Auf Wiedersehen

I like to keep a list of all the things we have done in the "area" where ever we move.  One, I can look back and see all the things we have accomplished.  Two, others can browse through and get ideas. And three, I like lists.  I already have a few things to check off in San Antonio!

Black Forest, Triberg waterfall, bought cookoo clock

Prague (bone church)

Berlin

Tropical Paradise

Eagles Nest (want to hike someday)

Salzburg 

Berchtesgaden

Lake Konigssee

Phantom of the Opera Musical in London

Dachau 

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Brussels, Brugge, Ghent

Hiked Zugspitz

Bastei Bridge

Devils Bridge

Polish pottery shopping in Boleslaweic x3

Rhein falls, Lucerne, and Lauterbrunnen

Kuekenhof tulip festival (maybe later in the season)

Hofbrauhaus & Munich

Nuremberg rally grounds and castle

Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Nymphenburg, Herrenchiemsee castles

Ettal monostary, cheese making 

Ring tour and Rudesheim

Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival x2

Straubing Fest x3

Highline 179 and ruins

Innsbruck

Belgian waffles and chocolate

Lake Bled & Vintgar gorge, Slovenia

Ski in Austria x 1

Guteneck Christmas market x2

Dresden Christmas market

Hike Jenner Mountain

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and snowshoe to waterfall (drive up the road made by WWI POW)

Nurnberg Christmas market x2

Hike Appenzell, Switzerland 

Thurn taxis Christmas market

Buy Holland shoes and see the windmills

Kuhstallcafe Christmas market

Sicily- Catania, Taormina 

Partenkirchen gorge

Kuchlbauer Tower tour and Christmas market

Stonehenge

Parsberg Christmas market

Lupberg Christmas market

Playmobil 

Cologne fasching

Neumarkt Christmas market

Bath, UK

Dietfurt Chinese fasching x2

Liverpool, UK

Munich 10K, glockenspiel, English park surfing

Nurnberg color run 5k

Berglegenfeld Christmas market

Pottenstein, Germany

Waldwipfeldweg

Rothenburg- Christmas market and night watchmen tour

Vienna and Bratislava

Half marathon in Vienna, Austria

Kristall Palm Beach

Rome, Pompeii, Herculeneum, Capri 

Wunseidel Rock Labyrinth 

Parkstein inactive volcano

Lake Garda and Verona

Ronda, Nerja, & Malaga Spain

Hiked Caminito del Rey

Würtzburg 1/2 marathon

Snow White Castle in Lohr 

Gibraltar (tour of the caves)

DB museum, Nurnberg

Heidelberg, Märchen Paradies

Luxembourg City, casemates, American cemetery and memorial

Ljubljana dragon bridge and castle

Postojna castle & cave

Croatia: Plitvice National Park, Split, Dubrovnik, Krka National Park, Zadar sea organ

1/2 marathon Füssen

Ice cave hike in Berchtesgaden

Hallstatt, Austria and bone house

Mittenwald and Krün Almabtrieb

Oktoberfest 

Half marathon France

Mediterranean East Cruise- Venice, Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini, Athens

Athens authentic marathon 2016

Anne Frank house, Corrie ten Boon house 

Budapest, Hungary: parliament, Buda castle, St. Stephen's basilica, market square, Christmas markets, old synagogue, heroes square

Vienna Christmas market, Straubing Christmas market, Stuttgart Christmas market, Strasbourg Christmas market 

Skiing Söll, Austria x 3

Fuerteventura, Canary Island, Spain

Therme Erding 

Velburg fasching parade

Disneyland Paris, Eiffel Tower Carousel

Cesky Krumlov girls weekend

Barcelona and hiked up Montserrat

Scotland: Stirling, the Kelpies, Edinburgh, the Trossachs, Isle of Arran, Hadrian's wall

Ireland: Killarney NP, gap of Dunloe, ring of Kerry, Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, Burran NP, Book of Kells

1/2 Marathon Karlovy Vary

Beer bath

We have high hopes of returning back to Europe, whether on vacation or another tour with the military.  I still want to visit northern France, do a Band of Brothers tour, and go to Paris as a family.  Of course, there are plenty of other things I'd love to do, but that was high on our list.  We just didn't have time.  Unti   

December 2016

What a month! December is always hectic, but memorable (especially with kids).  Here is a recap of our adventures.

We attended our last military ball here in Germany.

Endured the freezing weather. 

Baked billions of sugar cookies for our playgroup Christmas party, neighbors, kindergarten Christmas party, and health clinic Christmas party. 

Kate made a salt dough ornament at the playgroup Christmas party. 

Sat on Santa's lap.  Kate asked for anything "Elsa and Anna" and Jane just cried. 

Enjoyed a picnic in the woods at Kate's kindergarten Christmas party. 

Spent way too much money at all the Christmas Markets.  This season we visited the Christmas markets in Budapest, Vienna, Straubing, Regensburg, Guteneck, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Innsbruck, and Munich.   

Climbed a rock wall in our friends basement. 

Bryan became a member of the 1000 pound club in Hohenfels. 1155! 

 Celebrated our 11th anniversary.

Had a great Christmas.  Kate loves her princess dresses, Elsa umbrella, markers, coloring books, and puzzles.  Jane loves her slide, water coloring books, plastic balls, and cleaning toys (broom, mop, duster).  Rebekah got a new hiking backpack and ski jacket.  Bryan's gifts haven't made it here yet... 

We also had a great New Years Eve.  We let the kids stay up late, eat lots of junk food, watch too much television, run around like crazy with friends, and set off fireworks.  Happy New Year!

Hallstatt, Austria

We explored this beautiful gem over Labor Day weekend. 

 The view from on top.

 I think Jane might be just as crazy as Kate!  Look at that handsome husband of mine too!

We weren't able to go in the salt mine, but we were informed of the history of the area and enjoyed the wonderful views!

Finally, made it to the bone house.  It takes about 10 years after death, to get your bones in this house.  The skulls name and date of birth/death are artistically drawn on the skull. 

 Found an awesome playground with a view! Oh, and a naked baby.

We hiked a fun and easy trail with the girls.  Kate hiked the 3 miles up to the Gasthaus and 1.5 miles back to the car.  So proud of her! The park on top was a great enough reward for her hard work, but we did get ice cream afterwards. 

I love how in Europe, you can go on hikes and run into these house intended for hikers to enjoy some food and take a bathroom break.  You can even spend the night! I so look forward to doing this more often when the girls are bigger. 

Jane 9 months

She is really beginning to love eating real foods.  She loves pears, apples, blueberries, bananas, crackers, and can drink from a sippy cup.  She still loves on the BM though.  Jane is scaling the furniture and can stand alone for 5-10 seconds, especially when distracted with a toy in her hand.  She has lots of new teeth coming in, which may be why she is liking foods more.  This month she traveled to Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia.  Oh, and she completed her first half marathon! Go Jane!  We love her smiles and giggles.  She is super ticklish and gets attacked by all of us.  Poor thing! We love our Jane-jane!

Vienna and Bratislava

We finally made it to Vienna! I had planned on going over Christmas, but Jane didn't get her passport in time.  We enjoyed our time in the beautiful area. 

 Jane climbing up the stairs of the Shonbrunn Palace.

 Bryan and Kate in the gardens at Shonbrunn Palace (it was cold and drizzly).

 Kate being silly outside the Hundertwasserhaus- crazy Austrian architect. 

 Walking up to the Bratislava Castle in Slovakia.  The girls both feel asleep in the stroller and it was HEAVEN! Also, another country discovered by the Ahlborn family.   

Bronze statues surround the city of Bratislava.  Kate doesn't understand why this statue is in the ground.  

This is the statue of Elisabeth of Hungary.

Off to run 13.1 miles!

Completed the Vienna half marathon with a time of 2:08.  So close to breaking 2 hours.  Bryan pushed both the girls in the stroller (a first) and got 1:54.  He did awesome considering Kate had to go to the bathroom and drink Gatorade at any possible opportunity.  

Our last stop, the Belvedere Palace and Museum of Vienna.

Making faces. 

 He is a pro.

 Getting better every time.

I got my KISS in Vienna! We got to see the beautiful Gustav Klimt painting of The Kiss.  The one behind me isn't the real one, unfortunately.  

Memorial Weekend 2015

Our weekend started out perfect.  We made our way down to Austria for the four day weekend.  I planned for a low stress weekend without an agenda, but having ideas of things to do.  We were staying at a campground with lots of fun stuff for Kate to be entertained if we wanted to stay in.

Our first stop was Highline 179 and the Ehrenberg castle ruins in Reutte, Austria.  Highline 179 is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.  It coast about 8 euros for a two-way ticket.  Terrifying experience, but definitely needed to be done.  The ruins were pretty great too.  There are actually 4 ruins in the area- one on each side of the bridge, one below the bridge, and another about 500m away on another hilltop.

The bridge crosses over a large roadway.  From the road, you can barely see it, especially if it is foggy.  

Kate, of course, demonstrates no fear and was running up and down the bridge while Bryan and I are mostly holding on to the railings.  Yup! Even Bryan got the jitters.  

After our little bridge/ruin adventure, we went to Innsbruck, Austria.  This is where the weekend turned out to be not so fun.  Like I mentioned before, we stayed at a little campground area with canoes, trampolines, playgrounds, and hiking trails.  Unfortunately, it rained the ENTIRE time.  Light rain, hard rain, big drop rain, and misty rain.  I looked at the weather beforehand and thought it was supposed to be in the 70's with sun.  We were not at all prepared for rain or the cold. I also forgot the pack n play and the stroller.  It must have been a tiring weekend or we just forgot how to travel after our England adventure.  The campground had a shuttle-bus to Innsbruck which seemed nice; until the bus driver drops you off 3 km away from the campground and you are supposed to walk the rest of the way in the rain without a stroller and 8 months pregnant.  Not too fun.  And then you get splashed by all the cars driving past you.  Innsbruck was beautiful, but we didn't get to see the mountains surround the city because of the rain and fog.  Maybe we will go back someday.  

On our way home, we stopped at Dachau concentration camp.  I remember seeing this memorial when I was in 8th grade with my family.  The history of Germany still amazes me- so much history.

Skiing in Austria

We met up with the Izu's (Bryan's sister's family) for some skiing in Austria. Such a beautiful area and we were blessed with plenty of snow.  Kate had so much fun playing with her cousins.  They were so cute and gentle with her.   

I made the mistake of thinking I knew how to ski.  I haven't skied since I was ten years old.  Yes, I snowboard.  But skiing is completely different.  I was definitely out of my element.  Bryan was great. He has never lost his touch.  I think next time I will stick to boarding.  Hopefully next winter, Kate can take some ski lessons.  She will do fantastic!

Salzberg, Austria

By far, one of my best planned trips! 

 On Mozart Bridge. You can see the fortress in the background.

 The Salt River.

 On the mountain top with the fortress.  Made it just before the sun set.

 We went to Lake Konigssee for a day in the mountains at Berchtesgaden. We took a ferry boat to St. Bartholomew's Church and hiking trails. So beautiful!

 We got lost for an hour looking for the "ice castle". We were so happy to have finally found the thing.  It's a glacier in the form of a rainbow.  The waterfall above is what makes the rainbow arch.

 St. Bartholomew Church

 One of the scenes from "Sound of Music". Kate and Bryan are running through the archway singing do, re, me, fa, so, la, te, do!

 The famous gondola from "Sound of Music" where they sing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen".

Red Bull Museum.

We did the Hop On, Hop Off tour, which had both a city tour and Sound of Music tour. Highly recommend. We also made it to the Salt Mine in Berchtesgaden. Only recommend if you have a child under 2 years old.  The other salt mines in the area have better slides and more slides.