Germany

The family on a bridge behind Neuschwanstein Castle


I've promised myself that I would not spend much time on the computer during this vacation. It has felt so good to be outside hiking and exploring with the family and my husband! I haven't missed blogging a bit. Today is the only day I'll have a couple ours to check email and relax while Matt hikes and the kids finish their day in hourly care.

So far, we've had a BLAST!! Lila and I have mostly recovered from colds. The girls aren't sleeping wonderfully, however, they never do on vacation. The food and beer have been great. Matt loves it here in Bavaria and has hinted at retiring in the area. Oh, Matt and his mountains!

What a difference it makes having the availability of hourly care. Some of my Portuguese friends didn't understand what I meant when I told them the girls would spend time in hourly care. They advised me to be cautious and one even worried my kids would get kidnapped. My military friends and family members know that it is on a guarded US Military installation with surveillance camera's in each room, allowing me to watch what's going on in the room from the lobby, if I wanted. Matt and I feel very comfortable leaving our girls there and they are having so much fun.

Here's a short conversation Matt had with Olivia last night after Matt and I got home (an hourly care employee brought the girls back to our cabin because Matt and I were touring Munich and would be home after hourly care closed at 5:00pm):

Matt: "Olivia, did you have a good time at school? Did you make any new friends?"
Olivia: "Yes, I had fun. I made friends with the grown-ups. I didn't like the little kids."
Matt: "Why didn't you like the kids?"
Olivia: "Um, I don't know. I just like the grown-ups. Oh, and I like Lila. But, not the kids

We haven't had to alter any plans. We've been following our trip plan to the T. Every day that goes by, I think, "Wow, we actually got to see this without altering the plan one bit!"

We spent the first day hiking through a gorge and then dining at a restaurant on a mountain (pictures later). The second day, we spent at the Neuschwantstein Castle. We hiked up to it and then back down. I was tempted to ask Matt to take a carriage ride to the top because my legs were sore from the several mile hike the day before. However, I didn't want to appear as weak. Later, we walked around to the back of the castle to a bridge and had our picture taken. We can't ever seem to get a picture of the family taken where everyone is smiling. But, despite the kids being a little tired and cranky, we were having a really good time. Lila crashed in the Ergo for nearly an hour seconds after the photo was taken.

We went stroller-free on the this trip and have not regretted it one bit. It's been great to see other families with kids in child carriers. I even spotted an Ergo. For our family, strollers are for three reasons only: Handy when dining out with a child who cannot yet sit up unassisted in a high chair (eating and holding a child can be a pain), shopping for clothes (you can't try on clothes well with a child strapped to you), and when Matt or I is alone and have one in the stroller and one our our back. Other than those three reasons, we find they just get in the way.

Yesterday, Matt and I dropped the kids off at hourly care and took a walking tour around Munich (one we found out of a guide book). We had so much fun! We walked hand and hand for parts of it and took our time (pictures later). I think I took 128 pictures. In true Matt style, we stopped at beer gardens often to ease the pain of city sight-seeing (Matt is not a city person). He did admit, that he had a great time, despite it being a city.

Today, we dropped the kids off again at hourly care. Matt headed out to summit the mountain behind the lodge where we're staying. I was a little nervous about him hiking it alone. However, he texted me a while back saying that he summited and all is well. I took a short tour of a Bavarian cheese factory and a monastery (more about it later). I purchased some beer and liqueur made by the monks.

That's it for now. Tomorrow is Dachau Concentration Camp and, Friday, I'm off on a tour to Austria and Matt's off on another hike.

No more updates until we return home this weekend.

We're Off

By the time you read this, we'll be in Bavaria. I wrote this ahead of time because I knew I wouldn't have time once we got into the thick of packing.

Lila did, unfortunately, come down with the cold I was hoping she wouldn't get. Liv will be next, then Matt and I. So far, it's just a regular cold and she should be fine by the time she goes to daycare. I'm making sure she's well-rested, I'm giving her baby doses of an immune booster and trying to nurse her a little more often. Liv and I are also taking supplements. Who knows if they really work, but, worth a try. Especially during travel. I've packed all the neccessary "drugs" we could need and hoping for the best.

We downloaded a few books for the girls onto my Ipod from Itunes for the car rides. "Where the Wild Things Are" wasn't too much of a hit for them. So, I'll have to download a couple more books. Maybe some Dr. Seuss or an author they are more familiar with.

I doubt that I'll update for another week or so (I'm going to attempt to avoid the computer during the trip). I do have a scheduled post update later this week on my sister blog. Just for the fun it. I had to try out that new post in the future feature!

Have a great week!