Happy Halloween!

It was the hottest Halloween on record yesterday so we have bags of melted candy but we still had a great time! Maddy and Mya looked perfect in their costumes, Mike did a fine job on his pumpkin seeds, and I was very proud of my pumpkin carving and decorating...Happy Halloween!

Clare's Race

I did my first 5K! It was about 80 degrees so it nearly killed me but it's done. One more thing crossed off the list for 2009! Here's me looking and feeling like hell on the way home...

Mike's Big Race

Mike raised over $1600 today at his 5K for Susan Komen's 'Race for the Cure' in celebration of Steph! Here are the before and after pics...barely broke a sweat and all done in just over 24 mins...!

UK/Paris Trip of a Lifetime!

We had the busiest and most amazing family vacation this year. All of the planning really paid off. Now we need a vacation to recover :)

As soon as we arrived in Birmingham on Friday morning we got a bacon buttie for Mike and went down to see my old University campus. It still looks so beautiful and brought back so many memories...although some are a bit of a blur...:). Old Joe, the clocktower looks just the same...


When we got back to Stone we went down to the market and had a lovely family party that night at Gail's. Here's me, Mike and our gorgeous niece and nephew and his girlfriend...


In the morning we met up with my best friend (of over 30 years!), Mary, and took Maddy and her two beautiful girls down to the pub.


On Saturday night we went to Manchester to see Coldplay and Jay Z. Since we'd seen the show in Orlando we were able to figure out where they had their mini-stage set up in the crowd. Just before the big moment, we sneaked over to wait for them to arrive. Just a handful of people seemed to know what was going on so we ended up right at the front for their acoustic set and within about 2-3 feet! I was completely speechless for once...

Me and Coldplay's shoes...

On the Sunday, we went hiking on Barlaston Downs and finished up at the pub (again) for Mike's first Sunday dinner.


That night we got packed for the next part of the trip to France and booked the train and hotel. We managed to get a priceline.com special for a central Paris location for $150 a night. We priced it up after getting a successful bid and the price should have been $861 a night! We set off on the Eurostar and got on our taxi into Paris less than 4 hours later.
In the morning we got up nice and early for an action-packed agenda. We stopped in a cafe for breakfast and then walked absolutely miles to see the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elysses, along the Seine, past the Grand Palais to Place de la Concorde.


Outside the Louvre which incidentally is closed on Tuesday's for some reason if you are ever over that way...


Maddy had the Royale with Cheese...

Notredame Cathedral...

At Notredame - it's two Euros for a blessing...five for a big one...

Me at the Dome Church where Napoleon's tomb is located...


Maddy at her favorite place, the Eiffel Tower, and Pompidou (which is also closed on Tuesdays)

There were about a billion conkers on the Champs Elysses which I now understand are in fact "seeds" of the Horse Chestnut tree as the Agricultural Department of the US Customs Office informed me when we got got pulled over at the airport...oops...


Funny looking electrical cars were everywhere along with some nutty driving...


We all fell asleep at about 8:30pm that night for the first time in Early Family history although Mike and I were woken up at about 2am to noises "d'amour" from the room next door - how very French:) The next day we went to the Louvre in the morning and then took the Metro to Montmatre to see Sacre Coeur.

The Venus De Milo...


Enigmatic smiles....

At the end of another exhausting day, we stopped at a cafe to watch the Eiffel Tower's hourly light show and enjoy a coffee and glass of wine :)

In the morning we drove by La Defence and the Moulin Rouge on the way to the train station...



We spent the next couple of days back in England doing crafts with Andrea and spending time with family. We got to see Jan and Darren too and laughed our heads off looking at old family photos :)


On the morning of the trip home, we were sitting on the plane on the runway when our pilot was apparently arrested and removed from the plane! We were given a nice little hotel in Solihull (I kept expecting to see Meg Mortimer or Miss Diane) and free meals for the day. We met a lovely family from Market Harborough who let us know about our entitlement to about $2,000 compensation under EU law. If it works out we may avoid "le bankruptcy" after all. That's not going to help on the diet damage front though:) But it was so worth it - what a fantastic vacation!

L'amour de ma vie...

Labor Day Weekend

The Earlys and Simards took our annual Labor Day weekend trip to Orlando. On Saturday, the girls loved the Arabian Nights dinner show - we did the VIP upgrade so the girls got to sit at the front and meet the horses up close before the show. They had such a great time!
On Sunday we hung out by the pool for most of the day (it was 92 degrees!) and then went to the House of Blues for dinner. We showed Maddy where her mom and dad actually first met and had their first dance together...

Madison Turns Double Digits!

Maddy had a double celebration for turning double digits! She spent the day itself with Auntie Gail and had a great time doing crafts, going to the movies and shopping. In the evening we all went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and then back home to eat another of Aunt Jen's fabulous cake creations. Despite the fact that we are still kitchen-less, it tasted just as good off paper plates! On the Saturday we had her party at Family Extreme Adventures - the new laser tag place. We all had a lot of fun! Thank you to everyone for making Maddy's birthday so very special - we love you!

Macaroni nCheese...I mean Grill...

Maddy and Gay...

Me and my baby...

My baby with her Hannah Montana tickets!

Jen's cake and opening gifts with Mya...

The laser tag crew...

Maddy's "Big Cat Rescue" cake...you can't have too many...

Taking it easy the next day at the beach with Mya!That night...