Two Beautiful Bavarian Cities

This past weekend I convinced my sister Paige that she needed to take Friday (March 18th) off work and come out to play with me.  She got here Thursday night around 10:30 PM which was great because that gave us all day on Friday to play.  The really cool thing was that Hyrum had work off on Friday so we all headed up to Nuremberg.  Hyrum and I had wanted to visit the Nazi Documentation Center museum for a while but we never got the chance so we were excited to finally have a day without the boys to check out the museum.  I totally recommend this museum to anyone, but I think it is more enjoyable without small children.  They give you an English translating handset at the beginning of the tour and the museum itself is well laid out with great photos and well explained displays.  The museum basically explains how the Nazi party came into power and the main characters that were influential during the lead up to Nazi control.

Paige, Julian and I in front of the museum

Daddy and Julian standing on the platform at the Zeppelin Field Rally Grounds.  All the photos one knows of the party rallies with rows and rows and blocks and blocks of soldiers looking alive, listening enraptured to the Führer’s rantings and saluting were taken here. 200,000 people could stand in the square, which was larger than twelve soccer fields, in front of the monumental grandstand with the rostrum.

Another shot of the Rally Ground Grandstand.  The creepiest thing for me was to walk around on this huge structure and think about the people in the concentration camps that were forced to work night and day quarrying granite for these structures.

We ended our trip to Nuremberg with a delicious lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Nuremberg...seriously the best Asian food I have had in Germany!  Friday evening Paige and I took the twins to see Rango at the movie theater.  I'm not sure if I would recommend this film to people taking their children, some of the language was really "colorful" and some of the themes were too adult for the boys to understand.

On Saturday Hyrum spoiled me by offering to watch the kids all day so Paige and I could visit Munich.  Paige had been to Oktoberfest in Munich but hadn't been to see all the other sights this beautiful city has to offer.

We started our sightseeing tour at the Marienplatz, the city square that is dominated by the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall).  And, of course, we waited with anticipation for the glockenspiel to play at the top of the hour.  Just to warn anyone interested in visiting, the glockenspiel is fun to see but definitely nothing to hold your breathe for:)

From Marienplatz we headed toward the art museum...LOOK what we found in a shop window on our way!  Oh yeah, we stopped to sample some of these delicious cakes!  I totally think it's worth the 2 hour drive just to eat one of these confections from Heaven.

Paige on the steps of the Alte Pinakothek art museum.  I was so impressed with the collection of art we were able to see here.  Great artists from the 14th-19th centuries, including Dürer, Raphael, Titian, Rubens and da Vinci.  This museum is the perfect size.  You are able to get a sampling of great art without the saturation you experience in larger art museums.

Albrecht Dürer Self Portrait

 

Raphael's Holy Family at the Canigiani House

Munich is home to the original beer house, the Hofbräuhaus.  We stepped inside to find rows of wooden tables full of Germans enjoying their beer while listening to the oom-pa-pa music being played by the band.  We considered having a bite to eat but decided against it because it was just a bit too lively for our taste...we headed across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe instead:)

After dinner we headed to the Viktualien Markt to have a quick look around.  If you are looking for fresh fruits and vegetables or fresh butchered meat or fresh homemade cheese, this is the place to come.  We weren't hungry at all but it was still a lot of fun to walk around and see the people buying their evening groceries from these local producers.  Besides all the wonderful food stands there were also some stands selling handmade crafts, like these hand painted Easter eggs.

Even though we were both quite full from dinner we just HAD to have a gelato before we got back in the car for the two hour drive.  Gelato and German bread, probably the two things I will miss most when I move back to the States!

So there you have it, two beautiful Bavarian cities in two days.  Don't you want to come and visit?

St. Patricks Day

I am not one of those moms that goes all out for every holiday.  I'm not saying that it's a bad thing if you do that but I just don't have the creativity to come up with fun ideas for the holidays.  This St. Patricks Day I attempted a very limited celebration for the boys.  I hung rainbow streamers in their doorway so when they woke up they could walk through the rainbow, which they thought was so fun.  Hyrum made green crepes for breakfast and we also helped the boys make a trap for the leprechauns.  Nothing spectacular but I think they had fun.

The boys enjoying their crepes and green milk for breakfast.

The leprechaun trap.  The idea was that the leprechaun would see the gold on top of the box, climb the ladder to the top and walk across the box to the gold.  The surprise for the leprechaun was that the box wasn't solid all the way across, that's crepe paper with a big hole underneath.  Pretty tricky right?  The leprechaun broke through the crepe paper and fell into our box but then escaped...we'll have to try again next year:)

A Day on the "Romantic Road"

On Saturday, March 12, the sun was shining and we decided to get out and explore a bit.  We really needed to shake the winter dust off our walking shoes and hit some old towns.  The best preserved medieval city in all of Germany is Rothenberg, lucky for us it's only a two hour drive from our house!  Once in Rothenberg the main attraction, especially for 7 year old boys, is to walk around the entire city on the well preserved city wall.  There are also numerous shops to look into and a relaxing garden to run around.  We enjoyed the warm weather and the historic scenery.

A view of Rothenberg from the city wall.

Emerson and Townsend pose for a photo on the city wall.

Townsend "hanging out" on the city wall.  They can make even the most historic locations jungle gyms!

A vendor was selling fresh pressed apple cider.  We bought one glass for the boys to share but they all loved it so much we ended up buying two more glasses of the delicious juice!

We decided to take a drive on the "Romantic Road" between Rothenberg and Dinkelsbühl.  According to our favorite guide, Rick Steves, "The Romantic Road winds you past the most beautiful towns and scenery of Germany's medieval heartland...Wander through quaint hills and rolling villages, and stop wherever the cows look friendly or a town fountain beckons."  The drive was certainly beautiful.  I loved the sunshine on all the hills and driving through all the small towns where they have family run butcher shops and bakeries.  Our destination was Dinkelsbühl, a town we had heard of from other people but we had never visited ourselves.  Dinkelsbühl is another preserved medieval town with a moat and town wall circling the city.  Unfortunately you can't walk around on the wall but a stroll through the city was lots of fun.  We found a fun playground for the boys to run around and get some wiggles out before we headed home.

The cute town of Dinkelsbühl.

Mommy and Emerson pose on a bridge that crossed over the very deep moat.

Hyrum walked over to Townsend to take his photo and Townsend said, "Daddy, I just need some time by myself right now."  I think he was worn out from all the walking and just needed a little break.

Julian playing at the playground, he loves trying to run and climb like his big brothers.

We had a great day exploring old and new things and just spending time together outside in the sunshine!

Julian Turns Two!

My Little Man Jules

I honestly don't know who "Father Time" thinks he is sneaking through my days, weeks, months and now years with my little man Jules.  Julian is growing up a little too fast for my taste.  He is such a smart little guy.  He doesn't talk much yet but he is very adept at using his own version of sign language to get what he wants.  He LOVES to help me with anything I am doing, especially if it has anything to do with the dishwasher.  He loves to load and unload dishes.  He loves to load the washing machine with clothes.  He loves to "help" me vacuum by pushing the vacuum around the house behind me while I use the hose attachment.  He likes to play with his big brothers but most of the time he tries to stay out of their crazy games.  He loves to go for drives to the hardware store with Hyrum.  Now that the weather is getting a little nicer he loves to be outside.  Even when I start getting a little too cold and want to come into the house he still wants to be outside pushing his little toy giraffe around the yard.  He likes to chase the cat around and sometimes he tries to follow the cat into places only cats should go (ie: a bramble bush in our backyard that the cat likes to crawl under.  The other day I heard Julian calling "mama" from the back yard and I found him stuck amidst the prickers and thorns.  Poor guy, he couldn't go forward or backward...I'm hoping he won't try to follow the cat there in the future!)

What would I do without Julian?  He keeps me company all day while the boys are in school.  He smiles and runs to give me a hug when I have left him with daddy or a babysitter.  He likes to laugh.  He makes me laugh.  I love him from his cute little toes to his floppy blonde hair!


I have put together a little video of Julian from age one to two.  Pay special attention to how diligently he tries to blow out his birthday candles and how proud he looks when they finally blow out...too cute:)