Granddad's Back!

Last year, my Dad had a conference for work in San Diego, CA that he attended and was able to stop by Columbus, OH for a little rendezvous with us on the way back to Germany.  This year he was able to attend that same conference and make another stop in Cbus to visit!  The best part about this last visit was my brother was able to fly into town for a couple days to see my Dad too!  I can't remember the last time the three of us were together, so it was so nice to just be able to enjoy each other's company!

Trav, Bri, and Dad!  ♥ them!

Grocery shopping for taco night!

My Dad is an outstanding cook!

Travs shows us all how to pose!

Taco night was a staple for my Dad, Travis and I.  We
always looked forward to it!

Tacos dressed to perfection!

We're a fine looking bunch!

Jack once again thought that my Dad was there specifically to see him.  Sometimes I think my Dad is a dog whisperer and I kind of want him to take Jack and train him so that he walks next to us, doesn't bark at the animals on tv, listens to what we say, (fill in the blank here).  But then I'm reminded of the old adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  Even though Jack is only almost 5 in human years, that's still approximately 33 in dog years.  I think he is set in his ways now.

And Kate warmed up after a little while to Granddad too!

Look at Mama and smile!

A Granddad and his Granddaughter!  

Fortunately, I was able to take some vacation time off again while my Dad was in town, so we got to spend some good quality time together which included lots of pool play!  Kate has been LOVING the pool this summer!

Jack?  Water?

Why won't he drink it, Mama?!

I heart this!

I've mentioned this before but I love when we have visitors at our house. It allows us to focus 100% on them and it's really nice to be able to keep Kate on her schedule/have her sleep in her own bed.  We've learned that less disruption of schedules = more predictability!

I miss my Dad already and can't wait to see him again soon.  Sometimes Germany feels so far away.

Love you, Dad!

Our Visit with Granddad

My Dad lives in Germany, so we don't get to see him very often.  As a matter of fact, the last time we saw him was in May of 2011 when we took our Europe Trip.  We miss him a lot and the time just goes way to fast to not be seeing each other more.  Lucky for us, he was in San Diego, CA for a conference this year and made a pit stop on his way back to Germany to stay with us for almost a week and meet his very first Granddaughter!

It took Kate a few days to warm up, but she finally did!

I ♥ this.

We haven't been doing a ton other than hanging out together, enjoying some delicious food (thanks, Dad!), and relaxing.  It has been exceptionally hot so far and Brian and I have still had to work for some of his visit, so we're are enjoying our togetherness more than we are sight seeing.  Jack is most definitely enjoying my Dad's stay here.  As a matter of fact, I think Jack believes that my Dad came to visit him and no one else.  This is exactly how Jack feels when Tom, Brian's stepdad, visits too.

We are going to do our best to not make the next visit two years from now.  It is just too long, and a girl needs to see her Dad (and Granddad) more often than that!  For now, we will enjoy the time we have together in Ohio!

Haribo Heaven!

I know I've mentioned this before, but I seriously would move to Germany based solely on the gummy selection, and I am not kidding.

Haribo is everywhere!  It is not only everywhere, but it is also always accompanied by the greatest selection. And they are all amazing!


Here is an example of the Haribo selection, at a gas station, mind you!

And here is an example of the gummy selection at the train station!

Now that I think about it, perhaps it is better that I don't have the daily temptation...!

A Proper Cahstle

We started the day off going nearly 146 miles per hour down the unlimited speed zone of the German autobahn in my Dad's Z06.  OMG!  I realized that I have no need for speed, and riding in a car that was going that fast scared the living daylights out of me!  (Not my Dad's driving, that is, but the fact that you have absolutely no idea what other cars are going to do.)  His Corvette is the hottest, sexiest, sweetest ride I have ever riden in, and probably ever will for that matter!  We each took a turn in the passengers seat, and braced ourselves for the rides of our lives!  It's an incredible car, and it is unbelievable how fast it accelerates from zero!  Thanks for sharing your toy with us, Dad!

After our lighting speed, we drove down to the Hechingen area of Germany (in a regular car) and visited the Hohenzollern Castle.  This has got to be the most proper castle we have ever seen!  It is situated smack dab on the top of a hill that overlooks all the land around it.  It is complete with proper crenelated walls, towers, lookouts, sheer dropoffs, and a swirly, twisty, windy route to the top of the castle!  The Hohenzollern family really perfected midieval castle architecture, and it is evident in this castle!

It was a beautiful, relaxing day, and a wonderful way to spend our last day in Germany together with my Dad.  Tomorrow we are off to the Czech Republic to visit the wonderful city of Prague!

Heidelberg, Not to be Confused with Hindenburg...

Yesterday, Brian and I headed to Heidelberg, Germany - a great walled city situated right along the River Neckar about an hour and fifteen minutes away from Stuttgart.  We hopped in my Dad's car, set the Garmin to Heidelberg Castle and started on our way!  Surprisingly, the Garmin lead us right up to zee cahstle.  (Yes, I purposely said 'zee cahstle' expecting it to be read exactly as it sounds because that is how I was talking the entire trip!)  And, not surprisingly, we couldn't park in front of zee cahstle, so we headed down to the market place in the old center area and got a public parking spot.

We could not have planned our parking better.  We were smack dab in the middle of the market place and were certainly impressed with our chance parking!  We were able to walk around town, grab a quick lunch at a Lebanese restaurant called 'Sahara', take a funicular back up to zee cahstle, grab some amazing views from said cahstle, and head back down to the Old Bridge where we were able to grab some more amazing views!

It was cloudy and slightly chilly but not cold enough to prevent us from being touristy!

That night, we when returned back to my Dad's house, we headed to Funzel in Sindelfingen and had some authentic German roast beef, spatzel, sauerkraut, and beer!  It was probably the best meal we have had so far!  But, we decided that the next time that we eat at Funzel we will probably split one dish!  The portions were humongous!

Today, we headed to the Koenigstrasse, the downtown area of Stuttgart.  We went to the Schlossplatz, the largest square in the center of the city, and home of the Neues Schloss (New Cahstle).  It was very chilly today, and we were happy with the decision to scratch our original plans of heading into Strasbourg, France, with a relaxing day in Stuttgart.  We'll have to save Strasbourg for our next visit!

Tonight, we went to Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires), a musical at the Palladium Theater, where I, once again, got in trouble for taking a picture before the show had even started.  I'm beginning to notice that cameras are not allowed in more places than I have originally recalled!  The musical was entirely in German, but it was fantastic and highly entertaining!  We may have missed the funny one liners, as was evident when the audience broke out into laughter and the three of us just sat there in silence with our eyes transfixed on the scene, but we got the jist of the story, and it was a great performance!  What made it even better was the song that we instantly recognized from the play!  We heard the German remake of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", and it was definitely entertaining knowing the lyrics but hearing them in German!

We've just been having so much fun on vacation!

Schnitzel und Sausage

We have arrived in Stuttgart, Germany!!

Today we took the train from Switzerland and met my Dad at the train station.  He picked us up, and we dropped our stuff off at the house and took a quick trip to Bebenhausen to check out the old monastery.  Bebenhausen monastery is quite pretty.  It was founded in the 12th century, long before anything that we have in the States, and it was cool to be able to walk around an area that has so much history!

After we toured Kloster Bebenhausen, we headed to Schloss Solitude - one of the prettiest 'castles'.  I say 'castle' because it wasn't technically built as a castle.  It was built as a hunting lodge and as a place for quiet and reflection, hence the name 'Castle Solitude'.  Can you imagine just having another residence that you can call your 'quiet' residence?!  One that overlooks Ludwigsburg and that is larger and more grand than your normal residence?!  I can't, but I absolutely love stopping here and pretending to imagine!  The architecture is so beautiful, as are the views, and it is a quick and easy stop from Stuttgart.  If you recall, this was also the venue of choice if we were to get married in Germany!

Tomorrow, Brian and I are headed to Heidelberg, Germany!