This month was SO busy!! I’m a whole month late writing this because so much happened, it’s hard to even wrap my brain around writing it!  I’ll start with the basics.  First off, the Easter bunny came to visit!!  That nice bunny came early because he knew we would be out of town on Easter.  You got a huge basket of toys- a sprinkler, sticker books, coloring books, a iTunes gift card to buy shows for your ipad, a basketball, and a travel basketball hoop, a travel kite, hot wheels cars.  That crafty Easter bunny knew exactly what you would need to entertain you for our trip    You also had your very first Easter Egg Hunt.  It was so cute and you loved it!  There were 75 eggs hidden all around the back yard and you carried your basket and found every single one of them.   It was so fun to watch!

Right before we left for our trip we found out that you have grown out of your food allergies!! YAY!!!!!  Such amazing news!! You can still be sensitive to them, but you are no longer allergic.  We still packed a TON of your own food to take on our trip since we just found this out the day before.  You have to be slowly introduced to each food.  Speaking of packing for our trip, we packed SO MUCH STUFF.  It was ridiculous!  But the last place we wanted to have trouble with a reaction was on vacation in Europe, so we took no chances.  We packed all of your diapers, wipes, and lots of food that you would need for the entire trip.  We also had your stroller, and your car seat, as well as clothes for all 3 of us to be gone for 14 days.    I am proud to report that you are now a world traveler.  You travelled through three… THREE…. new countries, and were fantastic the whole way.  The memories and experiences we shared are worth paying off this trip for the next couple years.

We started off heading to London, England.  On our first flight we sat next to a girl who had just gotten her masters in young children’s education, so she entertained you.  On the next overnight flight, you slept for 6.5 hours on the plane.   Daddy and I, on the other hand, did not.  The only difficult night was that first day we landed at 11am, you were feeling good because you slept, while we were dead tired.  At 2 am you were still bouncing on the hotel bed, while we were desperately trying to sleep.  After that night, everything evened out quite well.    We rented a car, and Daddy drove us (on the opposite side of the road, and opposite side of the car, all while using the stick shift with the opposite hand!) to our hotel where we met up with Helen, Ashley, Claire, Ross, Piper, and Debbie.  We toured London (even rode on top of a double decker bus!), where you promptly lost your brand new sunglasses, and went to a traditional British Pub for bangers and mash.  After London, the rest of our time was spent out in Derby.  Ashley and Helen got married, and you were the hit of the reception!  You danced your little butt off all night long.  Everyone loved you, and you were fist bumping anyone who walked by you.  We were so proud to be your parents!  Of course we took you to Chatsworth, which has the best playground in the entire world.  You loved it!  We also toured around other towns likes Tissington, Bakewell (cornish pasties-yum!!), and we even rode the cable cars up to the Heights of Abraham.  We took you to the house where I used to live, and the restaurants that we loved.  We did everything “traditionally british” that we could think of.

We were in England a week before taking the Eurostar into Belgium.  We then boarded a double decker train (I didn’t even know they existed!), and traveled from Brussels to Bruges.  Bruges is called the Venice of the North.  We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast, that was also an art gallery.  It was walking distance from everywhere we wanted to go.  Bruges was SO cool.   We loved seeing the canals, and old buildings.  We took you to your first bar, where Dad and I did a Belgium Beer tasting.   Then we ate dinner at the super cool restaurant next door.  Our innkeeper managed to sweet-talk them into fitting us in even though we didn’t have a reservation.   After dinner we strolled across the cobblestone streets, where you promptly were lulled to sleep.  Daddy and I got to marvel at the beauty around us and just take it all in, while you slept.  It was a great night.   The next day we toured all around Bruges, eating Belgian Waffles with chocolate and strawberries from a street vendor, hot chocolate on a stick, more chocolate, and more beer!   To summarize, it was great    Later that day we caught our direct train from Bruges to Paris- first class baby!  Somehow I managed to score a very sought after train in first class for only $12 more.  Yay Mama!

We were stunned to arrive at our apartment in Paris and find that we literally could walk half a block and see the Eiffel Tower.  This is what life is all about!  Sharing these wonderful memories with the people you love.   We had a amazing time in Paris, with an apartment that had it’s own kitchen, washer/dryer, bedroom, sitting room, walk in closet (x2), and bathroom with double sinks and walk in shower.  We used it as our base to go all over the city.   Our focus this time was taking you to all the outdoor cool parks that Paris has to offer.  You loved it.  We had wonderful food, wonderful drinks, and wonderful experiences.  Daddy and I bought plastic wine glasses, so at night we would stroll up to the Champs Du Mars, the park at the base of the Eiffel Tower, and wheel you in your stroller.  We would start off kicking the soccer ball with you, and playing.  Then as the night went on, we would sit in the grass and gaze up at the twinkling Eiffel Tower, while sipping our wine, eating our macarons from Pierre Herme, and hanging out.  You would lounge in your stroller, sometimes dozing to sleep, and other times watching your ipad.   We would then finish off the night by going to our favorite crepes stand.       Love love love.  Love it all.   On our last day in France, we took a high speed train out of Paris to the central France, Pinot Noir wine country.  It was a bold move with a toddler, but an experience we really wanted.  It went great!  We arrived into Dijon, and were picked up by a tour guide.  He drove us all around, and went to two different vineyards to do wine tasting.  We stopped in the quaint village of Beaune for lunch (wonderful!), and then got to tour around Dijon more on our way back.  Our guide even bought you grape juice and poured it in a wine glass so you could experience it with us.  You did great on the whole tour, and we are so so glad we decided to take the risk.

You also did wonderful on the flight home, they even gave us an extra seat for you! The trip could honestly not have gone better.  You are the best travelling toddler I know, and every day Daddy and I are thankful you are ours.  You are such a special little boy, we love you more than you can ever know!