Emptying my phone...

I have been so slack with updates...we have been busy with school, work, vacation, soccer, celebrations, and just life in general. I am still feeling like life is flying by way too fast this year. Here are some pictures of our last month...

We always joke that when we drive to Bamberg, the weather gets nicer. It is ironically almost 100% of the time that it is cloudy in Amberg, but Sunny in Bamberg. So... Bryan and I were heading to Bamberg one rainy morning and we saw this... We literally got so see not only a double rainbow, but the end of a rainbow too- so neat!!!

This was a while ago, but the count down is still on...

Soccer Season is in full swing. Bailey heads to Italy next weekend for a tournament

Bailey's team - such great girls!!!

Go Vilseck!

Bailey won the 2nd place scholarship in the European Veterans of Foreign Wars essay contest! Camden won 3rd place in the local contest. So proud of them!!!

I had to chuckle at this one...my German friend sent me a picture of this on my phone... Her son just turned 16 and after school, he was so excited to walk to the store with his friends to legally buy his first beer (so funny!!) The guy buying the Red bull wasn't quite 16 yet :-)

This was funny too...

And this was my nightmare weekend (even though we made the best of it). I was supposed to go with friends to the Isalnd of Vulcano (off of Sicily) for a long weekend. My friend and I got stuck in the Munich airport for 24 hours when our flight was delayed. While we were at the airport, trying to make the best out of a bad situation - meanwhile our friends were waiting for us in Catania...

This is the photo they sent (if you look close, you can see Etna - the active volcano - off in the distance)

and then... Mia was at home with Bryan and sent me a picture of her strawberry that she carved into a Rose (her love of crafting is definitely real!!!) She is addicted to youtube crafting videos (out of control :-))

then the girls in Sicily sent another picture of Etna...

And then, I headed home to Amberg (sadly after the delay, I had to cancel my trip), but my friend was going for the entire week, so they forged ahead with a stop to the Island of Vulcano...

At the top of the rim, you can look down into the crater

Vulcanic ash....

They even had natural mud baths and Thermal waters from the Volcanic heat... So that was my vacation that never was!!! Maybe someday...

After I got back from my 24 hour fiasco at the airport... here is a neat picture that was taken of  Camden playing...

 

Bryan, Mia, and I went to a cool animal park, where the deer just walk around free (and you can feed them). This picture almost looks fake...

They were so sweet though, and definitely used to humans

so gentle! They would eat right out of your hand...

This little guy really took to Mia (which was so nice for her because she always thinks that animals don't like her)

They were all just kind of walking around and happy to get some treats (but not aggressive at all)

I learned something new... There is a "Season" where frogs literally cross the road to breed. They go back to their same ancestral ponds year after year during a certain time - pretty amazing. "Kroten Wandern" means Frogs wandering...

Here is another sign warning people to watch out for the frogs... Gotta love the Germans for watching out for the frogs :-)

Bailey and I drove to Dresden during her Springbreak - it was her first experience driving on the autobahn - yikes!!!

Windmills, as seen from the Autobahn...

...and we loved this...It is a dog resting place that Ikea has, so dogs are welcome to come chill while their parents shop :-) 

Ski Course

And then after her winter vacation, Mia came right home and headed to Italy... (such a rough life!) As part of the German school curriculum, almost all German kids get to spend a week learning to ski in the Alps. (it is pretty much a normal thing all over Europe too, not just Germany).  It is an amazing opportunity and is so well thought out. It is much more than just skiing; it is learning to keep up with your stuff, being , self sufficient, science (learning about elevation), Geography, language (learning a little Italian), getting along with others etc... The amazing thing is - there are 40 eleven- twelve year olds with only 2 teachers (All week) - no parent chaperones!. The kids are expected to act appropriately and it all seems to just work out perfect. They even have freedom to walk to the local grocery store (but the rule is - you must stay in a group of 4 - that way if someone gets hurt, one person can stay with them and the other 2 can go for help - no one is ever alone - so simple, yet so brilliant. It is also extremely affordable - so it doesn't leave anyone out. She was excited to graduate from a mixture of snow plow to now parallel skiing and red to black diamond.  She loved every minute! (Oh.. and I told her to take lots and lots of pictures - so these are the ones from her camera)

On the bus, with the start of the Alps off in the distance

Heading up in eleveation

At a rest stop on the way...

Complete goofiness on the bus (I cracked up at this one :-))

The girls in her class got to decide if they wanted 2 rooms or if they wanted to share one big room (it is funny, because even something like that empowers the kids to think about scenarios and come to a decision all together. In the end, they opted for the big room (although not as easy a decision as you would think it was). They also had a bunk bed in this room and Mia slept on top.  I asked if there were any problems during the week - but not a single bit of drama at all - she has such nice friends!!

And finally at 2500 meters

so pretty!!!

cute little skiers:-)

 

And on the way home, they stopped and had a hike up to this waterfall...

so pretty!

Mia's "girls" :-)

and a few more random shots...

They will go again next year, but will go to the Austrian Alps instead of Italy. I will sooo miss this for her - I am in love with the German School - it just makes so much sense to me!

Fasching Ferien

Fasching (AKA. Carnival, Mardi Gras) is celebrated big here. The German Kids have a week off and Mia and I went on a very special girls trip. We had amazing hosts that showed us such a great time (completely spoiling us) and I am so grateful that we had this time together (Bailey and I went to Romania last year, so now I just have to figure out something special with Camden :-)). Here are some of our photos...

We ran into Laurie Hernandez in the airport (she was sitting next us for 2 hours as our flight was delayed). She is the Olympian that was part of the Gold Medalist U.S. Gymnastics team last summer in Rio. 

Harry Potter "land" It felt like we were back in Europe

So many things to choose from!!

Butter Beer with Annette :-) So much fun!!!

We had to take this one for Bailey - We have never tried "Poutine" but in Canada it is a must :-)

We were even treated to lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe! Such a fun time - Mia LOVED it!

Of my 3 kids, Mia is the one who adores all things "Magical" and "Imaginary". Camden and Bailey - not so much. She is at that age where in a year or so, she may not appreciate it, but she absolutely loved every minute. 

So grateful to share this time with Mia - We had an amazing visit!

January and Feb (Cleaning out my phone :-))

I've been pretty slow about posting anything... There has been so much going on and I am just trying to appreciate all of the little things. We don't have too much longer living over here, Bailey will be off at school next year, and so many things in between! Just trying to cherish all of it and keep these memories :-) Here is part of our last few months (in no particular order)

Less than 100 days until Graduation - Yikes!!!! :-( Time is flying by!!!

We had lots of snow in ealry February - so pretty!!!

Bryan and I have a small mountain that we like to hike up - this is a flat part at the top!

Tennis...the little dot in the Green is Mia. She has been playing for almost 3 years now. She loves to play, but is not competetive AT ALL (not a competitive bone in her body ). She has LOVED  playing and it has been so fun to see her improve over time. They play indoors all Winter and then head outdoors in the Spring.

Mia takes an extra art class at her school and they got to paint murals on the Wall in the Halls

 

We babysat this little guy one  weekend

He had LOTS of energy .... Sometimes

Too cute!!

And I hardly ever post pictures of Camden, so thought I'd include this one (I'm sure he will be thrilled :-)).  He is excited that Soccer Season has started!!

They had Senior Night at the last home game - part of the crowd always comes down to lock hands in a tunnel, for the players to run out to. For Senior Night, the tunnel went 3/4 across the gym floor - so much fun! 

Bailey and one of her best friends - everyone will be spread all over the world in a few months - crazy!!!

Happy Senior Night!

We love you Bailey!!!

Last home game before Europeans...

This is our latest addition (a painting of "Uncle Fritz")  Frank seems to really like him :-)

We met up with our great friends from Bamberg. This is Bryan's old colleague who got us involved in the soccer club in his village. Camden would never have met his best friend if it wasn't for them!!! They completely took us under their wing when we first moved here!

So grateful for friendships that we have made along the way....

Mia and her "clan" - they all took time off to go support one of her friends who was in a contest

this is an old one, but was on my phone somehow... Mia went to a science Museum with her class - here she is in a Bubble :-)

And a few of the girls taking a selfie at their annual trip to the Christmas Market (I told you these pictures were old :-))

Mia's taking French this year in school. They are studying about Paris and she couldn't remember going to the Louvre, Arch de Triumph et.. We had to dig up some old pictures because she wanted to show her friends. Seems like a lifetime ago!!!

And the Mona Lisa.. Mia doesn't remember a thing (so glad we have photos (at least!!). Again, crazy to think they were this young once...

Mia LOVES to do anything with crafts, nails, hair etc. She did her friends' hair one day and sent me a photo - I thought it was pretty cool!

And finally, this one...even though we drive each other crazy sometimes - I am soooo going to miss her next year!!! (weep, weep :-()