Saturday, May 27, 2017

Life...

I'm not sure where my discipline for documenting our life over here went? I look at the pictures on my phone and they seem to just kind of pile up. We have been very busy, the weather is finally beautiful, and we are just trying to make the most of each day!!!

We went to the Annual duck race in our city - people decorate the ducks in all kinds of cute ways...

Businesses also sponsor the bigger ducks....

...and then they head down the river - the first ducks to cross the finish line win prizes :-)

Bailey's last soccer Home Game - can't believe it is over!!! (She still had a few away games and the European Tournament after this - their team didn't fair so well this season, but a really fun time none the less!

Her team thanking their fans :-)

Senior Appreciation - I so love this girl!!! (and as you can tell, it was still quite cold back earlier this month) 

Bailey and Bryan!

So glad for the memories!!!
Friends!!!

And a rare photo of my favorite 3 :-)

A late photo of Frank pretending he is the Easter Bunny

This was back in April - but can you believe snow was on the radar?

Mia and my shopping cart catastrophe - how does this happen to us (all we could do was laugh!!!)

And keeping it real - this is the way our entryway pretty much looks each morning of the Soccer Season (minus the suitcase) - As much as it drives me crazy - I know I will miss this!!!  


Mia's Restaurant (check out the flowered shaped strawberries :-)

This little guy brings us soo much happiness!!!

One more pic from Senior Appreciation Day!! I love this picture!!!

Fruhlings Fest in Munich (at the fest grounds where Octoberfest is held - this is the Springfest.

Our friends' arranged the reservation, and when we got to our table - it was smack dab in the center of the Tent (a perfect location). The food was waiting on us when we arrived!

Traditional and edible decor!

And the waiters and waitresses are just about the most capable workers on earth!!! 

As the music got going, lots of people stood on the benches to sing along... We of course had to join in too - such a fun time!!!

Amazing!!! And with all of the people - there didn't seem to be any problems at all!


Such a fun time!!!


And then dinner was served - amazing!!!

And someone celebrated her 12th birthday - which is still crazy for me to comprehend!

In case of emergency - break glass :-)

And a little French update (I am still amazed by this)

a bit difficult for 6th Grade!!!

12 years!!!

Alles gute zum Geburtstag!!!

And for her party, she and her friends walked to the local swimming pool...

Such great kids!!!

such a fun time!!

And then the fun part...

another one of my sweet little guy!!! He gets so relaxed, that he kicks out his back legs :-)

And the fields in Germany are in full bloom - EVERYWHERE!!!!


Bryan and some of our friends at a 70th surprise birthday party...

Mia and her friend at her first "real" Tennis Tournament... After playing her singles mtach, she played a doubles match with her good friend. 

She did great! She had to play singles against a boy and just narrowly lost - she held her own though!

She was extremely nervous to play, so I was especially proud of her...

and her confidence grew throughout the match..

I had no idea how long a full tennis match could take - especially if it is a close one - yikes!!! 

They even served us all Pizza after the tournament!!

We meet quartlery with some friends at a Lebanese Restaurant - here is a pic of the The Moms and some of the kids (the Dads are missing in action)

The May pole (notice the beer kegs are what holds the pole up)!

We went to the "Brombachsee" Here are the kids trying to play with a Swan... There is a zip line that goes over the entire lake in the background - really cool!

...and then braving the EXTREMELY cold water... It didn't last very long :-)


Some of the Senior class gathered at Field Day - not much longer now...


On Father's Day in Germany (which also happens to be Ascension day), the tradition is that the men head out all day with their wagon filled with beer. They hike and usually end up at a restaurant. It is really one of the funniest things to see. Bryan took the day off, and Mia, Bryan, and I met some friends at a High Ropes Garden and Biergarten for the day. On the 1 hour drive there, we must have seen 30 groups of "Dad's" - this was one of them that I got a quick snapshot of from the car... So funny (this was 10:00 in the morning!!!  

At the biergarten, the view was amazing! This area is one of the best areas in the world for Rock Climbing - so LOTS of amazing rock cliffs!

And if you look closely, there was a mountain goat on the top of the rock!!! I live for stuff like that!!!!

And a picture of one of the parked wagons from a group of "Dads" :-)


Such a great day!

Amazing views!!!

O

Sunday, April 16, 2017

The last of the phone emptying pictures...

Since I didn't end up getting to go to Vulcano Island in Italy, I talked Bryan into doing a little hike up to Parkstein (which was a Volcano - over a million years ago) - you can see it straight ahead in the blurry photo...

At the top of it is a cute little church with a beautiful view...

We saw this on the way up and had to giggle (even though not one of our kids was with us, it still made us laugh)

On the way up, they had each of the stations of the cross...

Before getting there, we had read that the hike might take 2 hours round trip - but when we got there - is more like a 20 minute hike up :-)

The church is adorable!


and the view of the little town is so pretty too!


...and I smile because when you zoom in, you can almost always find a soccer field in even the smallest of villages here in Germany (oh and always solar panels too!)

and a goofy selfie..

a nice spot for a rest...





This was the rock formation from the Volcano so long long ago...

a photo of what it used to look like a few hundred years ago...

Another cool view from the formation of the volcano...

I took this picture because it really epitomizes for me the Germans...you have the ridiculously old stuff everywhere, yet the Germans LOVE ultra modern architecture...This was a house on the way down the hill... 

Easter eggs hanging at "Neptune" in Bamberg...

Bryan, Mia and I went for a hike in Bamberg - the trees were in full bloom at the top of the Michaelsberg Mountain...

This made me laugh - we took a selfie and check out psycho Bryan...

She is a little crazy herself :-)


When we left Bamberg, we brought one of Mia's very best friends' (Magdalena) home with us for the week (Mia is on vacation for 2 weeks). Even though they hardly ever see one another - they are still such good friends!

And Mia started a dog walking business (ok, not really, but we will just go with that...)

This is our new friend who is so adorable!!!

The girls LOVED walking him!

Camden's friend from Bamberg also came for the weekend and he cooked for us!!! 16 years old and he loves to cook - definitely not my child :-) Super Delicious!!!

And lastly, after Prom pictures, we had to stop at the grocery store before everything shut down completely for 2 days (I had to take a picture of this in the grocery store - any excuse to produce beer - here is the Easter Bunny version :-) Once again, gotta love the Germans!!! 

Senior Prom

It is crazy how fast all of this gear up to graduation is happening, but Bailey had her very last Prom this weekend. They had it at the Vilseck Castle this year and she went with a group of friends - she had a really fun weekend and now will always have the memories!!!



The kids being goofy (yes - they are all 18, but still 5 at heart ;-)

...And now for the more grown up look

Still can't believe she is graduating in a month and a half!

Bailey and her friend Kaitlyn



They all met up with a group of friends for dinner...


Bailey and her best friend, Nate (don't let the sunshine fool you - it was freezing for the photos and the kids were frozen :-))