Is it a bird? Is it a plane?.......

While buckling Thomas into his car seat today, I noticed a shadow fly over the car. It must of been a plane I thought, but there was no noise? I looked up and there flying over head was the largest Bald Eagle I had ever seen. And not only one but two of them, with their babies.
I stood there with my mouth wide open, gasping at their size and closeness to the car. They swooped by and landed high up in the neighbors tree. I watched for a while, mesmerized. Do I get the camera and miss seeing them fly off? or do I risk it and get some snaps? Quickly I ran inside grabbed the camera to find they were still there. So heavy that one was bending the top of the tree down, the other was in towards the trunk.
It was so sweet watching them watch their baby birds, probably learning to fly...what a treat to witness.
This is what I saw.....

Happy 60th birthday Nanna!!!

While we can't be there to celebrate your birthday Nanna, the boys want to sing you a song....

We love you Nanna! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Hugs Harrison & Thomas....xoxox

TOP SECRET -Pinewood Derby Race Car

Harry's cub scouts are taking part in the annual Pinewood Derby Races.
He's got the block of wood and is now drawing up some ideas. cant wait to see what he comes up with!
But he's not revealing anything about his design yet...

Love struck in Paris.....

Oh, how I love you!

Paris, the city of romance! The place your heart falls in love! Well I totally feel in love, with a little French man who made me the best Nutella crepe ever! OK, so maybe its really the crepe I fell in love with...but OMG, talk about love at first bite! (corny I know)

As we finished up in our last souvenir place after Notre-Dame, we came across the smell of something so sweet and chocolaty, we had keep walking to find it. Next to the souvenir store was a cafe with a cute little crepe cart set up out the front. While the smell lured us it was the site of the freshly cooking crepes and the Nutella jar the size of cookie jar that did it for me. I had to have one!
We ordered our crepes without hesitation. Standing there with our mouths drooling as he slathered the hot crepe with gooey nutella goodness, we couldn't wait to eat it. It was amazing! Every bite was incredible, lightly crunchy crepe on the outside, melted nutella yumminess on the inside. Seriously i think I went "mmmm" with every mouthful. 4e never tasted so good!
We sat and enjoyed our crepes in a little cafe called Esmeralda's. We ordered cappuccinos, which had a funky spice sprinkled on top, but seriously I didn't care, it was hot and caffeinated, perfect. The rain was coming down outside, as we people watched from the warmth of our cafe window, which looked out over Notre-Dame. What a memorable stop for lunch. By the time we left he rain had turned to a Seattle drizzle, great timing!

Day 2 - Paris (Continued)

This was turning out to be one of the best days ever...where is the rainbow with the pot of gold! Our luck was unbelievable! Seriously, from getting there on time to be the first group up and not waiting hours in line. To missing getting poured on at the top of Notre-Dame. And this was just the start....

So after we did some fun souvenir shopping and practicing our French with defenseless sales people. We finally found some souvenirs worth spending our over priced Euros on. We purchased a little wooden pencil full of small colored pencils. Our goal was to do some sketches while here, the beauty and artiness of the Paris was so inspiring and rubbing off on us.We kept ducking in between stores to keep out of the downpour of rain. Starting to feel hungry we thought we should look out for a cafe. Well what was the next store, a gorgeous little cafe with a crepe cart out the front. I'm not sure if it was the smell of the yummy crepes or the sight of the worlds biggest bottle of Nutella I had ever seen, but we had to stop! A hot, fresh Nutella crepe made to order sounded irresistible (actually writing this I am drooling for one...mmm) gosh the smell of it while cooking was amazing!
Actually I think our crepe experience deserves its own blog!

So after enjoying our life changing crepe. We continued on our exploration of the Latin Quarter. We crossed over the seine to the historic part of St.Germain. Narrow lane ways, more stone buildings with beautiful facades. Wondering around for only 5mins, Sarah started talking about street markets, wondering if there were any in the area. Oh that would be perfect! We turned a corner and oh, guess what was there? A street market! Luck was on our side again.
The street markets were bright and colorful on this gray, rainy day. And all undercover, which was perfect for keeping us dry. These were your local farmers markets, fresh produce, fish, meats and flowers. As well as a few clothing, home wears and handbags...fun! We bought gorgeous French scarves for only 2e a piece and Sarah bought a t-shirt, very tres chic!

We then walked further around the area, discovering more narrow lane ways, great little Parisian shops, restaurants, book stores and would you guess it, more creperies! They seemed to be everywhere.
We came across the Luxembourg Palace, a number of little churches and loads of souvenir stores.

What a wonderful morning of exploring, now to find the metro and catch a ride back to our Hotel.
It took us a while to find the Metro stop. Kind of suprizing as there seemed to be so many in the area on our map. Most of the little lane ways we took were too small to name on our map, so I guess you could say we were a little lost. We finally found a Metro stop, which was good timing. We had been walking so much (not to mention the huge stair climb we did earlier) we were really looking forward to heading back to the hotel for a break.

We caught the Metro, mid afternoon, not busy at all, great! We felt like pro's at the thing now and knew how to get around it no problem. We got off on the Champs Elysees and walked to our hotel. I stopped by reception, just to check on the room with a view availability. Wouldn't you know it, with the luck we were having today, there was a room! And not just any room. A king suite, with balcony looking out over the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomph and the Eiffel tower...crazy! Should I go buy a lottery ticket too? Could this day go any better? I had to do a separate post just for this room too...amazing!

So after being giddy in our room for a few hours, enjoying our balcony and resting up a bit, for our big night out. We headed out for a girls Parisian night on the town. We jumped back on the Metro, this time heading to the La Fayette, Paris's beautiful old department store. We discovered it was just a block away from the Paris Oprea House too, so we jumped off a stop early to walk by the beautiful landmark.

Again, popping up to street level from the Metro was a thrill, its like we are entering Paris all over again. You never know what sights you will see and it never disappoints. We walked a block or two to the grand old Oprea House. Amazing! We sat on the steps and took it all in. The builiding was situated on a huge square surrounded by gorgeous buildings. After a few mins, I realized the tall wrought iron gate at the entrance of the building was open and there was a security guard standing there. Well again, I thought it never hurts to ask. So I walked up to him and put on my cute Aussie accent and asked if I could pop my head in and take a peak at the Grand Staircase? He was a little hesitant, so I told him I would be really quick and just take one pic. He looked around, looked over his shoulder, leaned in to me and said OK, but please be quick. Oh I felt like I was getting access to a top secret facility...woo hoo! Amazing! (yeah I know I really need to find another word to use, Amazing is getting a little used) Anyway, it really was Amazing, the grand marble staircase, with gold gilded statues, very impressive! With in a min another security guard was over shooing me away and locked the gates behind me, all the other tourists who saw where I had been were turned away...Again, lucky me!

Just as we were getting ready to leave, it became very dark. The sun was setting and the lights came on to help illuminate the Oprea House. The dark gray cloudy sky in the background made the whole site rather dramatic.....

We then walked on to the La Fayette Department store, it was huge and pricey! Shopping here would've sent me broke, so it was purely window shopping. Man did we see some strange shoes though. I think the plastic, flesh colored shoes were my fave...lol! Blue really seemed to be the shoe color trend in Paris at the time and we instantly fell in love with them! Besides the shoes and the fashions the building itself was a sight all in its self. From the outside, a beautiful old stone, Parisian building, on the inside it looked like a Palace. Gold gilding ever where, beautiful ornate balconies and a stained glass dome that was spectacular.

While working around the department store, we discovered in the basement an entrance to the Metro. So we jumped back on the train, where to go next? While looking at the map we discovered that the station we were on was on the same line as the Trocadero. This was somewhere we hadn't talked about going too, but at night it offered the best view of the Eiffel tower lit up. Sounds great, lets go!

WOW!!! The tower at night is even more beautiful than during the day. WOW!!! Someone pinch me now! While we were sitting on the steps of the Trocaddero starring goofy eyed at the stunning Eiffel tower, it started to sparkle as it lit up with thousands of dancing white fair lights! Really, it was already amazing enough. Again, we just happened to be somewhere at the right time. It only lasted for around 10mins and was completely unforgettable. What a special sight to see. While here, there were dozens of pushy peddlers selling more souvenirs. The one thing Harry wanted me to bring back was the Eiffel tower. Well obviously I couldn't do that, so I got him the next best thing. A glass Eiffel tower statue that lights up...woo hoo for tacky souvenirs!

After the most unbelievable day ever! We headed back to the Metro to catch it to the Arc de Triumph. This is located at the top of the Champs so we could walk home from there. You can really see why Paris is called the city of lights. Even the Arc was lit up and looking stunning.
We strolled down the Champs Elysees browsing at the store, that were still open at 10pm. We stopped in a wonderful little bakery that we had been eying since we got here. Paul's had the most delicious looking baguettes in the windows, we had to stop and get one for dinner. Sarah had a tomato, mozzarella and lettuce. While I got my fave, cheese and ham. We decided to head back to our room via the pay phone, a quick call to the boys back home. Then off to our room to enjoy our baguettes and the view! What a great way to end one of the best days EVER!!!

Day 2 - Paris - Picture perfect view!

On day 2 of our trip, we woke up early. Looking around the room, we could have been any where. The window in our room looked straight down into the lobby of the hotel. I was feeling a little disappointed with the view. Even a service lane or another building would've been better, at least it would've helped make it feel like we were in Paris.

The boring view from our first room!

Heading to breakfast, I stopped and asked at reception if there were any rooms available with an outside view. It never hurts to ask! Unfortunately they were totally booked out. Still feeling somewhat hopeful, I asked if they would please put our name down on a wait list, just in case anything did become available...got to love traveling as a Platinum member!

After a big day out and a few souvenir stores later, we arrived back at the hotel. It was around 3pm, time to get ready for our night on the town. On arriving back I asked at the front desk if there by some chance had been a cancellation....WHOOO HOOO! Yes mam! My new happy place! I loved the little Parisian balcony with the buzz from the street below.

There was a cancellation and not only for a room with a view, but a king-suite with a balcony, over looking the champs elysees, Arch de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower sticking its head up to say hi! Directly across from our room.

We were giddy with excitement! Holly Cow, I couldn't believe it!! We jumped on the bed, danced around the room, made idiots of ourselves waving down to the street below...what a rush! We felt like rock star's getting the VIP treatment.
It was funny, at first we were just so taken in with the view of the street, that we did not even notice the Eiffle tower, poking out behind the building in front of us. When we noticed that, you would've thought I won the lottery. It was all I could do to not scream...lol!
The amazing view from our room, looking up toward the Arc De Triumph

A postcard I found in a souvenir store, nearly the exact same view...love it!

What an amazing view to go to sleep too and then wake up too in the morning! Ahhhh!

Boys ONLY!
The boys are now sharing a bedroom!

For weeks now the boys have been sleeping together in each others rooms. Sometimes on the floor, or in Harry's bed, even under Thomas's bed. They love being together, its really quite sweet. But in this time they've developed some really bad sleeping habits, staying up late, not dressing in there jammies and like I said, even sleeping on the floor. In hopes of creating a sleeping environment in which they both want to sleep in every night and establish good sleeping habits again. Dave and I have decided to let them share a bedroom again. They haven't shared a room since Kennydale when Thomas was a babe in a crib.
So we rebuilt the bunk bed in Thomas old room, which we are now referring to as "the boys room" so they both have ownership. They are loving it! Thomas has the bottom bunk, that we refer to as his cubby. While Harry took the top ie, control tower.

Day 2 - Paris

Notre-Dame - Latin Quarter - Street markets - Nutella crepes - Paris Opera House - LaFayette - Eiffel Tower at night - Arc de Triumph - Trocaderro - And so much more I'm sure I'm forgetting...agh!
Are you kidding me 3:30am and I'm wide awake! It was still night time, outside the sky was pitch black. But do you think I could fall back to sleep, hell No! I'm in Paris!! What adventures will we have today? All I could do was lay there in bed thinking about the wonderful sights I want to see, things I want to eat, places I want to go, just dying to hear more of the beautiful language and soaking in more of their culture.
I was actually really happy just laying there, the bed was the coziest I had ever slept in. Beautiful white, crisp french linen, a dozen over stuffed pillows and a slight smell of sticky cheese which was not so nice, but reminded me while in the dark of where I was...lol!
Note* We had to put the stinky cheese out in the hallway before bed, as the smell was completely overpowering our room and smelt like dirty socks.

The great thing about jet-lag was waking up at the crack of dawn and getting to make the most of the hours in a day. We got ready and headed down to the hotel restaurant for a yummy hot breakfast, with the most delicious little sausages and petite mushrooms. They also had cereal, croissants, fruits, smoked salmon, meats, pancakes, and cheeses. One of our daily jump-starts to the day, besides a cappuccino, was to down a Berocca so we could hit the streets of Paris running.
Today we jumped aboard the Metro again, yes we braved it after our horrible experience the day before. Luckily today wasn't too bad, I guess we had missed the commuters, thanks god!
Notre-Dame here we come! We jumped off the metro and popped up in the Latin Quarter, such an old part of Paris, with more cobblestone lanes and Parisian buildings. We crossed a bridge over the Seine to reach the Cathedral. This place is huge and so ornate, with its carvings of Saints that greet you at the door and its impressive doors that make you feel so small as you walk through them. We walked around inside admiring the stained glass and the history of the place. After checking it out we then joined the line outside to climb the 380 steps for one of the best views in Paris. Here we go again, more steps...agh! (This was my way of having no guilt when I ate all the yummy French goodness) While waiting in line we chatted with the other tourists and I snapped a pic of the cute cafe next to us....The gates opened and the line finally started moving. Luckily we got there early, we were really close to the front of the line, by the time we entered there were hundreds of tourists waiting behind us. The staircase up was narrow, old and fairly dark. It spiralled continuously until we reached the balcony. Every know and then there would be a small window in the wall to let in some light. The stone steps were worn from hundreds of years of use, they looked like someone fat sat on them and left an imprint, it made for interesting climbing. Just when I thought I was going to die (again, gosh I hate steps!) we finally made it to a small wooden door that lead out to the main balcony between the towers.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful Gothic stonework and all fun looking gargoyle's, each one had its own character and you could tell who ever carved them must of had fun. I think my fav was the one sticking its tongue out to Paris, so cheeky! We wondered around and took in the view. I actually liked this view more than the Eiffel Tower because the Eiffel tower was in this view. We looked out of the Seine with its romantic bridges, gardens with their perfectly symmetrical layouts and buildings that were again simply stunning. We hung out here for a bit, taking pics and then headed through a small wooden door (even small for me, I had to duck) we climbed a few more wooden stairs, this time we were up inside the bell tower. We got to see the gigantic bell but no Quasimodo. After the bell room we continued up an even smaller, tighter, stone spiral stairwell to the very top of the bell tower...wow!
We had a few mins a the top, this was another happy place! It made me giddy feeling like we were on the top of Paris. We walked around the top of the bell tower and then made our way back down the stairs. Just as we headed in we felt a few drops of rain, man we timed that perfectly.
This is one of my fav pics from the trip, here is Sarah at the tippy top of Notre Dame...cute!
By the time we reached the street level, (so much faster than going up) it was pouring! We popped out and ran across the street to the first undercover place we could find. Haha, a souvenir store, let the tacky buying begin!

Day 1 - Paris (continued)

So we reached the top of the Eiffel tower, one word....AMAZING! One for actually making it up all those steps and two for the awesome views of Paris. Did I mention how much I love this city! The weather was great, a slight breeze and we actually felt the tower sway a little at one point. The workers were in the middle of painting which was really cool to see, it was half rust color and half gray. These workers made me queasy just looking at them, they were harnessed up conturting to all types of weird death defying positions just to paint the tower, so not my type of job. One guy was even inside one of the piers that must have been 2ft wide and hundreds of feet above ground, makes my palms sweat just thinking about it.We wondered around the level taking it all in and must of been up there for over an hour. No idea what the time was or even what day it was really, but we didn't care. We stopped and had lunch with the best dinning view I've ever had. It was perfect, a fresh baguette with ham and cheese along with a cappuccino...mmm! This will become a staple lunch for me over the next week, it was sooooo good!After soaking in as much as we could, we decided to head back down the hundreds of steps. So much easier going down, it took us no time at all.

What to do next? We walked around the park right next to the tower, people watched, soaked in more of the sights and sounds. It was still a thrill to hear french being spoken everywhere, really grounding us that yes we were in another country. After taking photo after photo trying to get the best view of the tower with us in it, a friendly bus driver offered to take our pic. Our first real pic of the two of us in Paris...love it!

We continued to walk around the park, back under the Eiffel tower, then down to the River Seine. Where we saw the first of many beautiful bridges that Paris is famous for, the carousel with its music playing and dozens of crazy peddlers selling tacky tourist souvenirs. It was all so colorful. We thought about catching a boat back down the river but opted to walk the river front instead, it was just so picturesque. We even passed a old guy sitting on the side with his easel painting, totally charming.

Back at the Champs Elysees, after exploring little back roads on the way, we decided to stop for a coffee, my feet thanked me. The jet lag was really starting to set in, I think it was going on 24hrs that we had been awake...Must have Caffeine! We walked up to the famous Fraque's with the beautiful red awnings and red wicker seating out front. Last time I was in Paris I walked past this place and I told myself that when I come back I will have a coffee here. Well it was packed, totally touristy and no where to sit. A little bummed we walked on, Oh well, we came across a great little spot, with outdoor seating which is so fun for people watching. We stopped here for some time soaking in the view and the caffeine, man it felt good! Then we got the bill...holly cow! Would you like my first born for that coffee? Seriously, two small, itsy bitsy cappuccinos cost us over 12e which is like $15us. I guess we were paying for the location too! Totally worth it then =)On our way back to the hotel we called our guys to tell them we arrived safely and what a fabulous day we had. We called from a little pay phone around the corner, next to a department store and opposite from a few nightclubs and a toy store. An interesting mix of things. Now back to the hotel, we were ready to crash!

Day 1 - Paris

Someone pinch me I'm on my way to Paris!!!

I had no problem jumping out of bed to the alarm clock set for 4am this morning. After months and months of planning the big day had finally arrived. Seriously could someone pinch me, it really does no feel real!
I threw my packed bag in the car, the one I had unpacked and packed many times just to make sure I had everything I needed. It wasn't too big and it still had room to spare, which was good because I plan on buying up Paris when I get there.
It was still pitch black when I arrived at Sarah's place, I should of been tired but by now the adrenaline had kicked in and my body was buzzing with excitement. I jumped into her car and off we went to the airport for a 7am departure.
We checked in our bags and got our boarding passes, everything went very smoothly. So now all we had to do was wait. We went and grabbed a coffee and then boarded the plane....Paris here we come!

The plane ride was smooth and relatively fast, we watched a few movies and before we knew it we were landing at Newark...nice! Newark airport was a maze and huge! It felt like we had walked the terminals forever, after grabbing a snack for dinner we headed to our gate. I was so ready to sleep, which was great timing for a transatlantic flight.

"What, the alcohol is not free on this international flight....Grrr!" I guess Qantas had spoiled me with its international flights, we didn't even get the little eye mask and cozy socks. But really I couldn't complain, we had very little to no turbulence so that made up for the lack of hot towels by Continental. The cabin lights went out and it was time to sleep, so I thought! Not for me, jumpy legs were a nightmare, so frustrating! So I watched a few more movies and finally drifted off to sleep.

Bonjour Paris!
We were here! As we departed the plane the sky looked the same as the one we had left behind in Seattle, overcast and gray. All around us Americans spoke. Are we really in France? Then a strange smell hit us, the one that tells you, you are in a foreign place. Kind of like a mix of gasoline and perfume. The loud speaker spurted out an announcement all in French, and people started to look different. Everywhere we looked the writing was in French, I started noticing peoples conversations around me, all of which I could not understand. Like a knock to the head, reality hit, I was in France!!! Can you say goofy smile. I felt deliriously happy and I knew I had a ridiculous smile on my face, the French stares started, I guess they could tell I wasn't from here!

After getting our bags, thank god for no lost bags. We headed to the train station. We opted for this over a shuttle or taxi as it was cheaper and great way to just get in there with the locals. Well you would think I had neon green skin. I guess we did kind of stick out a bit, with our giddy grins and our rolly bags. Not to mention oh, we spoke English and we smiled a lot. Quite the contrast to everyone on board who were taking their daily mundane commute to work. No smiles and no conversation. It was quiet on board, all except for two tourists who quickly learned to blend in you had to scowl, stare people down and not talk. French lesson one, check!

We had to jump out at a station to get on the mustard line which our hotel was located. Again, lost and trying to blend in, we may as well of had tourist tattooed to our foreheads!
Breathe, Breathe! We had to finally just step to the side and let the commuter rush push on by. It was crazy busy down in the Metro, far below ground. It felt like a rat maze, only this one was over populated with grumpy people heading to work. It took us a minute to get our bearings and find the station we needed to head to. Finally the right platform, it was like rush hour in Tokyo, I had never seen so many people squishing on to a train before. If there was no room, they would make it and push everyone just to get in, letting the doors close to hold them in place....crazy! What are we getting ourselves in for. With our rolly bags we looked at each other, do we really want to do this? We let a few trains pass to hopefully take the bulk of commuters, waiting for a train that was not as overflowing. Three trains passed, they came every minute, and still the people kept coming. It was relentless the amount of commuters, surely everyone was at work by now! With no decline of people in sight we decided to take the next train that came, we had watched how the locals did it, so we placed ourselves right by the door. Waiting for the train was nauseating, the doors opened and spewed out the commuters, I didn't even have to decide when to get on, we were just swept on with everyone else in a tight squeeze. I am sure I let out a Aghhh! As we were carried on, but we were on and finally on our way to our hotel.

We pushed our way off, a train station early, you would not believe how many people kept cramming their way onto our all ready full train. The poor old lady standing next to me, she must of been 4ft and so fragile. Time for us to get off. We jumped off at the Champs-Elysees stop, as we are staying there I knew were to go. After climbing too many stairs, ridding an escalator and then a lift we finally made it to street level. We popped out of the underground to be welcomed by beautiful Paris! All of a sudden the tourists who were trying to blend in didn't care, we jumped up and down, grabbed our cameras and started clicking away. We came up at the Concorde, a beautiful square in the middle of Champs Elysees. After doing a complete 360 with the return of the goofy smile, it finally hit! We were in Paris, really!!!

Rolly bags in hand we strutted our way up the Champs Elysees taking in all the sights and beautiful architecture along the way. We didn't have to walk too far to reach our amazing hotel, situated right above Sephora...nice! A beautiful old neo classic builiding, with small balconies, covered with wrought iron, the main door welcomed us with a wrought iron and glass awning, similar to the old subway entrances. We checked in and they all ready had a room ready for us, 7:30am in the morning. We were so relieved as we both felt gross after the flight, not to mention exhausted from the commute to town, what an experience. They had Wine and stinky cheese waiting for us in our room, comfy slippers and cozy robes! Our room looked out over the courtyard in the middle of the hotel and we were located on the top floor in a Beautiful and spacious room. We tried the cheese and drank some wine, the cheese was funky to say the least. But the wine was delicious.

Time to hit the town!
After freshening up and a coffee in the hotel restaurant we headed out to explore Paris. We didn't want to waste anytime on this dry kind of sunny day, so Eiffel tower here we come! The coffee buzz was immediate and felt great. It also felt great leaving our rolly bags behind and being free to walk around town like a local, with a silly grin. I just couldn't get enough of the buildings, the window, the doors, everything about them was beautiful. They love detail and take pride in their display, even the small pots on the window ledges were perfectly manicured. On the way to the ET we took a few wrong turns, but that is part of the fun exploring a new city, getting lost and discovering little gems. We came across a beautiful little florist, which in contrast to the gray buildings and gray skies, the orange and reds of the flowers were stunning! We passed a number of cafe's with wicker outdoor seating and heat lamps. We finally came to our first glimpse of the top of the Eiffel tower, again giddy with excitement we did the tourist thing of jumping up and down...lol! Nothing makes you feel like you are in Paris more than seeing the Eiffel tower. We headed over the Seine on one of the romantic bridges stopping to click some more pics and in no time we were standing at the foot of the gigantic tower.

I guess we are climbing!
With no concept of time, I think it was early morning still. We were shocked by how many people were already lined up waiting to go up the tower. The wait in one line was 3hrs. So we jumped in the other line which seemed to be moving faster, although we didn't know why. We still waited around 30mins in line before it was our turn to purchase tickets. Apparently we were in line to climb the stairs, only one lift was working today and that was the other line...oops! Well I guess we climb. We saved money too, it was only 4e to climb v's 20e for the lift, plus I had never climbed it before. It started out great, the buzz from being here still driving me, but as we got further and further up, the heights were dizzying, I tried not to look down. OMG I thought I was going to die, was the air thinning, I couldn't breathe...lol! Finally we made it to the first level, well that was as far as I was going. Holly cow what a climb, nearly 400 steps!

The view was well worth the climb and in fact I think working so hard to get there made me appreciate it all the more. Plus we were in rush to go back down so we really stayed up there to enjoy it......