Thursday, June 30, 2016
Summer Fun
Once we made it home from Europe, it was time to get enjoying summer! Our summer consisted of lots of cupcake baking and decorating (100% by Ella and Ruby), complete with our own Cupcake War, Tyler getting braces, Ella going to basketball and volleyball camp, boating (Ella and Ruby learned to knee board!), High Adventure, and socializing. It is so nice to have a break from the busy pace of life during the school year!
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Our Europe trip!
Three days after school ended, we embarked on quite an adventure. We decided to take stand-by travel to the next level (international travel!), and we set our sights on Germany. The kids really wanted to get back there to see our old house, eat at our old favorite restaurants, and see some of the old sights. After watching the flights for months, we felt like we had a great chance of getting there and getting home. So we decided to go for it! We packed our carry-on bags and hit the road. I will give the trip highlights here:
Day 1: Flew to JFK. We had 7 hours before our flight to Europe departed, so we left our bags at the USO and headed into Manhattan for pizza. The weather was beautiful, and it was a fun way to spend a few hours. Once we arrived back at the airport, we learned that the flight we were hoping to get on, to Frankfurt, was delayed an hour or more. We were ready to get going! So on a whim we decided to check in with the Brussels flight. After some finagling, we learned that there were 6 open seats on that flight - 4 of them in 1st class! That sealed the deal for me! We sent the boys back to coach (sorry guys!), and enjoyed an awesome overnight flight. The food and fully-reclining seats were just the best. Once we landed in Brussels, 4 of us were really rested. :)
Day 2: It still felt like Day 1 to us, but it was morning in Europe. So we'll call this Day 2. Unfortunately, due to changing airports (and countries!) at the last minute, we didn't have time to get a rental car lined up. Turns out, it's not that easy to find a rental car for 6 in Europe! Thankfully, we eventually found a car that fit us, and we hit the road for Germany. It was a 2 hour drive, and the kids slept the entire time. We drove straight to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch - Thai Orchidee (aka, Lightbulb Chicken-Chunk Num-Nuh). Most of us remembered it, and even remembered what we used to order! We then headed to Spangdahlem AB, our old base, where we spent the next three nights in the TLF. We went to the commissary for food (Spencer never emerged from his bed, after making the mistake of lying down), and got settled. We decided to spend the evening in one of our favorite little towns, Bernkastel-Kues. It was just as charming as we remembered. The weather was gorgeous, and we felt like we were living in a dream being back there. For dinner that night we went to Binsfeld and my favorite restaurant Isola Bella (aka, Gianni's). The food was just as fabulous as we remembered! I had missed that Penne Napoli! It was midnight by the time we got back and felt tired enough for bed, and we all slept like rocks that night. It was 11:20am when the first of us woke up!
Day 3: On Day 3 we went to the Cochem Castle. I don't think any of the kids had been to this castle before, although I had, and it was one of the prettiest in the area. It was so much fun to spend the day in this cute little town and castle! We dined on Spaghetti Eis while we were there, and saved our real appetite for the German restaurant we were planning to eat at that night. Sadly, many restaurants had closed in the 8 years since we lived there, but we found a nice place to get some quality schnitzel and bubbly water. The kids love German food! We also drove by the hospital where Ruby was born, and we used the force (and several attempts) to navigate ourselves to our old church building. What a stroll down memory lane.
Day 4: Today we hit the road for Paris! Ruby is our Paris girl, with a whole closet full of Paris shirts and jewelry. So today was for Ruby - our child born in Germany, but with no memories of our time there. Let me suffice it to say that the traffic was horrendous (we were unaware that the EuroCup kicked off in Paris the day we arrived!), we very nearly got lost forever, are pretty sure we got scammed out of some money, and had Bryan swearing that he'd never return to that city. But aside from all that, the kids loved Paris! Mostly the crepes, but also just seeing things they'd only heard of or that they vaguely remembered. Once we found our hotel, we headed into downtown Paris for dinner and sightseeing. We ate the same creperie that we ate at 10 years earlier, and although it was a rip-off, it was quite good. We hit the Eifel Tower at dusk, and we took approximately 1 million pictures. We ate more crepes at the base of the Eifel Tower, as the lights began to twinkle. Doesn't get much better than that!
Day 5: For our second and last day in Paris, we did a walking tour of the other major sights in the city. We went to the Louvre and to the Notre Dame Cathedral, and we ate Croque Monseir's and macaroons. We eventually started the drive back to Germany, and again...it was rough. The traffic!! We made it to Trier as it was getting dark, and literally sprinted to the kebab restaurant we remembered there. Those kebabs made it all worthwhile! And the gelato, which we ate beneath the Porta Nigra in Trier. Another favorite town!
Day 6: Today was the highlight of our trip! We got to spend the afternoon and evening with our old friends and landlords, Peter and Maria, and family. We had a barbecue in our old house, so we got to tour our old rooms, and see how it differs from our memories. The kids LOVED being back at the farm! The boys remembered all the adventures they used to have there, and the girls enjoyed being able to experience it for the first time. The greatest part of living in Germany was living in this house on the farm. It was the chance of a lifetime to go back!
Day 7: Our last day! We woke up early and headed back to Brussels, and had no issues making it on the flight back to the states. Thankfully! No 1st class seats this time around, but we were just fine in coach. Once we landed in NYC, however, we learned that the flight back to San Antonio was full. Bummer! I'll make a long story short here. After a few different ideas and attempts, we ended up flying to Minneapolis, hoping to get a flight home the next day. Well, that flight did not pan out, and was full by noon. The thought of spending another day in an airport, wondering if we would make it out the next day, was just exhausting to think about. Plus, we needed to get home! So...we rented a van and drove 18 hours straight to get to our house. It was a real low. And an expensive low (more than the rest of our trip combined!). But I know we'll end up just remembering the awesome week we had in Europe, and will likely be crazy enough to try something like that again soon!
Day 1: Flew to JFK. We had 7 hours before our flight to Europe departed, so we left our bags at the USO and headed into Manhattan for pizza. The weather was beautiful, and it was a fun way to spend a few hours. Once we arrived back at the airport, we learned that the flight we were hoping to get on, to Frankfurt, was delayed an hour or more. We were ready to get going! So on a whim we decided to check in with the Brussels flight. After some finagling, we learned that there were 6 open seats on that flight - 4 of them in 1st class! That sealed the deal for me! We sent the boys back to coach (sorry guys!), and enjoyed an awesome overnight flight. The food and fully-reclining seats were just the best. Once we landed in Brussels, 4 of us were really rested. :)
Day 2: It still felt like Day 1 to us, but it was morning in Europe. So we'll call this Day 2. Unfortunately, due to changing airports (and countries!) at the last minute, we didn't have time to get a rental car lined up. Turns out, it's not that easy to find a rental car for 6 in Europe! Thankfully, we eventually found a car that fit us, and we hit the road for Germany. It was a 2 hour drive, and the kids slept the entire time. We drove straight to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch - Thai Orchidee (aka, Lightbulb Chicken-Chunk Num-Nuh). Most of us remembered it, and even remembered what we used to order! We then headed to Spangdahlem AB, our old base, where we spent the next three nights in the TLF. We went to the commissary for food (Spencer never emerged from his bed, after making the mistake of lying down), and got settled. We decided to spend the evening in one of our favorite little towns, Bernkastel-Kues. It was just as charming as we remembered. The weather was gorgeous, and we felt like we were living in a dream being back there. For dinner that night we went to Binsfeld and my favorite restaurant Isola Bella (aka, Gianni's). The food was just as fabulous as we remembered! I had missed that Penne Napoli! It was midnight by the time we got back and felt tired enough for bed, and we all slept like rocks that night. It was 11:20am when the first of us woke up!
Day 3: On Day 3 we went to the Cochem Castle. I don't think any of the kids had been to this castle before, although I had, and it was one of the prettiest in the area. It was so much fun to spend the day in this cute little town and castle! We dined on Spaghetti Eis while we were there, and saved our real appetite for the German restaurant we were planning to eat at that night. Sadly, many restaurants had closed in the 8 years since we lived there, but we found a nice place to get some quality schnitzel and bubbly water. The kids love German food! We also drove by the hospital where Ruby was born, and we used the force (and several attempts) to navigate ourselves to our old church building. What a stroll down memory lane.
Day 4: Today we hit the road for Paris! Ruby is our Paris girl, with a whole closet full of Paris shirts and jewelry. So today was for Ruby - our child born in Germany, but with no memories of our time there. Let me suffice it to say that the traffic was horrendous (we were unaware that the EuroCup kicked off in Paris the day we arrived!), we very nearly got lost forever, are pretty sure we got scammed out of some money, and had Bryan swearing that he'd never return to that city. But aside from all that, the kids loved Paris! Mostly the crepes, but also just seeing things they'd only heard of or that they vaguely remembered. Once we found our hotel, we headed into downtown Paris for dinner and sightseeing. We ate the same creperie that we ate at 10 years earlier, and although it was a rip-off, it was quite good. We hit the Eifel Tower at dusk, and we took approximately 1 million pictures. We ate more crepes at the base of the Eifel Tower, as the lights began to twinkle. Doesn't get much better than that!
Day 5: For our second and last day in Paris, we did a walking tour of the other major sights in the city. We went to the Louvre and to the Notre Dame Cathedral, and we ate Croque Monseir's and macaroons. We eventually started the drive back to Germany, and again...it was rough. The traffic!! We made it to Trier as it was getting dark, and literally sprinted to the kebab restaurant we remembered there. Those kebabs made it all worthwhile! And the gelato, which we ate beneath the Porta Nigra in Trier. Another favorite town!
Day 6: Today was the highlight of our trip! We got to spend the afternoon and evening with our old friends and landlords, Peter and Maria, and family. We had a barbecue in our old house, so we got to tour our old rooms, and see how it differs from our memories. The kids LOVED being back at the farm! The boys remembered all the adventures they used to have there, and the girls enjoyed being able to experience it for the first time. The greatest part of living in Germany was living in this house on the farm. It was the chance of a lifetime to go back!
Day 7: Our last day! We woke up early and headed back to Brussels, and had no issues making it on the flight back to the states. Thankfully! No 1st class seats this time around, but we were just fine in coach. Once we landed in NYC, however, we learned that the flight back to San Antonio was full. Bummer! I'll make a long story short here. After a few different ideas and attempts, we ended up flying to Minneapolis, hoping to get a flight home the next day. Well, that flight did not pan out, and was full by noon. The thought of spending another day in an airport, wondering if we would make it out the next day, was just exhausting to think about. Plus, we needed to get home! So...we rented a van and drove 18 hours straight to get to our house. It was a real low. And an expensive low (more than the rest of our trip combined!). But I know we'll end up just remembering the awesome week we had in Europe, and will likely be crazy enough to try something like that again soon!
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