Traveling

Since being in Germany for the past 3 years, we have really gotten to travel all around Europe. It has been such a fun experience and one that I will NEVER forget!!

Here are the places we have been...

France
   - Paris
   - Hike along the German/France border
   - Zoo d'Amneville 
   -Snowhall in Amneville (Indoor skiing/snowboarding)
   -Strasbourg (Christmas Market)
 
Belgium 
   - Brussels (Christmas Market 2011,  2012  & Christmas Eve 2012)
   - Dinant 
   - Brugge (Christmas Market)

Switzerland 
   -Christmas Market 2011

Austria 
   -Salzburg (Sound of Music Tour) Just realized I never blogged about that trip!
   
Germany
   - Heildelberg 
   - Trier
   - Hannover (Oktoberfest)
   - Baden Baden
   - Edelweiss (Garmish)
   -Neuschwanstein Castle
   - Dachau Concentration Camp
   - Homburg
   - Bad Durkheim (Wine Festival)
   -Castle on the Rhine River (Can't remember the name)
   -Weisbaden (Christmas Market)
   - Munich (Oktoberfest)
   -Frankfurt
   -Kaiserslautern
   
Luxembourg 

United Kingdom
   - London 2012 (I will live here one day!)
   - London 2013  Stonehenge, Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey Castle)
   - Bath
 
Scotland 
   - Edinburgh  Holyrood Castle, St. Andrew's, Loch Ness


Places we weren't able to visit...

Italy- Rome, Venice, Florence... :(
Spain
Amsterdam
Prague
Poland
Greece
Norway
Ireland

I am so sad we weren't able to go to Italy but our time and bank account just didn't allow us to visit everywhere we wanted to go. I am so so very thankful that we HAVE been able to travel to the places we have been. I realize that not everyone gets to go places that we have been. I am so thankful that we took the initiative to get out of our house and travel. I know so many people that don't take advantage of the traveling over here.

I am so excited to see what our future holds and the many more places we will get the opportunity to visit!

So long Germany...

In 2 1/2 weeks, we will be moving back to the states. It is very bitter sweet for us. We are beyond sad to leave Germany but looking forward to being closer to family. And Target. And Hobby Lobby. And Chick Fil A. Just to name a few. 

The next couple of weeks are going to be CRAZY! We have lots to do! Pre-inspection, detail and clean our car, ship our car, ship our unaccompanied baggage, ship our goods, DEEP clean our house and have it inspected. I am sure there is something else I am missing. I am not stressed...yet. I am sure it will come soon though. 

There are several things I am going to miss, a few things I won't miss, and several things I look forward to and a few things I am NOT looking forward to. I want to list them all so I can look back in the future and remember this time in my life. 

Things I Am Going To Miss...

• German food, of course!!! The Snitzel, kroketten (fried mashed potatoes), pretzels, doner kabobs, ice cream, bread and the fries. Oh, and the whip cream. 
• The Autobaun. Going 80-90 mph is normal for me.
• Christmas Markets and the Beer/Wine festivals
• The scenery, of course! 
• Traveling to a different country for the day. We have been able to take several day trips to Paris, Belgium, and France. 
• My house...where we brought Ava home from the hospital and raised her for the first year and a half of her life. 
• Our friends. I have made some of the BEST, lifelong friends over here and I am going to miss them SO SO much! 
• Dining out. Eating out in Germany is totally different than in America. It is normal to go out to eat and spend several hours at the restaurant. It is meant to be a relaxing night out. Not a get in a get out kind of thing. 
• The windows. "Awesome" is the best word to describe them. 
• The long summer days when the sun comes up before 6am and doesn't set till after 10pm. 
• The roundabouts! 
• Milka Chocolate and Hippo's. 
• Chocolate Croissants
• The ice cream truck that comes by my house at roughly 6pm every night. 
• Tax being included in the price
• Being able to walk to everything (when we travel to a city)

Things I will NOT miss....

• Mail taking several weeks or even months to get here!!! 
• Going to a German grocery store and forgetting to bring bags...the grocery stores do not provide sacks! Crazy, I know!!! 
• Small. The ovens are small, the parking spaces are small, the cars are small, the bags of chips are small, the roads are small. Everything is just smaller in Europe. 
• AFN! I will NOT miss AFN and their ridiculous commercials and choice of programming. 
• Stores that are closed on Sundays and close at 5pm on week days. Seriously, everything shuts down at 5pm (or earlier) and NOTHING is open on Sundays. Oh, and most stores have about 2 hours during the middle of the day that they are closed. Maybe for a nap? Who knows! 
• The DARK winters. This winter was the darkest winter in 43 years!! Americans probably won't understand but it definitely affects peoples moods. I found myself becoming depressed and didn't even know why and then one day the sun came out and I instantly knew why!! 
• Almost getting run over at the German grocery store. Germans come off as very rude and un-friendly but if you get to know them, they are nice. 

Do you see the difference between the things I will miss and won't miss? There is not much I won't miss! 

Now, on to our trip back to America... (sniff sniff). 

Things I am looking forward to...

• Target, Hobby Lobby, Chick Fil A- its worth mentioning again....
• Variety!!! aka Wal-Mart and fast food restaurants. 
• English speakers
• Driving. I don't know how best to describe this but in Germany, if you are on the autobahn and miss a turn, it could take a good 30 minutes to get back to where you are supposed to go. Directions can also be confusing. 
• Family being closer, of course!!! 
• Regular T.V. and being able to find something good to watch whenever I turn it on.
• Radio!!!! 
• 24-hour stores
• Gas stations every few miles opposed to the ones in Germany that are every 15-30 miles apart! 
• Not being forgotten!!!!!
• American style houses! 
• Air-Conditioning! German houses don't have A/C. 
• Well posted street signs
• Being around non-military people. Don't get me wrong, we love some of our military friends but it will be nice to get out of the "military world" where we are ONLY surrounded by military people. 

Things I am NOT looking forward to...

• Everyone on their iphones or ipads 24/7. This annoys me to no end. This was me about 3 years ago but since living in Germany, my whole perspective has changed. 
• Making new friends
• Being without our stuff for 2 months and living out of suitcases
• Unhealthy eating habits by Americans
• Obama
• The economy
• Moving to a whole new city

Ava is 18 months!

This post is way overdue. Ava turned 18 months old on the 11th while we were in London. She has grown up SO much this month...in personality...not size.

Ava Drew, you weigh around 19 pounds and are 31 inches tall. You wear size 12 month clothes and size 4 diaper and 3 shoe.

You sleep about 12-13 hours at night and take one long nap after lunch which lasts about 2 1/2 hours.

I can never get you to look at the camera and smile for me anymore. I think you were looking out the window and pointing at the birds in this picture.

(Don't be fooled...the weather isn't pretty enough for Ava to be wearing this outfit outside...we were just trying on a few summer outfits!)

You LOVE to talk! You talk all day long. Your vocabulary is expanding by the day! You can now say your name which is "Aya" or "Ada". You can also say 'Bryce' and you try to say 'Liz' which sounds like 'Yiz'.

The only ''toys" you play with now are your baby dolls. You love to 'change their diaper' and 'feed' them and take them potty.

You love dried cranberries and any kind of fruit. Oh, and CHEESE!!! You ask for it at every meal!! You say, "Cheese, pees (please)". How can I say no to that?!

Every time you wet your diaper, you grab your diaper and say "shew-tee tee" and will run to the potty. I guess its about time to start potty training you!

Update: You went tee-tee in your potty the other night all by yourself!!!!! I guess its time to get serious about this potty training business!

Scotland: Part 2

On our second day in Scotland, we first went on a Whisky Tour. It was actually pretty neat! We aren't really into whisky but Bryce really wanted to take the tour and I am glad we did. We got to see how it was made and even got to try a little taste. I was NOT a fan but Bryce liked it.

This is the worlds largest whisky collection. A man collected all of these bottles all by himself. The worth of the collection is unknown.

Then, we walked to the Holyrood Castle. This is the castle that the Queen of England stays in when she comes to Scotland. It was gorgeous and I am so glad we got to visit the castle.

Seriously, this castle is HUGE! 

In the afternoon, we went to World of Illusions. It was so neat and really fun for Ava. Okay, maybe it was more fun for Bryce and I but Ava had fun, too.

The next day, we rented a car and went to St. Andrew's golf course and Loch Ness. St. Andrew's is a really famous golf course and Loch Ness is a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains but there is supposedly a monster that lives in the water. You can google it and see some of the pictures of the 'monster'.

My husband driving on the right side and I am sitting on the left in the passengers seat. SO SO weird!!! It was such a neat experience to be driving on the left side of the road.

St. Andrews was RIGHT on the ocean. I bet it would be gorgeous in the summer but while we were there, it was so cloudy and rainy.. :(

My husband was in HEAVEN!!! I don't think I have ever seen him as excited as he was on that day!

This girl loved riding forward in her carseat for the first time. FYI: The British and Europeans require infants to be forward facing from the time they are born and it is a 90 euro fine if the carseat is not forward.

 It was so hard to get good pictures because we were driving and it was also really cloudy and raining.

This is Loch Ness. Unfortunately, we didn't see the monster. ;)

These pictures just don't do this place justice. It was GORGEOUS...even with the yucky weather!

The next day, we flew home. I was SO ready to be home but we all enjoyed this trip SO much!! Going to London just made us want to live there even more. I am convinced we will live there some day. Shh..don't tell my family that! ;)

Scotland: Part1

On our fifth day of vacation, we packed our bags and got on a 4 hour train ride to Scotland. Ava did great for the first 3 hours but the last hour was a challenge. She was so ready to be off of that train...it was also nap time.

Once we got to Scotland, we walked to our hotel which was only about a 10 minute walk. We dropped off our bags (since our room wasn't clean yet) and strolled the city for the afternoon. We hit up a bunch of souvenir shops and visited the Edinburgh Castle. It was HUGE! We decided to not go in because we had read several reviews that it wasn't worth it. We ate dinner at an Italian pizza place and then called it a night.

This was taken from the train!

This guy was cracking me up. He would jump towards people and growl to try to scare them as they would walk by!

 The sun finally decided to pop out for a few seconds...

London 2013: Part 3

On our fourth day in London, we jumped on a train to Newbury to see the Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey castle)! Y'all, I can not express how excited I was! I have watched all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey and I am a little obsessed. So here it goes.. First, let me give a few details.

Since 1679, the castle has been home to the Carnarvon family. The castle is set on more than 1,000 acres and has at least 50 bedrooms. The man that designed the exterior architecture was the same man that designed the Westminster Palace (Parliament) exterior. The current Lord and Lady Carnarvon (Georgie and Fiona) live on the estate today but do not live in the Highclere Castle. All of the furniture and decor that is in Downton Abbey is the original decor of Highclere Caste, which I thought was neat! One thing that I did notice a difference in was that there were pictures everywhere displayed of the Carnarvon family. It was neat to see all the history of the people that used to rule the estate.

We got to tour the first two floors and to my surprise, there were several rooms that were not shown in Downton Abbey like the Gentleman's room and Woman's room. The Gentleman's room was used for drinking, smoking, and lounging. The Woman's room was a place for morning tea. We didn't get to tour the maids quarters and I am not even sure that the rooms they show on Downton Abbey are really apart of the Highclere castle. They may have filmed it in a different location. I am not certain, though.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside but thanks to the show, you can know exactly what it looks like inside! :)

Ava was happy to be at the Downton Abbey castle ;)

A couple of scenes were filmed here.

I can't believe I am at the Downton Abbey castle!!! Unreal!

Recognize this bench? There are several scenes in Downton Abbey that are filmed here.

This is the entrance to the garden. It wasn't so pretty because none of the flowers were in bloom but I bet it is beautiful in the summer time.

Remember in the show where they have a similar device? This is the original row of bells in Highclere and could best be described as a (dare I say) cell phone? Each bell has a slightly different tone so the maids could tell which part of the house was ringing for them and this device would also show which part of the house was ringing.

We spent 3 hours at the Highclere castle and I could have stayed all day! It was so much fun just to walk around outside with the castle in the background. Once our cab arrived to pick us up, we went to the train stop to catch a train back to London. We ate dinner in London then headed to our hotel to get some sleep because the next morning, we were heading to Scotland!