Route de Vin (Take 2)

Since it rained on most of our Route de Vin trip a few weeks ago, we decided to head back for a day trip.

First stop: The Cité de l'Automobile, home of the Schlumpf Collection (one of the world's finest automobile collections).

Andrew with Luigi in the parking lot (not part of the collection, but very cool)

The pioneers

The classics

The sports cars

and the kids' favorite: the toy cars

Next stop: La Montagne des signes (Monkey Mountain)

Here our little monkeys fed some real monkeys popcorn (and animal crackers after one monkey wouldn't take no for an answer). Andrew was especially brave, chasing after monkeys with popcorn, Matthew was excited as long as the monkeys weren't too close, and Brooke just thought she was a monkey all day.

Final Stop: Eguisheim

Just as cute as last time

Jucker Farms

We celebrated a friend's birthday and the coming of Fall at an amazing pumpkin patch / apple farm. The fresh apple cider alone made the trip well worth it.

Fun with Popcorn

A very spontaneous photo shoot. They just all looked so cute and were so happy with the popcorn that I grabbed the camera and started snapping away. Some of my most favorite moments are just watching them enjoy each other's company.

Maybe F for Farmer is better?

Is this guy classic or what? He mows the hill right next to our house. I know it's out of focus, but you should click on it anyway to truly appreciate the beauty.

My Knight in Shining Armor

He's been killing all the monsters in our house the last two days, and today after having a conversation with the green monster he told me this: "Mom, the green monster said to me, "cool sword" and then I turned around and he said, "Wow, that's a beautiful cape!"

Route de Vin

The charming streets of Eguisheim, France

Colmar, France: The Unterlinden Museum
This museum was such a great mix of modern and medieval art. The kid's loved the Picassos, the huge wine presses (that's a lot of grape juice) and the audio guide headsets. I loved seeing art through their eyes.

Andrew's Favorite:

Knights, swords, shields and guns. Can you see the awe in his face? He's not this reverent at church!


Driving the Route de Vin: Matthew, too tired to even enjoy his balloon and sucker. Sweet boy.


Strasbourg, France and the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame (and a high class Merry-go-round with a motorcycle)


The Black Forrest, Germany: Schloss Ortenberg
We actually slept in this castle on Saturday night. It has been made into a youth hostel and the kids could not have been more excited. They kept saying things like, "Who put these bunk beds in this castle? That's so silly!" and "Are we going to sleep with the Knights?" We ventured around Sunday morning and picked a few grapes right off the vine...I'm not sure if I've ever tasted such incredible grapes before.


Freiburg, Germany and the Freiburg Minster

It was a great weekend. It felt like we hadn't done a trip with the kids in a while and this was a perfect short getaway that was not too far away. I have a feeling we'll be visiting "too cute" Enguisheim again.

More Backyard Fun

We enjoyed the most perfect week of fall weather, and then skipped right to winter. These are the last pictures of backyard fun before we had to break out the hats and gloves: swimming pool and bathing suits, and light hoodies. Emma and Brooke are the dynamic duo on their Bobby Cars, racing down and then yelling, "Again!?" Both Brooke and Andrew are getting more into the scooter too, and can pick up some serious speed on the little hilly sidewalk.

One Year Old! (plus three months)

Words: Daddy, Mama, uh-oh, more, "vroom" for car, "moo" for cow, spits for the elephant sound, ball, hi (or "hello" when talking on the phone), no-no, yea, this, and up
Loves: Dancing, being tickled, playing peek-a-boo, reading stories, baths, and his blanket ("deet-deet")
Favorite foods: Hot dogs and anything sweet (especially ice cream, chocolate, and suckers)
Favorite toys: Cars, balls, Little People school bus, and the sand box
Wants: Anything Brooke or Andrew have
Teeth: 8 plus incoming molars (not so fun)
Skills: Throwing a ball, waving goodnight, snuggling, and (most recently) walking!

He's still a little wobbly, and although late for his age, he beat Brooke by 2 weeks!

Favorite Tree on a Hill

Take 2: Summer, with cows no less. Now, everytime we drive by our kids say, "Look, Mom, that's your favorite tree on a hill!" I love it.

A thank you note...

Dear family and friends,
I was so overwhelmed by all the posts on my Birthday Blog. It made me feel so good to hear from so many loved ones on my big 30th, especially when I am so far away.
Thank you thank you Holly, Anthony and Jenn for putting the whole thing together. You guys are the best.
We're planning to print the blog into a book, so if you are still interested in posting, I'd love to have you on there! Just leave a comment if you need more info.
Thank you so much for making my 30th so memorable. Grey hairs, achy bones and baggy eyes here I come!!!
I miss and love you all so much,
Ashley

Birthday Surprise!

Happy 30th Birthday to Ashley! Thanks to Holly for coordinating, Jenn for artistic direction, and to all our friends who contributed to a great birthday surprise for Ashley:

http://happy30thashley.blogspot.com/

A little bit of catching up to do....

We have been doing everything but blogging this last month, and now that summer is almost over we're realizing how much catching up we have to do. For now, we'll leave you with a few randoms (clockwise from top left): 1)Andrew reading stories to his Darth Vader action figure, 2)how we've had sand all over our house all summer, 3)Brooke's perfect push-up form, and 4)our now 14-month-old Matthew always bruised, dirty and happy.

New Neighbors

Our good friends from Kellogg, Peng and Yi Zhao, moved in next door this week. We're so excited to have neighbors again and Emma has become a fast favorite friend.
(ps...anyone notice Brooke's undies?!?!!)

Hiking in Sattel

One Year Anniversary

One year ago today we started our Swiss adventure. Happy Anniversary to us!
(Picture taken in Engleberg, Switzerland)

London, England

Day 1:

1) Shakespeare's Globe Theater: We saw the Merry Wives of Windsor and laughed to tears. It was so great seeing Shakespeare the way it was supposed to be. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
2-3) Portobello Road Market: We found a few treasures here rubbing shoulders with the locals (thanks Hol for the GREAT tip).
4) We got such a kick out of this wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral: the wedding party transported through the city in double deckers with tea and finger sandwiches and all the old women in fancy hats.
5) View from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.
6) The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. At first we thought, "no way we're waiting in that line in the rain just to see some fancy stones," but then we walked around the corner and slipped in through the exit door. Talk about if-y security for the most important jewels in the world. They were pretty spectacular though.
7 & 9) The Tower Bridge
8) A classic tourist shot


Day2:

We took our Hop-on-hop-off bus tour this day. The morning couldn't have been more gorgeous, and we jumped off at a few famous stops (National Gallery and Trafalgar Square). But when we hopped back on, we got stuck in traffic and a rain storm:
The pictures just don't do justice for how hilarious our situation was. We were laughing so much we couldn't even listen to the tour guide, which was probably okay since he was so flustered with the amount of people crowding down below that all he could say were things like, "Today is Sunday and it's raining." He said this over and over again until traffic finally lead us through the next road. We ditched the lame guide and the umbrella blocked view and warmed up with fish and chips. The next bus we caught had a wonderful guide and the rain had stopped so we got views like these:
Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and a Mary Poppin's view of the rooftops of London.


Day 3:
Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard: We were more amazed by the masses of people gathered to watch. More Big Ben and Westminster Abby. (Fun activities not pictured: Mama Mia. Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden and a lot of shopping).

Overall we LOVED London. It was a great city, it was great to be just the two of us, and it was great to speak English again. I would love to incorporate the words "brilliant" and "cheers" more in my vocabulary, but it just doesn't sound as good without the accent. We will definitely be visiting again, spit spot.

Sunday Evening Picnic

The Great Swap

So the reason we were able to tackle London all by ourselves was a genius swap with the Mascaro Family. We watched Sienna and Emeri the first weekend while Tony and Rach hit London, and we followed suit the next weekend.
The swap was a blast. Add our new Swiss neighbors in the mix and Erin Jackson + kidlets and you have a pure madhouse. Anthony organized a soccer night at the pitch down the street so they could all run wild. Every kid fell into bed that night without a peep.