~Summer Is Over & Life Is Busy in Germany~

~Our little Coley Smoley on his first day of school. He insisted on wearing his "Bull Shirt" that we got for him in Barcelona. Does this look like a kid that is excited to be a Stallion at Patch Elementary School? He is loving school so far. I think if you will ask him.. his favorite subject is P.E. and his favorite school activity is trading Pokemon cards on the bus - that's my boy~
~Cole is in the "Multi-Age" program at his school. His teacher is Ms. Suhr and his class consists of Kindergarten, First & Second grade students. It is a new approach to learning that values the ability to work independently and to work at your appropriate level. They do most of their learning from teaching & helping their peers in their class - so far so good~
~What we love most about the multi-age program is that it is a lot of "hands - on" learning. The kids learned about many countries by preparing for an Olympics day. They divided 5 multi-age classes into different countries where they had to learn about this country and then make signs and name tags to represent what they learned~

~Cole was on Team Brazil! They came in 2nd place as a team and worked very well together- the most impressive thing for Steve & I was that we got to watch Cole run 2 miles during the Olympics - he even got 3rd place!

It looks like we have a little runner on our hands - he loves it!~

~For the Labor Day 4 day weekend - we made it to our local bowling alley. We love it here - it is a fun time for the whole family!~

~Cole is currently playing Fall soccer and he is on the Cheetah team! He is learning so much this year with 2 day a week practices and a game on Saturdays. If you ask him he will tell you that "I am the best goalie on the team." How is that for confidence?~

~September was very cold here - so we had to bundle up to try to stay warm. Kade can hardly wait for the chance to play sports also. He has been so patient... the joys of being the youngest! He is great about cheering Cole on and giving him high fives~

~Who's this tough guy? He has been chosen as the "Cheetah Team Goalie" - he loves it and really is good at it - let's just say I have to work hard to get all of the mud stains out of his uniform from diving & blocking the balls from the goal~

~Steve is very excited to have Garrett here. He is a new dentist at the clinic. We are having a great time with the Wood family, and we will have many more adventures with them in the next couple of years~

~We wanted to do something outside because it was a beautiful, fall day. We decided that German Putt - Putt golf would be fun. Once we got past all of the rules and the owners stopped wanting to chase us off the course.. we had a really good time.~

~In this little German village we found a water wheel right next to the mini golf course - we are loving it here. The boys are happy they have 4 new friends to play with~

~We are back to being just the two of us during the day. Kade is the best little guy to hang around with. We have fun going to playgroups, shopping, watching movies and playing together. I am loving this time we have together.~

~Cole was the "star" in his first play. This is a play about Greece & King Midas - Cole was a servant and had a couple of lines. This was definitely a fun way to learn about these subjects. He did very good.~

~This is Cole's first homework project and he had a really good time with it. His is the one with "2002" on it. I wanted to note that the freckly face drawing to the left is of Uncle Jesse. Jesse he thought you were important enough to put on his timeline (when you were born) I love the way he drew you. This was a way for the kids to learn about AD & BC. We had to do 20 years "BC" (Before Cole) & 20 years "AC" (After Cole)~

~i {LOVE} fall in Germany~

~We were heading on vacation for 7 days... but I didn't want to start off without making Kade's favorite breakfast for his birthday. He turned 3 on Oct. 5 - he chose waffles and hot chocolate with marshmallows. As you can see from their moustaches they really enjoyed it~
~We were heading down to the Austrian border - and we could not help ourselves - we had to stop and stretch our legs and enjoy some views - beautiful day with my boys... priceless~
~This is a very important lesson for a father to teach his boys... how to skip rocks. Steve was doing a great job teaching them the importance of the pefect, flat rock and how to bend over just right and line your arm up with the water... they'll get it with a little more practice~

~Cole... one of the loves of my life - he is not a little boy anymore.. he says the funniest things lately - it is so fun to see him learn new things, and he is loving these new adventures in his life~

~Kaders... my little monkey boy - I just want to squeeze him he is so cute. He is no longer my little baby.. he is 3 now - and so he has his own opinions about what he wears, what books he reads, etc. He is the funniest little monkey~

~Like father like son... these two are exactly alike in so many ways. Cole is my mini-me and Kade is Steve's~

~I was driving around the corner on these narrow country roads and Steve said, "please slow down just long enough for me to get this photo out the car window"... and these are the spectacular views we were surrounded by~

~This trip to Garmisch, Germany was a little mix of business & pleasure.. I thought it would be a fabulous way to the see the beautiful fall colors around the alps, and Steve thought it would be an excellent way to attend an Army Dental Conference and get continuing education. The boys thought we were going to the huge hotel for Alpine Slide rides and swims in the pool. So we all win! Nothing like a free family vacation~

~Since Steve went to Orlando in July for a Dental Conference - he got some continuing education requirements completed at that time... that is the excuse I am using for making him play hookey with me on Monday afternoon. It was absolutely beautiful & warm the entire week we were here. We were secretly escaping the hotel when we saw this beautiful sight~

~We took a hike into the Gorge - there were waterfalls everywhere. I cannot believe how incredible this time of year is in Germany. By far the best time to vacation here - if you can time it right with the changing of the leaves~

~Kade was a good sport, he actually was pretty funny because during the steep parts of the hike.. he would be yelling at me to keep up and get going - nothing like a little friendly motivation from your 3 year old who is in a backpack - I wish I was in there~

~I love you Steve... my dream come true. I am so glad you snuck away and we got to experience this together~

~Beautiful~

~Breathtaking~

~Marvelous~

~Spectacular~

~Steve had to bend down the entire time we walked through the caves so that Kade would not hit his head... oops he did get hit one time - ouch~

~Masterpiece~

~This shows you my level of creativity (which means I have none). I wanted to make the boys a cake for their birthdays. I found some microwave cakes at the store, bought some birthday candles and a lighter and we were all set at the restaurant - it wasn't much.. but they loved it~

~The view from our room~

~On Wednesday night the conference had a Bavarian celebration. Standing on the top of each of our tables was one of these fun German guys and they were all dressed up and looking cute. They had different whips that would make different sounds. Kade wanted me to cover his ears.. and we had to duck our heads down a little - afraid we were about to lose our head with the whips above us~

~This was so much fun. This woman was able to do entire songs using a different size cow bell for each note. The picture is a little fuzzy because she was moving all of the time while she reached for the next bell to find her note - it was awesome~

~Another picture from our room window. I loved these cows that you see below. I could hear their little cow bells that were around their necks ringing from sun up to sun down. They must have been eating non-stop the entire day. It was music to my ears~

~This was our view of the sunrise from our deck on the last morning we were here. It could not have been a more beautiful week to be here~

~Everyday we had Cole in the "Just For Kids" program which he had such a fabulous time in. He rode boats on Mermaid Lake, went to museums, went to mini golf, candy castle, and they had an ice cream party for his birthday. It was from 8 - 5 everyday - which meant he had a great time, and I was able to do my own thing. Kade was so excited when Cole would get off the bus from his full day of fun. They are very cute together - he also knew that this meant it was finally time to be able to go swimming~

~We had a great time on vacation - we definitely made the most of our time together. We celebrated the boy's birthdays while we were here. Thanks so much to Nana & Papa & Aunt Sarah for all of the Star Wars & Transformer toys for their birthdays - they loved them.

My boys are getting so grown up - they even like big kid toys now!

These are great times in life fo' sure~

~When we got home from our vacation we decided to stop by the post office to see if the packages I ordered from Wal-Mart that took 8 weeks were finally there. Urhghhhh! You have to plan way ahead for birthdays and Christmas here - the mail system can be VERY frustrating. They were here & the boys were out of their heads with excitement for their new Star Wars Light Sabers~

~Darth Vader and Obi Wan doing some serious Light Saber wars~

~May the force be with you! This was so funny. Kade was so worked up and hot - that the snorkel goggles that he was using for his mask, were all steamed up~

~Boys Birthday Trip To Legoland Deutschland~

~We promised the boys that we would take them to Legoland for their birthdays. That is the great part about having their birthdays 2 days apart - you can always join them - until they are old enough to disagree. It was a beautiful, fall day, Steve had a four day weekend, so we went on a Monday when all of the German kids were in school. No lines meant lots of lots of time to ride the rides multiple times - it was a great time for the boys & the "older kids"~
~This would be Steve & Cole at the very top of the roller coaster, just getting ready to come down the big hill. Steve taught Cole that the rule is... if possible you sit in the very front or the very back - and you ALWAYS have your arms up above your head. Cole was up for the challenge and Steve said he had his arms up the entire ride - that's my boy! - I love rides~

~This was the Lego Safari ride. We rode these cars and all along the way were animals completely made out of Legos - the kids loved it~

~Guess how many times we rode this in a row? That is right.. too many! There were a few big kid rides that Kade could not go on.. which devastated him. So the rides that he could go on... we went on over and over again~

~Smoles was up for the challenge and he ran to the front of the line with me to get on the log ride. We were afraid we were going to get soaking wet.. so we sat in the middle. Cole got much more wet then I did - he was a good sport and we had a great time~

~We were all smiles after we got completely drenched from the big splash at the bottom of the hill. I am so glad that I have a brave partner to ride with on these rides for many years to come - I love rides, and so I was in my zenith the entire day~

~Everything was made out of legos.. the boys loved it. They had entire cities, animals, cars, rides, everywhere you looked - legos, legos, legos~

~Who says that size doesn't matter? You better like hot dogs and sausages if you come to Germany... this is all they have available - so eat up~

~Our little Knight - watch out world here he comes to fight his legoland battles~

~Can you tell that he is such a proud little Knight? Would you believe me if I told you that he rode on this ride 10 times in a row?~

~Once again.. Steve and Cole obeying the roller coaster rule. They are in the very front and they both have their arms above their heads~

~I pushed the pedal and Kade drove the boat. He was surprisingly good for a 3 year old. I thought that it would be on a track... nope! You actually had to get around the water and make your way along the maze to get to the end. Not easy - but lots of laughs (& frustration tears from Cole)~

~Are you scared?~

~By the end of the day we were definitely all "spinned" out! We had a great time celebrating the boys birthdays at Legoland. We did a lot of laughing and made lots of good memories. By far my favorite time was when we were on one of those obnoxious rides that just spin around in circles - at very fast speeds. Steve was making comments to the ride operator the whole time. I was laughing so hard - I even piddled in my pants! - Steve is hands down the funniest person on the planet~ The boys were so excited when we told them that Grandma & Grandpa Wilson had sent them money for their birthdays and that they could go in the gift shop and pick out a lego toy - Cole got a Bionicle & Kade got a flashlight - Thanks Grandma & Grandpa~