I am reading The Enormous Egg out loud to the class, and so we had to have a discussion today about what period the Triceratops dinosaurs lived in. This led to a looooong explanation from numerous students about the different time periods during which the dinosaurs lived. Huh?
2. If you read Charlotte's Web to your class, expect them to call every spider they see "Charlotte." They will also be upset if you insist on killing these spiders. You'll have to kill these spiders while they are gone or you'll never hear the end of it.
3. If your class finds out you're not only deathly afraid of spiders, but bees as well, they will try to find every opportunity to trick you into thinking there is a spider and/or bee on you. I may have shrieked today when I thought one of children was holding a giant spider.

Paris

These photos are up on facebook, too, but my mom doesn't have facebook. So it was necessary to blog about our vacay, too.  We took advantage of our sweet flying benefits and went to Paris! Cost of flight in economy: like $60. So worth it. On our first day we trekked out to the Arc de Triomphe.

 I'm generally against physical exertion or exercise of any kind, so my legs and feet were killing me for the duration of this trip. The staircase to the top of the Arc just kept going and going....

 But the view was pretty killer.

 Notre Dame. I sang songs from the Disney movie in my head the entire time we were there.

 We wanted to climb to the top here as well, but the line was CRAZY long and we didn't want to wait a few hours in order to walk up more stairs.

 So instead we climbed a bunch of stairs at Sacre Coeur. 

 The view here was also awesome.

 Katy and I took some jumping pics, but only after she biffed it in front of everyone on those stairs.

 Jumping in front of the Eiffel Tower.

 We made three trips to the Eiffel Tower. The first time we went the lines to go up to the top were long, so we decided to go early the next morning in order to beat the rush. Most of us got some bikes and cruised on over there. Best decision ever.

 This view was the best yet. But the elevator ride to the top: real scary. I had to close my eyes for part of it.

 Then we went to the Louvre. That place is so crowded.

 That night Katy, Andrew, and I biked over to the Eiffel Tower again to see it lit up at night and to see it sparkle.

 In front of the Seine.

 On our last full day we went to Versailles. It was crazy cold for most of the day, but it was easily the best part of the trip. I would live in that palace.

 Marie-Antoinette's hamlet was picture perfect.

 I excel at jumping.

Eating lunch on the steps of a cathedral.

Sightseeing is really hard and tiring. But Andrew and I flew in first class on the way home, so I guess that made up for a lot of the walking. And Paris rules. Hopefully we'll be taking some more sweet trips soon.

visitors

We've had a few visitors the past month. Amelia came here for a few days for an internship and I couldn't have been happier. We checked out some animals and the gorg gems at the Natural History Museum.

And obvs we went to Georgetown. I don't I can go two weeks without going there.

We also got to play some bananagrams.

I like it when I win at games. Here's proof I'm capable.

 Yay for our reunion! I need her to come again. Agreed, Amelia?

Nate and Jan came this last weekend to visit UVA. We went downtown to look at some of the monuments. Notice my white capris and flip flops. It's just been that hot here. Hallelujah.

We also saw the cherry blossoms.

I thought we were real good at posing for the camera. Well, some of us (me).

But then I saw this happening. Blows my skills out of the water.

Abraham Lincoln Monument. Easily one of my favs.

We checked out the National Zoo on Saturday. I'd never been to this zoo before. My verdict: it was ok. The elephants ruled, but I didn't see any polar bears. And I did not curl my hair that morning, it rained on us the whole time. Humidity does wondrous things for my hair.

Trip Home

I took three days off work to fly home to Oregon for Megan's wedding and to see my family. In true Oregon fashion it rained almost the entire time. 

 I saw a whole lot of these two kids and my stister. Kelsey likes to keep them out of the way in cupboards.

 I wanted to take a pic of my dad's new car for Andrew, but I had no idea my dad would suddenly instruct me on which angles were best. Instead of taking just one shot for a photo text, I was in the middle of a photo shoot.

 Obviously we went to Sezchuan Kitchen. I can't go home without paying a visit to the best Chinese restaurant ever.

 Everyone enjoyed it.

 At Megan's reception. She looked fantastic, as all brides should. It was so nice to go to her wedding!

 Lucy and I went and picked up a pizza together.

 She also insisted I take many pictures. This may be a family trait.

 Kelsey's kids are really good at smiling for the camera. Exhibit A: Thomas.

 Exhibit B: Lucy.

 Thomas is a believer in good hygiene and needed his hair combed and his teeth brushed.

 Dominoes! 

I had two good rounds and it all went downhill from there. Remind me not to play with my mom again.

Other things the family is good at: dancing and playing the kazoo.