After a good nights sleep, we were ready to explore Toulouse. Our first tourist spot was the Church of Les Jacobins. It was just at the end of the street that our hotel was located, so it was a short walk.

The Church of Jacobins is the burial grounds for Saint Thomas Aquinas

Cool mirror around a pillar in the Church of Jacobins

Beautiful stain glass windows all around the church

Our next stop was the Saint-Sernin basilica (the largest romanesque church in Europe). The floor plan is in the shape of a cross and it had parts that dated back to the 4th century. But most were from the 11th & 12th century.

This Romanesque building is considered to be the biggest in the western world

Toulouse has the 3rd largest university in all of France. So we saw many college students walking and riding their bikes or scooters. We let the kids run around in front of the Capitole de Toulouse a bit after they had to be quiet inside the churches and before we drove an hour to Carcassonne. Our first place to visit in Carcassonne was the castle.

Farleys in the front with our castle in the back

This castle was not like any other castle that I had visited. There was an outer defense wall with a mote around it and then a whole town inside. There were lodges and stores all along the street until you got to the actual castle. There was also a cathedral within the walls of this fortress where some priests were singing and they sounded amazing.

Map of the Carcassonne castle

After walking to and from the castle, we were all ready to have some lunch. We found the plaza and devoured our sandwiches and then let the kids run around and enjoy their time in Carcassonne.

This is how Mason enjoyed spending his time

We all loaded up in our car again and headed for our next location (3 hours away), Grignan, France

See more photos of Toulouse and Carcassonne

The first crazy camper is me, the mom. Who in their right mind would take a 7 year old and a 22 month old camping without their spouse? Through one of my homeschool groups they set up a camping trip and Kalani LOVES to go camping with friends. I took the kids last year with Mason as an 11 month old and figured that this year would be a little easier since he was older.

The other crazy campers enjoying nature

The weather didn’t cooperate completely since it was wet most of our second day there and then was really cold trying to pack up on the third day. Nature is also a little loud at times. Like at 3 am when a coyote and cubs decide to make their presence known near our camp site. Or the owl that was above our tent. And then there are the man-made noises like trains that want to blow their horn in the middle of the night.

Most of the group going on a "hike"

But, I know that “I Can Do Hard Things” (sister’s favorite saying). Like going on a hike…we only walked a mile and then turned around, but I walked that mile holding Mason at 30 pounds for the majority of the hike. On the way back we decided to take the road since we wouldn’t have to worry about rocks and going up and down hills. A friend brought her wagon since she has 3 small children and Mason got to ride in the wagon while I pulled it. Mason started taking off his hat, then shoes and socks and throwing them out the wagon. I guess he was done riding in the wagon and stood up while I was pulling. I looked back just in time to see him stand and then fall backwards and hit his head on the asphalt! Blood appeared, water was poured, pressured applied and baby was crying. I wasn’t completely sure what I should do since it looked like he needed stitches, but I also needed to take care of Kalani and I didn’t know where the hospital was since we were over 2 hours away from home.

2 cuts

Luckily I have great friends who took care of Kalani for me, a dad ran back to camp to get his car so I could get Mason to the hospital quicker and then all the kids were looking for my keys that I couldn’t find (they were under my pillow). I asked the park ranger where the nearest hospital was and it was only 2 miles away. I was doing a great job of staying in control and not freaking out.

I got into the ER quickly and Mason was acting like himself, playing in the water at the sink, giving the nurse high 5’s, saying hi to people, etc. There was a lot of waiting around…2 hours later Mason leaves the hospital asleep (it was his nap time) with 2 staples in his head.

2 staples

I asked to cover the staples since there was still blood and I knew we were going back to camp where Mason would be playing in the dirt. I really didn’t want to deal with an infection on top of everything else…AND with Matt in California and not being able to talk to him because of poor reception, I felt totally on my own.

100% boy

The staples aren’t keeping Mason down. He only knows they are there when I change his diaper since he doesn’t lay down very often. But in 10-14 days he gets them removed. I feel like a real mom now after going to the ER with one of my children. I think that Mason is going to change me and how I parent! And I am crazy enough to take our kids camping again, even by myself if Matt can’t be with us.

8 years and a few months ago I received a phone call to go on a date.  About 3 months later we sent this out

We were married on January 4, 2003 at the Oakland Temple

At our reception this happened

And here we are each year since then

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

8 years, 2 kids, moving, traveling and more in love.  What will 2011 and the rest of forever hold for us?

Last port-of-call….COZUMEL, Mexico.  Larsens and Hansens rented a jeep and drove around the island and Matt and I did our own excursions this day.  I told Matt the only thing I wanted to do was swim with dolphins since he did that the year before without me.  The weather was nothing like the day before… It was very windy and we were not able to go parasailing as we planned.  However we were able to swim with the dolphins since they were in their own cove.  It was so exciting and I truly enjoyed it.  There were about a dozen people in our group and we had the main trainer with us, so more information was shared.  We were able to give a dolphin a handshake, hug, kiss, and belly ride.  After our dolphin experience we had lunch and did our last shopping at the port since we had some free time.

Dolphinaris Cozumel

Making friends in Cozumel

I love going on cruises and spending time with my family.  We are already thinking about our next cruise…maybe we will take the kids.

More photos of Cozumel here.  And video and photos of our whole cruise here.

Our second port-of-call was in Grand Cayman.  Matt found this guy, John, (via the Internet) who has his own boat and could take the 6 of us out for the day.  IT WAS FABULOUS!  Captain John took great care of us and helped us make Grand Cayman memorable.  He picked us up near the port and then drove us to his boat.  It was great to see part of the island and have our own private tour guide.

The ocean was so calm, it was as though we were cruising on glass.  SO BEAUTIFUL!.  Our first stop:  Stingray City

Stingray City

Stingrays swimming around our feet

Captain John brought squid for the stingrays and anchored us on a sandbar.  People who booked through the cruise line were jammed packed together, but we had plenty of room (away from those people) to enjoy the stingrays.  Once the stingrays got the scent of the squid, they came a looking.  And it was a little scary…after all one of these animals did kill Steve Irwin.

Just a little scared!

But, they really are just like puppy dogs.  They are so soft and gentle and are just looking for food.  Once the food was gone, so were the stingrays.

Getting some "love" from the stingrays

Second stop: snorkeling in a coral reef.  Our uncle had a great underwater digital camera and video camera

Underwater Beauty

Lunch on the beach at Rum Point

After lunch we walked down the beach to meet up with Captain John.  We saw the changes that an island has after a hurricane.  The sandy beach is doubled in size and turtle grass is now covered with sand for a good 30 yards in the sea.  John also had some surprises for us.  GIANT Starfish.

Beautiful BIG Starfish

Underside of one of the starfish

Tubing in a beautiful place

Then we finished the day by tubing off the back of the boat.  It was so much fun to see all of us acting like teenagers again!  Thank you Captain John for a wonderful day.  It was probably the best excursion ever!

6 of us enjoying Grand Cayman

More of our Grand Cayman photos here.  Or watch our 2010 Caribbean Cruise video for video footage and photos