The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon, biscuits, and eggs. My mother must have been in a good mood this morning. I could hear her speaking French phrases in the kitchen as I started my trek down the stairs.

"Good morning, princess. Did you sleep well?" Dad asked as he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"I sure did, Dad. What's up with mom this morning?"

"She's been thrilled about her trip to Paris. It's put her in such an uplifting mood. I haven't seen her quite like this since the day we brought you into this world." Dad smiled as he gave a slight nudge.

Mom placed a platter full of bacon and eggs on the table along with a basket full of biscuits. We all sat around the kitchen table and bowed our heads to pray, before digging into the wonderful breakfast that she had prepared.

After we finished our breakfast I helped Mom clear the table while Dad bid his farewells to go to work for the day.

"Blakely, I was thinking...would you like to have a girls day? We can go shopping at Chloe's and maybe visit a few of the other shops before getting lunch? After we finish we can come back home and learn some French together. What do you say?"

"Yes, let's go, I squealed as I ran upstairs to get changed out of my pajamas and into some jeans and a pink top. Then I raced downstairs as fast as my feet would allow and put on my white glittered jellies.

My mother and I walked out to the car and I climbed inside. Then we were off. I was always excited about our mother and daughter days, so when we would have a day to ourselves, I took advantage.

When we arrived in town we went to a little shop called Chloe's. Chloe's always had the cutest new arrivals for girls size 6 all the way up to juniors size. When we walked inside the smell of new clothing hit my nose. We walked around a big table in the front. On the table, there was a white shirt with a pink glittered Eiffel Tower with the words Paris written in black fancy lettering. The moment I spotted that shirt I knew I had to have it. I brought my mother over to the table and showed it to her.

"That's the perfect shirt for a trip to Paris," my mother said as she picked the shirt up off of the table and unfolded it to take a full look at it. She folded the shirt back up and placed it softly into her shopping basket.

On the opposite side of the room, there was another shirt that was a light pink color with the words Tres Belle written in a hot pink script. We had no idea what the words meant but my mother thought it was too pretty to pass up.

After finding a few new shirts to take on our trip to Paris, we also found a few pairs of shorts and a couple of summer dresses. One by one my mother slowly placed the items into her shopping basket until the basket was full.

We walked up to the front of the store to pay for the items.

The cashier took one item out at a time, rung the item up, and placed it gently into a bag.

"These France shirts are beautiful," the cashier by the name of Misty said as she unfolded the tres belle and Eiffel Tower shirts. She rang them up, and neatly placed them into a bag.

"We are getting ready to go to Paris on vacation," I spoke up as I watched her place the last shirt into a shopping bag.

"I bet that will be a very fun vacation. You all have fun." Misty smiled as she handed us the bags and we went out to the car.

We went to White Castle for lunch. I could never pass up on going to my favorite fast food restaurant while we were out shopping. I savored every bit of my miniature burger as the flavor danced around my taste buds.

At last, when we finished our lunch, it was time to head back home. When we arrived it wasn't quite time for my father to be off of work yet. So we went into the kitchen and started to prepare meatloaf for dinner. I helped my mother as she washed and prepared the vegetables, and mixed all of the ingredients into a large plastic bowl. Then she poured the ingredients into a pan, and put it into the oven to bake for about two hours.

While the meatloaf was baking in the oven, we walked into the living room and took a seat on our tan plush couch. Mom pulled out her Beginner's French book, and started reading some of the phrases aloud.

"So bonjour means French. Can you say bonjour?"

"Bonjour," I repeated, as a smile began to creep up on my mother's face.

"Very good. Now when introducing yourself you say je m'appelle, and then your name. Try it."

I looked at my mother while she shook her head in encouragement.

"Je m app elle, Blakely," I said as her smile widened.

"That was very good. Now let's see here. Where were we?" Mother asked as her attention soon shifted to my father. He was coming in the front door after his day of work.

"Hey, girls. What are you up to? And what is that amazing smell?" Dad asked, as mom and I greeted him at the front door. "Is that meatloaf I smell?" he continued as he embraced us into his arms.

"It sure is. Happy Anniversary sweetheart," mother responded as she placed a kiss upon his lips.

After a little while, it was time to get the meatloaf out of the oven. Once again we gathered around the table and prayed for the meal that was set before us.

We soon cut into the meatloaf and started placing it onto the plates, along with mashed potatoes, rolls, and green beans mother also prepared.

"When I got off of work today, I went by and picked up our passports." Dad said as he pulled blue booklets out of his jacket pocket." When I took the photo in for the passports I took the most recent picture that I could find. I had to do it quietly as I didn't want to ruin the surprise." He smiled as he handed us our respective booklets.

When I opened the inside of the passport, there was a picture of me that I took for my spring school pictures. Just by looking at the plane tickets and now the passport, the trip to Paris was feeling more real. In a week's time, we will be flying out to Paris and leaving good ole Kentucky behind for a week. The need to get away felt so good.

"You really are full of surprises," mom giggled as she reached for my dad's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. The looks drifting between their two faces was like seeing two people falling in love all over again. I only hoped that one day I would find a man that looks at me the way my parents looked at each other.

After we finished our dinner my dad dismissed me to go to my room while he offered to help mom clear the table and take care of the dishes.

I heard some oldies music playing from the living room and as I snuck down the stairs. I could see my parents waltzing through the room. The smiles they exchanged was enough to warm my heart.

I quietly walked back up to my room, not wanting to disturb their fun in the living room. After a little bit of time had passed, my parents came upstairs. My father then lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said. My father pushed the door open and came inside, gently sitting down on my bed.

"Your mother said you girls went out today to do a little bit of shopping for our trip. Care to show me what you got?" Dad asked. He looked over at my mother, and they exchanged heartwarming smiles.

"Sure," I exclaimed. I walked over to my vanity and grabbed the bags, taking them back over to my bed.

I took out one article of clothing at a time and showed it to my father as he took hold of it, studied it, and then gently put it down into a pile on my bed. He oohed and ahhed at everything I had gotten. When he saw the Paris shirt, he made a remark of how perfect that shirt was for our vacation.

My eyes began to grow heavy as my father helped me place all of the new pieces of clothing onto my vanity, still in a neat pile, and helped me to bed. He and my mother bowed their heads as they said the goodnight prayer with me, before placing a gentle kiss upon my forehead and, disappearing off to their bedroom for the night.

Seeing my mother in this uplifting mood was something I could get used to. I had never seen her looking forward to something as she was with this trip. I was very thankful that my father surprised her with this once in a lifetime trip. It would be a life-changing experience for our whole family, after all, because it would be a place we otherwise wouldn't have been able to see.

I rolled over as tears of joy escaped my eyes. I smiled before my heavy eyes drifted off to sleep.