Every little princess should have a dress with ruffles and frills!!!
Off to Munich
Becki and Shannon have been here so long that they are starting to fit right in!!!
The have had a very full 2 weeks here...enjoying the rain in Switzerland, Paris and Normandy in France, and Heidelberg and Munich in Germany. Not to mention all the places and adventures inbetween! We so enjoyed having you here visiting! Thanks for coming and putting up with us! We're glad to hear you made it back home safe and sound!!
The have had a very full 2 weeks here...enjoying the rain in Switzerland, Paris and Normandy in France, and Heidelberg and Munich in Germany. Not to mention all the places and adventures inbetween! We so enjoyed having you here visiting! Thanks for coming and putting up with us! We're glad to hear you made it back home safe and sound!!
Neckar Cruise
Saturday, June 26, 2010 - The older 3 kids were at a birthday party - and so we headed into Heidelberg and took a boat cruise along the Neckar. We've been wanting to do this cruise for some time (pretty much since we moved here) and today was a perfect day to do so. We had looked online earlier in the day to see the times of the cruises. The cruise we wanted from Heidelberg to Neckarsteinach was a 3 hour cruise and left at 2pm, returning at 5 - perfect for our afternoon and time enough for us to be back for the kids after their party. We arrived in Heidelberg at about 1:50, found a parking garage, and basically ran to the boat dock - hoping we would still make it in time for the cruise. We had about a minute to spare - Jer got in line at the ticket counter trying to find out if we could still get on board. The boat hadn't left yet and although the top deck was packed...we noticed people were still getting on. He purchased our tickets - and on we went...the boat set sail shortly there after...phew - we just made it. Nothing like down to the last minute...never a dull moment with us it seems! Now time to relax and enjoy! We found seats on the lower level - which in the end turned out to be great - no way could have we sat on the top deck in the sun with Shelby - we would have all been cooked lobsters!
Becki and Shannon
Enjoying some time with just 2 kids....
Silas checking out the water - we had the window wide open to let in the breeze - I was keeping a watchful eye on him so he wouldn't fall overboard. And a photo as we go through the locks. We went through 2 sets of locks on the Neckar during our cruise.
Silas enjoying some Pommes (otherwise known as french fries). He asked for them so sweetly saying "Me have Pommes?" He is learning some very important German words at Kindergarten!!! He also may have even thrown in a "Bitte" to convince daddy that he really did deserve some all to himself! While on the cruise Silas decided to try on my sandals...what a fashion statement!!!
We really enjoyed our time on the cruise. Down by Neckarsteinach there are 4 castles - what we refer to as the 4 Burgs. We have gone hiking to these castles in the past. Shannon was taking a bunch of photos - so I don't even have one of the castles or any of the scenery along the Neckar on my camera. (Shannon -maybe you can send me some to post here later??)
After our cruise we decided to get a picture of us with the boat we were on. In the picture you can see us...but only a bit of the boat as we are standing in front of it blocking it from view. Therefore, we took another one with Jer nicely posing with the boat in view. Funny guy!!!
Becki and ShannonEnjoying some time with just 2 kids....
Silas checking out the water - we had the window wide open to let in the breeze - I was keeping a watchful eye on him so he wouldn't fall overboard. And a photo as we go through the locks. We went through 2 sets of locks on the Neckar during our cruise.
Silas enjoying some Pommes (otherwise known as french fries). He asked for them so sweetly saying "Me have Pommes?" He is learning some very important German words at Kindergarten!!! He also may have even thrown in a "Bitte" to convince daddy that he really did deserve some all to himself! While on the cruise Silas decided to try on my sandals...what a fashion statement!!!
We really enjoyed our time on the cruise. Down by Neckarsteinach there are 4 castles - what we refer to as the 4 Burgs. We have gone hiking to these castles in the past. Shannon was taking a bunch of photos - so I don't even have one of the castles or any of the scenery along the Neckar on my camera. (Shannon -maybe you can send me some to post here later??)
After our cruise we decided to get a picture of us with the boat we were on. In the picture you can see us...but only a bit of the boat as we are standing in front of it blocking it from view. Therefore, we took another one with Jer nicely posing with the boat in view. Funny guy!!!
Schwetzingen Gardens...again
On Saturday, June 26 we took Shannon and Becki to the Schwetzingen Schloss Gardens. If you follow this blog regularly you should know that we frequent this place with our guests!!! But it truely is a beautiful place....and we even discovered a part of the gardens we hadn't even been to yet!
Shannon and Becki outside the bath house...you needed to put on slippers in order to go inside. It was really neat inside (photos were not allowed). They had this one bath sunk into the floor, with steps going down into it...like a modern day jacuzzi without the jets. Then behind the bath house was this fountain, surrounded with bird cages and little nooks with benches...oh to be a king or queen way back when and have gardens like this to enjoy at your leisure.
Guess Who??
We were sitting around with Shannon and Becki the other night after we had put the kiddos to bed. We have a pile of games sitting next to the couch that the kids like to play. Well for some reason Shannon and Becki started playing "Guess Who". It was quite comical to watch them play...Shannon was a bit pokey when it came to aksing his question...and then making sure it was a "yes" or "no" question as well. A bit later - Jer even had a round against Shannon...I just had to get a picture because I'm not sure Jer has ever even played this with the kids! And of course then I just had to blog about it too!
The questions back and forth go something like this:
Is your person a male or a female?
That is not a yes or no question.
Okay, is your person a male?
Yes.
Does your person have brown hair?
That depends on what you call brown.
This goes on and on...and for some reason the conversation goes off on other tangents...it really was quite comical! Good times!
The questions back and forth go something like this:
Is your person a male or a female?
That is not a yes or no question.
Okay, is your person a male?
Yes.
Does your person have brown hair?
That depends on what you call brown.
This goes on and on...and for some reason the conversation goes off on other tangents...it really was quite comical! Good times!
Out in the Rain continued...
The rain had actually let up for a bit - so we let the kids play at a little park near our hotel. They had a great time - and it was good to help them use up some of their never-ending energy!
I've got a few monkeys on my hands....
It looked like so much fun I had to try it out too...guess there is a little monkey in me too!
After the park the girls and I headed back to the hotel, but Shannon and Becki and Shane took a walk along the river. Shannon and Shane found a little rock island and decided to go exploring...once they got out there they found out it would be a bit tricky to get back to land.
Shannon goes for it...
Shane takes a GIANT leap...
I've got a few monkeys on my hands....
It looked like so much fun I had to try it out too...guess there is a little monkey in me too!
After the park the girls and I headed back to the hotel, but Shannon and Becki and Shane took a walk along the river. Shannon and Shane found a little rock island and decided to go exploring...once they got out there they found out it would be a bit tricky to get back to land.
Shannon goes for it...
Shane takes a GIANT leap...
He just made it....but wait....Shannon grabs him...
but to no avail...he fell in backwards. Becki stopped taking photos to make sure he was okay...but the previous jump photo was worth the wet kid.
Weekend in Switzerland - Part 4 - Out in the Rain
We did spend some time outside while we were in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. It is known as the valley of waterfalls - and we saw plenty of falling water while we were there!!!
Saturday afternoon while Jer was napping with Silas and Shelby -the rest of us decided to go hike to Stabbach Falls. You can hike up a hill and then go through a tunnel and up some slippery stairs to get behind the falls.
Shaylee, Shane, and Sydney along the path... and a picture with mommy.
Shannon and Becki at the base - Shaylee running through the tunnel.
Behind the falls - getting just a little wet - good thing we have umbrellas and rain gear!
Saturday afternoon while Jer was napping with Silas and Shelby -the rest of us decided to go hike to Stabbach Falls. You can hike up a hill and then go through a tunnel and up some slippery stairs to get behind the falls.
Shaylee, Shane, and Sydney along the path... and a picture with mommy.
Shannon and Becki at the base - Shaylee running through the tunnel.
Behind the falls - getting just a little wet - good thing we have umbrellas and rain gear!
At the base of the hill - before heading up the trail there is a resting spot, complete with a water/drinking fountain. Kids of course LOVE water - and will be drawn to it and play in it regardless of how many times their mother tells them to stay away and stop! There is bound to be trouble....
Shannon got some great photos of the kids getting a drink...
Weekend in Switzerland - Part 3 - Date Nights
Jer and I were fortunate to get not only one, but TWO date nights while we were in Switzerland. Since we were at an apartment with a kitchen - we opted to feed the kids there - and then us adults would take turns going out for supper. We did shifts - first Jer and I would head down to one of the restaurants in Lauterbrunnen and have our date. We enjoyed eating supper with out the kids, no spilled drinks, no cutting up food - just us, a chance to talk, to spend time with eachother. Then we'd head back in time for Shannon and Becki to have their date. We'd get the kids to bed - and after they came back we'd stay up late watching the last of one of the soccer games and playing cards. We did this both Friday and Saturday night. It was so nice - a HUGE thank you to Shannon and Becki for watching the kiddos for us!!!
Out on our stroll (under an umbrella) through Lauterbrunnen (one main road) to find a place to eat. The first night we ate at Hotel Oberland - and since we had the opportunity to enjoy a night (okay roughly 2 hours) without the kids, we opted to try out one of the foods known to Switzerland: Cheese Fondu. Jer remembers his folks having a fondu set (mine did too - maybe they still do somewhere?) back in the 70's. Our waitress brought out the melted cheese in a pot and heated it over a flame. Then we had a variety of stuff (onions, garlic, spices, mushrooms, etc..) to put into the cheese as we liked - or to put on our plate to dip into. We had bread and potatoes to dip into the cheese....yummmm! We really enjoyed it.
Out on our stroll (under an umbrella) through Lauterbrunnen (one main road) to find a place to eat. The first night we ate at Hotel Oberland - and since we had the opportunity to enjoy a night (okay roughly 2 hours) without the kids, we opted to try out one of the foods known to Switzerland: Cheese Fondu. Jer remembers his folks having a fondu set (mine did too - maybe they still do somewhere?) back in the 70's. Our waitress brought out the melted cheese in a pot and heated it over a flame. Then we had a variety of stuff (onions, garlic, spices, mushrooms, etc..) to put into the cheese as we liked - or to put on our plate to dip into. We had bread and potatoes to dip into the cheese....yummmm! We really enjoyed it.
A bit closer up - to see the cheese in the Fondu pot....
The next night we tried Roesti (which is hashbrown type potatoes with melted cheese and ham with a fried egg on top). That too was delicious...but I forgot to get a picture....maybe next time (if there is a next time?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
