Pumpkin Festival and France

We made another trip to the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival over the weekend.  The theme this year was Circus.  The girls had lots of fun eating pumpkin food and looking at all the pumpkin designs.

Rabbit in a hat. Kate enjoyed climbing up all the hills and running down them.  

"Zircus" Jane is trying to climb down the hill crawling. So cute!

Our score of a hotel in France.  The girls loved it.  The parents didn't love it so much.  It was definitely a good preparation for our upcoming cruise arrangements.

We completed a half marathon in Selestat, France.  It was a great race for both of us.  Bryan beat his personal best pushing the two girls and I finally completed under the two hour mark!! We do believe this is the flattest course we have ever done.

A happy family selfie!

Samainhof

Kate got accepted into German Kindergarten.  It is known as a nature and forest kindergarten and the children spend the whole day outside.  Kate is loving it so far!  There are a couple of other American children attending, but the teachers mostly speak German.

It is every day from 9am-1pm.  She gets really dirty and goes on adventures in the forest.  When I ask her what she did all day, the reply is usually "I don't know".  I think I might be getting that response until she leaves the house!

Almabtrieb

A cow parade. 

 If the cows come down with headdresses, none were harmed or injured over the summer season in the mountains. 

 All the cows were adorned with headdresses in Krun, Germany.  The girls loved it!

 None of the cows were decorated at the Almabtrieb in MittenWald, Germany. 

 

After all the cows run through the village, the people follow the "cow patties" to the festplatz for food and fest fun.  Each location had a wonderful park to play at with the cow bells dingling in the background.  Such a cool tradition!

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. 

August 2016

Recap of our adventures in August:

Bryan completed the Regensburg Olympic triathlon and did very well!

Our family hiked to the ice cave in Berchtesgaden.  It was a really tough hike.  Kate hiked the first mile up by herself and most of the hike back down the mountain.  So proud of her!  Bryan also said this would be the last time he would ever carry Kate on his back (she's getting too heavy!). 

 The views were breath taking. 

 Spent some time at Lake Konigssee.

 Went to the Straubing fest in our trachten this year. 

 Here we are!

The girls looked so cute!  Jane got quite the stares while she was walking around in her cute little dirndl. 

Vacation Bible School

Our little Kate is growing up! She went to her first camp.  She loved it.  Every time we pass the church she says "that's where my school was!"  It was a nice break for mom too, I'm not going to lie.  The music CD given to us has super cute songs that we listen to on repeat in the car.  We loved VBS!

 

Ellison's Visit

Our family was so excited to get some visitors over the summer.  Bryan's sister Wendy and her family came out the last two weeks of July.  They had a difficult time adjusting to the time change- Bryan swears the younger boys were always asleep when he came home from work or left for work.  Kate fell in love with "the little girl" or Myriah and always wanted to play with her.  It was funny to hear her call Eli "the little boy", since he is about 3 years older than her. 

 Watching Tangled with Myriah and Brianna. 

The Ellison's took off for a 6 day adventure through Germany and met us in Fussen for our half marathon.  They had good intentions, but made it for dinner after the marathon!  Bryan and I didn't realize this half marathon was a trail run and we brought the stroller.  Poor Jane and Kate had to endure steps, rocks, roots, gravel, cobblestone, and water/mud in the stroller.  They were troopers!

 We stayed at a pretty neat hotel near Fussen.  There were hiking trails everywhere and a church with a climb to the roof with magnificent views.

 We met the Ellison's in Oberstdorf for hiking, eating, and watching the cows come down the mountain for the night.  Such a beautiful area. 

After their crazy 6 days of travel around Germany, we relaxed at a natural pool near by.  It was a perfect Bavarian day.  We loved having our special visitors!