Adventures in Deutschland & Beyond: Metz, France!

We went to Metz France with the Menjivar's and it was quite the adventure! Metz is a beautiful city with lots of history, beautiful buildings, parks, and good food! We walked all over the city... Not necessarily on purpose. I don't do well navigating the city maps (in French nonetheless). After Dennis took over, we were good to go! 

We got rained out twice and had to take cover!!!! It was sort of fun... Ok, no not really! We were all drenched... and a little cold. Thank goodness we had three blankets with us... they were the kids shelters over their strollers. Note to self... order stroller rain cover! 

But the rain cleared and we were glad that we stayed a while longer! 

The kids had fun running through this fountain and of course on the carrousel ride! 

Bella had a lot of fun skipping int he rain through the streets of Metz! 

Have I ever told you how much Ben LOVES traveling through Europe with three small kids... This is how much. His face says it all!!! LOL! 

Bella and the blue door!

I hear Metz has a great flea market... so I plan on getting back there. Should be fun. Stay tuned!  

Adventures in Deutschland & Beyond: Edelwiss Lodge and Resort, Garmisch, Germany

Everyone has to have a vacation like this one at some point in there parenthood!!! This was ours and I hope it never happens again!!! Our hopes were to have a relaxing vacay after Ben came home from his deployment... 

Ehtan had a horrible cough and a 102+ fever (during some part of the day) for five days, so on the fifth day, I took him to the ER to see what was going on. 

We had planned on putting the kids into the CDC (the day childcare) for two days, but with Ethan's fever, we obviously couldn't leave him... but we thought that we would drop Bella off anyway. Within half an hour of dropping her off, the daycare called and told us she had a fever. Ha! 

Her fever (and she picked up Ethan's cough) lasted until a few days after we arrived back home. Even after she received antibiotics for a double ear infection that perforated both of her ear drums. Poor girl! 

At one point... When Ethan was crying and coughing so hard that he threw up all over his blanket and the car... Ben said " I think we should just pack up and go home"... and to be honest, I wasn't far off. But we stuck it out and we are better people for it. Together as a couple and as a family!  

Anyway, regardless, Ben and I made the most of the vacation and still managed to have a good time. We divided and (somewhat) conquered with one watching the kids, while the other enjoyed some solo time. We had separate massages, separate hot tubs, separate shopping trips and thank goodness for staying at a kid friendly hotel, where we ordered in most of our meals and enjoyed them in the comforts of our hotel room. It actually worked out nicely. 

Edelwiss Lodge and Resort

Morning breakfast that we actually enjoyed 

My mentality was... that we could either stay in our room and be miserable, or we could get out and do things and try to distract the kids from their ailments (who were going to be miserable what ever they did). So we hit the road and did a little touring around the area. 

Thanks to Rick Steves section on Garmisch, we hit up some neat places. 

Ettal Monastery 

Ben liked this stop and picked himself up a carton of beer made by the monks! 

Oberammergau: The houses and restaurants frescoed with beautiful biblical scenes and fairytale characters. 

Linderhof Castle: The home of "Mad" King Ludwig. The grounds are surrounded by fountains and sculptures and beautiful greenery. We skipped the tour of the castle and its queue, for obvious reasons, but it was worth the trip just to walk around.  

I took these pics with my phone and they precisely sum up Ethan's vacation...  Poor little fellow! 

Adventures in Deutschland: Zugspitz!

I can only imagine what the amazing view is from the Zugspitze.. the top of Germany... It was a tag (ok, a total understatement) cloudy, when we took the gondola up to the top. But it was still pretty cool being up there. The gondola ride in itself is amazing. The increase in elevation it had to go up to get us to the top is purely incredible. We didn't really anticipate the temperature decrease at the summit... it was only 5 degrees celsius, so we were all freezing (especially Bella in her dress and bare legs). Thank goodness for the kids' trusty blankets. 

We are looking forward to the day we can go back on a clear day and see the beautiful views. 

This guy was awesome... Everything about him screamed Germany... And those brats were amazing!

A warm break to get some lattes and kuchen!

He's Home!

Ben arrived home on July 1st. It was a VERY sweet reunion! 

Bella was chosen to marshal Ben's plane in to the parking spot. She did a fantastic job, not even flinching as the plane came to its rest spot. Ben didn't know that it was Bella holding up the wands until he turned to corner (he was the pilot). 

The kids were SO excited to see Ben. Ethan wouldn't let go! 

It is great to have him home safe and sound! 

We are so proud of him for serving his country and keeping us free! 

Thanks baby, great job! We love you!