Summer Fun

It took us a bit of time to recover from our trip.  Because we left the day after Macy's birthday, she wanted to save some of the celebrating when we returned. Several times over the trip she asked if we could get her one of the used Chromebooks the school was selling.  We somehow managed to dodge those questions because she was shocked to receive a laptop for her birthday.

Everyone loves a good "pile on Macy."

Kayla met her soon-to-be college roommate through an app, but realized they had mutual friends.  When Charis and her family came in town to visit, the mutual friends were kind enough to invite us over to swim. I'm glad they were able to have some conversations in person prior to moving in together. 

Accurate.

Macy took her driver's test and passed! In fact, she was given a perfect score and the lady testing her said it had been weeks since she'd given a perfect score. Her sisters surprised her with water balloons.  Kayla was hiding in the woods and pelted one at her side window.  That completely caught her off guard, but she quickly joined in on the fight. 

We accomplished the dreaded chore of painting our new fence.  It was quite a chore, but everyone had a great attitude and we knocked it out.

We went to KSU to watch Atlanta United 2. It was an interesting experience and I was able to teach the girls all about how not to behave. Some people are just rude. The actual playing of the game was fun to watch though.

She really doesn't like to drive, but it's nice to have another licensed driver in the house before Kayla heads off to college. 

Kayla is doing all of the sister fun things.  She and Brooke built a fort in Brooke's room and set up a movie to watch. 

So far it's been a low-key summer since we returned from our trip.  Things we get busier soon, but we've been enjoying these lazy days of summer. 

Showcase 2023

Shortly after returning from our trip, the girls had their clogging showcase, which included 2 routines that they learned via video while we were out of town. One routine was acapella, so that one required them to really know their stuff.

The graduating seniors were recognized and Marci spoke kind words about Kayla.  We will forever be grateful for the impact PowerTaps has had on our girls.

Day 9: Paris

We decided to take a long layover in Paris on our way home.  In hindsight I wish we ha made it a bit of a longer layover, but we were still able to see some of the sights.  We decided it would be best to take a hop-on hop-off bus since we didn't have much time.  

On our way to catch the bus we passed Notre Dame.

Seine River

Arc de Triomphe

It was hot, and we didn't have much time to look for lunch.  Kayla wasn't feeling well and had gotten sick a few times that morning.  We ended up splitting up so that she could rest some indoors and nibble on a croissant.  Macy took a lemonade to go, but lemonades in Europe are different, and they are carbonated. Macy isn't a big fan of carbonated drinks, but we all thought this one was yummy. 

We only had time to get off for one more stop, and of course it had to be the Eiffel Tower. 

Feeling yucky, but trying to enjoy the experience.

The girls also did a little clogging at the tower. They clog all the time anyway, but they had their clogging showcase a few days later, with a routine that they learned via video. 

Last family picture before Kayla fell asleep on me.  She just wasn't feeling good at all.  

Residential streets

Back through the Louvre

We started getting stressed about making back to the airport on time because of the traffic, but we did make it with enough time to grab some macaroons.  I'm sure we paid a lot more since we bought them in the airport, but they were still Parisian macaroons. 

Marc booked our seats in the back of the plane hoping for a little more space.  We ended up having 8 seats to the 5 of us, so that was really nice.  It made for a long wait to get off the plane in Atlanta, but that's okay!

Getting our airport shuttle was another adventure we'd rather not repeat, especially after such a long day of travel. Kayla persevered through the day, and I was just glad to be back on American soil. I had thoughts of taking her to a hospital in Paris because I didn't like the combination of symptoms she was having, but she was a trooper.  We waited almost an hour for them and kept getting excuses about where the shuttle was. Needless to say, we were all so happy to get back home. 

The trip was jam-packed with adventures, walking, laughs, clogging, logistics, and fun.  Kayla and I loved planning every bit of it, and being able to have these experiences with my family is something I will always treasure. 

Day 8: Ghent

 Taking a day trip to Ghent was going to be a last minute decision based on how much more we wanted to see of Brussels, but after several people asked if we were going to make it to Ghent, we decided to go ahead and plan for a day there.  Figuring out the subway system in London was just like the systems in America.  The trains were a little different. For this ride they actually checked our tickets after we were on our way. 

Belfry of Ghent

Yep, water again. 

These little trinket music boxes that played many familiar movie tunes.

Saint Bavo's Cathedral

This was a fascinating visit.  The tour is a virtual reality tour and they tell you the history of the cathedral as well as the history of the Ghent Altarpiece. This piece of art is the most stolen piece of art in the world.  One panel is still missing to this day.

A view of the virtual reality  image.

This is a massive art piece that folds in with 8 more paintings on the back. This has been restored back to the original paint from 1432. Over 70% of the work had been painted over, but through restoration, it is back to its original condition. It was truly magnificent.

I'm a bit ashamed to say that we ate at McDonald's for lunch. There really wasn't too much in the area, and we were pressed for time. 

There is so much architectural beauty in Ghent.

Our final stop in Ghent was Gravensteen. It was built in 1180 as a residence, but it has also been used as a court, prison, mint, and cotton factory. 

This audio tour was a comedy tour. Sometimes cheesy, sometimes funny, and mostly interesting. 

Views from the top

We couldn't leave without another waffle - strawberries and nutella, of course. 

We learned that there are two different kinds of Belgian waffles: Brussels and Liege. Brussels waffles are less sweet and have toppings. Liege waffle have sugar pearls inside and are meant to eat as street food while walking. They generally don't have toppings. 

It was time to head back to Brussels to catch the Eurostar back to London.  Tonight we're staying close to the airport for an early morning departure flight. 

Before heading out of Belgium we had to grab some Belgian fries. The most common condiment is mayonnaise, so we tried it.  We weren't super impressed with the fries or the fries with mayonnaise, but we're glad we tried them. 

It was such a great adventure in Belguim, and I'm so glad we added this stop onto our trip.