the Mosel

Our last stop on our month-long trip was in the little town of Ellenz, located along the Mosel river in Germany.  This is the historical home where we stayed in the top floor studio apartment: 

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p440895  

The location was perfectly situated between two mini castles right near the river and bike path.  The Mosel Weinstrasse is Germany's wine country. I can't wait to go back there when the kids are older. If you go during the Fall (harvest time) you can often go out with the locals and help them harvest the grapes. The kids loved seeing the men climb the steep hillsides and bring back bushels of grapes and dump them into the trucks. The white wine produced in this area is supposedly famous and delicious. We settled on the white grape juice schorle and it was excellent. Finley couldn't get enough.

When we drove into town and checked into our room, we had just enough time to tour the smaller of the two castles before settling down for the night. We walked down past vineyards to get to the ferry which took us across the Mosel to the tiny town. The castle is more of a fortress and it's in ruins, but the kids had fun climbing to the top of the tower.

 The view from the top of the fortress ruins. Across the river is Ellenz where we stayed. Do you see all the terracing on the hills? Those are the vineyards and they are steep!

 

There was a cute little cafe at the top of the tower, so we decided to sit down and have our dinner where we could enjoy the scenery. This area of Germany is just beautiful.

Finley trying a red currant (those red berries on his plate) for the first time.

The next day we decided to tour the other castle, Reichsburg Schloss in the town of Cochem.

 

Of course we had to hike up the mountain to get to the castle. After all the castle hikes we did on this trips, you'd think I would have lost weight,or at least have thighs of steel, but no.

This is the back of the castle ... "almost there, almost there." That's what we kept saying to keep the kids going. And of course giving them Haribo Green Frogs. The ultimate reward was the Magnum ice-cream treat on our way back down after the tour.

The ever so grand and imposing entrance gate.

 

 My little super-model. It was was super windy that day and her hair was all over the place. But she's working it!

The inside of the castle was stunning. The first pic is just a small section of the painted wood ceiling in the dining hall. The other is the fireplace. Those frog looking things up on the top were everywhere around the castle. Pretty cool & creepy at the same time. Note, they aren't frogs though. They are lions in a helmet, making them look froggish.

 The carved wooden details on the ceiling beam joists, and down the stairwell. I seriously want to live here. It's amazing.

 Despite the fact that the taller knight's armor is on a 6 inch platform, it was freakin' HUGE! It was made for a 7 1/2 ft person.

  

 

After the castle we got lunch and then drove to another castle, Burg Eltz. We love this castle. It truly is one of the most beautiful castles in Germany, and the collection of furniture, armory, and weapons housed within in amazing. The family that owns it (split between siblings) still resides in part of the castle and vacations there often. Can you imagine having a castle as your vacation house? LUCKY!!! (in the voice of Napolean Dynamite).  


Of course, you have a pretty steep hike down to the castle from where you park your car - that's the easy part. It's the climb back up the hill that gets you huffing & puffing. Our kids were very disappointed we didn't take the shuttle van. But to their credit they hiked both ways very well and just enjoyed the fall foliage that surrounded us.


Burg Eltz

 Again, the wind. My ferocious little lion.


After Burg Eltz we went back to Cochem for a delicious dinner of Doner's. Then it was to bed.

The next day we drove up to Koblenz, the city where the Mosel meets the Rhine river. It is a busy city and driving was a bit confusing, but we finally got where we wanted - the old Roman fortress. There was some garden show going on so it was super crowded but it was still fun & interesting. The fortress is just across the river on top of the little mountain. We rode the aerial tram across which was pretty cool.

There is also a monument in the park right where the two rivers meet called, Deutsches Eck (German Corner). The base is surrounded by pillars with the coat of arms of the cities that were important back then. Here's Berlin pointing to her coat of arms (the Bear).

The monument is of German Emperor William the 1. The German Corner used to be controversial because it slowly became the symbol of German Nationalism, but over the years it has become more a symbol of German unity and not aggression.

 

  

The next day we had to head back to France for our very early flight the next morning. Because we knew the drive back to France would be long, we decided to break it up with a stop in Trier, which is also along the Moselle. Trier also happens to be the oldest city in Germany and was founded before 16BC.

First stop was the Porta Nigra (the black gate). It was part of a system of 4 city gates. The Porta Nigra is the only one remaining. It is also one of the few remaining Roman structures still standing in Trier.

My favorite people standing in front of the Porta Nigra.

We got to go inside and climb up and explore all the levels. Trier is obviously a touristy spot, which became evident when we noticed tour-guides dressed in full on togas, roman soldier outfits, and more. Cheesy, but in a fun way. 

The back of the black gate. 

Berlin's favorite part was the pink Palace of Trier. I wonder why?

Next up were the old ruins of 3 Roman Baths. You can take a tour, but we didn't have time, so we just walked around the outside, which was good enough for me.

The inside of the bath complex.

The outside of the bath complex.

To finish up Trier, we went to the old Roman Amphitheater. We had the place to ourselves, well, except for the Roman soldier marching up and down and all around the outdoor stadium. It was kinda cool - especially for the kids.

Below the amphitheater is where they housed the prisoners that were to fight, the slaves, and even the dangerous animals. It was so interesting - definitely my favorite part of this site. 

My own soldiers fighting to the death.

This poor girl was tuckered out from all the walking to and from the monuments, so we waited at the amphitheater while dad went and got the car. 

 Around the stadium pit are rooms where lions and stuff were stored before being released. Isn't she scary?

Note: It was FREEZING and WINDY that day. The poor guy must have been freezing in that getup. No wonder he kept running around the stadium. 

And that, with much sadness, concludes our trip to Germany. The drive to France was long and when we got to our apartment we put the kids to bed and re-packed for our flight home the next morning. Here's to planning our next big adventure in 2016 ... to England (and maybe Wales and Scotland)?

Hello Kitty Stump Village birthday party

I will admit that I am a closet party planner. I LOVE planning birthday parties for my kids and I LOVE going all out. With two kids, it's really not so bad. I am sure I would feel different if I had more kiddos to plan for. Our rule is that up until they are 6 they get a friend party. After 6 it goes every other year which also makes it easier on me. 

I usually max the invite list at 8 because that's all we can squeeze around our table, but this year it was 10 to accommodate all the girls in her preschool and Primary class. It was such a fun group of girls.

Berlin really wanted a Hello Kitty birthday party this year. I really wanted a woodland party. So when she fell in love with the Hello Kitty Stump Village dvd's we found at the library last year, we knew we could combine the two seamlessly.

Setup.... I was up until 2 am making and putting up decorations. Then I went to bed only to wake up by 8am to get the final touches on. Needless to say, I was pooped by the time the party ended that afternoon. 

 

I found these darling trays and plates at Target in the dollar bin months ago (they were the basis of my ideas for a woodland party). The girls got to choose one as they were leaving with their parents. I just love these. They make me happy.

 

 

These were the strawberry-lemon Hello Kitty Cake Pops that Berlin helped me make. This was my first time working with a food-safe marker. Yeah. Lame. For being a brand new "marker", it was really dry and I just didn't like it. It wasn't dark enough and if I tried to go over the whiskers a second time, it just make it look worse. Oh well, they still turned out pretty good.

   

When the girls first arrived we had them put on some of my old t-shirts and aprons so they could paint some cute birdhouses I found in the dollar bin at Joann's. This was our painting station.

All the little painters hard at work. Their finished birdhouses turned out so cute! We did this first so they could dry during the rest of the party.  

Once dry I put them in cello bags to protect them.

Pin the nose on Hello Kitty was up next. Ryan made the sweet vinyl for the window. It's HUGE but it was perfect. Now it's hanging on the wall behind Berlin's headboard.

 

  

Finley getting his turn ... FINALLY! He waited so patiently for all the girls to go first. The girls all thought he would be the closest and win, but his Hello Kitty nose ended up the farthest away.

 

The girls all wanted Ryan to take a turn ... so they kept spinning and spinning and spinning him around! Then they pushed him to the target. I guess they didn't want to see him fail :). And they were laughing hysterically the whole time.

 

Then we ate lunch: PB&J sandwiches, chips, fresh strawberries, bananas, and blueberries with whipped cream, all washed down with lemonade. YUM!

These are the scavenger hunt prizes. There were 4 brown bags with different animals on them: an Owl (woodland erasers), a Hedgehog (sixlets), Mushrooms (pixie sticks), and a Squirrel (trail mix). Ryan hid these in our back field, then gave clues to the girls so they could find them. It was so cute to watch them running around.

 

  

  

  

 

Finley watching the hunt go down.

After the hunt the kids came inside to warm up and give Berlin their cute presents. One of the hit presents was a can of glitter hair spray. The minute the girls saw it they wanted to open it and spray it in their hair. So we took them back outside on the deck and sprayed it all over their hair. It was so much fun!

The girls in the picture above are all looking at Finley - who's wearing the ribbons from the presents on his head. Ryan seems to have started something here. The girls thought it was the greatest. Finley of course loved the attention. Such a ham!

Enjoying the cake pops and vanilla ice-cream with sprinkles on top. My friend told this GREAT idea to cut down prep time during the party. I scooped out all the ice-cream in little cups that morning, added sprinkles, then stuck them in a cupcake pan (the cups I got fit perfectly) and put it back in the freezer. Then, when it was time we just pulled out the cupcake pan and handed them out. SOOOOO nice & easy!

While we waited for the parents to arrive we let them pick out a Hello Kitty tattoo and put them on their hands/arms. And that wrapped up the party! It was such a lovely day and we thank our cute little friends who helped make it so much fun!

A huge shout out to Ryan who is AMAZING with the kids. He helped with all the games and made that awesome vinyl Hello Kitty Head. He isn't afraid to get silly with the kids and they love it too. And another shout out to my sister Val. She is at every party without fail helping setup, take pictures, cleanup, entertain, and just deal with the mass chaos kid parties bring. She is wonderful for this and for so many other reasons. But Finley was the sweetest of all. He was such a good helper with the girls. While I was answering the door, he found aprons for some of the girls and helped them put them on and tie them. He was like everyone's big brother, willing to lend a hand. Sure do love that kid!

The JOY of being Five

Berlin's big day came and went and now my little whippersnapper is officially FIVE! Crazy. She told me the day of her birthday over lunch that she didn't feel any different at 5 than she did at 4 ... She wasn't taller, or in a higher grade at school, or bigger than Finley. Her list went on. As a mother however, I notice so many changes and they seem to have happened overnight. Like how 5 apparently means 14. All of sudden it seems like she wants to watch teeny bop movies, listen to teeny bop music, dance like a rock-star all night long (literally, all night long), wears very bright & shiny makeup just like a hip teenager. Yep, she's no longer my Itty Bitty Boo, she's now my Tiny Teeny Bopper! 

Anyway, we had LOTS to celebrate cause turning 5 is a big deal in our house. We celebrated with just our little family the night before due to conflicts with Ryan's family FHE gathering and Valentine's Day. She woke up to a new birthday dress for church and after surviving the next 3 hours of being reverent, she came home to presents!

In her new dress...

Opening her presents under the watchful eye of a loving brother...

 

Some Just Dance Summer Party, Hello Kitty Stump Village (the best Hello Kitty dvd's out there!) and some fun makeup.

Hello Kitty Mega Bloks (wanna-be Legos perfect for little girls).  

A Hello Kitty Sewing Machine! She was very excited for this and wanted to sew a bag for her friend Abby right then and there.

 

And don't mind this crazy kid wearing part of his Link Halloween costume ... Ryan put the present bows & ribbons on his head and he went a little cuckoo. Looks like he's warming up for some Just Dance Summer Party!

Modeling her new Rapunzel Dress that Grandma Leach so lovingly made. It's gorgeous and just puts all those cheap store dress-ups to shame. We are so lucky to have such a talented Grandma!

 

I love Finley's head peaking out behind her. He kept doing the cuckoo bird thing and wouldn't stay out of the pictures. Silly Goose!

And to wrap-up the night we headed downstairs for some Just Dance Summer Party FUN!

On her actual birthday we took her out to dinner with her Aunt Val, Uncle Ben & Aunt Karen. She chose Five Guys for her feast. Then we headed over to Grandma Lynne's for FHE night & dessert with Ryan's family. I made these fun treats to take along. Dark Chocolate Mint cake pops. They were such a big hit with all the kids and super YUMMY! I used the basic recipe here.

(but with chocolate cake, 1 1/2 cups homemade cream cheese frosting, dark chocolate mint wafers (Wilton) and fun sprinkles.)

This is Berlin in the hot-seat listening to all the things that our extended family loves about her.

All 5 February birthdays on Ryan's side. 

This weekend is her big friend party! She is so excited to have all her Preschool and Primary friends over. She helped me start making these beauties in preparation for it. Can you guess what they will be? Hint