Constant Beginnings

Two of our best vacations were spent at all inclusive resorts in Guam and Thailand. We attempted to recreate them, European style with an extended holiday weekend at the island of Mallorca. We stayed at the Cala Mandia resort about an hour from Mallorca's major city, Palma. It was definitely a resort catered to Germans, Spanish, or Europeans in general, but we made the most of our time and the beautiful weather. Prior to leaving, the weather forecast included 40-60% chance of rain each day with temps in the upper 70's. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The temperature held steady at 78-80ish the first 3 days with bouts of full sun. We lounged at each pool--kids splash pad, family pool, and water park, rotating among them. Each pool had appeal to each of our children. Thankfully, Gavin was able to access the pools independently with Chris & I with an arms reach. The resort had beach front access as well. It was perfect. Mya discovered sand gets EVERYWHERE, while Gavi...

We flew to Paris directly from London on EasyJet. I arranged private vans to bring us to our apartment we rented just blocks away from the Arc de Triumphe. It was my first experience with using homeaway.com to rent an apartment vs the typical hotel. It was a great find for a group so large, location and helped keep the cost down. Typically, European hotels will only sleep 3-4 in a room and finding 5+ rooms in a single hotel is difficult not to mention considering the location. The apartment was perfect. I neglected to take photos though. We hopped on the hop on hop off bus tour with a 2 day pass. This allowed us to use this mode of transportation to navigate the city each day. We spent the first day completing the loop and checking things out from atop the bus, while the second day was a mix of sight seeing and riding. We went in the Louvre, saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, walked and rode down the Champs de Elysees, enjoyed Macaroons from the fam ou s patisserie, Laduree, put...

Our last day in China was supposed to be pretty low-key, basically involving packing and heading to the airport for our departure. However, the days before were so filled that we ended up moving a few things around so life would be a little more manageable. Our first stop was Tiananamen Square. This was such a huge area. It was rather amazing to think such protests could take place on the ground which we were walking. It was calm, fairly empty and music filled the air. They also had an incredible panoramic screen sharing all that China had to offer. My Mom in Tiananmen Square. Us in Tiananmen Square. Monument to the soldiers who lost their lives. Guard in front of Tiananmen Square. A monument representing the People's Republic of China. Horsing around in the square. More chasing and entertaining our kiddos. And even more fun. Our final stop was The Temple of Heaven. This place was 3 times larger than the Forbidden City. It was very...