~Goodbye To Garmisch~

~This was our third dental conference in Garmisch at the US Edelweiss Resort. We always have a great time here because it is American accomodations, service, and food! The boys and I had a great time playing while Steve was at his conference~


~The weather could not have been more different than it was for us at last year's conference. We had lots of rain, and freezing cold weather this time. The fall colors were still beautiful.. but...~


~This was our first day of snow. We actually were out catching snowflakes on our tongues. The trees looked very pretty because they looked like they had just been sprinkled with powdered sugar~


~We wanted to take a walk around this entire lake.. but I was not dressed warm enough for our adventure. I was freezing! The boys thought I was just being a wimp. Cole & Kade were having a blast and being good sports~


~A family picture in the snow by the lake and snowy mountains. We will always remember our trips to Garmisch. We have experienced every season in this little ski resort town~


~That night the snow began to fall much harder. We woke up to a couple inches of snow. The boys had a great idea to go and get their scooters out and see if they would cruise through the snow. They actually were like sleds with handle bars.. it was great fun~


~This was our first snow experience for the year.. so we had to make a pit stop for a snowball fight. They were entertained with eachother for a while.. and then they both tagged up and attacked me. Cole & Kade = 1, Mom = 0~


~After we all had been hit by enough snowballs, we decided it was time to build some snowmen. This was Cole's end result.. he was very proud of it~


~Kade also built a snowman..his design had a slight contemporary feel~


~The next day Steve was able to get a half a day off from the dental conference. We decided to visit the neighboring village of Oberammergau. It is very famous for the Oberammergau Passion Of The Christ Play. This play has been performed since 1634 as a tradition by the residents of the village. About half the inhabitants of Oberammergau are expected to take part in the once-a-decade Passion Play in the year 2010. This means that over 2,000 villagers will bring the story of Jesus of Nazareth to life for the audiences that flock in from around the world~

~In this picture Cole is not acting out a part in the play, he actually just got tagged from a snowball that Steve just threw at him from across the parking lot. He fell down and immediately started crying and screaming.. you can only imagine the looks we got from the Germans.. and Steve pulled out the camera to capture the moment~


~We had a full day of playing in the snow, and sightseeing local villages so the boys were super tired that night.. doesn't this look comfortable?~


~The Zugspitze mountain will always hold a special place in Steve's heart.. because unfortunately it is the only mountain he skied while in Europe. That was definitely not part of the master plan when we moved to Germany~


~There are so many beautiful things to see in Garmisch. We have been here six times, but we always find new adventures everytime we come~


~This trip was a little bitter-sweet for us because Steve was set to leave for his deployment to Afghanistan a week after it was over. He is doing an incredible job over there, and helping out in amazing ways. It was not part of our master plan.. but I think it will probably be one of the most important adventures he will experience in his life.. and that is why we are making this huge sacrifice~

~Porsche Birthday 2009~

~Anyone who knows my big boy and my two little boys.. knows that they are in {LOVE} with Porsches! That made it easy to choose a theme for our boys' birthdays this year. We started off the excitement with a trip to the new Porsche Museum in Stuttgart~


~The successful record of Stuttgart’s sports-car manufacturer, Porsche is due to it being both the smallest independent German automaker and the world’s most profitable automaker. It is based on decades of experience in automotive manufacturing and in motorsports. The history of Porsche sports cars began in 1948~


~About 80 vehicles and many small exhibits are on display at the new Porsche Museum. Even as early as the 20th century, the name of Porsche stood for the commitment to never be satisfied with a technical solution that fails to fully meet or exceed all of its requirements, including opportunities for further improvement. My boys sure do know how to pick a dream car~


~On October 5, 2005.. my beautiful son Kade was born. He is now 4 years old. He could not be more handsome or sassy. This is a boy who knows exactly what he wants in life and has an awesome imagination. He has a very kind heart and loves to put chapstick on and whistle..mostly because his older brother Cole cannot. He just also realized the fun reactions that come from him crossing his eyes. He loves to help me out in the kitchen, and with my chores around the house. He chose this yellow cake and the chocolate frosting for his birthday cake and cupcakes this year. He was able to take the cupcakes and share them with his preschool class~


~My boys are not able to watch commercials on our military T.V. so they do not know all of the toys that they are missing out on. That is a little hard when they do not know what they want for their birthday. I decided to take him out to lunch, and then to the store to pick out one special gift. He chose this huge jet that makes take-off noises and shoots missiles..great choice~


~I came into the kitchen after we got back from the store.. my little Kade had found his way to his cake and was eating the frosting off.. it is his cake.. how do you get mad at a boy with such a sweet face and sweet tooth?~


~After dinner we sang to Kade and had him make a wish and blow out his candles.. I think that he had a very special day.. he was full of smiles~


~It is a tradition in our home to make a special breakfast on October 6th. Kade's birthday is October 5th, and Cole's birthday is October 7th. I am sure that sooner than later, the boys will start demanding that they each get a special breakfast, instead of meeting in the middle & sharing the day.. but for now it is working :) We made heart-shaped pancakes with syrup, fresh berries & whipped cream~


~We decided to surprise Cole by showing up at his lunch in the school cafeteria. He was very happy to see us. We brought cupcakes for him to give out to his class~


~Cole is always very cute with Kade when he is around his friends. He is the perfect big brother to him. We finished up with Cole's lunch and had to hurry to the car rental shop for our next big birthday surprise!~


~We had the keys in our hands and we high-fived eachother when we saw this beautiful, black porsche sitting in the garage at the car rental company. Kade started to jump up and down when he found out we actually were able to get in it and drive it.. not just look at it~


~We pulled up to the front of Cole's elementary school waiting very impatiently for him to get out so that he could see his birthday surprise. I was pacing back and forth.. it was so cute because when I met up with him and was bringing him back to the Porsche.. he could not see Kade and Steve inside it..and he said, "Look mom, a Porsche." which is what happens every single time they see any form of a Porsche in Germany~


~I have never seen Cole so surprised and so happy in my entire life. His grin was ear to ear and his eyes were glowing with excitement. He started screaming as soon as he realized that dad was actually driving that Porsche he just saw. He did five circles around then got inside and put his head up through the sunroof~


~Cole knows that the CarreraS is Steve's most favorite Porsche.. so he wanted to make sure it was a Carrera because that is VERY important.. the picture was proof that this is very much one of the very coolest cars ever!!!!~


~Do you think he will ever forget his 7th birthday? This boy was having the absolute time of his life.. and we were proud parents that we were able to share this with our boys~


~Don't worry..the boys were not the only ones with smiles on their faces. My big boy was having the time of his life also. This was a dream come true for him. He had the Porsche going upwards of 150mph on the Autobahn..it would have been faster without the traffic (I believe it). I was screaming the entire time..scared to death.. the boys were in the back and were encouraging Steve to go faster. He took an exit and we cornered at 75mph.. I thought we were going to die~


~But we survived, and really had the best time out cruising through our favorite country roads.. that we knew we could go fast on. We ate dinner and Cole & Kade got up from the table 15 times so that they could go make sure the Porsche was OK~


~It became dark outside, and our miles were all used up on the Porsche.. It was so much fun thinking about Cole all day this day and to think that 7 years before he was born. He is such a kind-hearted boy who is very social and loves adventures just like his dad. We ended our night with cake and ice cream for Cole.. to be honest I do not think he had to make a wish when he blew out the candles.. I think that wish had just come true~

~USA vs. Germany World Cup Baseball~

~We were very excited to go to the USA vs. Germany World Cup baseball game in Regensburg, Germany. We have definitely been missing going to baseball games since we have been here. Regensburg was also a great place to visit. It is a Bavarian city located right on the Danube river~


~The Stone Bridge, built 1135–1146, is a highlight of medieval bridge building. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusade used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land. It is awesome to be able to walk through the city wall arched entrance, the tower and the gate because after all these years, they are still standing~


~We loved all of the colorful buidings in the center of town. That is the fun part about being in the Bavaria region... they love to put bright colors on their homes and buildings~


~The Dom (Cathedral) is a very interesting example of pure German Gothic and counts as the main work of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, with the exception of the towers, which were finished in 1869~


~The boys were done touring the village, so we headed a little out of town to the baseball stadium. We were thinking it was going to be much bigger, so it was very fun to see how intimate of an experience this was going to be for us. Cole is holding a ball that Team USA threw up to him during warm-ups~


~The game was just about to get started. Both teams lined up and they played the anthems for both countries. It was a proud to be an American moment for us all~


~Even in Germany you cannot come to a baseball game and not have some Cracker Jacks~


~Cole and his friend Carson loved cheering Team USA on with their American flags. There were probably only about 50 Americans in the entire stadium~


~Kade with his friend Logan waving their flags. I don't think there was any question which team we were rooting for. The Germans around us were probably getting a little annoyed by our American pride~


~We even had the opportunity to stand at the 7th inning stretch and sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame".. the 50 Americans sang it as loud as we possibly could.. the Germans had no clue what we were doing.. it was awesome!~


~It was so incredible to get this little taste of America while being surrounded by the old, beautiful charm of Germany. It really was the best of both worlds~


~As the beer kept coming, the USA section got a little more obnoxious.. we were dancing, yelling, and doing all of the cheers.. God Bless the USA - baseball is such an American pastime~


~We stayed until the very end.. sad for it to be all over! We kicked Team Germany's butt.. the score was 9-1. We are so glad that we had this once in a lifetime opportunity to watch Team USA vs. Team Germany.. in Germany.. very good times~

~Tripsdrill Park~

~Tripsdrill Park is an amusement park that is only 25 minutes from our home. I would honestly say that it was situated in the most beautiful setting that I have ever seen for an amusement park. The park sits right in the middle of these gorgeous vineyards. These were our views from the top of the rides.. I am so glad that we did not miss this while living over here in Germany~


~The boys were so excited as we walked through the gates and went under all of the laundry hanging on the clothes lines above us (the theme in the entire park is the life on a vineyard).. we did not get 50 feet before they immediately wanted to hop on the first ride. It was a very cute May pole ride that did lots of spinning in circles high in the air (Steve's favorite)~


~The boys did not take long before they started running off to the next ride. This was an old fishing pond with these fishing boats that ran through it. It was a lot of fun because you could shoot water at the boats around you~


~Not a bad view for standing in line, right? The beautiful windmill behind with the little bridge in front and the ducks swimming in the pond~


~This was a free fall ride with a different look. This is a tree house.. you climb in the log and then it takes you all the way to the very top. Next it dips you forward, and then when you least expect it... you come free-falling quickly all the way down. The great thing now is that the boys are both tall enough to ride all of the rides in the park~


~Cole riding in an old-school pinewood derby car.. they had to actually steer, and push the gas and brakes themselves~


~Kade had no problem in his derby car.. he is a pro in his hummer at home.. so this was a piece of cake for him. He would even be able to reverse full speed, and parallel park if they asked him to.. he has some rad driving skills for a four year old~


~Next we slowed it down a notch with this old-fashioned car on the tracks.. can you tell that the boys were having the time of their lives?~


~Kade was a little too frightened of the responsibility of driving the horses that pulled this old buggy. He refused to get on without me. I have never been so bucked around on a ride in my entire life.. but we made it~


~I am not quite sure what the fascination is in Germany with these hedgehogs.. but they love them and even decorate their homes with them during the fall season. You are going to have a hard time catching this little rodent~


~I was bound and determined to convince Cole that he would have fun going on this big castle bath tub ride with me. He was very scared, but I gave him lots of pep talks. We got on the ride and it took us inside the castle. Guess what we were welcomed to?.... Tons of naked manequins that were taking baths.. how do you explain that to a 6 year old? These people are so strange some times~


~Then right when you think there are no more surprises.. you fly down this hill and get soaking wet.. OK, next time we will pass~


~The whole park was filled with beautiful flowers and farming decorations ~ It was so well done~


~The grand finale was on this huge, wooden roller coaster. Steve taught Cole the importance of keeping your hands above your head for the entire ride. They came off and Cole looked back at what he just rode on and had the hugest grin on his face. This was a great day at Tripsdrill Park~