Tulips TulipsTulips

For Scooter's birthday he took us all to Holland to see the annual flower parade. We had trouble finding a place to stay, that we could afford and decided to make it a day trip. We got up early and hit the road by 8:30 after a few stops, traffic issues, and missed exits we happened upon the parade route. We parked the car around 2pm and sat along the side of the road to watch the parade. The floats were beautiful! After that we hit Keukenhof Gardens. I had no idea that there were so many different types of tulips. It was a beautiful place, but I think I might return on a weekday without children. We were very lucky to have a "beautiful day." I think Ryleigh liked the flowers. Her favorite were the pink and purlple ones. "Because her favorite color is pink and purple". Jylian thinks she should lick the flowers not smell them, she is silly sometimes. Scooter bought his girls each a dozen tulips. We got to the car around 7:30 and drove the short four hour drive home. Holland and Belgium slowed us down with speed limits, but once we hit the Germany border we were able to make up some time. We were home by midnight and our day trip was over. It was by far my favorite of Scooter's birthdays to date. I loved every minute!

We learned a few lessons.

1. Gas is very expensive off base. (Our gas coupons are only good in Germany.)

2. Europeans don't have fast food off every exit. We must always travel with enough food to get us through the day.

3. A 4 hour drive without traffic is too far for a day trip.

4. A little preplanning wouldn't hurt.

Kloster Machern

Rachael took us out to eat at her favorite place. It is down by the river. This place has tons of history. I would love to share it with you, but the english menu/paper was not available. We ordered off the German menu, which turned out to be great. I just don't really know what I ate. We will go back soon and I will pass on the long tradition. Be prepared if you visit, this will be stop number ein. They brew their own bier and have wein as well.

Wow! Castle

I wish you all could have seen Ryleigh's face as we turned the corner and this castle was in view. She was beyond excited. I don't think her mouth could be open any wider. She kept telling Jylian to look at this beautiful sight. Jylian was in total awe as well. A face we don't usually see, her eyes and mouth were open wide in total excitement.

The Cochem Castle is a quick 40min drive. This beautiful castle sits 100m above the Moselle River. Parts of the castle were built in 1000 A.D by the Franconian Palatine counts. In 1151 the German emperor seized the castle and eventually in 1689 it was destroyed by the French. In the late 1800s, Mr. Louis Ravene reconstructed the castle according to the old plans. The Reich took it over in 1942 and since 1978 the castle belongs to the town of Cochem.

It was a wonderful day. Ryleigh was thrilled, Jylian was along for the ride, and Scooter and I enjoyed our first real outting in Germany!

Unser Neues Haus

After one of the longest weeks of our lives, we found a house. I think it should work out great. We are excited to get our stuff this week and settle into Germany. Ryleigh is sad she doesn't get to live in a purple house, so we have promised a purprle rooom. The house is about a 15 minute drive on the Autobahn to base. It is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house on about an acre. Don't worry, someone else mows the yard. The balcony wraps around, and we have a great view from all direction. I can't wait to watch the girls and Cy run around. Jylian is so excited about living here!

The room with the brick floor is our garage. It may become a game room. I think the basement will be the entertaining area. There is a full sized laundry room and a few storage rooms. The hallway picture is the upstair hallway. The room at the end will be Jylian's room.

Once we get our furniture, I will take more pics and post them. Enjoy!

Raking Leaves

Ryleigh is a great helper. She is always up for helping Uncle Bill. She has to put on her work clothes, and then she likes to supervise. Ryleigh has really enjoyed walking through the leaves. No matter where we are, she will find leave and crunch through them. She loves it. It has been really nice to live somewhere with 4 seasons. We are expecting snow tomorrow, so this might be her last chance to play in the leaves! Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween

This was the first Halloween that Ryleigh really understood! She had two costumes. She could not decide between, Tinkerbell and Cinderella! Well she managed to be both. Tinkerbell was the morning costume and Cinderella was the evening costume. She felt and looked beautiful all day long. When the day started she was so excited about trick or treating and couldn't wait to get a lollipop! I thought our evening would be short. Well after the first two houses Ryleigh turned to me a said, "I think I will be done when my pumpkin is full." The evening lasted a bit longer then I expected. She wouldn't wear her coat, because it would cover up her costume. I asked her many times to put her coat on and she told me, "no Mom, I am not shaking yet." It eventually got too cold to deal with and we went home with a half full pumpkin. She loved the candy and the scary decorations.

Trip to the pumkin patch

Wow! I am loving being the mother of an almost three year old. Ryleigh and I went to the pumkin patch and loved every minute of it. She is at such a fun age! She really enjoyed the whole thing. She loved running through the field of pumkins. She would pick out the ones with the "good handles." She got to ride the pony, not a horse, A PONY! Her pony's name was Dakota. She felt like such a big girl. She could have played on the bouncy castle and slide all day long. She really enjoyed the hay stack maze! The best part was running away from me. We both had a really great time. We now can do things because she has fun, not just because it is something we should do.