Eifel Zoo (Explore the Eifel Day!!!) 7/2/09

Feeding the ducks.

Watching the tiger eat lunch. We got to the zoo just in time to see the tigers getting their lunch, a pile of steaks.

Darin, Alyssa & Hannah.
All three girls had a good time playing together. Darin is three in right in between Alyssa & Hannah.

Alyssa, Daniel & Hannah

Bill and Daniel on the train.

Just look how close we were to the deer.

Mom and her girls on the train!!!

Hannah Ellen

Daniel snoozing.

The girls on the swings along with Bill and Brad.

Alyssa at the top.

Bouncing

More bouncing.

Hannah and Darin.

Alyssa on the wild boar.

Hannah on the wild boar.

Mommy & Daniel by the black bear.

Michelle on the zip cord!!!

Bill on the zip cord!!!

The kids!!!

So, can you find Alyssa & Daniel???

Needless to say we had to do some major organizing after these pictures.

Throwing the ball

Daniel is really getting good at throwing the ball around. He amazes me every day. In the last couple weeks he has learned to sit up by himself from crawling position. He can also traditional crawl as of this week and is now trying to pull himself up on things. At his WIC appointment today he weighed in at 20 pounds 14 ounces and measured 28 1/2 inches long at 7 1/2 months old. We brought the girls to Give Parents a Break Day this evening and Daniel, Bill and myself went out for supper and ice cream afterwards. I was feeding Daniel some of my ice cream and the man working brought him over his very own cone to eat with just a tiny bit of ice cream in it. Daniel really enjoyed eating the cone (and he ate the whole thing), so now when we go out for ice cream we are going to have to get Daniel just a cone. He is turning into such a big boy!!! I hope you enjoy the video!!!

The Kids

6/30/09

Our new sit and spin zebra: Thanks Emma!!!

We got a surprise package in the mail about a month ago. Kristi had emailed me and asked if we would like a sit and spin zebra. I told her Hannah would love it and Daniel too once he got older. Well, a week or two went by and we got this huge box in the mail filled with toys. It was like Christmas for the girls. We just wanted to say thank you again for thinking of us!!!

Our spare bedroom (or second kitchen)

I have been meaning to post pictures of our house here in Germany. So, this room is our spare room/which was originally a kitchen. Our house use to be three apartments, but now is only two. We have the main level and the top level and there is someone below us. I will post more of the house once I take more pictures. I know it is more fun to see pictures of the kids anyway:o)

Bowling: Hannah's first time.

This is actually the first time we have been bowling since we moved to Germany. There is just so much to do off base that we are not really on base to much. We did have a lot of fun and have gone again since then. They have a really nice bowling alley, as you can see there are couches for each lane.

A few final snapshots with Auntie and Uncle...

Alyssa & Uncle Pete

Saying goodbye

Hannah giving Uncle Pete a hug.

Sad Alyssa & Auntie

Auntie giving Daniel a bottle.
We had a great time with Nichole & Pete here in Germany, lots of memories and lots of fun!!!
Now we patiently wait for Grandma and Grandpa M. to come in less than a month!!!

Bitburg Brewery...

Part of the factory

South part of the factory.

This is just a section of all the beer they have lined up around the factory. And that is a whole lot of beer.

Hannah, Bill, Nichole and Pete inside the Bitburger Pils factory.

Hannah Ellen

Part of the process.

Last Day with Auntie and Uncle:o(
Taste testing the beer after the tour. They give each adult 5 drink coupons for after the tour. They even have children's beer, non alcohol of course. I was dd so I just got an apfelschorle along with Nichole and Hannah too. Nichole tried all the non-alcoholic beers as she found out she was pregnant right before we left for Bitburg, so Bill and Pete got to try quite a few different beers. Alyssa stuck to her favorite water.

Reichtberg Castle, Cochem: 6/23/09

Above the village of Cochem and the castle.

View from the castle.

Me, Nichole & Pete

This was our day trip without any children. Luckly the kids didn't come along as it was quite a hike up to the castle. If you look at the top picture we started where the buildings were below the castle. It was also the first castle I have been to that had a guided tour. We did some shopping afterward in the walkplatz and I bought my first pair of German sandals. I did get a little stressed out because of the parking, so we ended up parking quite a ways from the castle in a grocery store parking lot. Usually Bill is along when we go places and he stayed home with the kids. Besides the parking it was a great day!!!