Walker Family Circus: April 2009

Couldn't Wait!

We have been traveling and hosting company for the last two and a half weeks so several trips are behind in being blogged. Those will just have to wait until life settles down a little again.... However, this could not!

Andrew has accepted Christ as his savior and the angels will have a hard time outdancing this momma! Blessings abound--Thank you Lord!

Easter

Easter was a little "off" at our house this year. Living in a very secular country does not provide much of what a Christian anticipates in the build up to Easter time. It is also not a big commercial holiday over here, so forunately on our recent trips home, I had taken care of Easter Bunny business. We did what we could spiritually at home but circumstances still affected our celebration. It was the beginning of Andrew's two week Spring Break and we were expecting my parents the following weekend so we left Sunday afternoon for a quick family trip over to Germany. (Another blog about that later.) We did our Easter egg hunt and dinner on Saturday evening...

and then baskets Sunday morning.

3rd Arrondissement

On Saturday the 11th, we resumed our tour of Paris by visiting the 3rd Arrondissement. Also known as the Marais, it is the oldest neighborhood of Paris that was not on the islands. The architecture is different here, there is a more peaceful feel and one leaves a lot of what makes Paris "Paris" behind. The streets are more crooked and there are many tiny gardens tucked away among them. We had beautiful weather and truly enjoyed this different side of the city.

We started at the Place de la Bastille where the notorious prison stood before the revolution. There is only a monument and traffic circle these days but it serves as kind of gateway to the area.

At the Place des Vosges (oldest square in Paris) we let the kids play in what has became our favorite park and toured Victor Hugo's home.

We also found our favorite Paris museum in this neighborhood, the Carnavalet. Often left off of tourists itineraries, it is a museum of Paris and utterly fascinating. It shows the story of Paris from the early Lutician settlement, through Roman development, conquering of the Gauls, the beginning of today's Paris through the Revolution. This hall shows a display of traditional shop signs that denoted what the business was before the average citizen could read. We had a lot of fun trying to figure out what each one meant.

This tiny garden shows (in my favorite way) that spring has finally hit Paris.

We also visited the Picasso museum and were totally unimpressed.

Then we found one of those hidden gardens to eat a quite picnic in and the kids enjoyed feeding scraps to the birds.

Lastly, we visited the Doll Musuem. Very fun and quite unique.

Caught Up!

Four new blogs posted below....

Tulsa Zoo with Grandma Nancy

On the Saturday before we left Tulsa, Grandma Nancy took all of us to the zoo. The Tulsa Zoo has been a favorite of mine for years. My mom's mom, my beloved "Grandma Bonnie" lived near it and took me most Mondays during my preschool years. I continued to go many times over the years and it was even a favorite for dates. I now try to go every couple of years on a trip home because it brings back such happy memories. It has regularly appeared in my kids scrapbooks and I thought it was appropriate to include here as well.