"Calm" Before The Storm

 Everyone knows the last few weeks in October leading up to Halloween and the beginning of the holiday season. It may be calm for some families, but not the Thorne bunch!

One of the biggest victories this month has been Maggie scoring out of Level 5. The girls learned the routines in just a few weeks and competed at the home Trick or Treat meet. Each gymnast needed a minimum score of 32 to compete Level 6 this season, and Maggie scored a 35.6250 and placed 5th on bars. There was no doubt that Maggie would make her goal, and we cannot wait to watch her excel in Level 6!

The older girls put on a haunted house at the meet, and Maggie joined in the fun while I worked the event. She was a little too natural as a dead doll....

Jacob received the award of "Fastest Sight Word Reader" in his first grade class for reading 30 tricky sight words in 16 seconds. I could not stop laughing at the gold bling he wore all day to celebrate!

After his teacher texted me that photo, we immediately scheduled a haircut! :)

Both boys are finishing their seasons in football and baseball. While Jacob's team has not won any games, Tuttle's team has progressed to the next round of the playoffs. Tuttle is the youngest on the U15 team, but he has continued to prove his batting skills and is always ready to help out his team in the outfield. Go Braves!

Jay and I celebrated our 17th anniversary of meeting at the GA/FL game yesterday. The football field looks a little different than it did in 2005, and we would not have it any other way!

Tomorrow is Halloween, and the kids are READY!

It's Fall, Y'all

 Fall means packing in all the seasonal fun while the weather is still tolerable to be outside!

Here is a snapshot of the past few weeks with our family.

Homecoming for Tuttle. He spent the weekend with Cade since Jay and I were out of town. Our "Single as a Pringle" boy went to dinner with a big group of boys, hopped on a party bus for the ride to the high school, and busted some moves on the dance floor. His suit was a huge hit!

Maggie's gymnastics team was invited to lead the Roswell Youth Day Parade with special recognition for the boys team and their accomplishments this year. She spent the weekend with Alma and attended the Piper Rockelle concert near the Marietta Square while also fitting in time for a fall festival. She was living her best life.

The Georgia Bulldogs are dominating again this year, and we are here for it! We hosted Karey and Will in Athens for the Georgia/Auburn game and loved a kid-less weekend full of eating at some of our favorite college spots (How can you go to Athens without Last Resort?) and soaking up one of our favorite towns. Granny's house is always so relaxing, and we love having our friends there.

Jacob's reading has really grown quickly in first grade. Ms. McGowan sent home an October reading challenge, and he was eager to start on it right away. His first completed task was reading to a friend.

Although Tuttle and Maggie have visited the Cumming Fair with Gram previously, we went as a family on Saturday after a morning of sports. It was much bigger than I anticipated! We were able to get there in time for the unlimited ride wristbands, and we were able to fit in about 10 rides, a pig race, and watching the human cannonball before the fair exploded with people. I definetly need to go into the fair business with the prices they charge, but I guess the memories were worth it! :)

There is nothing better than fall in Georgia!

Trip of a Lifetime

 There is absolutely no way that I can sum up my mom and my AMAZING trip to Paris in a blog post, but I will try to hit on the highlights. This trip was three years in the making, and it lived up to everything we dreamed about. I am incredibly lucky to have spent this special week with my mom.

The adventure started out with fireworks when we were able to upgrade to First Class for our plane ride to Paris. My mom had looked into it before, but the price was astronomical. When we asked about it during check-in, it was a fraction of the cost, and we could not hand over the credit card fast enough to secure our seats!

I told Mom during the flight that I would be perfectly happy just flying around for a week because our seats were that spectacular. Between a four course dinner complete with endless wine refills to sleeping in a completely flat bed once the seat was reclined down, we were completely spoiled. It will be hard to fly any other way ever again! :)

We easily arrived at our hotel, and it was Parisian perfection. All the rooms were small, and our luggage was an obstacle to maneuvering, but all the details were beautiful and the staff could not have been more helpful.

We grabbed a quick nap to adjust to the time change and headed out to our first dinner in France.

Mom and I did not set an alarm that night and both slept until noon the following day! We met our Rick Steves tour group later and explored our local neighborhood, enjoyed a bus ride of Paris, and got to know each other over dinner. There were 24 Americans in the group, and we were the only southerners. 

I was able to spend my 38th birthday in Paris this year, and on Monday we had a walking tour of the historic heart of the city. It was a rainy day, but we took in a lot of gorgeous places. Probably the most breathtaking thing we saw during the entire trip was the exquisite Sainte-Chapelle with its beautiful stained glass windows. 

A downpour ended our tour early, but the weather improved for dinner that night. We grabbed some pictures at the Eiffel Tower to remember this dreamy birthday!

We found the Bistro Saint Dominique near our hotel for a delicious meal, including escargot. The tables in Paris are so close that you are practically eating with the company next to you, and we quickly made friends with a mother/daughter duo from Australia. We enjoyed sharing stories about home and discussing our Paris trip. 

The next day in Paris proved to be my favorite tour of the trip: Montmarte. We had a local guide that described all the history of the famous artists that started in the neighborhood, including Van Gogh and Picasso.

I am sure it comes as no surprise that shopping was the highlight of traveling 3,000+ miles to Paris. Mom and I acted like euros were Monopoly money and splurged on some goodies from France. :)

The day wrapped up with a group dinner and a night cruise on the Seine River.

Day 4 proved to be our most exhausting day as we toured the Marais District and a guided tour of the Louve. It was a lot of walking, but it was worth every step.

I had to snap a picture of the Mona Lisa for the kids. I heard it was very small and unimpressive in person, and in my opinion, that was true. There were so many more stunning pieces of art that did not require standing in line for 30 minutes to see!

We found a local pizza place for an early dinner and were in bed by 5:30! We slept FOURTEEN hours after this busy day!

Paris threw us a curve ball on Day 5 with our reservation to Versailles. There was a transportation strike in Paris, so the metro was affected. The palace opted to stay closed until later in the afternoon, so we did not have the time to wait around for the opportunity to visit. We did have a lovely tour of the city from a local guide and a yummy crepe for lunch. At this point Mom and I felt comfortable with exploring the city on our own, and we spent the afternoon on Rue Cler shopping, eating, and taking in all that Paris has to offer.

Our final day on the tour kept us busy with visits to both the Orsay Museum and the Orangerie Museum. The weather finally warmed up, and the sun came out. It was a spectacular finish to Paris.

We took the scenic route home from the museums and felt very proud that we could trek around the city on our own!

Wow! What a special and unforgettable trip with my mom. These are memories that will last forever, and I am so thankful for this time with my favorite person in Paris.