Baden Baden and the Black Forest

On Saturday I went with the Cates to see the city of Baden Baden (a city in the Black Forest famous for their 1700 year old Roman baths) and to explore the Black Forest (in German pronounced Schwarzwald).

We stopped to visit a quaint little village in the middle of the forest and hiked half a mile to see a pretty waterfall.

The Black Forest was beautiful! Soo many trees. 

I discovered a new photo program called www.picnik.com that's very similar to PhotoShop, but web-based and much easier to use! I've been having some fun editing my photos with it :)

Whitney ist Schwimmen!

HOT HOT German Summer...

The kids and I started a Summer project...an herb garden. There's no yard here, so the window sill and a couple pots will have to do for our chives, peppermint, sage, rosemary, peas, and thyme. Here are some baked fries we made with our freshly harvested herbs. Delicious!

We all can't get enough of the pool. I'm teaching Whitney how to swim and it's AMAZING to see her progress! She can already jump in herself and swim to me (see video) and it's only been a couple weeks of dedicated effort! She's just like me as a child! First one in, last one out. :)

It's been in the 90s lately so I'm always trying to find an excuse to convince the kids to go outside in our little courtyard outside the front door to "water the plants" or "check on things"...so that I can rain down water balloons from my third floor window! Then I point them to their own stash so they can have their own war. They're always surprised and always love it.

Ke'ala and Brad's Wedding

I'm so so sad I missed my dear friends Ke'ala and Brad's wedding reception in Santa Barbara. They've been together since high school and it was only a matter of time before they tied the knot! I jacked this photo from a mutual friend on facebook and played around with this to create my own interpretation of what I imagine their wedding were like :]

 I wish you both the best, and I know you both know I would have been there if I could! Aloha.

Misc. Cuteness

Summer Fort Building. Stage 1.

.....to be continued.

Worms!

Bonanza Park!

Chores. Pipi Longstocking style. Bumping music and "skating" on rags and sponges.

The kids could do these "funny pictures" for hours. They seriously beg to!

Munchen

I had a three day weekend, and since I couldn't spend my 4th of July with my friends and family, BBQing, playing flip cup, listening to oldies and watching the fireworks at "the club" whilst my mother sang the National Anthem, I thought a weekend of travel was in order. At the last minute I decided to take a 3 1/2 hour train to Munich since I'd never been there and had heard it was lovely. Indeed it was!

My hostel in Munich. I got my own room, I couldn't hang with the idea of a 12 person co-ed dorm (with no age limit...I saw men my fathers age walking around with beers in the lobby...eek).

Munchen Subway wait.

Munchen Subway car.

Munchen at night. (Casinos and "candy bars" everywhere)

I met these French students at my hostel and they convinced me to go to a disco with them until the wee hours. They spoke French and German and a little English but they were loving practicing on me and asking me 100s of questions.  I had a great time with the Frenchies!

They all asked me if I had Facebook, and luckily I always carry a little notebook around with me. I awoke the following morning to a list of French names requesting my friendship. Haha I had loads of fun with them.

Marianplaz.

OMG. I found sushi!! Take away randomish sushi, but not sketchy and still sushi. I was in heaven! NO one eats it here in Germany!  This was the first I've found since being in Germany (aside from in London, obviously).

St. Peter's Cathedral outside and inside. Glorious.

The ceiling of the cathedral. SO beautiful.

Munich, in Baveria, is THE land of Lederhosen.

Before I left I had to try my first Apple Strudel.

Mom stopped by on her way back from India to visit!! :D

My mom was lucky enough to turn her layover in Frankfurt into a mini 31/2-day vacation enroute back from her missions trip in the bowls of India. It was SO great to see her and show her a glimpse of my life over here! She couldn't wait to meet the Cates, and she found adored them as much as I do, and them her!

She talked her way into a free upgrade to first class (of course) on her 10 hour red eye flight and arrived Sunday morning well rested and ready to go. Mind you she is the farthest thing from a sports fan as they come, but today was the day Germany played England in the World Cup, so I knew immediatly that we needed to place ourselves in Mannheim to watch, cheer on, and witness the passion.

Pictures nor words can't describe the level of passion and joy radiating through the air as we perched at the packed pub and watched the game. When Germany would score you couldn't even hear yourself think. It was moving for me, but I'm sure it was just giving my mom a headache, she was loving the passion though!

Unsure what to make of all the cheering, celebrating, honking and screaming that was going on post-Germany win (4-1 for those of you that live in caves).

We stopped for a pint to take in the madness. See that tiny rainbow flag up next to Eichbaum (the local beer)? Yeah we discovered that after we got our Heffs and the men start dancing from their hips.

Here's the water tower of Mannheim where after the win people were mad with joy and trashed beyond speaking. We took a few silly photos like this, Mom brought the local paper from home in hopes of submitting a photo with the paper in Germany to be featured. I wish you could better see what was going on and the thousands of people congregating to celebrate behind us!

She came along with the kids and I to Hemsbach Lake to sun, swim and picnic. I was so happy to bring her along to a special where we spend many hours (and will so more this Summer). We spent hours there and had a blast relaxing in the beautiful scenery, warm sun and refreshing pool with the kids.

We went with Amy and the kids to Worms, so we could see the breathtaking 1000s+ year old cathedral and walk the city where Martin Luther defended his doctrines.

I knew it was high on the list for my mom to get to see Heidelberg (only 20 minutes drive from where I live) as she had heard about it most of her life since her father's relatives immigrated from there. She also recalls her parents visiting there for an anniversary and one of the few trips they ever took together. Naturally she was intrigued to walk where her family had lived and visited before, and so was I.

A painting we spotted portraying Heidelberg, photos just don't do this breathtaking little city justice! But this little painting helps capture the quaint picturesqueness of Heidelberg.

Tour of Heidelberg Castle.
My pretty Mama overlooking Heidelberg and the Rhine River from the castle.

Hahaha this photo make me laugh. This is in front of the biggest barrel of wine in Europe (maybe the world? I don't remember) located in the cellar of Heidelberg Castle.

My family does live themselves Mercedes so on our way back to Huttenfeld we stopped where the first Mercedes Benz was built by Carl Benz in the 1920s (and named after his daughter Mercedes). There's now a museum there with Mercedes of all years and types!

Holding a photo of Carl Benz.

The kids loved her!! I wasn't surprised. They crowned her their new "Aunt Kimmee", it was adorable!! They miss her already and so do I!