Guten Tag

German Sweets.


5 more days until we're back in the U.S.A.! Maybe I should change our blog address?

We had a great few days in Germany and I thought I would quickly share some of our experiences. (The blogs are my journal entries too-two birds with one stone, ya know what I mean?)

We first went to Castle Valkenburg (or what was left of it-exploring the ruins). The kids had a great time imaging the battles that took place there.

Here is Daxton in the stocks.
We were so lucky to travel with team Pehrson. (This family is amazing. Talk about parents of the year award. Mom and Dad are Heather and Jeff followed by Clark-8, Emily-6, Blake-4 and Baby Katie-6 months.)

Here they are striking a pose by the catapult.

Ella being toted in the back pack by dad.
Next to the castle were the "Velvet Caves." 3 miles of labyrinth like, man made caves, were created between 1050-1886, as workers exploited the stone to build the castle.

The caves have been used for all sorts of things, including refuge for American Soldiers during WWII.

This is the entrance to the caves-and the beginning of a fun Christmas story and display of Santa's special book being stolen by trolls. They had several lit displays telling the story inside of the cave (for the Christmas season). Very cool.
Aren't those doors awesome? Almost a Mines of Moria effect.
Inside the caves-painting on the walls were created using a special plant. This picture shows the Refuge Chapel-dating from the French occupation period (1794).
One of the displays inside the caves-the trolls stealing the book.
We had such a great time! We stayed in a small city called Herzebrook-Clarholz, in the German countryside, in a place called the "Vita Farm"-full of horses. Josh and the kids had a blast as they each received their own riding lesson.

Here is Josh brushing his horse.


Giddy-up cowboys.
Ella was getting bored and tired waiting for all the riding to end.
So, my son is a genius. That's the stance I'm taking on the size of his head. Poor thing, the hat wouldn't fit. It fit everyone else (including Clark, who's 8) but not on my little Einstein. Finally, the instructor had to get his own helmet for the little boy.


Here is a video of my little cowboys.

We were able to go to two different Christmas markets as well.

The little apartments we stayed in were great, and were complete with kitchen. We were able to cook all meals there. I wanted to video a meal, to show what it is like feeding 7 kids and 4 adults at the same time-lots of cutting into pieces and pouring of drinks. Crazy, but so fun!

All the excitement made for 3 very tired children and a nice, quiet ride home for mom and dad.