Ryan, Cynthia & Family

Puppy Love

2012-02-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Though Bentley isn't a puppy anymore at 8 years old, Berlin sure does love this guy. She spends many hours of the day snuggling, hugging, kissing, and ~~torturing~~ getting in his face. His reward for putting up with it all ... the scraps she feeds him from the table.

Outstanding Student of the Week

2012-02-02T12:45:00.001-07:00

Finley came home a few weeks ago with an Outstanding Student of the Week award for getting 100% on his YPP (who knows what this is) exercises. That meant he got a free meal at Cafe Rio. So, the other night we packed up the kids and headed over for dinner. Not that we need an excuse to eat there, but YAY for a free meal. He chose steak tacos and shared them with Berlin. So sweet.

Valentine Pouch tutorial

2012-02-01T12:43:00.001-07:00

HAPPY FEBRUARY 1st!

My kids have been counting down the days to February for a couple reasons ...
one: Berlin's birthday is this month (yikes! she's going to be 5!)
two: it's the beginning of our 14 Days of Valentines tradition.

Each year the kids put out their Valentine Heart and when they get home from school they eagerly check to see what little treat awaits. My mom used to leave candy on our pillows before Valentines Day and I wanted to do something similar with my kids.

Our cute little setup - all ready to go!

Want to make your own little heart pouch? For each one you'll need 2 pieces of heavy cardstock paper (my paper was 12" x 12"), some scrap ribbon (atleast 2 pieces 12" long each), and a stapler.

Fold the paper in half and draw half a heart on the wrong side of one of them. Cut both papers at the same time (so they are the same size hearts).

Fold the hearts in half - pattern side showing.

The folded centers will be the sides of your pouch. Make and form a heart by connecting the bottom point and folding one paper over the other.

Open the pouch and staple down each side of the heart.

Finally, take your two ribbons and tie one end together in a knot. Then take one strand and staple to the left side; then take the other and staple to the right side.

Wah-la! Cute little Valentine pouches. I like ours simple, but feel free to embellish the hearts with stickers, buttons, monograms, glitter, etc.

Hang from hooks, a bed, a doorknob, a chair, or make tiny ones to hang from branches/stems in a vase. So many options! (note: if your child is prone to slamming doors when angry or throwing temper-tantrums, doorknobs may NOT be the best place to hang them. Not that I would know *smile*)

Need ideas on what to put inside?

Here's what we are doing this year.

With each treat they get a little note with 1 thing I love about them:

little debbie heart cakes

chocolate crispy hearts

Coloring book (dollar store)

gobstopper heartbreakers

conversation hearts

new toothbrushes (dollar store)

Valentine pj pants I made for each of them

Valentine plates (target dollar bin)

Gummy Valentine candy

Valentine silverware (target dollar bin)

Heart suckers

Felt sushi for their play kitchen (target dollar bin)

Cherry sour balls

stuffed animal (the last day (14th) they get a nicer gift)

Salzburg, Austria

2012-01-18T18:10:00.002-07:00

Soooooo, yeah. Just getting our Austria pics posted. But these are worth the wait. This was my first time in Austria and we just did the Salzburg area. Someday we will get back and hit Vienna. That said, I love Austria! The apt we stayed in (Casa Vivian) was nice, just on the outskirts of downtown Salzburg. The owner not so great, but we survived. We checked in that morning, got settled, then headed downtown to the gardens and to the fortress for the afternoon. The kids loved running around after being in the car most the day.

The kid posing in the top tier of the Palace Gardens. The fortress is behind them on the hill. Pretty cool.

Berlin was lovin' this unicorn statue. It was pretty great, so we let her climb on it. I was a little nervous about letting her, like maybe it was bad, but there was a mirror statue of another unicorn on the other side of the steps and kids were climbing all over that one too. Made me feel better about my parenting skills.

Finley found this lion and of course had to do the same thing Berlin did.

This fountain was right in the heart of the historic center. We walked past it to get to the fortress lift. Berlin loved all the horses in it and wanted her picture with it. Such a cutie.

After the gardens we took the funicular up the mountain (the kids always loved these mountain lift rides). The fortress is a pretty amazing building and the views were beautiful.

View of Salzburg from the fortress courtyard.

The next day we drove to the salt mines just outside of Salzburg up in the mountains. It was such a fun learning experience. Definitely worth doing. Here we are all suited in to go in. We got in on the first tour of the day. It's pretty wet and muddy in the mine so everyone has to wear special clothing before going down.

This mine is actually on the boarder of Austria and Germany. So, about half-way thru the tour you come to this point. This is the border line. Ryan and the kids as we are leaving the Austrian part and heading down into the German part. The kids and I as we head back into the Austrian side.

Above: there was a faucet where you could taste the natural salt water of the mine. Berlin must be part rabbit because she thought it was her own personal salt lick. She kept asking for more - even after we'd left the mine. Weirdo :)

Finley and Ryan coming down the slide.

Modeling the fancy mine clothes. It was chilly - hence Berlin's clutched fists.

These are the pictures that the mine photographers and cave cameras take while you are on the tour. Totally overpriced, but I wanted them for memories sake. Ryan wasn't happy about it, but he was a good sport and let me have it. I figure that since I didn't get any shopping in for myself (unlike Ryan who got some nice stuff from H&M), this was my "big" purchase and I love them.

This is us on the train. It went faster than I thought it would and Berlin was a bit scared. It's funny because it looks like we are going down, but we were actually going up at a very steep incline. As you can tell, it was really crowded that morning.

After the mine we explored the Celtic village and play area and ate our picnic lunch. It was kinda like "This is the Place Heritage Park," but smaller. It was a great way to spend a warm, sunny day. The area where the mine is located is so picturesque. Green foliage everywhere, little rivers and lakes, lots of hiking trails, biking trails, and kayaking tours. All of which I want to do when we go back. I loved it all.

Rumor has it that witches lived up in the twin peaks above.

The kids and their "action" photos.

They come by it honestly.

Finn dancing like he's Michael Jackson.

Taking a break.

After our picnic lunch we went to the lake town of Hallstatt. Fabulous!!! After making the mandatory potty stop for Berlin, we watched the ducks swim on the lake.

Then we rode the funicular up the mountain, hiked back down then, and walked through the old town and got a yummy Austrian dinner at a cute place right near the lakes edge. I could live here. Yes, indeed I could. Note to self: Austrian sausage is not German sausage. It's just a really long hot dog. Note to reader: My kids love sausage, but hate hot dogs. Dinner didn't go over very well with them. Ryan and I loved our schnitzel though.

The view of the little town of Hallstatt at some point on our hike down.

On the way back to the car Finley and Berlin found this chess board and of course had to play it. Which is funny cause they have no clue how to play and when Ryan tried to help, Finley got upset. Way to go dad!

Then we headed home to the apt for the night. The next morning we went back into Salzburg's historic center for some shopping. Of course, the kids were not happy - especially Finn. I really wanted to get him some new lederhosen, but he was having none of that talk and refused to go into any of the stores. I gave up that cause quickly. Berlin had the opposite problem. She really wanted a new dirndl as hers is getting a bit snug. But despite all our efforts we couldn't find one in her size ... at least not one that was under $200. And that wasn't going to work for me. Once again, much to her dismay, we abandoned that cause and tears ensued.

So, we quickly found a great outdoor cafe and let the kids order whatever they wanted. They were so happy! And I was glad of the break in tears & whining. Their lunch treat was HUGE (3 large scoops of ice-cream, about a cup of fresh whip cream, chocolate syrup, and cookies & chocolate on top!). But they ate it all. I love these kiddos ... most of the time :) !

Their blood sugar levels must have been low, hence the tears and emotions, because after their lunch treat, the rest of the day was fabulous. They played at the palace playground 'til their hearts content. Berlin was SO scared of this tall slide. One had to climb 8 levels to get to the top. She was determined to climb the whole way, but when she got to the top she froze and wouldn't slide down. Ryan & I knew this would happen. But, she finally slid down after a lot of encouragement. Finn loved it and slid down a gazillion times.

We still had a good part of the day left so we left downtown and went to this hiking trail outside town that was fairly close to the salt mines. Part of the trail basically scaled the edge of the rock mountain and took you to these holes & crevices where the water had eroded the mountain. The water was also the prettiest shade of turquoise. Amazing! Another nice thing is that we had the trail all to ourselves.

Berlin was an excellent little hiker that day. She was so happy and never once complained. She loved this hike and just sang to herself (well, all of us) the whole way.

There were these funnels that you could speak into and listen to your voice echo off the canyon walls. What kid doesn't like listening to themselves ... in surround sound? Ours do for sure!

After the hike it was back to the apartment for dinner, homework, bedtime, and laundry. The next day we packed up and began the drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Stay tuned for that post.

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

We had some behavior issues the latter part of November and I was left with no choice but to call the North Pole and ask Santa to put the kids on the naughty list. The kids were extremely upset, but it was a good thing because I have never seen them try so very hard at being good. By mid December they were back on track. So we told Santa that he could come if he felt the kids deserved it. I guess they were good enough because he made an appearance at our house, and he ate all the yummy treats we left out for him! The kids were tickled pink. The best thing is that even with Christmas being over, the kids' attitudes are still pretty good and they have been so helpful around the house.

As for family gifts, Germany was kinda the best gift we could have asked for, so Ry and I decided that we wouldn't exchange gifts with each other. Instead, we just gave one shared gift to the kids. Santa did the rest.

Christmas Eve was the start of the festivities. We headed down to Ryan's sisters house in Orem for our annual German dinner of brawts, sauerkraut, red cabbage, potatoes, and more . The cousins all performed something (Berlin sang "Favorite Things" from Sound of Music, Finley chose to not participate at all). Then we exchanged cousin gifts, played & visited for a while, then headed home. We would have stayed longer, but unfortunately I came down with the stomach bug and we had to leave at 10pm. I made it the whole 45 minute drive home, but the second we pulled into the driveway I couldn't contain it and ended up emptying the contents of my stomach all along the driveway. Nice. So we quickly put the kids to bed, set-up presents and stockings, then went to bed.

Finley was up at 8am while Berlin slept on. Thus, we told him he could look thru his stocking but he was not to open anything under the tree until Berlin woke up.

The tree on Christmas morning ... with all 12 presents wrapped and ready for the pending chaos. Eventually 9:15am rolled around and we told a very patient Finn to go wake up Berlin.

Stockings first ...

Finley LOVES his new blanket from Grandma Lynne. Both kids got one the night before and love how soft & snuggly it is. They sleep with it every night!

Berlin really wanted Santa to bring her a Mulan doll. I was very surprised because I had never seen one before. Leave it to Santa to deliver! Great stocking stuffer.

The adult stockings: I love our stockings. My mom made mine when I was very young and all the kids in my family have coordinating ones. Ryan's mom made his and the entire front is a beautiful needlepoint. I have always loved handmade stockings and so I made one for Finley a few years ago with a reindeer. Now I just need to figure out what to do for Berlin (though she tells me she wants to keep the store-bought birdie one).

then came presents ...

Finley really just wanted Legos this year and that is all he put on his wishlist. He got 3 sets and had them all built in a matter of 3 days. Finley is a very good lego builder.

Lego Creationary has become our favorite game. Some are actually pretty hard but it's been so fun. Even Berlin likes it and she does pretty good.

Our gift to the kids was this wooden castle filled with Playmobil figures that we scored on clearance (hence the very mismatched figures....merfolk, fairies, royalty, soldiers, and knights). But the kids LOVED it. We moved it downstairs and onto a table where they play with it for hours at a time ... and usually without fights.

Santa was very resourceful and gave Ryan some new Chuck Taylors, and for myself he gave me my very first pair of warm winter shoes since having moved to Utah back in '94. Yay for fake Uggs and warm toes, but BOOOO for even having a need for them! Oh how I loathe Winter.

After presents Ryan made a delicious apple, raisin, and nut bread pudding for brunch while the kids played with their new stuff. It was very relaxed and chill, which worked for me since I still wasn't feeling well. The kids just played all day long with their new toys, I rested and napped, while Ryan watched sports and played video games. I love Christmas day and being able to just hang-out at home. It's the very best gift of all!

School Christmas Programs

2012-01-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

With having been sick, I am very behind on some posts. I am going to be catching up over the next few days....

Both Finley and Berlin had Christmas programs this year. Of course, they had to be on the same day and so I had to rush from one to get to the other.

First up, we had Berlin's Polar Express Pajama Party. All the kids got to wear their warm winter pajamas as they sang Christmas Songs, danced, and shared their holiday traditions with each other. I made Berlin a new nightgown for the event which she loved. Her tradition that she talked about was decorating our annual gingerbread houses. She was so happy to show the one she had made a few days before. It was such a cute program. She has the BEST preschool teachers ever.

Here she is with her dancing partner. They were so cute.

This was her favorite dance. I have it on video, but it's too long for the blog, so this will have to do. They got to dance around in a circle with the princess dolls.

Waiting patiently for her turn. She was wiggly the whole time and for whatever reason refused to look at me. She was very focused on looking at her teachers. Silly girl.

As soon as she was done I rushed off to Finley's school where his class sang a couple songs in the gym. Here is the only photo I got. Sorry, I was pretty far back so the lighting was bad - hence all the possessed reindeer eyes! :)

I love all the school programs that holidays bring. I remember doing them as a kid and it makes me smile just watching them put on a show.

Christmas Decor 2011

2012-01-04T20:17:00.001-07:00

I've had a couple friends ask to see how I decorated the house for Christmas this year. It's usually the same every year, just organized a bit differently. The decorating always takes me about 3 days to get all of Ryan's German heirlooms unwrapped and dusted. Honestly, it's surprises me every year how exhausting it can be. But the results are totally worth it!

This sofa table always looks like this. I just change out the decor in the moss with each holiday. For Christmas I love creating scenes with my tiny Putz houses and antique glass deer.

Our formal dining room table. This little setup was new this year. I love the little vintage post-card I found in 2010 on ebay. It's used, but surprise, surprise ... it's from Germany. The kids just remind me of Finley and Berlin.

Formal dining room bookshelf (not shown are some milk glass cake stands that I leave out year round).

On the shelves is our collection of German smokers, candle pyramids, and wood carved objects. On top are my apothecary jars filled with ornaments. The bottom 2 shelves are for the kids to play with the playmobil nativity sets.

My little wooden village and some of Ryan's nutcrackers.

The two shelves on the sides of our armoire.

The little nutcracker horse is new this year and purchased in the town where Ryan's mom grew up.

So, that's how our house looked up until week ago. After coming back from California, I took everything down and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Nothing like a fresh, uncluttered house for the new year!

Wedding Celebration

2012-01-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to go to California for my little sister's wedding in the Los Angeles Temple last week. These are some of their engagement pictures.

First, the sealing & reception were lovely and it was great to see my family even if it was only for 2 1/2 days. I love the LA Temple. They were the first wedding of the day so we had the grounds pretty much to ourselves, which was nice.

The cute cousins having a snack while waiting for the new couple to come outside.

Ryan and the kids didn't come down with me. It just wasn't feasible with our big trip overseas a few months ago. But it did allow me to spend more time behind the scenes helping out, prepping food, setting up, cleaning up, etc. Which I wouldn't have been able to do as freely if the kids had been there. Luckily they are having an open house in Mapleton, UT later this month so the kiddos will get to see the happy bride in her pretty dress (Berlin specifically cannot wait!).

Second, the weather was AMAZING! Oh how I miss California Winters where it's sunny and warm at 75 degrees. I loved being able to go for a run around town without having to put on a gazillion layers. It really made me realize how much I dislike Utah Winters and the cold and snow. Winter is definitely my least favorite season and I could happily do without it.

Gingerbread Houses 2011

2011-12-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we put together & decorated our gingerbread houses. My sister Val came over and joined in the fun. Besides the Advent Calendar, this is one of my kids favorite traditions in our home (as any tradition with TONS of candy is sure to be). And this year we had LOTS of candy options since I had a gallon ziploc bag full of leftover Halloween candy.

Here were are in gingerbread la-la land:

Český Krumlov

2011-12-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

After Prague we headed to our next stop, Český Krumlov. However, we wanted to break up the drive so we decided to have lunch at Karlstein Castle on the way. It's a hidden castle in the mountains and it is gorgeous. You can't take cars to Karlstein Castle. Instead you have to walk up this old windy road with lots of little shops selling trinkets, antiques, and of course, food. It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. Apparently it's not as popular as Prague ... yet.

the view of the castle from the windy road below.

the windy road with all the shops & cafes (from the castle turret wall).

the kids up on the castle wall.

Anyway, after walking all the the way up to the castle and buying our tour tickets, we realized that the tour wasn't for 3 1/2 more hours. Apparently we had some communication problems with the teller because we didn't realize that the castle was reserved for a wedding that morning so the soonest we could get in for the tour would have been 1:30 pm, so we bagged that, got a refund, and just wandered around the outside of the castle. Then we walked back down and stopped to have an early lunch at a little outdoor cafe. It was a deliciously HUGE meal and one of the most affordable.

Eating lunch and meeting a knight.

After Karlstein Castle we headed into Český Krumlov. This little town is so picturesque. In my mind it's the Czech Republic's version of Germany's "Rothenburg ob der tauber." We checked into our apartment which was right in the heart of the old city next to the castle, then we explored for about an hour or so until the sun went down.

The city is almost completely surrounded by a river. Here is just one of the many cute bridge scenes.

This is the back of the castle. The aqueduct bridge/walkway takes you from the palace gardens to the palace itself. It is a HUGE palace and it's so amazing how it was built out of the mountain rock itself. There are some amazing caverns inside that we got to walk around in. They currently house an art exhibition, but the art was totally lame. The dungeon caverns themselves though were so beautiful and impressive.

the view from upper castle wall.

After all that walking we were getting hungry. So we treated ourselves to a trdelnik (a cylindrical pastry rolled in cinnamon & sugar, sugar & almonds, or both). These are made all over the Czech republic and they are so yummy!

The next day we went to the castle and took a tour through some of the rooms. This castle is split into 5 tours depending on what you want to see - yep, it's just huge. And it's not cheap. We took the smallest tour (the least amount of rooms) and it was well over $60 for the 4 of us. And it lasted less than 45 minutes. But it was worth it. Berlin loved seeing the very large and impressive gold carriage. It's just what she imagined Cinderella riding in to the ball. Here is the courtyard where our tour started. Love the painted walls.

The castle also has a moat filled with...bears! Yep, they have 3 bears in the moat and the kids had so much fun watching them. The palace was also filled with an impressive amount of bear skin rugs all over the floors.

This is the view from the other side of the bride. You can tell by that blue sky that we had amazing weather that day. It was perfect!

Afterwards we ate lunch at the biergarten at the bottom of the castle wall, then we walked around and let the kids play on the playground, and we explored the palace gardens. Berlin loved all the flowers and kept asking me to take her picture ... usually she hates it when I take her picture! This fountain with all the frogs was especially fun.

I love the cobblestone streets! Wish we had more of them in the states.

We had hoped to take one of these barge trips, but by the time we found our way to the rental place, it was closing and they were only doing tours for large, private groups since their official season was closed. Oh well.

The kids were pretty bummed about not being able to do the barge ride so we decided to have dessert for dinner! First, we took the kids down to the playground on the waters edge. After playing and working up an appetite, we got dessert. The kids each chose a decadent chocolate cake while Ryan and I chose apple pastry with ice-cream. Best dinner ever! And we were happy once again :)

The next leg of our trip took us into Salzburg, Austria. Those pics coming soon.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the kids to see the lights down at Temple Square last night. A friend also suggested we check out The Grand America Hotel. They usually have a fun scavenger hunt for the kids and at the end they get a treat. So we did just that....

First, we hit up the hotel for an i-spy picture hunt of sorts. The kids helped Maurice the Penguin solve the mystery of the missing stars. They had a fun time, but the star cookie & sticker at the end was the best part for them.

They also have this huge gingerbread cupola. This is where Maurice the Penguin lives. It is really cute and the kids loved looking at it. Though, I will say Finley got a bit cranky when he realized he couldn't go inside and check it out.

Then we took trax up to Temple Square to look at lights and the nativity. Here's Fin eating his cookie on the train. The crumby mouth says it all!

The crowds were too bad, but I guess Tuesday is one of the better days to go. But it was COLD - just look at this picture. I had to stop breathing every time I took a picture. Nice.

Afterwards, we fed some hungry (cranky) belly's at Del Taco (gotta love that you can feed a family of 4 for $6 on Taco Tuesday night). Despite a very late bedtime for the kiddos, it was fun being able to spend the evening together. Even the light misting of snow that was falling didn't spoil it. Now it's starting to feel a bit more like Christmas.

Prague

2011-12-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

And so we come to Prague. I had no idea what to expect in the Czech Republic. But other than the language, which looked ridiculously hard to read & speak, it was pretty great. Of course, the money was different, Korunas, and everything was a bit on the pricey side - pricier than we thought. But we survived.

First we stayed in Prague for 3 nights. Despite being the most touristy (aka crowded) city that we stayed in during the entire trip, I really liked this city. For whatever reason, I thought that early October would have been less crowded, but no such luck. I guess Prague is always crowded.

We stayed in this amazing apartment, Residence Thunovska 19, which is located in the center of Prague (the Historic Lesser Town) at the bottom of the Prague castle stairs. The building was amazing. It's a Renaissance building built in 1527. The entry to our apartment had the original painted ceiling, exposed beams throughout, and amazing views of the city.

the view of Prague Castle & the castle stairs from our master bedroom.

How lovely are these beams?

Again, the beams. Our master room was so large. I love the built in closet in the corner. The other side of the room had a sitting area, another closet and another window. Basically a mirror image of this side. Just lovely.

The apartment suite was the perfect spot for us because we didn't have to use our car for 2 whole days. We just explored the city on foot - the kids were such troopers.

There is a toy museum in the historic Lesser Town, so we took the kids there. They loved it. Well, I take that back. Berlin loved it. Finley endured it.

Berlin loved this Barbie and wanted her picture taken with it. Later I noticed she was holding her hand. Awww - how sweet.

A BYU Barbie in Prague's Toy Museum? And, hands-down, the CREEPIEST Barbie ever! Ryan refused to look at it.

Ryan crushin' on the Spice Girls Barbies. Yes folks, Ryan and his High School buddies loved the Spice Girls back in the day.

My cute little guards. See how serious they are? They are doing a very good job protecting Golden Lane.

Oh how I love these guys.

Playing around with the artillery on Golden Lane.

Golden Lane. Note to others: wait until after 6pm and it's free. A nice waiter in the courtyard told us this so we waited and came back at 6pm. Go before then and you have to pay, which is totally ridiculous since it's like one block of tiny houses with little touristy shops inside. And there are TONS of tour groups that go thru it, so it's crowded during the day. Yep, free was just as good.

Finley was VERY scared of getting his picture taken with the guard. The bayonet rifles were kinda freakin' him out. I had to force him to stand next to Ryan (he was almost in tears). When it was all said and done he realized how un-scary it really was.

The changing of the guard.

The church on the Castle grounds.

The view of Prague from the Castle garden wall.

The view of St. Charles bridge from the castle wall. See all those people? Yep - crowded.

Just one of many times walking the Castle stairs. I actually grew to love doing this everyday. Especially in the morning and just before dusk. So pretty and quiet.

St. Charles bridge, tower gate, and statue. We took the bridge across to the other part town.

The bridge wasn't too crowded. I was glad we went first thing in the morning.

By the end of the day it was way worse.

Down at the bridge there are tons of places to take boat cruises along the river. We thought this would be fun for the kids so we found one just leaving and hopped aboard. We were practically the only ones on it.

What? A picture of me? GASP! How did that happen? I much prefer being behind the camera :)

View of the castle & church from the boat.

Prague has it's very own Eiffel Tower. On Petrin Hill they built this lookout/observation tower. We went all the way to the top...via the tiny 2-man elevator crammed with 6 people. Then walked down. Great views all around.

View of the Castle from the Petrin Tower.

On Petrin Hill there is the rose garden, playgrounds for the kids, walking paths, and a mirror labyrinth from 1891. We had to do the mirror labyrinth. After Lego-land, this was one of the biggest hits with the kids.

At the end of the labyrinth there were some distortion mirrors. The kids were laughing hysterically at each one. Here the kids have ape arms and Ryan and I have stilt legs. Finley says that this is the best family picture we've ever had. I think I might agree, or atleast say it's the funnest.

The third day we took a day-trip out of town which gave us a nice break from the touristy crowds. About and hour away in Kutna Hora where there's a church that the inside is decorated with items made of bones. Creepy but cool.

Outside of the bone church. Looks pretty normal huh. This is the stone path in front of the gate.

There are all sorts of stories behind this. One is that a monk went mad and starting building things out of skulls & bones. Another states that a blind monk compiled it as a way of organizing all the bones & skulls after some event. but whatever it was, or how it came about, it's eerie & creepy, but in a fun way. The kids loved it - especially Fin.

There is a HUGE chandelier and strings of skulls and bones hanging from the ceiling. Totally impressive huh. Apparently it contains one of each bone in the human body. There's also a skull candelabra, swags & garland of bones everywhere, a case showing skulls with wounds inflicted by archaic weapons, urns, and even a signature picked out in finger bones.

One of 4 rooms piled from floor to ceiling in skulls & bones. These are the supposed piles made by the crazy/blind monk. The rest of the decoration (swags etc) were commissioned in 1870 by the Schwarzenberg Family who were the landowners at the time. It was apparently a reminder of the impermanence of human life and inescapable death.

This piece is amazing. It's the coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, and has a section depicting a raven picking the eye from an invading soldier (lower right corner). ~~Gross~~! I mean really cool!

I wish this hadn't turned out so blurry. One of these days I will get a fancy digital Nikon that takes great low-light pics of kids who can't stand still. But back to the blurry photo ... Berlin thought it was Voldemort's skull with that stone snake slithering thru it. She's staring evil in the eye - brave girl.

I love the chubby cherub at the top of the skull tower. So odd.

The next day we left Prague and headed towards Czesky Krumlov - the Rothenburg ob der Tauber of the Czech Republic. Those pictures up next.

Baby Nostalgia

2011-12-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

I found this picture of Finley as a baby on my computer while reorganizing some folders with random stuff in them. Seriously, my heart melts when I look at him. Such a happy little guy. I would be lying if I said I didn't have days where I missed the baby stage. Today is one of the days when I wish I had one to snuggle.

Finley at 8 months old

Leipzig and Annaberg-Buchholz

2011-12-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

After our little break in Potsdam, we got back on the road and headed to Leipzig. We only had one night there, but if we were to do it again, we'd stay longer. It was a great city with amazing architecture and beautiful old buildings. It's a pretty big University town and apparently the zoo is amazing. But we didn't do the zoo since we had just done the Berlin zoo. The apartment (Studio 54) was one of our favorites and it was in the most perfect location right in the heart of everything. We will definitely go back and stay there again.

First we took the kids to the Panorama Tower to check out the view. Then we walked around all the fun shops and had brawts for dinner.

As we walked around downtown the next morning we found this church in a quiet little square. Bach lived here the last 27 years of his life and was the music director at the Thomaskirche.

After touring the little square we got lunch at the Doner stand and satisfied Ryan's craving for his favorite food in Germany. On our way out of the city we went to the Volkerschlachtdenkmal (aka the denkmal or the Monument to the Battle of the Nations). It was built in 1913 to commemorate Napoleans defeat at Leipzig in 1813. Finley thought it was very cool with all the massive stone soldiers inside and out. I have to agree, it was very impressive.

Standing in front of the monument. There is a HUGE reflection pool behind them that you can't see.

This design on the ceiling was amazing and went all around the rotunda.

One of the sweet soldiers standing guard on the outside of the monument tower (at the very top).

Finley checking out the beautiful view. I loved all the foliage in this town. So much green space and all the trees were starting to change colors. Germany in the Fall is just beautiful.

The Archangel Michael at the entrance.

After the monument we got back on the road and drove to Annaberg-Buchholz, the town where Ryan's mother grew up. It is located in the Ore Mountains near the border of Germany and the Czech Republic (our next stop) so we stayed just overnight to break up our drive into Prague. We came here back in 2006 so we were ok with this visit being so quick. Once we checked in we only had time for dinner and then it was to bed. The next day we got up early and hit the old shops in the old town and market square.

This is the view of the Annenkirche (St. Anne's Church) from our hotel.

This area of Germany (the Erzgebirge region) is known for their Christmas Markets, hand-carved decorations, smokers, nutcrackers, pyramids, etc. Each kid got to pick an ornament for the Christmas tree and Ryan and I each bought a hand-carved item for ourselves to add to our collection at home.

Then it was off to Prague. Those pics coming....hopefully sooner than later.

We are on the Naughty List

2011-12-01T16:48:00.003-07:00

It's official. Santa is NOT coming to our house this year. And this makes me the meanest mom in town.

The kids have been on one lately. And I do mean on one. They cry about everything, make a mess of everything, they whine anytime they are asked to do something (clean, brush teeth, do homework, get pj's on, eat, go to bed - pretty much everything!), and they refuse to help with anything. And I just won't tolerate it any longer, cause I have had enough.

So while the kids were starting WWIII about having to clean up their bedrooms and the toy mess downstairs, I got on the phone and called the North Pole. Santa was very busy, but he knew exactly what I was calling about and sadly added the kids names to the naughty list. He was sad that he couldn't come to our house this year, but he understands that such measures are necessary. I kindly thanked him and hung up. By the time I was off the phone with Santa, the tears and whining of cleaning up had made way for dead silence, but quickly went to tears of blame, frustration, and anger once they realized what was happening. Because of course they could hear my side of the conversation from the top of the stairs. And they heard it LOUD & CLEAR.

Here's to hoping this works....and here's to hoping I have the strength to follow thru if their behavior doesn't improve.

Christmas Advent

2011-12-01T10:34:00.002-07:00

I love when I get projects done that have been staring me down for a while. And by a while, I mean a year now. Remember the PB advent calendar that I blogged about here in 2010?

Well, I finally got my version done last night - just in time for December 1st!

And I have to admit, I am more than pleased with how it turned out. The picture doesn't do it justice (cruddy lighting as usual), but it looks really great on our kitchen dining room wall.

Finley gets to choose the odd numbered days, and Berlin does the even ones. Inside each pail is a little treat/toy for them. I also decided to do the "ABC's of Christmas" activity found in this month's Friend magazine, so with each day there is a letter of the Alphabet with a word and scripture about Christmas. We will read them each night with the kids before bedtime. I am really excited for this part.

The best news of all...it cost less than $15 (not including the surprises inside)

Buckets - DollarTree 3pk/$1 (I bought 9 packs for 27 buckets total)

Frame - used to be the frame on the picture over our fireplace (which we found in the barn). I have been saving it for something special and this was it!

Paper embellishments - leftover scrap-paper

Vinyl Numbers - my awesome hubby cut them for me, but I want to say the vinyl was a couple bucks.

So happy to have it done!

Thankful

2011-11-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

for so many things, but especially for this ...

And for my family that made growing up great, for Ryan's family who welcomed me into their fold, and for friends who are all over the globe who inspire me to be a better person.

Berlin, Germany

2011-11-13T15:45:00.001-07:00

Having been to Berlin back in the Fall of 2006, we only stayed a couple days this time around. The apartment we stayed in was great! The upstairs was HUGE and had amazingly high ceilings. It also had a basement with a fuzzball table, which the kids thought was awesome. I loved that it had a washing machine & dryer. We were just starting to run out of clean clothes so it was great timing. The one downfall was that the front entry door was all glass and more like a business door. Being ground level, anyone walking by could look in. Luckily we just parked the stroller there and it blocked the view. But odd none-the-less.

We went to the KaDeWe on Saturday. We didn't realize that the Berlin Marathon was going on that day so there were lots of tourists and people out and about. The KaDeWe is the largest department store in Germany - it's size is the same as 9 football fields - a shoppers paradise right? We let the kids explore the playmobil and Lego sections. They each got to choose one small playmobil figure. As I was paying for the items there was a huge commotion and lots of people in a panic. I look behind me and see that the fire sprinklers have all turned on. Water was pouring down on all the expensive Lego sets, electric train sets, and more. People were scrambling to cover them up with plastic bags, but to no avail. The floor was flooding and after 15 minutes the maintenance people finally showed up, though they had no clue how to fix it so they just stared at it too. How's that for being efficient? It was hilarious. I'll bet that stuff ended up on deep discount the next day. After the toy section we went to the 2 food floors and bought stuff for the next two nights of dinner. Then we went outside and walked the plaza, hit up the H&M, perused some other shops, ate some currywurst, and then headed home. It was such a chill day.

The next day (Sunday), we took the kids to the Berlin Zoo. This zoo is amazing. It has such great animal exhibits and amazing play areas or the kids when they need a snack & break. Here are some pics from our day at the zoo. It was 75 degrees that day - sunny & hot. Perfect weather!

The kids next to the HUGE stone elephants at the front of the zoo.

Finley, thinking he's so funny putting that stick in the orangutan's nose.

Ryan and I chillin' out while the kids played.

The white wolves were THE BEST ANIMAL all day long. Ryan and I couldn't take our eyes off them. There is a little wolf cub (not in the picture) but they were teaching him to hunt in the pack. It became a game and the family of wolves were running all over the place, stalking each other, then pouncing on each other and wrestling on the ground. We were so close to them too. This picture does not have the zoom on - we were that close. It was fabulous.

Looks scary but this seal was just yawning. Then he started barking. The kids loved that.

How cute are these otters nuzzling their noses? They were affectionate the whole time. Otters are always a favorite of ours. They were so playful and fun to watch.

Berlin's animal is the bear. Our Berlin refused to stand by this statue in the zoo, so Ryan willingly obliged.

Who knew crocs and turtles loved to chill-out together. Pretty funny.

By the end of the day the kids were exhausted and ready to go home, eat, and go to bed. It was a great day!

The next morning we left Berlin and headed to Leipzig. However, on our way we decided to stop in the town of Potsdam and visit Sanssoucci. We've been here before, but it was so big we didn't have time to see it all, so we came back. It's a beautiful palace with amazing grounds. Even though a lot of the gardens were being ripped up for the winter, it was still beautiful.

The view of the palace from the lower gardens.

I am a sucker for green arches, gazebos, arbors, mazes and the like. Luckily, there were plenty of them here.The kids really just being able to run around and go crazy.

Someday, I will have a pool in my backyard that looks like this. I love the shape.

Finley had had it with all my picture taking. So he took over the camera for a while and posed us. It was actually really sweet. He told us exactly what to do - even the kiss. I think we have a budding photographer on our hands.

Snack time in one of many garden gazebos.

We got to go inside the working windmill that is on the property. It was a really cool, hands-on experience for the kids.

The kids seeing just how heavy the bags of flour are, and why they use pulleys to ease the lifting process. They had rope burns on their hands after this.

Standing at the top of the windmill.

The gear room (check out the gears up in the ceiling).

The bag filling room.

The millstone room.

Berlin did not love the top 3 floors of the windmill. Because it's a working windmill, the wheels and gears were going and it was noisy. I think it frightened her bit. Hence, the lack of smile in these last 3 photos.

After the windmill tour we got in the car and headed onto Leipzig. Those pictures coming next...

Falling Leaves

2011-11-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Finley and Berlin helped me rake up the leaves in the front yard today. I can't believe how much had fallen overnight, especially considering I had already raked them up yesterday. Guess that nice storm blowing in didn't help us any. Neither did the neighbors tree. It's huge and close to our property, so 30% of the leaves we rake are from our tree, the other 70% come from the neighbors tree. Nice!

Berlin got a splinter from the small rake and soon called it quits. But Finley was determined to make himself a big pile to play in. Here he is lovin' his leaf pile.

The kids were such good helpers. I love Fall and I'm sad to see it go. We should have snow by tomorrow. Boo!

Pomegranate Ginger Pork Loin Steaks

2011-11-10T19:25:00.002-07:00

Most of you (the few) who read this blog know I don't love to cook. But the past few months I have been trying new recipes. Some good, some bad. This one is one of the BEST ones I have tried. So I just have to share it ...

A few days ago I bought a bunch of pomegranate seeds at Costco and needed a way to use them. When I came across this recipe I knew I had to try it. Though I did alter some parts of the recipe, it turned out better than I expected! The clincher ... the hubby and kiddos loved it just as much as I did.

Here's my version:

Pomegranate-Ginger Pork Chops
(makes 4-5 steaks)

5 oz POM Wonderful Juice
1/3 C sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp red pepper flakes (if you don't like heat, reduce this, but we loved it)
6 TBSP light soy sauce
6 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced (originally calls for more, but Ry's not a fan so I reduced it)
4-5 boneless pork loin steaks
1 C fresh pomegranate seeds (I buy these at Costco. So much faster and easier than getting the seeds out of the fruit yourself. Cleaner too!)

1. Mix together the pom juice, sugar, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes in a med sized saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, bringing to a gentle boil or until the liquid turns into a syrup. Turn off heat and set aside.

2. Mix together soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat frying pan on Med-High heat and add a little olive oil (or butter). Put your pork loin steaks into the pan.

4. Place about 1 tsp of the garlic mixture on top of each loin steaks and cook for about 6-10 min (this varies depending on the thickness of the meat). Then turn them over and add another tsp of the garlic-ginger mixture on top. Cook for another 6-10 min. Cover the pan with a lid while the second side is cooking. This keeps the pork from drying out and getting tough.

5. Once the meat is cooked all the way thru, remove from the pan. Turn of the heat and add the POM-chili pepper syrup to the fry pan. Stir for a couple minutes, scraping up any pork bits. Spoon the syrup over the pork chops and sprinkle the top with fresh pomegranate seeds.

I served it with fresh broccoli (steamed) and butternut squash (mashed with a sprinkling of brown sugar on top).

My picture doesn't do it justice.

Twirly, Girly Girl

2011-11-08T11:45:00.001-07:00

One of my projects this month has been cleaning off my sewing table which has been sitting neglected with lots of unfinished projects. But no more! On Saturday and Sunday I completed almost everything (and of course started a few more things - I just can't help it!). One of the items I made was this skirt for Berlin. She wore it the minute I finished it Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. I love when she likes what I make her, it makes it all worth it.

All dolled up, new hair-clip & all. The best surprise was that she asked me to curl her hair! If you know Berlin she HATES having me do her hair. So sponge rollers overnight and wah-lah. She's a cutie to boot if I do say so myself. And, she's been standing in front of the mirror all morning admiring herself. I love it.

A visit from the Fam and the Police

2011-11-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

My sister from California came up to Utah the week we got back from Germany. We were so lucky to have her and her 3 little boys stay with us for a week. It was a blast and my kids loved having playmates 24x7. These are just a few of the things we did while they were here.

Visit from the police
Yep, we had a visit from the police the second day they were here. I had been picking up the fallen apples in the back field that Saturday and noticed a large box upside-down tucked behind the tree. I went over and picked up the box (thinking it had just blown over into the field while we were out of town. But when I picked it up there was a rusty old tool box with a shiny new padlock on it underneath. The inside of the box was insulated - lined with that padded foil plastic lining. Odd, really odd. What in the heck was it doing here of all places? So of course lots of things started pouring into my mind: skeleton bones or a corpse, a dead animal, stolen property, treasure, weapons or even worse a bomb. Who knew - it could have been anything - and of course I thought of everything.

So I nudged it with my foot and it was heavy - very heavy. I went and told Ryan and after much discussion (and one sleepless night of bad dreams) we decided that we'd call the police. Cause really, who dumps an old rusty toolbox, locked with a brand new shiny padlock, in the back of someone else's property and then covers it with a very large, insulated cardboard box? Yeah, weird. So, Sunday after church we called and they sent two officers over. Yes, I felt silly and foolish for calling them on such a lame matter, but at the same time, better safe than sorry. My nephew K, however, thought this was the COOLEST thing and was so excited to have them over. He loved it so much that he even remembered to thank Heavenly Father for the police officers in his dinner prayer later that night. So sweet.

In the end, it was nothing but a bunch of old rusty tools and newspapers (from March of this year). Darn it, no treasure! The officers took it to enter into evidence in case anyone reported it missing. But it was probably someone just dumping their junk in the back of our property. Makes me feel oh so safe, right?

We sure do know how to kick-off a visit!

Cornbelly's
This is an annual tradition for our family. Ryan usually comes with us but this year he had to work and bring home some bacon. Guess that's what happens when you take off for a month :) But it was still fun and we can't wait to go next year when he can be there. They added a ton of new stuff to Cornbelly's this year. We almost didn't have enough time to see and do everything. But after 4 hours, we were beat (and cold) so we headed home totally satisfied with what we were able to do.

Gardner Village Witches
Another annual tradition for us. In the past the kids have let me take their official Fall pictures here, but this year there were just too many distractions and they wanted nothing to do with standing still for the camera. But it was still fun.

This is how Finley would get every time I asked them to turn around for a picture. Yeah. Lovely.

This is one of our favorite witches to find. This year they must have placed it near a sewage drain because the smell really was appropriate. The kids are not pretending it stunk - it really did!

And my our reward ... homemade caramel apples from Sweet Afton's - YUM!

Sugarhouse Park
My older sister from So. Weber was able to meet up with us at Sugarhouse Park for lunch, feeding the ducks, and playtime at the playground. It was a blast to see all the cousins getting along so well. They really had a blast.

Seriously, I had the best time with my sister. I don't get to see family enough and I wish we all lived closer. I am so glad she came up for a visit.

Halloween Loot

2011-11-05T14:33:00.002-06:00

Looks like the kids are going to be eating candy until the cows come home this year. They had so much loot that after filling 4 gallon Ziploc bags with the good stuff, I threw away the rest. Shhhh - don't tell them!

Berlin (She-rah - the modest version) at her school party.

Her teachers are so cute. Here they are making a potion and then drinking it. It was pretty tasty!

Finley (Link from Zelda) at his school parade.

We missed the neighborhood Trunk or Treat last year so I promised to take them this year. I don't think we'll do it again - way TOO much candy. I'd rather just go door-to-door.

And just after getting all sorts of loot. They are SOOO happy :) Isn't Finley such a hoot!

Here's the inspiration. I sewed both costumes in 1 1/2 days. Crazy ... and never again! I was so exhausted that I bagged the wings for Berlin's headband and the brown leather armbands on Fin's. Guess I should have done it all BEFORE our vacation like I had originally planned. Oh well. They turned out great and I can add those pieces later for when they dress-up.

Our pumpkins this year. The kids drew faces on paper and then we cut them out and use that as the pattern. Finley was having a tough night (aka meltdown) and instead he found his Lego jack-o-lantern face and asked for that. So, Berlin's is the skeleton and Fin's is the scary jack-o-lantern face.

Here they are with all their candy, right before choosing the 50 pieces they were allowed to keep. The rest was put away to use on our Gingerbread Houses next month (I borrowed this idea from a friend).

Holstein, Bremen, Lubeck

2011-11-03T08:45:00.004-06:00

After our stay with the Berndt's we drove up North to the Baltic Sea. We stayed in the town of Holstein right in the Marina in these apartments. Other than the gazillion mosquitoes that came out at night, it was a great location.

On our drive up to Holstein, we stopped over in Bremen for a few hours.

We love the story of The Bremen Town Musicians (by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm) and wanted to find the statue of the animals. The kids even got to rub the leg for a bit of good luck. You can tell how many others have rubbed the legs for luck by the nice gold sheen on them.

It happened to be market day so there were lots of stands selling fresh flowers, meats, cheeses, and more. It was great just to walk around and take it in. It is a cute little city. I wish we had had more time to explore. But after a quick lunch and a short walk around the old part we had to get back on the road to get to our apartment before dark. After dinner Finley read books to Berlin. It was really sweet finding them like this.

The next day we day-tripped into Lubeck, the marzipan capital. First stop, the Holstentor Gate Tower Museum. We hadn't planned on going inside, but Finley really wanted to, so we did. I have to say it was one of the better museums we visited in Germany. Very interesting and fun for the kids. Read more about it here.

Berlin shooting a cannonball (Finley) out of the cannon.

They have the funniest imagination I tell you.

Hanging out in one of the tower rooms.

This model is hand-carved in wood and shows what the city was like back in the day. Pretty amazing display considering how large it was. This is only one tiny section of it as I couldn't get it all in one picture.

Ryan found this bird crest and thought it was cool. Finley is wielding a sword, ready to fight something.

This is a chastity belt. I have read about these before in books and stuff, but never thought they were for real. But, oh yes, they were. The pic on the left is the front (note the little padlock on the side) and the one on the right is the back. Can you gals imagine wearing this hinged metal and cloth contraption all the time? Ugh! Ryan thought it was funny how fascinated I was by it.

Lubeck was a major Hanseatic port city in Germany. In the museum they had tons of old model ships hanging from the ceiling. It was awesome.

After the Tower Museum we headed over to the Niederegger shop, which makes the best marzipan apparently. I do not like marzipan, however, Ryan loves it and the kids are now huge fans.

It was packed inside so after we bought our stuff we headed up to the museum just upstairs. Though a small museum, it was impressive to see the items they had constructed out of marzipan. And it wasn't crowded which is always good in my book.

the kids pretending to be towers

important men in history .... all in marzipan.

After the museum we took the kids to a children's puppet show at the local Puppet Theater. It was located next to the Marionette Puppet Museum. This part of town was so cute & old. I loved all the signs on the 2 buildings.

I was hoping they would have a marionette show, but unfortunately it was a soft puppet show that day called, "Wer hat Opas Zahne?" Meaning, "Where has Opas teeth gone?" It's about a girl who throws a bday party for her Opa only to find out that he has lost his teeth, and the crazy search to find them. Honestly, it was the lamest show ever, but they laughed and giggled thru the entire play, and they sang the annoying theme song the rest of the trip. But it was worth it seeing how much they enjoyed it. I was just bummed we missed the premiere of the Hansel and Gretel marionette show that opened a week later.

We also walked thru the cathedral there (St. Mary's Church) and found this cute statue. It's supposed to be the Devil. Legend says that the devil thought the workers were building a drinking hall and so he helped with the construction of it. When the Devil realized it was to be a church he tried to destroy the walls (claw marks are still evident on the boulder). The townspeople persuaded the Devil to leave the cathedral undamaged in return for a drinking hall across the street.

image source

The exterior view of St. Mary's Church. It is different from the other Gothic style Cathedrals we saw in that it is made of brick rather than stone.

We headed back to the apartment later that afternoon so the kids could play down at the beach before it got dark (and before the mosquitoes came out). In the water there were tons of Jellyfish that had washed up onto the sand. Apparently it's a big problem along the Baltic coastline right now. They wanted to go in the water but Finley freaked out when he saw these, and he wouldn't go near the shore again.

Instead they collected seashells and built sand castles in the sand while Ryan and I chilled out in the beach baskets. They are old-school cool. All the beaches here have them. Finley took this picture of us relaxing in one.

There was also a playground next to the beach. The kids had fun swinging on the hammock swing and playing on the 4-seater teeter-totter.

Needless to say they were tuckered out at the end of the day. The next morning we headed over to our next stop ... Berlin. Those pictures/post will becoming soon.

Essen and Stadtoldendorf

2011-10-26T19:40:00.001-06:00

After Bruges, we headed on over to Essen, Germany where we picked up our friend Christopher at the Villa Hugel. This is the amazing mansion of the German Industrial/Steel Magnate, Alfred Krupp.

Then he took us to the Essen Grugapark, where the kids could run free for a bit. This is the coolest park I have ever seen in my life. It is huge beyond belief and we only saw a fraction of it.

There were zip lines for the kids, castle forts on hills with slides and underground tunnels, pyramids, playsets, animals in a mini zoo, a train, a big lake, ducks, ice-cream stands (which of course Christopher had to get some for the kids), rope bridges, kid mazes and forts, and so much more. After the park he took us to dinner at this local restaurant Gebrandenhof, where we had a great local/regional meal. I had the pork tenderloin and it was delish! We stayed the night with him at his bachelor pad before heading to his parents house in Stadtoldendorf. Essen is where Berlin developed her first crush. She was smitten with Christopher and soon had him wrapped around her little finger.

The next day we were off to his parents house. Christopher came with us since he was on short break from University. When we got to his parents house, Klaus and Sigi had signed us up for a military off-roading experience. Here we are jeepin' thru the German countryside. This used to be an old military base where tanks, jeeps, and trucks full of soldiers would train for battle. Now, a Dutchman owns the land and uses the old trails for off-roading adventures. It was a blast and the perfect way to spend a drizzly Sunday afternoon. All the rocky bumps, water holes, and steep hills put Berlin right to sleep while sitting up in the back seat.

Klaus (above) .... Christopher (below)

On Monday we headed out to the Autostadt (the VW Wolfsburg Factory) for a tour. Because they are expanding the plant, they only do tours for foreign visitors. We felt so lucky! And it's pretty top secret. The only way to get to the factory for visitors is by boat. And no cameras allowed once you're off the boat.

Then you board a bus-train and they drive you thru the factory. We got to see the Golf factory line and it was very interesting. The factory is so large that employees ride their bikes inside to get around. Cool. Seeing them build the cars makes me want to buy a VW car. Not a Golf, but I wouldn't mind a Touareg.

After the tour we got to take the kids to the VW Auto City. This is where the kids learned how to drive, got a driver's license, drove pedal cars, and well, just had fun. They loved it.

Then we went upstairs to the car museum and saw some pretty sweet rides. I of course prefer the old cars versus the newer ones. Here's my favorite....

Wish they still made these cause I'd be all over it in a heartbeat. That's a van I'd be proud to drive.

Some other fun cars that we saw...

The kids got a kick out of pretending to drive the cars.

Posing with our French car - the Renault Scenic. License plates over there are usually white and sometimes yellow. We never saw another red one the entire month we were abroad. Apparently the locals had never seen a red license plate either because EVERYONE stared at the car whenever we drove by. We got teased a lot about having a French car. Go figure :)

The coolest car ever. It only has 2 seats in it and the roof is entirely glass. We look like clowns in a circus car.

Standing in front of the car towers. This is where they store all the cars that customers buy direct from the factory. When you pick it up the automated robot finds it in the tower and brings it down. It's pretty cool.

On Tuesday we went to the Harz region (up in the mountains) with Klaus and Christopher. We had a long, steep hike up the mountain but the kids were awesome. Well, I should say Finley was awesome and he booked it most of the way. Berlin was awesome at begging rides on Ryan and Christopher's shoulders. The mountain we climbed is the one of the highest mountains in Germany and it's a really popular area with mountain bikers and hikers. I can see why.

Snack time! Dried Mangos & Trail Mix - yum!

The view at the top was amazing. And it was windy and cold so we went into the museum to warm up a bit. In this region of Germany it's good luck to put a witch in your house (like in the kitchen or hanging in a window). In the museum you could sit on the witches broom.

This was just a cute little display (above). And below, the distance to Berlin from where we were on the top of the mountain. Berlin had fun seeing her name everywhere on the trip.

The great reward: taking an old steam train back down the mountain.

Wednesday was our last full day with the Berndt's. First, they took us to the Ashenputter's Castle - Cinderella's Castle in Polle, Germany (the Brother's Grimm Cinderella Castle on Fairy Tale road, not Neuschwanstein aka the Disney castle). The castle is in ruins, but Berlin was in heaven, even in shackles.

The happiest prisoners you'll ever see. They loved this little dungeon.

Next up, the nature park. Wild horses were running free in the pasture as we walked up to the entrance. They were beautiful. These horses are specialty bred and meant for racing. They can be quite wild, and some were going crazy, but there were a few that loved the attention they got from Berlin and Fin. And once they got their ears scratched and noses rubbed, they were quite tame. Berlin now wants a horse.

The look of PURE JOY on her face. She was so happy. I just love this picture.

Here's Berlin crushin' on Christopher in the big horned ram pasture.

(Berlin, Klaus, Christopher, Florian, Finley, Ryan)

The goats, some deer, and big horned rams, and a few other animals are let to roam free with no fences. It was really neat to be in there with them and to feed them out of our hands. Some deer and animals (like the HUGE wart hogs, wolves, and raccoons) were behind fences, but we could still feed them.

And of course, they had a play area at the end so we let the kids run free for a bit. I even got a little crazy on the coolest trampoline ever. I hate trampolines. They are way too dangerous for my liking. But this one, man, I wish I could figure out how it was made and have one put in our backyard. It was very cool, no springs/coils and not quite as bouncy as normal trampolines.

I'm channeling my cheer-leading days. Doesn't Ryan look cute with a purse?

What's missing from the above picture? Berlin coaching Christopher on his form. She was pretty bossy and critical of his arabesque. Guess he's got some practicing to do :)

The next morning we left, but not without tears. Finley was an emotional wreck and bawled. Across the street from their house there were some long-haired brown sheep. And every morning after breakfast and every evening before dinner the kids would go blow bubbles at the sheep. One sheep in particular took a great liking to Finley. It was really sweet. He would come whenever Finley called and would stay and pop the bubbles with his nose. Thus, Finley named him Bubble-E. He was heartbroken when we had to leave him behind.

Then when we had to say goodbye to the Berndt's he cried even harder. He is my sweet and tender boy. He got in the car and said, "I can't let them see me like this. I'm a mess." So tender, it melted my heart which made me all emotional. He is definitely like me when it comes to crying. Tears are always near the surface.

Berlin saying goodbye to her man, Christopher.

We had an amazing time with our friends. They were such gracious hosts and we sure do miss them. Hopefully they will be able to make their trip to the states next Summer and we can repay their generosity.

Next up, Holstein (on the Baltic Sea) ....

Baby Gear For Sale

2011-10-23T19:15:00.007-06:00

It's that time of year when I get the urge to purge. I have been organizing a lot of our baby gear and since we are done having kids, we have have decided to sell the good stuff. Below are some of the items that made it into the "sell" pile. I am only listing the items that are in excellent/great condition. Some is even in New condition as we had so much stuff lots of it didn't get used. So, if you know of anyone who is having a baby, just had a baby, wants them for their preschool/daycare, a head start on Christmas, or whatever, please feel free to send them here. I will be listing them on KSL over the next week or so and will update things as they are sold. Pickup only.

Click pictures to enlarge.
(note: I have more stuff that I will add once I get pics taken.)

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Musical Vibrating Papasan Chair

*** SOLD *** Upholstered Kid armchair - Sage Micro-suede/velour fabric

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Drop n' Roar Dinosaur Roll-Around

*** SOLD *** Discovery Toys Castleworks

*** SOLD *** Discovery Toys Castle Kingdom mini golf set

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Ball Popper

*** SOLD *** 3-piece Fisher Price Doll set

*** SOLD *** 3-piece Graco Doll stroller/crib/high chair set

Dream-builders foam fort building set - $25

***SOLD*** BOON green stool/potty bench

*** SOLD *** Elephant circus playmat

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price zebra sit n spin

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Healthy Care booster seat

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Little People Ramps Around Garage set

*** SOLD *** Fisher Price Little People Discovery Village set

*** SOLD *** Leapfrog Learn N Groove Musical Table

Star Wars Home One Mon Calamari Lego set (unopened, still in box) - $75

*** SOLD *** Ikea Play Rug

*** SOLD *** Discovery Toys Foam Puzzle Mat and 6 Cars

*** SOLD *** Snugli Compass Backpack Carrier

*** SOLD *** Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair w/ cover

*** SOLD *** Baby Bjorn Carrier

*** SOLD *** Rocking chair and Ottoman

Original Arms Reach Co-sleeper w/ quilted cover - $100

*** SOLD *** Boppy Nursing Pillow

Mama and Papas Stanley the Snail rocker - $50

Fisher Price Natures Touch Papasan Swing - $75

*** SOLD *** Evenflo Mega ExerSaucer

*** SOLD *** Graco Snugride Pedic Infant Carseat w/ base

*** SOLD *** Pottery Barn Crib Bumper

African Plains Hand Puppets (set of 4) - $5

Old McDonald Hand Puppets (set of 4) - $5

Space Men Hand Puppets (set of 4) - $5

Sesame Street Stuffed Animal Set of 5 - $10

(Abby, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Elmo, Grover)

*** SOLD *** Large Kid Kraft Train Table/Train Track Set

Paris to Bruges

2011-10-21T08:45:00.005-06:00

We have been planning this trip for a long time... a few years actually. We were supposed to go in the Fall of 2010 but due to Delta changing their frequent flier program, we were just short the miles to get us all there. So we had to wait until this Fall; but the wait was well worth it in the end.

First, we flew from Salt Lake to Minneapolis, then went onto Paris, France. Here are the kids waiting ever so patiently at the airport in Minneapolis. Finley was great and played paper dolls with Berlin. Then they both colored in their coloring books.

Berlin listening out to the Tangled Soundtrack on the plane. This child would NOT sleep on the plane, which means I did not sleep on the plane either. I was exhausted by the time we landed in Paris.

I loved where we stayed in France. It was 45 minutes outside of Paris in a little country town called Labbeville. It was darling countryside - quaint and full of old stone homes, cows, and TONS of hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas. Here is a picture of the apartment we rented (see more here).

The family that owns it lives right next to it in a fabulous french house. They had two kids, a girl (6) and a boy (7). They also had the most amazing tree house. Needless to say, we didn't see the kids for a bit as they all played together in that tree-house. It's amazing how kids don't care whether you speak their language. "Play" is a universal language and that's all they cared about.

Second, I don't love Paris. I have been to Paris before, back in 1999. However, I had been with a french speaking friend who knew his way around the city. So we hit all the tourist spots, monuments, etc and a couple days and that was that. It was fabulous. This time around however, I didn't love Paris. We took the train in that night (despite being beyond exhausted) and after walking around forever searching for the Eiffel Tower, listening to whining kids, seeing way too many homeless men, smelling way too much urine, and sidestepping trash and feces on the sidewalk, we bagged it and took the train back to the apartment. On the train the kids made up with a song aptly titled, "Paris Stinks." Oh how true it was. And add to it the fact that Berlin got carsick and threw up all over herself, my arm, and the carseat while driving to our apartment, and well, you get the picture. It wasn't a very joyous stop. We have no desire to go back, which is sad because I remember having liked it back in 1999.

The kids on the train from Paris to our apartment. What's missing? The creepy hand of the stinky, drunk, homeless man that was sleeping on the bench just behind the kids. I love Finley's face - what a pimp!

The next morning we headed out and drove to Bruges, Belgium. Ryan has wanted to visit this city ever since he saw the movie, In Bruges, at the Sundance Film Festival a while back. We stayed in a 3-story home right in the old city of Bruges. The location was perfect and despite the musty smell, it was a great place to stay. Here is a link to where we stayed.

It was a long drive from Paris, so we just explored the city our first evening there. We found a great park, let the kids run, play, and be free. The old city is amazing, gorgeous, romantic, and a new favorite of ours. We definitely recommend it to anyone and hopefully, some day, we'll get back there.

The kids doing a silly pose. I had to just grin and bear it, because they were already sick of me and the camera. So many pics from this trip are of them being goofy.

One of the old city gate towers to Bruges.

Berlin really wanted to see Rapunzel's Tower on this trip. However, being that we saw & stayed overnight in that castle on our last trip to Germany (Fall 2006) we decided not to go again. So we told her this was Rapunzel's Tower and she was pretty excited.

The kids said that this was mother Gothel's tombstone. It was just to the side of the tower above. Don't you love Finley's Cub Scout fingers. Nice. That's what happens when you take your kids to Cub Scouts when the other leaders can't go. It became his go-to pose for a while. You will see it again in future pics.

Finley re-enacting the human chess game from the Harry Potter movie. Berlin just doing a dance pose.

One of the many reasons that this is such a gorgeous old city.

The next day we took the kids to the Chocolate Museum. This was fun and we got some yummy samples of Belgium chocolate which is REALLY REALLY good.

We walked the streets, browsed some cute shops, and then hit up the French Fry Museum. This turned out to be one of the highlights for the kids on the trip. They had this interactive play area where the kids owned a fry shack and they could make fries and all sorts of things. They loved it and would have stayed there all day if we had let them. They also had the best french fries and pickle sauce....YUM!

Seriously, we loved this city. We were sad to leave. If any of you get over there, be sure to check out Tom's Diner. Amazing food.... the Best. Duck. Ever!

The next morning we got up and headed to our next stop: Essen, Germany. Stay tuned for that post. Hopefully I will get it posted soon.

Europe Trip 2011

2011-10-20T16:34:00.000-06:00

This is the first of many posts to come with details and pics of our trip. I am trying to group them by the cities in which we stayed. I had meant to post while we were on the trip, but Ryan wasn't comfortable with it and I saw his reasoning, so now you'll have to bear with me as I sort thru over 1000 pics. So this may take a couple days. Sorry.

But here is a teaser of the first post that I will hopefully get up tomorrow .... In Bruges.

Berlin's Big Day

2011-09-07T22:27:00.002-06:00

Berlin had a big week this week. She started her 2nd year of Preschool and couldn't be happier. Especially since her best friend is in her class this year.

Here she is at home. She wasn't very happy with me in forcing her to stand still and smile for one picture. Really, is one happy picture too much to ask? Apparently so.

I wish I looked this cute in skinny jeans.

I have to say her fit makes me chuckle. This is a common look from her. I get it about 10 times a day. Basically whenever she doesn't get her way.

So Very Fun!

Here she is waiting for the other kids to arrive.

With her two AMAZING teachers.

With her Best Buddy.

Her teachers, Miss Palmer & Miss Suzy were both kindergarten teachers and right now they only do the Pre-K year. Even though Finley was on the waiting list for his Pre-K year, he didn't get in. So we made sure to get Berlin on the list WAY early, like over a year early. I never thought I would be one of those moms. But after meeting the teachers and seeing their school, we are SUPER excited for this year.

Little Dare-devils

2011-09-04T22:50:00.000-06:00

I was a timid kid when it came to trying new things. I learned to ride my bike without training wheels later than most, hated ice-skating, avoided being bumped in bumper cars, the high-dive at swimming lessons made me want to puke, I steered clear of any and all trampolines, and I always drove slow on the go-karts. I never wanted to get hurt.

I am sure I surprised more than a few people when I went sky-diving with a couple co-workers from Novell (back in the day), free-falling 12,000 feet from a plane. It was a blast. And since then I've zip-lined in mountains and para-sailed in Hawaii. I even tried wake-boarding for the first time in my life 2 weeks ago ... and got up! Somewhere inside is a person who loves new adventures.

Needless to say, my kids are pretty timid too when it comes to being adventurous. Berlin doesn't love trampolines, Finley doesn't climb trees like a monkey. They both get a bit nervous/afraid on the Alpine Slides in Park City. Berlin still can't reach the pedals on her bicycle (and she could care less about riding it), and Finley refuses to let me take the training wheels off for fear of tipping. They come by it naturally I suppose.

But, today it became evident that they too have a little dare-devil inside just waiting to get out. This is how they spent the afternoon today...

Sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag...

Yes, cautious me ignored my initial gut response of, "What the heck are you doing? You are going to get hurt! Stop!" Instead I let them continue on, fetching my camera, and asking Ryan to grab the crib mattress from the storage room. After-all, kids need to be kids, and the least I can do is make it a little bit safer.

By the end of the day they went from sliding down to jumping down....schooled by Ryan, who (of course) did the exact same thing when he was a kid, down the exact same staircase. After all is said and done, without injury or harm, I must admit I am pretty darn proud of my dare-devils. I say this being that no injury was incurred by either child. I am sure I would feel very different if it had been otherwise.

Finley was jumping from the top step all the way down to the bottom.

Berlin started on the 3rd step and got up to the 4th step. She was the most timid of all.

A conversation about Halloween

2011-08-25T10:16:00.000-06:00

Mom: So, you guys need to decide what you want to be for Halloween.

Fin: Why, Halloween is not for forever?

Mom: It's a few months away, but it will be here before you know it.

Fin: I don't matter [this is his way of saying, I don't care.]

Mom: Well, if you want a costume to go tricking-or-treating in, then you need to tell me your costume soon so I can make it, or atleast start it before our Germany Trip.

Berlin: I want to be Hello Kitty. You can make me a big cat head.

Mom: Umm, that's probably not going to happen.

Berlin: Ok, I will be She-ra. Next year I will be Hazel.

Mom: Who's Hazel?

Berlin: That girl that is friends with that boy. Ugh! You know mom!

Mom: Um, no. I actually have no idea who you are talking about.

Berlin: The girl that gets lost in the forest with that boy!

Mom: Oh, you mean Gretel? Of Hansel & Gretel?

Berlin: Yes! I told you you knew!

Mom: Ok sassy pants. She-ra huh. You'll rock that.

Berlin: Ya, I will. But I need gold boots.

So after lots of conversation & mulling over, this is what they have decided upon....I think :) And so the planning begins.