Pumpkin Fest 2011

We have been going to the Pumpkin Fest in Ludwigsburg for a few years now, and this year was the best yet!  The theme was dinosaurs, which Zoe loves!  A perfect fall day...

Garmisch

Went camping over Columbus Day weekend....well, as close to camping as I get. A cute little cabin with no plumbing.  Zoe thought it was the coolest thing ever ...walking to the bathroom.  :-) We had a really nice time hiking and exploring such a beautiful part of the country.  I love the picture where Zoe is pointing....as I was taking their picture, apparently a duck was running full speed toward me.  Must've thought we had some food!

Aaaah, Internet!

Finally, after 3 months, Telekom finally showed up for an appointment, and we got internet!  We are loving our new home and new city....

Fall Soccer, Fat Lips, and Furniture

Zoe is on the soccer team Blue Lightening here in Stuttgart. Watching 4 and 5 year olds play soccer is so adorable!!  She is liking soccer a lot more here than in Heidelberg, I think she's finally starting to understand the game a little.  On August 30, Zoe fell down the steps outside our house and got a big 'ole fat lip, and almost lost her front tooth.  It's still there, but turned a little grey.  Not 2 weeks later, she did another face plant at soccer practice!  Poor kid!  We are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our living room furniture today, but as you can see, the bean bag chair is a good substitute for snuggling up....at least for a 4 year old!

Back to Stuttgart

What a nice return back to Germany.  Zoe started back to school, and we finished settling in to our new place.  We are waiting for one more shipment (today - which is why I finally have time to update this blog, I'm waiting for the movers!) and then we'll be all moved in.  Zoe is really enjoying her school, and we are having fun exploring all of the new things Stuttgart has to offer.

Summertime!

We got to the states in July and had a great vacation with family and friends.  It was too short, though, as we needed to head back to Germany to finish moving into our house before the start of the school year.

Moving to Stuttgart, German School, and Legoland

We left Heidelberg in June and moved right into our house here.  Zoe started German school 2 days after we moved in.  She loved it from the first minute she walked through the doors!  Before heading to the states for a few weeks, we went to Legoland with Jill and Lucas -- we had so much fun!

Graduation

James and Sam graduated high school in June!  :-)  It was great fun having the whole family together in Heidelberg to celebrate their big day.  They are doing well at Virginia Tech and Penn State; we sure miss having them here!

Luisenpark, bike riding...

We found out we were moving to Stuttgart in June, so we spent our last few weeks in Heidelberg visiting our favorite places like Luisenpark, Maerchen Paradies, and downtown.  The whole family was visiting for the boys' graduation in June; we had a lot of fun!  Pierce and Zoe were insperable -- they are best buddies!

Spring Soccer!

Zoe gave soccer a go this spring...

Prague

One of my favorite places!  In February, we went to Prague with Tami, Michael, and the kids.  So much fun...but so cold!

So much to update...

I can't believe it's been months since I updated this site!  With so much changing in our lives these past few months, it's been a busy and  crazy few months.  I'm going to do a few quick updates to give you a short summary of what's been keeping us so busy!  :-)

Eagle's Nest

It's been a long time since I last posted.  One of these days when I have more time I'll fill in the last few months.  For now, I'll post a picture of Eagle's Nest from last weekend.  Mom came out to visit after her cruise and is staying until the boys graduate.  We decided to jump in the car and spend the weekend in Salzburg, Austria.  We had a great weekend, and on the way home made a quick stop to Eagle's Nest.  We couldn't have asked for better weather!

James and Sam are finished with high school - I can't believe it!  Everyone arrives Tuesday and graduation is set for Thursday.  Boys are off to Virginia Tech and Penn State; we're going to miss having them here.  (Though I won't miss making those *)&)%# turkey sandwiches every morning!)

Zoe begins German school at the end of June, and hopefully by then we'll have a place to live!  The movers come on the 15th, so either way we'll bid a very sad farewell to Heidelberg in just 11 more days.  We'll either be living in a hotel in Stuttgart, or hopefully find a great house very soon and move right in!

Basketball!

Zoe started playing basketball in January.  She's on the 4-5 year old team, and oh my goodness...if you ever want some free entertainment, you need to watch these guys play.  You will smile for an hour straight!  Zoe has learned how to pass, dribble, and run laps around the court. We're still working on actually getting the ball in the basket, though.  Go Clippers! 

Paige, Zoe, and I spent an unseasonably warm January day at the Heidelberg Zoo.  Zoe loves looking at the animals, and the elephant exhibit is open now so that was a real highlight.

Christmas

For the first time in more than 10 years, I did not fly to the states for Christmas!  My family came to see me here in Germany.  What a treat!  We had a very snowy Christmas, it was beautiful.  We drove to Strasbourg, France one day during the break to visit their Christmas market.  Zoe's favorite part is always the rides.  :-) 

Scotland

We spent Thanksgiving in Edinburgh, Scotland.  What an amazing city!  We spent a few days exploring the city, enjoying the many pubs along the way.  I think we ate fish and chips twice a day while were were there!  We were even brave enough to try haggis - and it was really good!  Zoe's favorite part was a cup of hot chocolate with about 40 marshmallows floating on top.  We were lucky enough to catch the Christmas market, and of course Zoe found the rides.  We had an incredible vacation....until it was time to leave.  Our flight was cancelled due to heavy snow, and we were told it would be a week before they flew out of Edinburgh again.  We sat in our hotel room exhausted from waiting for hours for the flight that never left.  Zoe was happy - she got 2 chocolate cupcakes to keep her happy!  We decided to hop on a train to London and catch a flight out of London.  After many hours on the train (they were running half speed due to the icy tracks), then switching to the Underground, we got to London about 5 minutes after our flight left.  AGH!  We spent the night in London, and got out on the next flight in the morning.  Unfortunately, Zoe's birthday was in the middle of this mess.  We got take-out pizza from the nearby restaurant and when they found out it was her birthday, they threw in some pretty flowers and cake.  The hotel receptionist gave us 4 silver candles, so it all worked out.  What an adventure!

Halloween and Europeans!!

What an October!  Heidelberg's Tennis Team took first place for tennis this year at Europeans, and Paige took first place for ladies singles -- Go, Paige!  We spent the weekend in Wiesbaden watching the matches, biting our fingernails all the while!  It was an awesome experience, and the team's unofficial mascot, Zoe, enjoyed every minute of it.  Gramma, Zoe, and I spent one day exploring the pumpkin fest in Ludwigsburg; this year's theme was Under the Sea.  Such fun!

For Halloween, Zoe dressed as Thing 2 and went trick-or-treating with me and Gramma both dressed as the Cat in the Hat.  She had fun, but after about 10 houses, she was done.

Luxembourg and Trier

Over Columbus Day we all packed up and headed to Luxembourg.  Along the way, we decided to stop in Vianden and see the castle, and wouldn't you know it...there was a fest going on.  Perfect!  We spent the day at the "Nut Fest", sampling nutty foods, wines, and liquors.  The castle at the top of the hill was gorgeous, we could have spent the whole weekend there, but off to Luxembourg City we went.  The next day, we spent tooling around Trier - Germany's oldest city.  We had a perfect day!