A Letter from Miso

 [From a few weeks ago]

Hello Family,
I thought I would email you an update of how life in Beaverton is so you don't worry about me.  Things are going well.  I am doing a very good job keeping things in line around here.  Kelly has been on her best behavior.  I stole her teddy bear, Ty, today just to remind her who is boss, but overall, she's a good substitute in your absence.  Leo is going home on Monday and I have mixed feelings about it.  It is nice to have someone who actually has a chance at keeping up with me (Kelly is no where near my speed no matter how hard she tries, bless her heart).  But once he goes home, I'll be able to sleep in longer and Sully will be able to come swim in my pool again.  Swimming is kind of lonely by yourself, not that that stops me from getting in the pool every chance I get.  Kelly changes my water everyday; it gets dirty really fast.  She has caught onto my routine which is good; she's a quick learner.  I wish she would feed me more and let me sleep on her pillow.  Last night, I hopped into bed ready to snuggle  but she didn't really think that was a great idea.  She pushed me off her pillow and was sorta frustrated with me, it couldn't possibly because I was dirty and sitting on her clean pillow case, she overreacted.  I settled for sleeping right next to her head.  She doesn't snore though which is good.  I still love sleeping with you though, Dad! :)

I have been busy these past few days.  On 4th of July (Kelly told me it was the 4th of July because as you know, I have no concept of time or holidays), Peyton came and stayed with us.  We had a sleepover in Kiana's bed!  Kelly was excited to have Mom and Dad's bed all to herself for the night.  Peyton is fun to play with!  She let me crawl all over her.  It was great!  Yesterday, Kelly set up a play date for Sully and I at the park.  It was really hot, we ran out of energy quickly, well actually Sully ran out of energy quickly and then I got bored of running by myself.  The adrenaline rush is gone when you're running from yourself, you can never get away from you!  I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about.  Anyway, today Trooper and his parents stopped by and we played at the park for a little while.  Kelly was grateful to meet another one of my playmates, for some reason she thinks I have too much energy.  I have no idea what she is talking about.

This week Kelly mowed the lawn.  Mom, you are way more graceful than she is.  Holy cow, she struggled.  I decided to help her by putting my toys right in front of the mower so she knew where to mow next.  I also stood in front of her while she was mowing so she knew what areas needs to be remowed, places she didn't do a very good job.  I thought she would be grateful for my help, but she never said thank you.  Rude.  She also cleaned the walls in the kitchen today because I had a great swim yesterday and then ran in the dirt and got mud all over the walls.  Oops.  Don't worry though, I didn't get in trouble and she cleaned it all up!

I think those are my only updates as of right now.  I'll check in again with you in a few days.  I hope you are enjoying your trip in Europe.  Kelly said it's really far away, which was why I couldn't go.  Regardless, it's sunny here now and I have a short attention span so I'm going to go chase the ball around.  Kiana, thank you for the message you send via Kelly.  Ruff, ruff, woof, woof, woof, ruff.

Slobbery kisses!!
Miso

Catching Up

Due to inadequate internet and a blogspot mobile app that doesn't always work, I am way behind in reporting on our trip.  We have been traveling!!  Here are the highlights, then I will try to post pictures from my phone separately.

Granville, France

Granville is a small beach town on the northern coast of France.  We went to Granville to meet our Swedish friends who were vacationing there.  It was a fun few days of visiting, eating and drinking.  We were sad to say goodbye again...  On our last day there, we all went to Mont St. Michel, a famous old monastery built on the beach, which is surrounded by water at high tide and sand at low tide.  It was quite beautiful.  We were enjoying it, spent longer than expected there and were able to enjoy it at sunset! 

On our way to Granville, we toured some of the D-Day beaches and museums.  It was amazing the amount of work that went into the planning of the invasion.

After driving from Paris to Granville, then onto Cherbourgh, I have greater respect for the Amazing Race teams.  Navigating through France was challenging, as the roads aren't always marked with numbers, just destinations (which are the end point, and not always the city you are heading toward). 

On to England

In Cherbourgh, France, we turned in the rental car and boarded a ferry to Portsmouth, England.  It was an evening ferry and we arrived in Portsmouth late at night.  We had a brief moment of panic, when after we were dropped off at our hotel at midnight and found the hotel door to be locked and it dark inside!  But, there was a call box, and we were able to get in and go to the second level lobby!  (Kiana had warned me that the hotel might be closed when we arrived - smart girl!  Smart mom should have checked for sure!)

We had just a few hours to visit in Portsmouth before boarding a train to Brighton, England.

Brighton, England

Mike's grandparents spent three months in Brighton in the 1980s when they traded houses with someone there.  We spent a relaxing week there.  Kiana was sick and we were all tired of cities and traveling, so we took advantage of our satellite TV and couches to watch the first week of the Olympics.  BBC has great coverage.  On satellite, we could watch any event that was happening live!  There is great Olympic spirit in Great Britain, they are very proud of hosting the Olympics. 

London

We made it!  And we all agree that London is the best city we have visited on this trip!  Our hunch was right...they report that it is less crowded than other summers.  What we appreciate is that everyone is very happy!  All of the bus and underground stations have volunteers posted to help tourists find their way.  There are extra signs to direct people to the Olympic venues (not that we needed those!).  It is just a fun place to be during the Olympics. 

There is so much to see here, that it is impossible to come close to seeing it in one week.  We have managed to do quite a bit..  Riding in a red double decker bus, seeing an Olympic event, visiting museums, walking some neighborhoods, visiting the Harry Potter movie sets, plus a whole lot more!

Tomorrow we take a night ferry from England back to Amsterdam.  A mini cruise ship for 10 hours.  Kevin and I arrive back in Canada on Sunday and Mike and Kiana arrive on Monday.  We will retrieve our car and head back toward Portland! 

Cheers!

No Internet

We haven't had internet service since Friday, and I don't know if we will have it again before next Friday. There is a Starbucks nearby, so we are checking our email but the connection is slow. We are in Brighton, England now and will go to London on Friday.  We do have great TV service though, and the Olympics coverage is great!!

Paris!!!

Sorry for the delay posting about Paris, there were a few technical difficulties.

We spent 3 days in Paris and managed to see many sights!  Our tiny apartment was in a good location near the Louvre, so it was easy to walk or take the Metro.  It also was conveniently located next to a bakery....as Mike said, it was faster to walk to the bakery than it is to walk to the mailbox back home! 

Friday evening we went to the Louvre, and we spent most of the time looking at the sculptures. We all decided we like 3D art better than paintings.  We did push our way to the front of a 15-person deep wall of tourists to see the Mona Lisa.  We were underwhelmed. You can't really SEE it, as they hold you too far away and it is behind protective glass.  I wonder about the draw of some of these famous artworks.  I didn't find them particularly impressive, but was much more impressed by other works instead. I guess there is art that appeals to everyone.

On Saturday, we visited the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, and Jardin des Tuileries.  We had a Cheeseburger Royale for lunch and did lots of walking. The streets are busy with tourists, but they are much more tolerable than Amsterdam, probably because the tourists are older.  And, no, we did not go up the Eiffel Tower. While I am willing to wait for 30 minutes for fresh cotton candy, I am not willing to wait 2 hours to climb the tower. Maybe another trip...

On Sunday, we walked to Notre Dame along the Seine, had famous Berthillon ice cream cones and watched the finish of the Tour of France. It is amazing the number of people who come out for the finish. We had learned ahead of time that along the Champs-Elysees the crowds can be 5-10 people deep and you have to claim your spot up to 5 hours ahead of time!  We chose a spot that was still along the circle of the final laps, but not in sight of the finish line. If you watched you probably saw us at the 1 KM mark, but just didn't know it (we can only see ourselves on super slow motion - the riders go by sooooo fast!).  We headed home after 2 (of the 8) final laps to watch the finish on TV.  And we finished off the evening with a bowl of miso ramen from the Japanese restaurant down the street.

On Monday, we rented a car and drove around the largest traffic circle in the world before heading to the north coast of France.  More about that later...

Disneyland Paris

We have now been to every Disney Park in the world!!!!!  (At least until Disneyland opens in Shanghai...). By coincidence, we were at the original Disneyland for its 50th birthday, Tokyo for its 25th and Paris for its 20th.

In spite if the summer crowds, we managed to spend 5 days at Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios. The Paris parks defintely are not our favorite parks. They seemed understaffed, dirty, wih long lines at stores and restuarants, and in some cases poorly maintained.

But there were some highlights.  :)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is by far the best of any of the parks!  And we got to see behind the scenes when the ride stopped and we were evacuated. Very cool!  The kids also loved Rockin' Rollercoaster! 

All in all, a day at Disney is still fun, even in the busy summer season!

Running Around France

When we arrived in Vincennes, I was able to take a run past a castle and around a lake. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, with lots of people out. I am so happy I brought my running shoes!

Peaceful France

We left Bruges, Belgium this morning. Three trains and two subway rides, and five hours later, we arrived at our latest apartment in Vincennes, France. It is the complete opposite of Amsterdam.  Peaceful.  I could stay here for a month, but I only have 6 days. Vincennes is a suburb of Paris with easy access to Disneyland Paris. We probably will go tomorrow.

The funny this about this apartment are a couple of similarities to our China apartment. The dishwasher is too small for the plates, and you have to put your phone on the windowsill to get cell service.