Mother Daughter Trip

My mom and I decided to make a trip to Seattle for a little bit o' time together. First we had lunch with Boppa (aka..grandma) because I hadn't seen her since I got back. Then we headed off to Downtown Seattle. My mom found an amazing room in the Camlin hotel which is about 5 blocks from Pikes Place Market. We woke up early friday and walked down to the market, enjoyed our coffee in the Starbucks, bought a 4 pound salmon, and enjoyed the morning atmosphere of the market. I love this part of Seattle because it seems to have so much character to it. Good times were had. It was raining but rain doesn't stop the Smith's.

Biggest donuts known to man. Also could be large reason why Americans tend to be a slight bit on the obese side.

This pictures is at the first ever starbucks right down in Pikes Place. If you notice the starbucks symbol here seem to be a little more well endowed than normal.

Paris

Paris....I guess I didn't realize how BIG it is after the first day I realized I had walked 14 miles (awesome) going from the Eiffel to the Arc to the Louvre. It was a dousy. Paris was sooo pretty but it was kind of a downer because it literally rained the whole time I was there making it really hard to enjoy and see things. I don't have a ton of stories so I am just going to post some nice pics.

View from the arc.

The Louvre

These are the gardens in Versailles. I took a day trip to the Chateau de Versailles and they had the most amazing gardens EVER. I got to see the gardens with the fountains on which I guess is pretty rare.

I love this photo.

Notre Dame

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was my favorite. I absolutely loved the feel of the city. The people were so nice and everyone spoke English perfectly. Amsterdam is a city that is actually situated 13 feet below sea level. It's known as the northern Venice...but it's not sinking. It is a city built using sand and water. The Dutch have perfected the techniques on keeping back water from puttng their country under the sea. Actually, during the Hurricane Katrina, the Dutch were the first to be called by the USA to help rebuild the levies.

However, if you ever see a house somewhat tilting to the side it's because underneath air entered into the sand and it's starting to rot. The canal system is truly amazing. I'm not a person who easily gets lost but this city can do it to ya. Every street basically looks the same because of the canals. You have to really pay attention to the street names which are super easy to pronounce by the way...try this one, "Keizersgracht".

Here's some of my favorite pics from the trip.

This shows how the buildings are built basically on the water.
Gene and Stef. I stayed with these two while in Amsterdam. I had so much hanging out with them. Really staying with them made my time there. Stef is the daughter of Patti Jacobson, who is my mothers best friend from high school (cute). Thanks Gene and Stef for having me.

OK, funny story. So this bike is Gene's bike that he loaned me and was basically my main form of transportation. If you didn't know, there are actually more bikes than there are people in Amsterdam, crazy. ANYWHO, before I jumped on his bike he gave me the low down on everything I should know. He informed me not to worry about the oncoming or passing cars because althought they seem like they might hit you, they won't. OK, that made me feel better. So, about 5 minutes into my ride I start to feel a little confident and turn on to one of the main roads. 2 seconds later the girl in front of me gets picked off by a car. AWESOME. She wasn't really hurt but she definitely took a fall and called the ambulance. Gene later informed me that in all his 2 years of living there he had never seen a biker go down....lucky first 5 minutes I had then, eh?

The JOYS of being home

I will blog about my trip to Amsterdam and Paris soon but I had to give this little tidbit. I was glancing through my mothers photos and ran across this glorious photo. This really illustrates where I am from. Neighbors having a chat on the lawn mowers. Notice my dad's leg lounging over the wheel.

Last night my mom and I were sitting calmly inside as all of a sudden we hear this huge...BANG. Who would have known my dad had just stuck his shotgun down a hole killing this small creature that we all have grown to hate, known as a mole. I learned something new, moles are somewhat cute and they have the softest fur ever, weird.

OH the joys of home!!!

And the final trip begins.......

Prayers, I'm headed off to Amsterdam this morning and then soon after to Paris. I will spend 3 days in Amsterdam and 5 in Paris. Pray that I have safe travels and that I enjoy the present because I'm kind of excited about coming home...no lies. So that I really enjoy the sightseeing and not think about getting home soon. Love you all and see you soon.