A Day in Cologne, Germany

Before I tell you about today, I have to tell you about our taxi ride from the airport last night. During our drive I spotted the driver going 170 km/hour! I am not a good passenger, so it would be safe to say I was slightly nervous. So, today I did the conversion...105 mph!!!! I was never so happy to get out of that car. Now I know the driving with Justin is not that bad!


Onto today....It was a long day today and I am ready for bed!! A quick blog with pics so you can see a little bit of Germany. Our day was off to a bright start...we decided to walk to the train station to see a little bit of Aachen, Germany before travelling to Cologne for the day. We were all smiles taking pics until a German women spotted us (and our puzzled looks) and offered to help. She spoke a little English...well enough to tell us we were walking in the wrong direction. Oh well...we saw a little more of the city than we planned. The pic below was taken during our detour. Just a pic of downtown Aachen in the morning. It was overcast and pretty chilly today!



We finally made it to the train station!!

Successfully on the correct train to Cologne, Germany :) We accidentally sat in 1st class, but they politely corrected us with only 5 minutes left of our ride.

The beautiful cathedral in downtown Cologne. The train station took us right to it. I can't even describe how large this cathedral is! It's absolutely breathtaking inside too!


Not the best picture of the cathedral, but it give you some sort of idea how large it is.

On our way into the chocolate museum. Free chocolate, here I come!

We got to read all we wanted about the cocoa bean...the best part was watching how chocolate candies were made and tasting the final product. Yummm!

Next stop...the botanical gardens. Beautiful gardens and we were lucky enough to watch two bride and grooms getting their pictures taken. Such a beautiful place to have portraits!

In the botanical gardens they had a little playground for the kids. I couldn't resist! They, of course, reminded me of the boys so I had a little fun for them! I miss you Aiden and Max!

The picture above is exactly what you think it is. Let me explain...all day we were seeing crazy bachelor and bachelorette parties. As much as we could tell, the whole group dresses alike and the bride/groom must make complete fools of themselves...each group had their own ideas. We probably passed 15-20 groups yesterday...all loud, funny and completely drunk. So the winner of the funny ideas...the groom that had to pull his pants down, showing his tighty whities, stick his butt through the sheet with a whole in it while his buddies (and complete strangers) took their turn trying to drill him in the butt with a soccer ball as hard as he could. It was hilarious!!! I do have a pick from the other side, but I'll spare you all :) We have no idea what the sheet says, but we'll find out. They were all wearing shirs with "Game Over" and the wedding date we assume.

And since we're in Germany...we must try the beer! Tonight was my first Germany beer. Of course, I have no idea what kind it was because the waiter didn't speak English but he did understand 'beer'. It was really good! Better than the water I had at lunch. This pic was at 10 p.m. and as you can see it's still light out. Something to get used to that's for sure!

I'm off to bed. I'm exhausted and we have more walking to do tomorrow. Nighty night....

Tchau!!

Supposedly that says goodbye in German :) In a few hours we (myself and co-worker, Leslie) will be on our way to Germany to perform an audit for work. We will be there for 2 weeks and in our time abroad we will visit Cologne and Aachen, Germany; Paris; Gent, Belgium and Amsterdam. 4 countries in just over 2 weeks. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel and navigate through foreign cities. It should be fun and interesting to say the least! We will hopefully post pics of our trip along the way if my camera will work...so wish us luck with technology too.

As much as I'm excited to visit Europe, my heart aches to be away from my family for so long!! So extra prayers would be greatly appreciated :) I'm sure Justin will be just fine with the boys, but I'm sure he will accept any help in the next few weeks. Well....off we go! I'll be back stateside on June 28th....see you then!

Above is a picture of Cologne, Germany...where we will tour this Saturday.

Aiden's First Fish

I'm a little behind on some blogging, but I definitely wanted to show Aiden's first fish and the wonderful trip to our family's cabin in Seneca Rocks, WV back in April. If you have never been to West Virginia and like the mountains, you should visit the Seneca Rocks/Petersburg area. There's rock climbing, mountain trails, caverns to explore, fishing and much more. Best of all, you're snuggled in the valley with beautiful mountain views. Can't get much better than a relaxing weekend in the mountains...unless you're at the beach...it's a toss up!

Don't worry, this isn't the family cabin :) Just a old barn in the middle of the field that I thought was too pretty not to take a picture!

We went to the annual Springs Mountain Festival on Saturday then enjoyed a train ride. They had a war re-enactment with loud canons and all! The kids loved it of course!

On Sunday before leaving, we took Aiden fishing and he caught his very first fish...ALL BY HIMSELF!! He cast the pole, set the hook and everything! He was so proud of himself. He caught 3 or 4 that day! I think the outfit really helped him. I guess fishing is in the family blood and he's taking after his Pap Pap Gary and Uncle Don.

Proud Momma

Most days in our house I spend my time asking Aiden to be careful with Max. They like to wrestle all the time and sometimes Aiden doesn't understand Max isn't as big as him (however he will probably catch up pretty soon!). If they aren't wrestling, they are normally picking on each other or taking toys away from each other...just like me and my sister when we were little!! Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining! I LOVE to watch them play together...even when they are loud and a bit rough. It fills my heart with joy to see them becoming such good friends. Pictures of them being rough with each other...I could get a million of them! But this past weekend, in the midst of cleaning and what not, I looked over to see them cuddled together sharing a snack and watching some cartoons!! They were completely content with each other and my heart overflowed. Of course, by the time I got the camera the tender moment had passed, but I still got my cuties in the chair together sharing their snack :) I couldn't be more proud as a mom!!! I love being a mother and can't wait to add one more to the mix....some day....

Happy Birthday Austin!

Happy 3rd Birthday Austin!! I was so glad to make this baseball themed cake for Austin who absolutely ADORES baseball! His daddy is a big Atlanta Braves fan so the Braves "A" was fitting for several reasons! Chocolate cake with buttercream and fondant icing with fondant decorations...all edible!! Yummy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Max!

The day is here...my baby is turning 2! Seems like yesterday he was born and I was holding him in my arms for the first time, but then I remember all the great times we've shared so far and it seems like forever ago he was a little swaddled baby!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, cuddly little Max! I hope your birthday is filled with yummy cake, ice cream, hugs, kisses and lots of fun that brings out your adorable little laugh and bright smile that shows off your chubby little cheeks!! I love you to the moon and back!

Max's Green and Yellow Butterfly Party

It's finally time for Max's birthday party at the All-A-Flutter Butterfly party. I had everything planned for my little boy's big day and we loaded up the car with all the little goodies to go with his green and yellow birthday party. One BIG thing I didn't plan for was WIND!!! The butterfly farm is next to a big open field where the rest of our party would be. With no trees to block the wind it was a little hard to set everything up. We got it done and got a few pics of all the cute favors and such I worked so hard on. Wind and all we had a blast and it was a beautiful day. I'll take some wind over rain any day of the week! Enjoy the pics!








Here the kids are learning all the fun little facts about butterflies and the differences between butterflies and moths. The kids above are moths getting ready to break out of their cacoon. Aiden is "Moth Man"
Here's we're learning how butterflies smell, eat, taste, etc. Did you know butterflies hear with their knees and taste with their feet?? You do now!

Max liked the butterflies until they started flapping near his face...then he had enough!


Most of the time Max and Nathaniel (a.k.a Nadaniel if you ask Max) were in the Rubbermaid tub. Who knew? I could have just bought him a storage bin for his birthday and then used it for his clothes later!!

Make a wish Birthday Boy!

This was one cake I really didn't want to cut into...until I remembered it had raspberry filling in it! Then I didn't have a problem at all!




After the pinwheels were gone, Max found another tub to sit in...and sand to throw!

Pinwheel favors for the kids...

We had such a great time and glad everyone came out to the butterfly farm to celebrate Max's 2nd birthday with us!