What we have been up to!!!

It has been a long time since I've last written! My parents came to visit us, the summer ended, school started, and then there was everything in between! It has been a nice end to summer and we literally went from hot sunny days to cold darker ones over night. Fall is here (I think for good) and it is actually quite nice to wear longsleeves and pants and enjoy the crisp cool air (now ask me in January and I will definitely want the warmer days back, but for now all is good! Instead of going on and on, here are LOTS of pictures to summarize the last month :-)

I'm actually becoming quite fond of our city - it still isn't Bamberg - but after 2 years, it is wearing on me :-) It really is a gorgeous place!

As we were waiting for my parents to arrive at the airport, we ran into the fan club for one of the German Olympiians who was on their plane coming back from Rio - pretty cool!

Our favorite fest of the year (Sandkerwa) My parents have always heard about it and so it was fun having them there to see it first hand!

Definitely a fun experience!

And here is the tree that they raise - it is called the the Kerwabaum

So happy to have them here :-) 

And Mia enjoying a little Crepe during the day time at Sandkerwa

Beautiful Bamberg

Here is Frank gearing up for "Oktoberfect" He looks so excited - doesn't he??

And a selfie with Frank - we LOVE that little guy :-)

First day of school for Bailey and Camden - can hardly believe Bailey is a Senior!!!

Beautiful flowers for my birthday! So nice to celebrate with my Mom and Dad too :-)

And our newest addition (a wonderful pottery vase given to us by one of Mia's friends parents :-)

And another one of Mia's friends and her family came to spend the day with us - it was a huge surprise to Mia - she had no idea they were coming (and she was thrilled!) 

We went to the sand mountain where you can ski and sled - being silly with their goggles - getting ready to slide down the mountain

The three little specks on the mountain are the three of them sledding down the hill of sand

definitely a unique experience!

and then a little time to play

before heading up to the top by foot

and here they are at the top!

And a "sommerrodelbahn" ride to boot. We just saw that they have these in the U.S. too - but the pricing that we saw at one place was ridiculously different. It is 2 euro a ride here and it was 23.00 dollars a ride there!!! Crazy!!!

 

We laughed at this difference too. You can't tell by the picture, but this is a playground. The sign says - warning - wasp nest

They don't spray the wasp nest - because that is bad for the environment, so just warn the kids to be careful. The playground was still packed with kids playing - so funny!

Random photo - but Mia loves to go to Media Markt (kind of like a circuit city) and take advantage of the free chair massage :-) 

Testing the famous mineral waters in Marianbad, Czech Republic

this one wasn't so bad...

The sulfer makes it quite memorable - yikes!!!

Bryan's new employee moved from Belgium and brought us this very famous beer. It was ratied several times as the "best beer in the world" and one bottle can go upward of $60. It is produced by Monks and the only place you can get it is if you go to the Monestary to pick it up - pretty cool! It was fun to sample :-)

Trappist Westvleteren is the name

We had a Hot air fest in our town - Hot air balloons

lots of music

lots of balloons

lots of people

The smallest hotel in the world :-)

The ballon at night was cool - you could see the fire in it 

We celebrated Camden's 16th Birthday with my parents

He can't drive here, but is legal to drink beer and wine now  (luckily not much interest in that yet, but had to celebrate the fact that he could if he wanted to). And the original Budweiser from Czech Republic :-) to boot! 

We went over to Pilzen for the Pilsner Urquell tour with my parents - the bottling plant is really cool to see...

lots and lots of

bottles!!!

And the fermentation process is amazing - check out the barrel!!!

Lots of them !!!

And a free sample at the end :-)

Prost!!!

Outside the famous Pilsner Urquell gates

Mia's first day back at school! She has French this year - which so far she loves!!!

 

My Dad took some really pretty pictures of our town!

Here we are at the top of the hill looking over the city (it is quite a hike up to the top - but the view is worth it!!!)

Here is one my Dad took of the City Spectacles (it looks like glasses with the reflection)

Marian bad, Czech Republik

Marian Bad

Marianbad

Bruckmuller is one of Bryan's favorites!

I love this photo - it makes me smile!! 

Had to add this one... Mia is in LOVE with Youtube and is constantly crafting from ideas online. Here she made a swan out of an Apple :-)

And last but not least, Bailey had her first football game this weekend. It was cold, raining and miserable, but she had a blast! And just a proud Mom moment to share - she was elected to be the Team Captain this year. We love you B!