"A dream is a wish your heart makes..."

*This is part one in a series on our big adventure to Paris, France.

At age three, Miss Hollywood dreamed of going to Paris. In an effort to make a dream come true, I transformed our home into a Paris bistro with a view of the Eiffel Tower. I purchased baked goods, baked a Madeline hat birthday cake, and placed a canvas of the Eiffel Tower in the front window. The French flag flew out in front of the house. Miss Hollywood wore a smile all afternoon. It was as if we had entered Doctor Who's TARDIS and transported ourselves. It was a day full of joy.

Still, she continued to hope and dream.

What I learned that day, too, was that rather than pump money into a a party, I wanted to start giving the kids adventures. For what I spent transforming our house into Paris for a day, I could have taken the kids to Disneyland. So, starting the following year, we began big adventures. We have visited National Parks, Disneyland, and even taken surfing lessons. The adventures continue to grow. The kids want to see the world and I will do everything I can to show it to them.

From Aladdin:

"I can show you the world

Shining, shimmering, splendid

Tell me, princess, now when did

You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes

Take you wonder by wonder

Over, sideways and under

On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us, "No"

Or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming

A whole new world

A dazzling place I never knew..."

When she was four, I made a promise to Miss Hollywood. "I will one day take you to Paris."

When CD turned 10, I gave him the opportunity to choose a trip for our little family of three. He chose to go for a "next-gen" trip to our family's ranch in Santa Maria. We invited My Chico and her family to join us, as well as two cousins. We had a fabulous time! Always the planner, Miss Hollywood immediately started talking more seriously again about traveling to Paris. Now age seven, she still loved Madeline books and cartoons, tea parties, and the idea of visiting the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was time to take this idea seriously. When I asked her directly where she wanted her tenth birthday trip to take us, she responded without hesitation, "France."

So, My Chico and I began our preliminary planning. We knew it would happen in 2020. We also knew that summer travel is not always the easiest to navigate nor the most affordable so we began exploring other options. We set our sights on a February trip. Although Miss Hollywood has a summer birthday, in the interest of budgeting both time and money, it seemed reasonable to do her birthday trip just a little early.

Last Spring, we really got to planning and preparing for this big trip. We had our dates selected and started pricing airfare and lodging options. We settled on going with an AirBNB, acknowledging that traveling as a "framily" of six, it would ultimately be the most affordable option. We booked our flights in July of last year to make our first commitment to this trip. Just booking the flights caused great excitement for all of us. We continued to look at our lodging options and began exploring the best means of getting around the City of Lights, what to see and do in the winter time, and how to stretch our dollar (or Euro, as the case may be) and get more bang for our buck on this trip.

For Christmas, I gave CD and Miss Hollywood new suitcases and backpacks to prepare them for our big travel week. I also gave them water bottles. All of these were Harry Potter themed because we love Harry Potter! My Chico gave us each a set of packing cubes. These would come in very handy. They kept us organized and made packing even easier for the kids. I found them to be especially helpful when it came time to repack for the return home at the end of the trip.

In January, we booked our flat in the 20th Arrondissement, right near the 11th. It turned out to be perfect! We found a place close to a Metro station and surrounded by shops so we could pick up bread, cheese, meats, and other items easily. We also began booking our activities. In all, before traveling, we had priced access to Versailles and Le Louvre, purchased two-day passes for the hop-on/hop-off BigBus that included a cruise on the River Seine, and our tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were ready to go.

The kids began packing a few days ahead of the trip. I helped them plan what to pack, but left most of their packing to them while I worked on my own. This dream was about to come true.

In the next blog: We arrive in Paris, get settled into our flat, and the adventure begins!

Blog post title inspired by Songwriters: Mack David / Al Hoffman / Jerry Livingston / David Pack "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company

Thank you for inspiring little girls across generations to dream.