The New Year Starts on January 3rd

Well, Ok, at least that's when it starts for me. My birthday is January 2nd...it may as well be another holiday in our house. My husband spoils me and I'm not shy about letting everyone know it. You should see the look a wife will shoot her husband when I tell her how I spend my birthday and then the husband shoots my husband a look like, "Seriously, dude, what the Hell!?!"
Here's the thing. I don't want anything for my birthday. I mean, in terms of gifts. Let's face it...we just had Christmas. I don't need anymore stuff. You know what I want for my birthday...PEACE and QUIET. Yep, that's it. A day of sheer and utter relaxation where I can just hang out and do nothing. And every year my husband delivers!

My birthday usually goes like this:
Wake up to breakfast in bed.
I love my husband's french toast.
He'll make me french toast, coffee, eggs fresh fruit, mimosa...the works.
I roll out of bed and brush my teeth.
Then I move to the couch where I proceed to sit all day catching up on television shows on my iPad with my earbuds in.
Last year it was Downton Abbey, this year I will likely watch TOWIE all day...my new guilty pleasure. It's the British version of The Jersey Shore (never watched the Jersey Shore but for some reason I'm hooked on this show...maybe it's the accents??...lol!).
Kids ask for lunch, for dinner, for help with something, start to argue, whatever....unless it's a request for a hug from Mama...they take it up with Daddy :D
He will also clean the house and make all the meals...a perfect day.

That's it. It may not sound extravagant but to me it's the perfect gift.
I do nothing all day and it's awesome! I think most women would agree. We rarely, if ever, get a true "day off". Even vacations are spent taking care of things. I feel so blessed to be married to someone who understands that. He makes me feel special every day but especially on my birthday.

So, tomorrow is my birthday and I can't wait. I thought I might write up my list of New Year Resolutions but who am I fooling?? That won't happen and that's ok.

Family Hike ~ Umleitung!

Gabe and I have a love for hiking. It's such a great way to spend family time together, get some fresh air and see something new. The weather is getting colder and the leaves are falling fast so we wanted to get one last fall hike in before the snow comes. After many web searches and numerous discussions we decided to go with the "Old Stand-by" and head down to Annweiler. It's a favorite of ours and although we've been there multiple times we have yet to hike the castle. Link: Annweiler Castle Hike (2.5 hours) I was really excited to check it out. It appears to be a fairly easy family hike with amazing views and it's only about an hour from our house.

We pack up and head out. We finally get to the road that leads to the castle and start the windy drive to the top.  A few miles in we see our second favorite sign in Germany (insert sarcasm): ROAD CLOSED

Second only to the "Stau" sign....which means "traffic jam"....the sight of this sign can almost immediately bring one to tears. It is NOT a suggestion. This does not mean PART if the road is closed and you may be able to SLIP through. This sign means EXACTLY what is stands for. The road is closed and you must now turn around. Now in the U.S. a road will be closed and an there is an alternate route made to your destination. In Germany, however, there may or may not be an alternate route and if you don't speak German there is no way to ask. So, unless you see our 3rd favorite sign: UMLEITUNG...you can throw your initial plans right out the window.

"Umleitung" means Detour route...one sign feels more like this ^^^ though

German's seem to LOVE putting these signs up in THE most inconvenient places and you encounter them at THE most inconvenient times! We have seen these on the way to the airport...you know, when time is already precious and you have no way of knowing any other route other than the one that is showing up on your GPS. I will now make a suggestion so that you do not find yourself in a panic...NEVER drive with less than 1/2 tank of gas because there is a really good chance you will encounter this situation on your way to the gas station and end up driving an extra hour longer than you intended to (this happened to my neighbor a few weeks ago going from our village to the base). 

We did not see the "Umleitung" which meant there was no alternative route to the Castle so we went with Plan B. It wasn't a total wash but it ended up being a hike we had more or less already done before. We did get some nice photos....even though it was a bit cloudy. 

Gabe showing the boys a cat-tail

Love these little guys!

Burg Trifels in the background

Big "D"

Out of focus but the only decent picture of Mia

My "FlyGuy"

Again, not in focus...I was worrying more about my camera's battery life :(

RyRy, Moi and DMan

My camera battery was dying but right before it did I got this shot. I was so proud of myself. I set up camera (on manual), placed it in a rock (I forgot my tripod), got the boys situated and set the timer :D

So, even if the hike didn't go as planned we still made the best of it and for me, getting this picture made it all worth it.

Mini-Me's

Who's kids are these?

:D

Grammy AND Papa Come For a Visit

Both Grammy and Papa came this time. Grammy stayed for 2 weeks but Papa just stayed for one. We had a lot to fit into one week so after a day of rest and recovery from jet lag we started our trip to Garmisch. It may seem like we take a lot of trip to Bavaria but let's face it...when one thinks of Germany it's Bavaria that comes to mind. It may be quite possibly the most beautiful place on Earth.

The first night we ate at our favorite German restaurant, Gasthaus Bräuwastl (Zugspitzstrasse 119, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirche). We LOVE their Jägerbraten (vom Schwein) mit hausgemachten Spätzle und Salat

Gabe and I enjoying our favorite Bavarian dinner and beverage

Eagle's Nest

We decided to visit Eagle's Nest this time. We had never been and Papa really wanted to see it. The so-called “Eagle’s Nest” was built as a teahouse for Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday. Perched on a mountain summit, its unusual position makes this daring project a unique engineering feat. What few realize is that Hitler’s home and headquarters - the second seat of 3rd Reich power - were located at Obersalzberg, at the foot of the Eagle’s Nest mountain.

The address is: Königsseer Str. 2, Berchtesgaden, Germany. As you drive up to park you realize just how high up the Eagle's Nest is. You have to park and buy a bus ticket to take you the rest of the way. It's unbelievable how the drivers make it up and down that hill.

 I don't know exactly what the boys did the next day but Ginny and I got on the train and went to Salzburg, Austria. It was a 2 1/2  hour train ride with a stop in Munich. We arrived in Salzburg and bought tickets on a hop-on hop-off bus that included a "Sound of Music" tour. I was in heaven! Haveing watched that movie about a bizillion times I was really excited.

We always enjoy our stay at Edelweiss and always a little bummed to leave.

Grammy playing with the boys

We drove out the following day. Gabe and Dad wanted to stop at Dachau Concentration Camp (near Munich) so Ginny, the boys and I went shopping while they were there. We don't have pictures...just seems terribly inappropriate to take photos of a place with such a painful history.

It was a quick week and time to take Mike to the airport. Vacation wasn't over for Ginny...we still had places to see and good food to eat. This is a restaurant in Kaiserslautern that a friend recommended called, St Martin.

Throwing Euro into the fountain

Gabe loves this place, The Block House, in Schwedelbach. It's near our village and you can actually bike there...about 7-8 miles. We opted to drive this time :D

What a wonderful visit...as always! We can't wait for them to come back to Germany...we miss them already.

Fun With Grammy

We took Grammy to the Ramstein Overlook to get some pictures.

These photos were taken outside of the Dinosaur Park in K-Town.