~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~