Amberg Germany, In 2 Hours (including driving time)

First of all - check out this website for all the history and a step by step tour - click HERE

Amberg was one of the few cities that didn't get bombed in WWII and because of that the old city walls and city gates are still intact.  They are so neat!

Bayreuth - The Old Palace

a close up of the mosaic design on the old palace - isn't it incredible?!

A plug for Christmas Markets

(our souvenirs - hats!!)

Castle Guteneck vicinity of Nabburg/Upper Palatinate

Cream Puff - Delish!!

In Germany you can go to a city, request a key, hike up to the castle, use the key to enter the castle, and explore to your hearts content.  That was our plan when we drove to this particular city and castle.  Come to find out, it's seasonal - the key isn't available after October.  We did however hike and explore the outside of the castle and walked across the street to enjoy the delicious german cream puff.  These are an absolute MUST, when you visit Bavaria!!!

Busy !!

Isn't this the most amazing picture?  I LOVE it!  I had a photographer come and document this little guys birth (not all the nasty stuff, sheesh!).  Our cute little man was born October 26th!!  We have put our 'germany adventures' on hold for a little while.  No worries though, I'm getting lots of research done for our next road trip/vacation!!  Stay tuned for the Christmas markets!

Ludwigsburg's Pumpkin Festival

St. Goar - Burg Rheinfels Castle

This is a pretty sweet castle.  The kids loved running around throughout the ruins.  It was a perfect stop as we traveled up the Rhein River.  Next time we come back I would definitely take a slower boat trip, stay the night somewhere along the way and then tour some more castles.  Maybe I'd even do a little shopping.  We were pretty rushed for this trip though and we weren't able to take it slow.

Bayreuth, Germany

For a 'relaxed' Sunday afternoon we toured Bayreuth.  Isn't this fountain awesome? 

This is the opera house in town.  Eventually we wanted to see a live opera here but they are in the process of renovating it and haven't been showing and aren't showing operas for a couple of years.  Our kids were free (our kids are 9 and under) but for an adult it was 4,50 Euro's.

Regensburg, Germany

The side of St. Peter's Cathedral, in Regensburg.

a close up of the details on the door

Rothenburg, Germany

Our first stop was Rothenburg ... yes jetlag and all.  Before we even entered the city walls we ran into this little building.  Doesn't it have tons of character?  I loved all the flower window boxes everywhere.  All the homes/buildings were so fun to look at.

Entering the city walls

The town square.  The clock tower is suppose to have a great display every hour up until a certain time.  We were so excited to see it.  It was a major disappointment ... or something went wrong because it lasted only a minute or two and then it stopped ... froze or something ... then retreated, never to be seen again.  Can't really recommend it  but can't really say to stay away either.

New Assignment!

Just a quick update: We will no longer be moving to South Korea for 2 years with the military.  Our new assignment will be in Grafenwohr Germany.  We definitely want to go to Korea eventually, it is not off the table yet.   Going to Germany first works our better than trying to get to Germany after our Korean tour.  It is now down to crunch time before we move and we are keeping our fingers crossed and hopeful that all our plans will fall into place concerning packing, moving and touring.  I'm excited to be taking pictures in Europe soon!

Mason County Logging Festival

Beach #4, WA

In-between Kalaloch and Ruby Beach is a place literally called Beach #4.  This is where all the tide pools are located.  We were a little disappointed that we didn't see as many sea life as we anticipated but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. 

Ruby Beach, WA

Just down the road from Kalaloch is Ruby Beach.  We love the rock formations and climbing all over them getting chased by the tide coming in and out.

Kalaloch Beach, WA

For Memorial Day Weekend we decided to risk the weather forecast of 70% chance of rain and go ahead with our plans to visit the Olympic Peninsula. It was gorgeous and almost perfect weather!

This is our little hike that was across the street from our camp-ground ... it was so neat!

Our Future Move

For those of you who do not know where we are headed this summer ...  I'll let Matt tell you  :)

It tells you at minute 2:48
Enjoy!

Welcome!!

Welcome Friends & Family!!  It's been absolutely CRAZY trying to figure out this new blog thing  AND truth be told it still isn't complete.  The links above are going to be a work in progress as this blog gets started and things start getting catagorized.  One link in particular, is my families personal blog (which is private).  Thanks for bearing with me concerning going private and launching the new and improved blog.  Enjoy!!!