Tuesday, January 4

Another of Brenna's new dresses - she wore this one to school today.

my little performer and her singing...

so sweet...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Not to much to blog about today, but wanted to get a post up for Divine Miss Gammy and wish her a happy birthday - hope you have a great one!!! We love you!!! (Brenna can't wait for you to come up and play with her toys - she has asked everyday this week if you are coming - I finally put it on her calendar today so that she can count down to Saturday). We had a great time shopping and spending time with you on Sunday - hope you had as much fun as we did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENz9x1-dfmE - Happy Birthday!!

Take Care!

Sunday, July 18

We spent our day today at Europa Park - Doesn't Brenna look like she was having fun?? She looked awesome with the face painting, but really wasn't too much into having her picture taken today (I have lots of pictures that I tried to "sneak" but not many looking at the camera with smiles, lol).

My attempt of "If you smile for me really well, I will put down the camera" - it worked pretty well :-)

laughing at something Daddy told her...

Right after Brenna got her face painted...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are going well here. The rains came on Saturday and it is much cooler here now :-) It is going to warm up some this week, but hopefully not back to the 100 degree weather we had this past week.

I am working on sewing Brenna's teachers each an apron - hopefully, those will be finished early this week so that I can give them to them this week (Brenna's kindergarten goes until the 29th). I have one of the apron's finished, the other two are in process, so it is looking promising to have them finished on time.

Yesterday, we drove to Innsbruck, Austria and Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Our weather wasn't the best, but we decided to take the chance on traveling yesterday. Our driving weather to Innsbruck wasn't too bad - mainly cloudy. But, after about 20 minutes in Innsbruck - this is what our weather changed into:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAxn_i1HFow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kmysrtm7TA

Our shoes were all soaked by the time we left Innsbruck. We tried to find some new socks before leaving as we thought we might walk around in Liechtenstein, but there were a lot of stores in Innsbruck that closed before 3 pm on Saturday (although the Swarovski store was open - lucky Brenna - she got a keychain and a new necklace (for when she is older)). So, we got in the car and drove to Vaduz, but the weather was pouring, our socks and shoes were all wet and we had Justice with us - so our only stop in Liechtenstein was a bathroom break in McDonalds. We drove through Switzerland on our way home - the weather was rainy and we were all ready to be home when we arrived back at our house at 10 pm.

Today, we drove south in Germany to Europa Park. The park was celebrating its 35 year anniversary this week. Brenna really enjoyed the park - although she was ready to see princesses (hmm, have we conditioned her to amusement parks including princesses and Mickey Mouse???). Brenna decided to wear the purple dress I made her - it looked so cute on her and the weather was comfortable to wear it (about 78 - 80 F ). I will try to remember more for posting tomorrow about our weekend travels - my brain doesn't seem to be functioning as well as I would like, lol!

Take Care!

Monday, July 12

I can't believe we have only 3 weekends remaining here in Germany before we fly back to Ohio!!!! How our time here has flown by (even when I am complaining about my 94 degree apartment - that was the temperature in my apartment on Saturday - yuck!!!). So, I'm sure there will be lots of pictures in the next 25 days (I know you are all surprised, lol!). We (or probably me to be more correct) voted to go to Disneyland Paris one last time - this is really my favorite vacation here in our time - I loved all the cities, but as a parent I love someplace that Brenna gets to pick what we do and is constantly entertained :-) We found Minnie twice at the park (I think it is great that she wanted to see Minnie this time over Mickey - we had her select which mouse she wanted to see first this time and she chose Minnie :-) - she did a great job with both and even wore here Minnie ears both times (she actually smiled great with all of the characters, but she unfortunetly didn't want any pictures with Dustin or I...). I made her this summer dress - it has dog paw prints all over, but it sure looks great with Minnie ears :-) The dress is a simple wrap dress - I was impressed that I made it from a German pattern (although I did make my own motifications as reading a German pattern is a pretty big challenge for me...)

The picture below makes me laugh - Brenna was being silly and moved toward the camera right before I took the picture - it just looks so cute to me :-)

Brenna's favorite ride - the teacups... My stomach is still recovering from Dustin and her spinning it so fast, lol!!!

Today, Brenna had her school field trip. It was a hot day for the hike in the woods, but I think the kids did pretty well. Brenna was probably the luckiest as both Dustin and I went and Dustin let her ride on his shoulders for a large portion of the walk. (o.k. - note to Americans, a short hike in German terms and my terms are two entirely different things - I know the kids can handle it, but it was still pretty challenging to have a group of 3 - 6 years hike for 2 1/2 hours in 90 degree heat - everyone was really ready for the ice cream treats at the end that is for sure!)

I loved the signs at the castle this morning (that was our meeting point) - the top is the name of the Castle - Burg Windeck and the bottom sign asks that you please keep your dog on the leash.

Brenna playing with sticks with one of her best friends right before the hike started (the kids played for about 2 hours before the hike - I'm sure most will sleep good tonight)...

the view of our town

the view of the castle - oh, finally, the walk is almost done. (We were lucky enough about 30 minutes from our cars to meet a group of men trimming trees in the woods - they gave a small group of parents (and kids) a ride back to the cars and then they came back for more kids. The teachers and I finished the whole walk rather than ride - it was my last opportunity to walk it and I'm glad that I got a chance to enjoy more of the views even in the heat.)

Uh, oh - the result of all this heat and so much hair - another hot spot on Justice and this time a cone on his head - poor guy. I had hoped he would stay cooler at the kennel - but I know he misses us when we are gone (not sure what his biggest cause of hot spots is - I do think he digs more at himself when he is bored or anxious, but I'm sure all the hair and heat don't help him out).

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are still hot, hot, hot here. Tomorrow looks to be promising for some cooler weather, but it looks like Wednesday will heat right back up again (they are predicting almost 100 degrees) :-(

Yesterday, we all enjoyed a very enjoyable day at Disneyland Paris. Brenna was great all day - behaved well on the train ride, in all the lines, and loved all the characters. The characters (especially the princesses) amaze me always with their language skills - we stood in line for an hour to see a princess (Belle) and watching the princesses, I think they talked with all of the kids and I know that there was french, spanish, and english in the line. The photographer at the princesses even gave Brenna a front of the line pass for the next photo line (those things are awesome - wish we would have had one to jump the line at the princesses!). So, after the princesses, we walked over to Woody's Roundup and found Minnie, Mickey, and Woody - awesome (especially with Brenna's pass even though there wasn't really a line...) I think we managed to slow Brenna down with some frozen treat breaks in the day, but it was still hot at the park (but not as horrible as I feared, especially when we found an airconditioned restraunt in Frontierland - can I move there until the heat wave ends???) We caught the English version of Playhouse Disney after seeing Minnie in the morning at Walt Disney Studios - Brenna just loved it (we only caught the French one last time). Here are a couple links to our video of her at the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfZMhLnRcJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtshBcWfB5I

After lunch at Walt Disney Studios, we jumped back over to Disneyland Park to see the princesses and ride on the teacups (Brenna was our guide - can you tell??). We rode most of Brenna's favorite rides in the afternoon (although she chose not to ride the Carousel - I can hardly believe that happened!). We had a chance to ride on Dumbo (we missed it the other two times - although I still didn't ride it, my stomach was toasted by that point - Dustin and Brenna did me in at the teacups (or maybe the heat did it)).

We didn't get a chance to stay for the parade this trip, but Brenna didn't seem to mind (what a little trouper).

This morning we all went on Brenna's class field trip. It was a "small" hike through the woods. I am impressed with how well all the kids did hiking - I think today's walk was long for the adults in this heat, let alone the small kids (although I can't say the hike was really that much different than us spending all day out on Sunday at an amusement park - there were breaks and plenty of water was drank by all). The kids were all re-energized after their ice cream break at the end of the day, so I would say the walk was successful.

Well, I think that is about it for the last couple days. Hopefully, Justice will recover quickly so that we can enjoy our upcoming weekend travel (we are planning to take him with us this time).

Take Care!

Monday, May 24

Some views from the parks - here are our last pictures from Disney today (hmmm - only had a "few" favorites, lol). I'm trying to get some video up this morning too - hope it works :-)

The park during the magic hours - oh, so nice (below)

The restraunt for the Princess Luncheon below - I think we all agreed it was worth it - good food and princesses and princes - what could be better?? (except for cotton candy - that is what Brenna kept wanting to eat the whole meal).

Tower at Sleeping Beauty's castle

Another view with the magic hours - not many people out early :o) Brenna loved it - she rode all her favorite rides twice in the morning!

Views from the parade - Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip

Beauty and the Beast

Tiana (it was hard to get a good picture of Tiana - they always had them in a shady spot and I never adjusted my camera right for it (I think I had to try to take some of the shadow away in all the pictures in photoshop)). But, they looked really good and were really nice when we did the group picture (although Brenna was much more reserved the second day with the characters than on the first day).

Cinderella and her prince

Another of Sleeping Beauty and Prince

Snow White and her prince

Scar

Eeyore

Some dancers - I just loved this guys smile :-)

Hmm - this guy's expressions just didn't quite live up to the other guys...

Woody and Jessie - we never even made it over to their side of the park - Brenna had too much fun in Fantasyland

Toy Story

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Today are our last pictures from Disney (and hopefully some video as well). Our spot for the parade was great - we had a view of all the dances and Brenna loved seeing all the characters - I'm sure I heard "look mom, look mom" several dozen times during the parade. We had such a great time, we may have to go back for one more day before we leave - hmm - who knows! Dustin flew to the US yesterday - not sure how his flight was, but it was on-time, so hopefully traffic was light and he made it to Chippewa Lake in good time. Brenna is going to have Daddy withdrawl this week - she was ready to come home from our walk yesterday afternoon and see him....

It was a pretty quiet day here yesterday (Brenna was a little grumpy yesterday, so we just went to the park and then on our walk with Justice). Maybe we will go out today, just depends on how Brenna is feeling today... Brenna wore her adorable pink dress to the park yesterday, but wouldn't let me photograph her at all. She is much more interested in others taking her picture than in me taking her picture at the moment, bummer... Brenna has decided to be my dishwasher here lately - she loves helping with all the dishes :-) (or playing with the suds and water - but at least things are getting clean).

Anyways - here are some videos from our trip:

Princesses in the parade - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vku916d9gPY

Brenna's room tour - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pvwN8n5hSQ (I found this funny)

Room tour continued - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ce0xJimGnk

It's a Small World - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4Q--xXI5c

It's a Small World (part 2) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzuODtPMXW4

It's a Small World (part 3) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noMVhnZKJ8E

Well, that is it for this morning! Take Care!

Monday, April 12

Brenna being "cheesy" in the back seat of the car. Don't you just love the upside down sunglasses??

Brenna loves the German bathrooms - I think her favorite part may be that they have a special door for her to go through :-)

Spargel feeds in Germany (basically white asparagus - but a specialty of our region)

o.k. - hopefully you won't be bored by all my pictures of the zoo animals today. The Basel zoo (where we went on Saturday) advertises that you are close to the animals - I think by my pictures, you can see that the zoo is a great place to take animal pictures if you are interested. Our weather was perfect for the day at the zoo - around 60 and sunny the whole day :-)

above, the monkeys - Brenna said they were her favorite this trip :-) Brenna showing off her great smile below :-)

One of the kids areas had big rocks for the kids to climb on - I think Brenna could have stayed all day.

Don't you love the pink shoes?? Brenna is all about wearing jeans right now - the hello kitty pair she has are my favorites :-)

the penguins always seem like they are modeling for the pictures, lol

Brenna holding her "camera" for the day (she really has a good imagination)

Brenna taking a picture with her car (um, I mean "camera", lol)

There were lots of baby goats at the zoo, but they all seemed to have their backs to me, so here was my best picture of one...

Brenna showing all of us the little bruise on her chin (she fell at the playground here in town)

Brenna's reaction to one of the animals pooping in front of her

(the guilty animal just before going to the bathroom, lol)

Hello All!!!

So, I have a ton of pictures today to share from the Basel zoo, so I'm going to try to keep my writing short. We had a great day at the zoo on Saturday - the weather was perfect for me (and great day to see all the animals). Brenna loves the zoo and seeing all the animals, so it was a great way to enjoy a nice day outside as a family. It is amazing to think now that we are only 1 1/2 hour drive to Switzerland currently - I am going to miss how close we are to great sites.... (also amazing to think how quickly 1 1/2 hour goes in the car after spending so much time in the car in Ireland...).

We stayed around home on Sunday - it rained off and on, so not much fun stuff outdoors (although we did all make a trip to the ice cream shop here in town). Justice got his weekend walks, so he was pretty happy about that (unfortunetly for him, he has a nasty hot spot on his side - we have him in one of my old t-shirts right now to try to minimize his licking it, but he doesn't seem to mind wearing the shirt). After cleaning in the morning on Sunday, I did get started on some of my sewing projects, but none of them are at a picture point yet - but hopefully they will be soon (hmm, I seem to have quiet a few projects going at the same time - never a good idea for finishing stuff). Brenna and I tried to make it outside for the rainbow yesterday, but it faded so quickly, that I am pretty sure that Brenna missed it - bummer.

Brenna was off to school today, so I spent some time getting ready for my sewing (yuck, ironing) - it is amazing how much time it takes to prepare to do sewing some days. We took Justice for a nice walk this afternoon (even though there were grey skies).

I have raved about the toilets at the Sanifar roadside rests here in Germany to people (these are so nice and clean - I am happy to pay the 50 cents to use them) that I finally took a video of the self-cleaning toilets. Why doesn't the US have these yet??? So, if you want to see the coolest toilet - the seat rotates and is cleaned - check out our video today (I promise there isn't any pee or poop in the toilet, just videoed from flushing to the cleaning).

Toilet video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJcrxGiuLdc

Well, I think that is about it today!

Take Care!