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.

Nurnberg

While we were in the hotel, waiting for our house, we looked for things to do. I should note that we also did not have our car yet. We shipped our car earlier then the recommended date...but still we waited two weeks for our car to catch up to us here. Eventually we were able to borrow a car from some good friends we met here, but until then if we wanted to do anything...we road the train. It is really cheap...about 9 Euro for my family of 7 to go anywhere in Bavaria round trip. Our first train ride and trip was to Nurnberg. It is only about an hour away, so very close.

Here is a picture Anya took of us walking up a typical European street.

I have seen Chalk artistis or street artists in movies...the most famous coming to mind is Bert in "Mary Poppins". This was the first time I had ever seen one in person, and they were beautiful drawings!

There is never a shortage of a good scenery shot.

We saw several cathedrals while there, this was my favorite.

This is St. Lorenz (Lawerence), parts of it date back to the early 1500's. Some of has been rebuilt due to fires and such, but most of it is the original structure.

Here is a shot of the inside. I think I may need a better camera. Inside these old churches are very dark and dim, so it is hard to get good pictures with my camera without a tripod. They just don't do the subject justice!

We ate at this cute restaraunt at the base of our first castle!

Enjoying a famous Nurnberger Wurst

Our first Castle

The Kaiserburg

I guess technically this is not a castle, it is a burg. Which is like a fortress but smaller. I am still trying to figure out what constitutes "castle" status versus "burg" status...what I have come up with is it is just what the builder decided to call it. This one dates back to 1012 ad, the girls were fasicnated with the tour. They were able to see the deep well room and learn how important a clean water source was back then. And what lengths people go to, to protect it!

It was a fun little day trip.

First Day of School!!

We are jumping ahead a little, but today was the first day of school, so we wanted to share!

Don't let the crazy picture fool you. My girls were VERY excited for the new school year to start. It is all they have been talking about for the last couple of weeks. They have had a very long summer, getting out mid-May and not starting until today! But, we packed the summer full with a move, traveling and such, now it is time to settle down and get into a good routine

Cora has a teacher we think is good, but new again. We lucked out last year with the "new" teacher...she ended up being fabulous. My favorite Kindergarten teacher yet...this year Cora is a "grader" as she calls it. Her teacher is due with her first child this Thursday...!!! So, she, along with the semi-permenant sub, both started out the year together. They will co-teach until baby comes, and then Cora's teacher will be out until after winter break. Thankfully we have heard great things about the sub for cora's class as well. Keeping our finger's crossed it will be a good year for her.

Hannah's teacher is just awesome! She is southern, and Loves kids! I know a few people whose kids have had her, and they all have loved her. We are very excited for Hannah and her year at school!

Anya started Middle School!!!! It was a pretty good day, but not without it's bumps, as with all transitions to middle school. The biggest was not getting to eat lunch!!! I guess the line was so long, that by the time the bell rang to go back to class, Anya and her friend were still waiting to in line to get lunch. They got their lunch, but were stressed about missing class...so only at their rolls. Apparently it was put out that lunch was most important and to eat even if it meant missing class...but Anya didn't get that message. Poor kid, what a stress to undergo, do I eat, or be late to class. Needless to say, we are doing home lunch tomorrow...maybe the rest of the week. I totally meant to make home lunch today, which is what I do every year...but I was a mom space cadet today and forgot to do it.

This is Hannah's little friend that wanted to go to class with her. I tell ya, this girl is a magnet for butterflies, moths and ladybugs!

All in all we are hoping for a great school year!!

FischFest

Back at the beginning of this journey, before we got our house, we were stuck in a 12 x 15 hotel room. So, we were actively looking for things to do, to get us out before we drove each other crazy. One of the things German's do real well here is food and Festivals...which are, amazingly enough, often combined! Each little village or community has their own fest, so there is something nearby to attend almost weekly if you wanted. The town of Grafenwoehr, where the army base is located, has the annual Fischfest. This was our first fest, and it felt so european to us. We could walk the cobblestone streets down to the fest, and it even rained on the walk back home...but that didn't stop us from grabbing an Eis waffle (ice cream cone) from our favorite Eis Cafe...Penguino Eis.

Here they are cooking the fish on these huge sticks...these spits were massive, like weapons! Not sure how to spell or pronounce what they call these...but it kind of morphed into "stukefish" for us. They knew what we meant at least!
Matt enjoying his trout. I even tasted some...and I am NOT a fish person. I don't even tolerate fish, but what can I say...Europe has brought out the adventurous side of me.

Jack ended up LOVING the fish. He couldn't get enough of it. Who knew? Maybe I should start cooking fish more often...we will start out slow by adding fish sticks to the menu (is that even real fish?)

We have been having fun, exploring, and trying new things...we hope you enjoy this adventure with us!