Day 6: d'Usse, Villandry, Chenonceau

"I know you, I danced with you once upon a dream..."

On day six of our breathtaking trip we went to the castle that inspired the Sleeping Beauty story (Château d'Ussé). Those of you who didn't know that Disney didn't always exist and doesn't own all fairy tales will be surprised to know that someone other then Walt wrote the story of Sleeping Beauty,  or "La Belle au bois dormant" (The Beauty sleeping in the wood").





There is a scary forest behind the castle but you will see much creepier things later in the post.

This is after we had walked around the church and looked around the grounds a bit, and it gives you a good view of France's finest farming land. (I know why everyone fought over this land--it is beautiful. And fertile.)

Remember how I said it would get creepy? It just happened! These are Weeping Angels, only they have been painted. I Tardis'd my butt Doctor Who style out of that wine cellar. 

Hmmm wine...jugs. "Don't blink..."

This is a display of leather horse gear. Pretty cool stuff.

These were the carts we used to get away from the Weeping Angels and they proved to be very useful. 

Pretty garden

"What's in the west wing?" 

"It's forbidden!" (Yes, I know it's not the right picture.)

People were really organized way back when.

These Weeping Angels were less scary because they were behind glass.

This was the cellar and NO ONE WOULD GO DOWN THERE WITH ME. Yes, I'm a man! There was a furnace and a crack in the universe. Fixed it. 

This was our rental. Jessica lived like a queen.

They let me try on the old outfits. I'm by the window.

"I could have danced all night..."

I imagine some longing young woman sitting by this window, hoping to sell her novels to a major publisher in a male-dominated world of literature. 

Creepy.

On the way up to the Sleeping Beauty tower.

We found Disneyland in France!

It was just like being in Disneyland, only it was 2000 dollars more every hour or to eat or anything else.

Creepy stairs to Maleficent's lair.

True Love looks like he dressed like a girl.

This was a sweet attic just for the architectural prowess.  Yes, they really let us just wander around this place. Including the attic. In fact, it was encouraged with signs pointing this way.

After we left Disneyland we went to Disneyland again (Villandry). I think this was the Queen of Hearts' garden. 

Star of David Fountain. This was a garden based on some lost writings of monks who were probably Ninjas. 

Couldn't you see Splinter making this?

Is that a weed? 

Cowabunga!

Each of the different patterns represent different types of love, like "tender love," "tragic love," "passionate love," and "fickle love."

Another shot of the castle and gardens.

Aren't we so pretty? And the gardens too.

So there was a magazine photo shoot of wedding gowns going on while we were there.

My princess!

This is a castle built for the king's favorite woman who was not his wife. Also known as Chenonceau.

It is built right over the river.

She almost pushed me in. 

Jessica Pinterested her future kitchen.

I'm wishing...

Jessica took a photo in this exact spot when she went on study abroad in 2007. We blew that picture up and it is hanging in our living room...

So of course we had to take a picture together in the same spot. 

We walked along the grounds and gardens a ways so we could take this picture. 

The walkway is lined with pretty, old trees. Look how small the people are compared to the trees!


And that's it for Day 6. Next up, Day 7, which includes our favorite video of the whole trip. 

May 18

Today is May 18th. You know what that means? Ajax is now five months old!

This month, we took many more videos than we did actual photos. And a lot of the pictures we did take were on my crappy cell phone camera, so they are all grainy and stupid. I posted only a select few of the videos... but there are still a lot. This next month, I will make sure our camera battery is charged and I take pictures with that instead.

I am amazed at how much Ajax can learn in a month. He soaks up all this knowledge like a sponge. He is becoming more independent and loves to play. And he got to try a lot of new things this month!

First of all, he got to try solid foods for the first time. The verdict is...

He likes it! 

We started with different kinds of cereals--rice, rice with mixed fruit, oatmeal with bananas, etc. Then moved on to vegetables. And just this week he's had some fruit. His favorite vegetables are definitely squash and sweet potatoes. He hates green beans. He gags on them. He'll still try to eat them... but they just make him gag. So no more green beans, I guess! The only fruits he's had so far are peaches and pears, and he likes them both. I'm sure he'll like all the fruits... except maybe prunes. But we'll see!

Jax also loves to talk/squeal/yell now. All the time. I like having conversations with him. We may not both be talking about the same thing, but at least we're trying! And it is pretty darn cute.

This is another new trick he learned... When you put your hand or finger up to his mouth, he'll make noises. It entertains us. He is also into spitting, but I had a hard time getting that on video because whenever he sees the video camera, he just stares at it!

When I noticed he was constantly trying to lift his head and sit up on his own, I got him one of those Bumbo seats to help him out. He thinks it's pretty cool to sit up and look around at everything. 

And he happily presides over our dinners. Looks like we need to get him a high chair!

His hand-eye coordination is getting really good. This video was taken a couple of weeks ago and doesn't quite show the progress he's made. He can grab and hold onto toys and, of course, put them in his mouth. For some reason, his favorite toys are monkeys! 

(Sorry the video is sideways.)

As part of becoming independent, he now wants to hold onto his bottle while we feed him. I can't believe he's doing that already. Pretty soon he'll be doing it all by himself. 

Ajax is my little buddy. Now that I'm out of school, I get to hang out with him all day while Jonathan works, but then I basically spend every night studying for the Bar exam. I try to make sure that Ajax and I have plenty of fun during the day. Recently, we've started going to the park and we made a discovery...

He loves to swing! This doesn't surprise me at all. He's pretty adventurous. The first time I put him in the swing and pushed him, he laughed and laughed the whole time. 


Sometimes we wait until Jonathan comes home to go to the park. Dads are just more fun than Moms, I think. But I don't mind. It's great to see how easily Jonathan can make Ajax smile or laugh!

Jonathan likes to put Ajax up on his shoulders and walk around with him. It may have freaked me out a bit at first, but now I'm used to it. And Ajax loves it!

Sometimes while I'm studying, Jonathan will take Ajax out on adventures to have some "man time." He took this picture when they went to visit Grandpa Tyler at the UVU mechanic shop where he teaches. Apparently they were teaching Ajax how to drive. 

We all went to Boise at the end of April to see my family and so Jonathan and I could speak at the youth session of the Meridian North Stake Conference. While we were in town, my mom, Ajax and I went to our favorite second-hand store. We found an awesome baby carrier for a great price! We plan to use it a lot this summer. On our way back to Utah, we stopped in Twin Falls and couldn't resist getting it out and going on a hike. 

Jax loves being our same height looking around at everything! Hopefully we'll get out on some more hikes in the next month.

Every baby needs a bath picture, right? Don't you love his rolls? 

Jonathan and Ajax did a great job spoiling me on Mother's Day. They took me out to breakfast to Magleby's on Saturday morning and bought me beautiful flowers. On Sunday, we went to church and while Ajax and I took a nap, Jonathan made dinner--grilled meat and vegetables, and a chocolate peanut butter cake! And he even did the dishes.

 Later that afternoon, Uncle Garrett came over and we gmail chatted with my family so we could listen in on the phone call with Uncle Elder Schroath, who is serving a mission in Taiwan. It was great to hear his voice, and I think he really enjoyed being able to hear Ajax talk and laugh. Can't wait until they get to meet in person!

The first weekend in May, Grandma Schroath came to visit and watched Ajax overnight while Jonathan and I went away to Midway. Before we left, my Mom said she bet we would spend the whole time talking about Ajax. Well... we didn't spend the whole time talking about him... probably only about 70%. Haha. We sure missed him! But it was fun to get away, and he had a blast with his Grandma. 

 

A few days ago, our neighbor came by and asked if we would like a bouncy swing that she was getting rid of. I had literally just told Jonathan the day before that we should get Ajax one because he would love it. Perfect timing! It is now his absolute favorite thing to do. This video is from the first day he tried it. He is much more adventurous now! I'm seriously amazed at how high he jumps. He has no fear (uh oh...).

When Jonathan gets home from work, he loves to pick Ajax up and do whatever he can to get him to laugh. It's one of my favorite things to walk in on. Ajax sure loves his dad!

Another thing Jonathan is great at is making up songs. He's quite great at it. This is one that he made up one day because Ajax was wearing pajamas that had an alligator on them. The first few times he sang it, Jax just laughed and laughed, especially at the "chomp" part. I tried to get his reaction on video, but that kid just stares at the camera. But at least you can hear one of Jonathan's silly songs!

Before we had Ajax, we used to wonder what it would be like to have a kid around. You know how it is... you just really can't imagine it. Until it happens. And then you stop and think, "Yes, this is what it's like." And it's wonderful. 

Happy five months Ajax! We love you!