Pottenstein

So about a half hour from where we live is this little village called Pottenstein. It is also known in German circles as "little Switzerland". It is like you are driving in a little town, tucked away in the swiss alps. All the homes are wood trimmed with shutters, nestled in this little ridges and hills in the sides of the cliffs that shelter the town. It is very atmospheric, and I fell in love with it. Don't I say that about every town I visit...there is just so much to love about Europe!

While there we visited the lime stone caves that are on the edge of town.

They are called

Teufelshohle Caves

This is a picture of the girls coming out of the caverns. Once out, we were on this trail that wound back to the cave entrance, but it was an amazing little hike. It felt like we were miles from civilization. We also got to see saber tooth tiger skeleton/fossil inside the cave, Mammoth bones, and the remains of an Ice age man. It was a pretty cool cave.

There was a mini golf course nearby, so we decided to stop and play a round.

The boys LOVED it!

I love these little European doors. It almost looks like Matt might take off his head if he goes through, but he has just enough clearance.

Where does this door lead...

To this!

A beautiful Baroque style church. You would never guess at the oppuelence and beauty that is held inside these old churches.

Out and about on the cobble stone streets of Little Switzerland.

Here are some shots of the Schloss that is located above the little town. It doesn't really have a name, but most just call it Schloss Pottenstein.

It was a wonderful little adventure, discovering this town.

Bayreuth

We have mostly been concentrating all our trips on little day outing close to home. This jewel of a town is only about 45 minutes away. I fell in love with it. It has a rich history of music, being the birthplace of the famous german composer: Wagner.

This is the famous opera house

Markgrafliches Opernhaus

This, like most buildings in Europe, Looks pretty general and non-descript on the outside.

But then you step inside and see....

This!

This is facing towards the back, so you can see the "princes box"

This Opera house is considered the "crown Jewel" of Germany.

Napoleon came to this opera house, and loved the blue velevet curtains so much that he sent them as a gift to a Duchess in Vienna. They have never replaced the stage curtains, instead they have thin wood and canvas painted to look like blue velvet curtains. It is still very beautiful, but I wish Napoleon had kept the originals in place.

You hear, in history, vague refrences to Napoleon's height and how he was sensative about it. I think that generally, people back then where shorter in stature. Here is Matt and the girls standing under the balcony in the Opernhaus. Matt's head almost reaches the ceiling!

This is the palace Neues. It is a grand structure in the center of town. We arrived to late to take a tour, but we were able to walk in the gardens and the park connected to the palace grounds. They were so lovely...even on a rainy, wet day.

Another wing of the palace.

We were also able to visit a small dinosaur museum while here. Who knew that you could find these things in Europe too. Ha Ha! The kids were impressed. There is more documented in Europe about dinosaurs and early man. It was a different region then the Americas, so we have seen different species of dinosaurs then we saw in the States. It is so cool! We have also seen the remains of an ice age man.

Hannah loves Geodes. She has a collection of Geodes she has been working on for awhile, along with different stones and crystals.

This, by far, has to be the biggest, natural Geode we have ever seen. Sitting inside a tiny little museum, tucked away on the busy streets of Bayreuth where Wagner was born.

It was a fun day!

The boys Update

On the first day of school, I gave a girls update...so I thought it was only fair that I give the boys one too. Of course, I have more pictures of the boys too. That is not completely my fault. The girls love to get my camera and take pictures of the boys. There are only a few in this post that I have taken, the rest are from Anya and Hannah. The boys are their favorite subject.

The boys favorite time of the day is snack time. There are three favored areas for eating snacks.

1. The fluffy rug in the living area

2. sitting on the bottom step of our stairs

Last is under the Kitchen sink of course...where else?

Having fun during the unpacking frenzy. At one point the boys would bury each other under paper, until you couldn't even see them. And burst out and say "AHHHh". Of course, they are much too fast to get a picture while they are doing this!

Jack, lately, has been doing this when we take pictures. We call it the "cheesy smile". He only does it when he sees the camera out. It brings back memories for us, Cora used to do the same thing!

Anyone who knows Matt, knows his passion for sports, especially golf! Here he is, putting around with his boys. It was kind of funny because the boys wanted NO help. They wanted to golf all on their own. As a side note, you should know, that Jack sleeps with a pitching wedge and a golf ball. Could he be like his father?

Hunter loves sports too, he likes throwing balls, but mostly the guys like playing catch all together. Here Hunter is getting some tutorials from dad.

The boys love water! The have NO fear of water. We often find them trying to swim, literally swim, away from us in pools. It can be scary, but I do laugh sometimes...because they are better swimmers in someways then their sisters. Cora won't even put her face in water yet!

It's sad, but true, my babies are growing up.

They are now in big boy beds. They do surprisingly very well. Sure, they get out and play around after lay them down for naps or bed, but the funny thing is...they always get back in bed before they fall alseep. Hannah we would find on the floor, under her bed, in front of the door, when we were transisitioning her to a bed. Not the boys, they like their beds!

Here they are in their beds (which I have since moved in different positions), looking so small and precious.

What these pictures don't show, is they are officially weened off their binkies. Yay! It was time...mom was the hold out on that one. But, after one night, they were done...and we never looked back.

When we check on them before we go to bed, matt and I often find them like this...sleeping together.

After a day filled with mischief and getting into one thing after another until I feel like I am ready to scream...or bust out the pack-n-plays...

I find them doing things like this.

It doesn't get much better then this! Witnessing their love for each other, they look out for each other, play together. If one or the other gets two of something, they run and give one to their brother. I love seeing them in these quiet positions, softly jabbering to each other and laughing.

Despite all the hard work boys bring, I love these two. They bring a special joy into our home!

Regensburg

This is the city of Regensburg. This city is amazing, parts of it date back to the turn of the century. There are also parts that date back to the Roman occupation. We loved looking around this city and the outlying areas as well.

Steinerne Brucke

This bridge is an engineering feet in it's day. It is the oldest stone bridge that is still standing in Germany. it was built in the 1100's approximately, and has had very little "help" during it's many years standing. It is SOLID!

walking the bridge

Matt and I on the bridge with St. Peter in the background

I love european streets and doors.

Dom St. Peter

St. Peter, an amazing cathedral. Every German (and european in gerneral I suspect) has a church or cathedral at it's center. I love that, having God at the center with everything else spokes out like a wheel.

This cathedral is famous for it's windows. The stain glass is original, which is amazing when you think about how much war German soil has seen.

We also went out to a Schloss (castle) on the outskirts of town. This castle has been converted into a falconry. It was so neat, even though the demonstration was completely in German. My kids have never seen a "bird" show quite like this one. In their heads, they were picturing the shows at Sea World or the Zoo. Nope! This was a true Falcon demonstration. The guy went out in all his "falcon" attire, swung his long, strappy thing that cued the bird. They demonstrated the hunting skills of all the falcons, and we even saw Bald Eagles and Condors fly and hunt. It was really cool...the best "bird" show we have ever seen, hands down! The girls were sitting in front of us on a fence, and at one point the Falconier had his bird dive bomb close to where the girls were sitting. This Falcon flew so close above the girls heads that they, all three, fell backwards off the low fence rail. Anya got a little scraped up, but it was pretty funny. The falcon was so close! I wish I had video taped it or at least caught it on camera, but alas...I was too slow and didn't get that moment recorded.

Schloss Rosenburg, the Falconry

Fourth of July

We spent Fourth of July in Grafenwoehr. It was small, we kept it simple since we had just barely moved into our new home. We got a bucket of chicken and had a picnic at a local park. Then that evening we went to the celebration on post. We met some friends there, which was good because we were filling a bit lonely without family around. They had face painting, bounce houses, and a live band. The kids spent 45 minutes in line to get a balloon sculpture! After dark there was a surprisingly good fireworks display. It really was impressive, and everyone was completely enthralled watching. Right after the fireworks finished, Taps began to play and we watched the retreat of the American Flag. It was a very stirring moment, and made me realize (not that I had forgotten) how proud I am of my soldier and How proud I am to be an American.