Spain Trip

I headed to Spain at the end of April for a work trip. Yes, I left Eric to fend for himself yet again, but he didn't break anything this time! I went to Europe all by my lonesome this trip (I'm all grown up)! Traveling by yourself has its ups and downs. I like having the freedom to do whatever I'm in the mood for, but it's not very fun sightseeing without someone else to share it with. 

I left on Saturday and arrived in Madrid early Sunday morning. The flight to Madrid was completely full and, having only booked my flight a couple weeks earlier, I was stuck in a middle seat. Normally I sleep so easily on planes, but I could not fall asleep for the life of me. It really messed with my "flawless" sleep plan. 

Sunday morning I took a cab to my hotel in Madrid and slept for a few hours. I didn't want to sleep too long because I still had to go back to bed that night. Plus, Sunday was my fun day and if I was going to see anything in Spain I had to get my butt out of bed. After asking the front desk where I should go, I took another cab to the city center. I absolutely loved my cab drivers. Just an FYI, cab drivers in Spain don't speak English but most of them try (just like I tried to speak Spanish). Attempting to communicate was one of the best parts of Spain. Eric will come in handy when we go back. 

Puerta del Sol

Is it just me, or does the Spain version of Mickey look really creepy?

 The city center is basically an area full of shops and restaurants. I don't like shopping by myself, so I was at a loss. I still walked around for a bit to get the "experience."

Lots and lots of pigs hanging from the ceiling

 I saw a lot of tourists taking pictures in front of this statue and I know I've seen the symbol some place before. It has to be important so of course I did what any smart tourist traveling by themselves would do -- I copied what everyone else was doing. 

 Any idea what the significance is?

It didn't take long for me to get bored wandering around by myself. I decided to take the advise of a co-worker and got on a tour bus. Apparently it's the fastest way to see a city when you are short of time. 

There's me!

 Now let me just tell you, I was running on a few hours of sleep and history was my least favorite subject in school. So...a tour bus to learn about all these historical sites in a country I didn't grow up learning about was good and bad. It was good because I was able to sit down and not have to think about where to go next. It was bad because I can't recall a thing that was said during the tour. Literally, I have no idea what I was looking at the entire two hours or so. It was pretty boring listening to a recorder explain a bunch of sites I was too tired to care about. 

But the artist in me enjoyed the architecture!

 Ooh, this is Christopher Columbus!! That's the only part I absorbed because I've actually heard of him :)

I'm pretty sure this is a Palace of some sort.

Graffiti love. 

Outdoor preaching? I guess it WAS a Sunday. 

City view.

 I'll be honest, I wasn't a fan of Madrid. Having seen the architecture in London, Madrid seemed like just another European city to me. On Monday, I worked all day with Steve, the sales guy I support, and then we took a train 2 hours south to Valencia, then rented a car and drove another hour to a town called Denia. Now DENIA I could get used to. It's a small little tourist town and is so cute!!

This is the gorgeous ocean view I woke up to on Tuesday morning:

I loved looking in one direction and seeing blue water and turning the other direction to find beautiful mountains RIGHT THERE. It's not something you can get in the U.S. I definitely want to go back to Denia one day with Eric. Apparently this is a main European vacation spot. I can see why. 

On Tuesday we went to a client site in Denia where I sat in on a meeting with the head honchos and toured the hospital. Then Steve and I drove an hour back to the train station (Steve only ALMOST drove on the wrong side of the road once), took the 2 hour train to Madrid, and hopped on a flight to London. BUSY BUSY!!

Team Blackout

First day upon arriving in Utah, Cindy and I cheered on Jeremy during his Junior Jazz basketball game. Check out the highlights!

Disneyland Birthdays

For a year, my dad has been looking forward to his 60th birthday because he wanted everyone to get together for a vacation. With 5 grown kids in our family, this isn't an easy task. But somehow, we all managed to make it to Disneyland earlier this month to celebrate my dad's birthday. It just so happens my birthday is 2 days before my dad's so we got to celebrate mine too! I can't remember the last time the 5 of us kids went on a vacation together so it's a pretty big deal. 

Day 1: My birthday at Disneyland

Sisters!

Cousins :)

After waiting forever to get our tickets, we're finally in!

Amora was a big hit with Mary Poppins and Alice. She had no idea who Mary Poppins was and probably didn't know Alice either haha.

 Billy was obsessed with Eric and wanted to ride with him on all the rides. He went on space mountain (even though he's afraid of the dark) and came out just fine thanks to Eric talking him through it!

Eric and his Ewok shirt in front of Star Tours. 

Taking a break from standing in lines.

Can someone say GQ model?!

Sibling love at Indiana Jones! Wendy couldn't join us because she was a little occupied with Savannah and Amora. But Billy hung out with us on all the big rides he could. 

 Day 2: California Adventure

Cars Land has been the biggest addition since we were here last. Eric was very excited to see it, unfortunately he didn't get to order anything from one of the cones. 

 We waited in line for an hour and half for the new Cars ride. It was pretty good, but not good enough to wait in line again. The background made me feel like I was in Southern Utah. It was pretty legit. 

I love these two!

 Day 3: Dad's birthday at Disneyland and California Adventure

Wendy made these shirts for Cyndee and the grandkids to match my dad's. 

 Before we headed out the park, Audrey and I gave dad his birthday hat that says "Happy 60th" embroidered on the back so he will always remember this bday.

Dad and his daughters

The big event for my dad's birthday was Breakfast with Minnie and Friends. The characters went from table to table throughout the meal so we could take pictures with them. It was the only time all 18 of us were together in the parks. My poor dad was having some health issues during the trip, so we're just thankful he could be at his birthday breakfast (even if he couldn't eat much).

 This is either Chip or Dale. Avery (my stepsister's daughter) could tell them apart easily. 

 We made sure each character got a pic with my dad. 

Minnie and Birthday Boy!

John's face in this picture makes me laugh. 

My dad and his 5 kids. Captain Hook was trying to be funny by wearing the hat. 

Adam, Wendy, and Savannah

Me and my daddy

Eric and I went to Toonville (I think that's what it's called). I had never gone before this trip, but it had some cute picture ops. 

Esther, Billy, and me.

One of Eric's requirements on this trip was getting his Dole Whip ice cream. He got the float with pineapple juice in it. I recommend doing the ice cream without the float.

Refer back to his shirt on Day 2. 

 After busting our butts to hit up every ride we HAD to go on, we were completely EXHAUSTED. My feet hurt so bad at the end of each day. My dad rented a house about a mile from the park so we also walked to and from. Let's just say I was dragging my feet on the way back every day.

We had a little birthday party for my dad after the park. Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!!

 And to wrap up our trip, we played our traditional game of Scum. I probably won the whole thing. See, I'm sitting in the president's seat!

Not pictured: Eric, who was taking a nap. 

 Thank you to my Dad and Cyndee for the awesome family vacation. We had a blast and it was so fun so spend time with the fam!

Snow Days!

Looking out the window today, all I see is white EVERYWHERE! There have been quite a few large snow storms in Kansas this year. The city basically shuts down whenever there is a storm, but I don't mind because I get to work from home. I wish I could just relax all day like Eric when he gets snow days, but oh well. I try to take breaks and play out in the snow with him. 

Here's the storm from last month...

which led to this big guy!

 Okay, so Eric MAY have made the whole thing. But I rounded him out and dressed him up--hat and all. 

Happy snow days!

Savannah Jade Loumeau

At the beginning of this month I went to Boise to visit my sister and her family! She had a baby in December so we mostly hung out at the house and I got to play "mommy" for a day. 

I also got to play "photographer" for about ten minutes. If you know Savannah, you know why it only lasted ten minutes.

Here is the best shot we got out of the photo shoot.  

I've never photographed babies before so the rest aren't very good. Oh well. You live and learn! She's still cute :)

Not hating it...

Kinda liking it...

Not real sure what to think about the new position...

We tried to reposition her arm so it wasn't right in front of her face and then she kept pushing herself up. This didn't make her very happy. But I love her grumpy face!!

Mad but so so cute.

The end. I'll have to wait until another family member has a baby for me to practice some more. 

London

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to experience a lot of firsts. For starters, it was my first time going to EUROPE!! I went to our London office with my co-worker, Missy, to work but we also managed to squeeze some fun in there too! It was a little sad that I couldn't bring Eric with me, but he's happy that I can take full advantage of my job by visiting foreign countries. I haven't traveled to too many places, but here are my first impressions of London. Enjoy!

Waiting for the plane in KC.

We flew out on Monday night and arrived Tuesday at noon. On the flight into London I had 3 full seats to myself. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep the WHOLE time because they made an announcement that woke me up. I failed to find a giant London sign so this is as good as it gets. Me in my tired glory.

We had a lot of work to do, so after we checked into the hotel, we went straight to the office...after grabbing some food of course. I learned that hot chocolate is not as sweet in London. We Americans like our sugar and I definitely prefer milk chocolate over dark chocolate. 

Here's the view from our office! We had to walk over water to get there. 

 That night, Missy and I had dinner with a supplier. It was a huge reality check that service in London is not so awesome. I later learned that it's because they don't get paid off of tips like they do here, so there's no incentive to be speedy. Placing an order, getting the food, and getting the check all took forever. And to top it all off, it's customary to have a coffee after a meal (which I don't drink). I thought I was going to die during the coffee because I was SOOOO tired. 

Missy's meal: head and tail. Gross. 

My ravioli at the Italian restaurant. It kind of had a weird flavor to it. 

 On Wednesday we celebrated Missy's birthday!! After work, we hit the town...

 and saw WICKED!! Check out our awesome seats :) I was still exhausted, but the second half was so amazing that I woke right up. 

 After telling Eric about my Wicked experience, I said something about the main girl being name Gar-linda. He's like, "Um, no, it's Ga-linda." Apparently the accent changed a few minor things, but I didn't know any different!

 You can't be on a global team without experiencing different types of food every meal. This was my first Persian meal (and we had more Persian food the next day). It wasn't too shabby. 

This made me giggle. I love how people in the UK speak English but it's still different. 

On Friday, Missy and I needed to take a break from the office. We went on a walk along the water and checked out the sites. 

One of my many London boyfriends. 

 This is the Little Venice of London. I've never been to Italy, but apparently it's full of white buildings and this spot along the water looks a lot like it. I thought it was cute. 

 I didn't think anything of these boats until I learned people LIVED IN THEM. And yes, even though you live on a boat, who says you can't have a garden?

 Yummy Pad Thai!

 I have to give a shout out to London. Thank you for these reminders! I automatically look left toward traffic but this was a life saver, literally. 

Love it!

 FINALLY, we got to Saturday which was our fun day! I rode the train for the first time! And I appreciated this sign since SO many people smoke in London. I had to hold my breath a lot walking along the street.  

Train Station

Phone booths were EVERYWHERE! Literally every 20 feet on some streets. I think it's charming :)

 And people in London refer to public restrooms as toilets. Just a fun little tidbit for my 5 readers out there. 

 Our main tourist trip was to Windsor Castle where the queen lives when she's not at the Buckingham Palace. 

Gorgeous.

 We toured the castle grounds and part of the inside. Unfortunately cameras weren't allowed inside (not that it stopped Missy haha) but I was a good girl. 

 Next we grabbed some lunch at a local pub by the castle. I had my first ginger beer (and a bite of fish and chips thanks to Missy). For some reason I was expecting it to be like delicious butter beer from Harry Potter. I think ginger beer is an acquired taste, but I can't wait to try butter beer at Harry Potter Land whenever I go!

 The Crooked House is a coffee shop we passed by. Awesome! The restaurants are so small that people eat on the main floor and the top floor. 

 After our trip to Windsor, Missy and I headed back into the city to try to catch some pics of the main sites before the sun went down. 

Big Ben

The Eye

My favorite part of the whole trip was walking around and seeing the beautiful architecture. London has so much history, and although I'm not a history buff by any means, I appreciate the beauty!

Well, that's the gist of my trip!