Sunday, September 3, 2023

Paris: Disneyland with the Daltons!

 

June 1st, 2023: Disney with the Dalton's was something that we had been talking about for a while and with them moving out soon, we finally pulled the trigged and paired it with the Roland Garros trip. It was a blast! Such good times with such good friends. Was the best way to kick-off the Dalton's final chapter in Amsterdam. Was fun seeing Kevin and Luke and Clay and Penny experience Disneyland together. 
















Luke's first big roller coaster was Thunder Mountain ended up being his favourite. Was the perfect way to make up for taking the kids on Haunted Mansion (not the best way to start the day haha). Was so fun going on it with him and even went again with mom. 
           
                           
Equally as fun, if not arguably, even more fun than Disneyland was the our Country Camping place that we stayed. It was in the middle of no-where, not too crowded and had the best blow-up bouncy houses and slides that we'd ever seen. After getting our fill, we then moved to the pool for the afternoon and had a blast playing in the water and enjoying the sunshine. Capped the day off with some pizza and let the kids be kids exploring and playing around outside. Was an amazing trip with Daltons that made for some very very good memories. 

                         


Paris: Roland Garros

May 29th-May 31st, 2023: Going to Roland Garros was a lifetime bucket list item. I had been looking forward to going to a Grand Slam for years and moving to Amsterdam, I knew that the French was in reach. Expectations were sky high and it over-delivered. Definitely a life-time experience. Going with both my parents and good friend Colby Dalton made it even better. We got Sinner's night match on Monday night and then afterwards hacked the ticket system and scored Tuesday day grounds passes (thanks Colby for refreshing the browser) so we were stoked. It was so cool how close we got to see the players and how hard they hit. Was easily my favourite sporting event I've ever been too. Watching a 3 hour tennis match flew by sitting that close to the action. That Tuesday we ended up watching about 10 hours of tennis. It was a blast with mom and dad and Colby, we really had such a great time. We were also blessed (and very sunburnt) with unbelievable weather. Wednesday was another grounds pass day but this time we bought a little more food beforehand so were a bit more prepared. Watched as much as we could on Wednesday until we had go meet the women and children at the station. Loved going to Roland Garros and already looking forward to going back next year. Definitely a lifetime memory. 







                    






Another highlight of the trip was exploring Paris with my parents for a couple days before the French Open started. It was a blast and a special time I'll always remember with my parents. Loved our chats, our walk along the Seine at sunset, explore pretty Paris neighbourhoods (amazingly fun and different without hauling kids around the city), testing out the best bakeries, doing the Orsay on a whim and needing an emergency chicken cesar salad in museum cafe to keep us (mostly me) from passing out. 
I'll always remember this painting and this moment. Hearing my mom talk about this painting and the apostle's faces and how much it means to her, was like a testimony meeting in itself. It was our sacred moment in the Orsay that Sunday. 


Love my mom :) 

Our gourmet dinner that night consisted of splitting 2 cup noodles and a broccoli between the 3 of us. Such a good memory and lots of laughs. 

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Scotland: Moncur Castle

I checked off a life bucketlist place: The Moncur Caste! It was the top place I wanted to go in Scotland, not because its popularity or beauty.. but simply for the namesake. Moncur being my maiden name, this is my castle! My dad visited this place on his mission, and also holds some kind of heritage connection but not sure on details there. It was quite a voyage to get here, we passed lots of great Scottish farmland and realized that the castle wasn't reachable by car, so went as far as we could on a dirt path and then pulled over and trekked through a farm and wheat field. By the time we were all back to the car, everyone was soaked from the rain and lots of tears.