39 Clues Book - 15th Anniversary Gift

39 CluesCompassion - Passion - History - Wonder

Our Family

Kim and Scott started dating when they were 18 years old and living in Pullman, WA. They met their first day of school at Washington State University.

In the first 15 years of marriage, they have lived in 25 different houses. They enjoy traveling and trying new things.

Ryan and Ally were born in Annapolis, MD and Richland, WA, respectively. They are both homeschooled and enjoy reading and trying new things (they would rather eat sushi than hamburgers).

Kim and Scott have had a date night every Saturday night for the last 15 years.

For our 15th anniversary, Scott surprised the family with a three week vacation based around the kids’ favorite book, 39 Clues. One Sunday after church, we took family portraits and Scott pulled out a folder asking if the kids wanted to exchange a trip to Dave and Buster’s for a clue to learn the world’s greatest treasure. Ryan jumped at the idea and, after a little coaxing, Ally agreed, too. Over the next 3 weeks, we were directed by the clues to go to New Orleans, Paris, London, and Cairo. Lots of great memories were made and experiences were had. This book chronicles our adventure.

May 16, 2010 - June 4, 2010

The 39 Clues

May 16 - Hot clue#3. Clue 2 said to goto the bookstore between Mexico and the US. Kim wanted to drive to TX. May 17 - is listening to Kim teach Ryan that the 10 second rule does not apply to restaurants or public places (after he picked BBQ off the floor) May 18 - Great quote from Ally on Bourbon Street outside a cabaret "mommy, what is that man selling?" May 20 - Bills are in EURO. Train ticketing system will only take coin. Shops will not give change. French just look at us like "not my problem”. May 24 - darn metric system. I tried to order a half bottle of wine at lunch. I think we just purchased a round for the bar. May 24 - is playing Taste Daddy’s Finger in a five star restaurant in Paris. May 26 - Somebody took our bag @ last train stop. We got theirs. Swapped back. Nice people in London. Cool accents May 29 - Ryan just ordered a pint of sprite at the bar and told them to charge it to my tab. May 31 - In a taxi in Cairo. A non-english speaking driver is teaching Kim Arabic by yelling words at her (no volume control). June 1 - During a nice Egyptian dinner Ally loudly declared "I have a great idea, but I need a goat." She then waited for someone to get her a goat.

Some Tweets

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Our compassion project involved laying sod at the New Orleans SPCA on a hot Louisiana afternoon. Neither of the kids complained about the work. Both the SPCA workers and the other volunteers were thankful for the help. Ally really enjoyed lovin’ on the puppies.

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One of Ryan’s favorite things on the trip was eating beignets at Cafe du Monde. They had loads of powdered sugar and were very tasty.

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We found jazz in New Orleans! After listening and enjoying the show for a bit, Ally said to Kim, “Mom, will you dance with me?” This was one of Kim’s favorite moments from the trip.

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New Orleans

It was hot outside so we decided to take a break in the New Orleans Aquarium.

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Our first day in Paris. After lunch and our first of many trips to the Eiffel Tower, we boarded a tour bus. Kim, Ally, and Ryan slept through most of the tour and Scott took pictures so he’d stay awake. Thankfully, we bought 2-day passes and got to see everything the next day.

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Paris Bus Tour

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Ally had been wishing for a trip to Paris at some point in the next few years to eat some real french foie gras. However when she ordered it, it was served uncooked and was terrible. Ally was disappointed since it is her “number 1 favorite food in the world”. Yet she continued to try to eat it and was happy all evening. She has such an adventurous spirit.

Foie “gross”

Paris

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The Louvre, Paris. Going into the largest museum in the world we didn’t know how well the kids (or Scott) would do. However, we stayed until it closed. The kids were attentive and took in all the wonderful exhibits. We even got a “Wow” from Scott.

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Ally was not impressed that Venus De Milo didn’t have her towel pulled up far enough on her back side. She started singing, dancing and pointing, “Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, she has her pants on the ground”.

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Paris

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We took the train from Paris to Versailles. We had planned to picnic but instead found ourselves stopping for a fantastic lunch where Ally continued her culinary adventures.

This girl will try anything

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The Chateau de Versailles was a “hunting lodge”. It was huge and beautiful. We enjoyed walking the grounds and taking a nap in the park.

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Some of the greatest moments involved meeting random people. We met multiple people from East Tennessee during our three weeks. These girls were all studying abroad and helped Scott as he planned where to eat for our last two days in Paris.

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Eiffel Tower

On our last full day in Paris we braved the lines and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Our kids are bookworms. They both read for the entire hour or two we stood in line.

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The food in Paris was great. As a family we learned to “dine”. Kim and Scott defined “dining” as a meal that involves at least one bottle of wine and takes over 90 minutes to eat. The kids defined “dining” as any meal that includes desert. Some days we dined at breakfast.

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Creme Brulee and Chocolate Mousse

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We took the high speed train from Paris to London.

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London Bus Tour

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Tower Of London40

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Our hotel in London was on the West End, so of course we had to see a show. We saw “The Lion King.” The kids were mesmerized. Halfway in Ally yelled, “I’m so loving this.”

The Lion King

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We took the public bus system to Studham, England. We had such a great time in Studham we lost track of time and had to hire a private driver to get us back to our hotel in London.

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The Studham Commons

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The Bell Pub in Studham, England46

We went to the original Hard Rock Cafe. One of Ally’s favorite memories of the trip was sharing her milkshake with Scott. After lunch they let us in “the vault” as part of a tour. The kids sat on Jimi Hendrix’s couch. Ryan rocked out with Gene Simmons guitar from KISS.

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By the end of our second week of being tourists, we were all exhausted. We spent the night in a hotel at the Heathrow airport so Kim and Scott could talk and the kids play in the pool. We then took a five hour flight to Cairo, Egypt

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The Egyptian museum is like nothing anything we have ever seen before. Unlike the Louvre which had great treasures that were a few centuries old all locked behind glass and velvet rope, the Egyptian museum has 4000 year old artifacts out in the open where you can touch them.

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We went to the Coptic Museum and got to see a copy of the books of John and Thomas from around 300AD.

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Step Pyramid of Djoser

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!"#$%&' %(#

We stopped with the kids at a Carpet Making School. The handmade rugs were beautiful. The children working to make them were joyful. Both our kids got a better understanding for how lucky we all are to be born in the USA.

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Memphis, Egypt (Capital in 2,000BC)

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Great Pyramid of Giza

One of Scott’s favorite memories was that he slowed down enough on this trip to try new things. Kim talked him into going inside the Pyramid (Scott’s a big guy & the tunnel was small).

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We had a half day layover in Amsterdam. We took the train into the city, ate, did some shopping and walked around. We all were excited to head home.

Ryan was not impressed by public urinals

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Compassion - Passion - History - Wonder

We are each others greatest treasures.