Catching Up (July)

On the Fourth of July we participated in our first Fun Run as a family.  The kids had a blast and they all got medals.  Marcus still asks to see his from time to time.  We also attended the on post Independence Day Celebration, but I didn't get any pictures.  

The next day we headed to Grafenwohr to check out the area.  I had heard about a church on top of a volcano, so I thought we'd go see what it was all about.  It turns out the Grafenwohr area is made up of volcanic rock from ages ago.  

The volcano.

A cool map of the area. 

 If you look at the outer ring in the 2 o'clock position, it says Frank. Schweiz, which is the big climbing area in the region. (Where Mark's family wants to come climb.) 

The next day was spent in Schweinfurt at the city mall.

Lauren riding a pig.

This is their favorite way to go down a slide.

Their first bath all together.
(We don't ever do it this way, too much work for Mommy.)

Eric's unit had a barbecue the next week, complete with Army trucks and a bounce house.  The boys spent most of their time driving this truck.

One of my favorite things that the USO does is the Sesame Street Experience.  They bring the main Sesame Street characters and put on a show for us, completely free!  It's a different story than you would get going to a regular Sesame Street Live show, but it relates very well to military kids.  The show is about having to move away from your friends often and it was perfect timing for Marcus and Dominic as one of their friends was moving away soon after the show.  To say the kids loved it was an understatement.  

Waiting to get inside to see the show.

We got free Elmo spinners that light up!
(I think we have five of them now.)

Lauren was even captivated.

Wearing their free bandannas as super hero capes.

Doing the Elmo Slide!

It's really a great show and I'm so grateful that we've been able to go to this show twice already.

Dominic as Batman.

Later in the month, we got an opportunity to go check out Wurzburg.  They have two "castles" in Wurzburg.  One is the Residenz, which is in the main city, and one is the Marienburg Fortress, which sits up on a hill across the Main river overlooking the city.  We parked at the Residenz and walked through the city and through some vineyards to get to the Marienburg Fortress.  It was a great day in a great city.

Wurzburg Residenz

Marienburg Fortress

Hiking through the vineyard

Yep, we were there too!

Panorama of Wurzburg from the fortress wall

The tunnel leading out of the fortress.
The boys had fun hearing the echo.

The next day we headed to Geiselwind, which is an amusement park we had heard about.  It's less than an hour away and it actually had a good mix of little kid and adult rides to satisfy all of us. (And of course, DINOSAURS!!)

Marcus looking appropriately worried about the Triceratops and T-Rex behind him.
Good thing Daddy was there to keep him safe.

Daddy messing around with a raptor

Bumper boats

Little kid Hot Air Balloons.
They rode this several times throughout the day.

Lauren patiently waiting for her brothers to enjoy all of the rides.

Red Baron airplanes

Motorcycles

Lauren's turn for a ride.

Catching Up (June)

June kicked off quickly with the annual Schweinfurt Volksfest.  This is comparable to a county or state fair, but without any boring stuff.  It's just rides, music, food and (of course) beer.  Let me tell you, however, rides are a lot different here.  It's not the rides so much as the method of waiting for your turn.  All of the rides have a different price, so you have to buy your token at each ride. Once you've purchased your token, there is no line, you just wait a safe distance from the ride and then when it stops you push your way in to a seat.  If you're not fast enough, you have to wait until next time.  The boys had a great time checking out all of the rides.  

Marcus' favorite ride

Marcus got to go on a big ride with Daddy!

Did I already say this was his favorite ride?

Lauren waited patiently all day in the stroller

Really, his favorite ride.  He waited so patiently for his turn.

Yay! Lauren (and Mommy) finally got to go on a ride.

The Ferris wheel was a nice end to a good day of carnival rides.  The boys had so much fun.

Kloster Kreuzberg is a monastery about an hour from us that has some pretty awesome beer and even better views.  We love going up there to hike around and fill up our beer jug.

Marcus being a T-Rex on the trail.

The next day, we headed over to check out the community pool.  We hadn't been before, but we had heard some great things about it.  The wading pool was perfect for us.

The last week of June we headed down to Switzerland again to visit with the Schoch family. (You'll have to forgive the blurry pictures. Somebody smudged the lens and I didn't notice until the middle of the third day.)

The second day there, we headed up to Mt. Santis. Eric had high hopes of hiking to the top, but when he arrived he learned that the trail was snowed in and they wouldn't let him go.  No worries, we just took the gondola to the top instead.

Sitting on the gondola waiting to go.

Heading up the mountain.

The boys loved the snow.

The view from the top.  (Not much to see with all of the fog.)

The view headed back down the mountain.

The next day we headed to the Zurich Zoo.

Martin and Daddy decided to terrorize the boys by taking them down a really fast, really steep slide.

Lauren showing us how a turtle moves.

Two days later, we took the train into Zurich to explore the city.

When we got done with Zurich, we headed to the Albani Fest held in Winterthur, which happened to be on the way home.

The boys driving the forklift.

Looking for daddy from the top of the Ferris wheel.

Marcus getting ready to go on a big boy coaster with Mommy.

I love the anticipation.

And the excitement.

Our last day in Switzerland found us checking out Rhein Falls.  They are known as Europe's Niagara Falls.  We hiked around from one side to the other and then took a boat back.