Triberg Waterfalls - Black Forest

For Thanksgiving we planned a long weekend in the Black Forest. Last year was so much fun that this year we wanted to include our favorite people, The Severt's and The Townsend's (sans Jon who was scheduled to leave for a year long deployment to Afghanistan). The initial plan was made in August with all 3 families staying in a large house in Schonwasen. Two weeks before our stay we found out that Jon wasn't going to have to leave until the Saturday AFTER Thanksgiving. We did a quick change of plans...staying here for turkey dinner together at our house. It was bittersweet. We were happy that he could stay for the holiday but not happy knowing that this was the last time we'd all be together for a full year. We all shed some tears before the day was over :(

Friday morning we woke up, packed up the van and headed to Triberg, a city with some of the tallest waterfalls in all of Germany (second only to Rothbachfall). It was a great day for some hiking. The weather was great...on the warm side for fall and not a whole lot of tourists considering over a half million tourists visit the falls each year. 

My camera battery died before our trip and I had to order a new one though Amazon. Of course it didn't arrive in time so most of the photos in this post were taken by my friend Jamie. She's a great photographer who also has a blog: Delightfully Coconuts. (Thanks, Lady for letting me use your photos!)

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

The Severt Clan
Jamie & Drew
Brenna & Moe

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

Drew gets a shot of Gabe "surprising" Jamie...LOL!

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

 I love this photo...we look so European! 

After the falls we walked through town, checked out the tourist shops and then drove over The House of a 1000 Clocks...

This photo makes me very happy! As you may already know, I have a slight obsession will all things "Largest" and must have my photo taken next to it. Largest cuckoo clock...CHECK!

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

photo courtesy of Delightfully Coconuts

This is the "WT" version of a cuckoo clock. Looks like a motorcycle junk yard...

Taken with my iPhone :(

If you put 1€ in the coin slot the large cuckoo clock on the backside of the building plays "Edelweiss". I love how Moe and Brenna couldn't help it...they had to dance...or was it Gabe and Drew who were moved by the music??...LOL!

After all the excitement in Triberg it was time to check into the house we rented for the weekend. Thankfully The Severt's had their Garmin GPS because our Navigon GPS took us down a dirt road, nowhere near where the house is located. When we got there we were greeted by the lady who owns the property. She was very sweet, gave us a quick tour and the keys. The house sleeps 12 so there was more than enough room. The adults enjoyed unplugging (the internet was intermittent, to say the least). We played cards and watched Christmas movies and the kids enjoyed playing board games and checking out the animals on the property, geese, donkeys, sheep, dogs, etc...

http://www.ferienhaus-schoenwasen.de/

On Saturday we drove 25km to Europa Park. It was the first day of their Christmas Market and the park was totally decked out for the holidays. The market wasn't anything spectacular but the park itself was pretty amazing. I loved all of the decorations and they had little bonfires throughout the park (just another obvious sign we were't at an amusement park in the U.S.) This was the first amusement park that my boys had ever been to. I know, even Brenna couldn't help but gasp! We are terrible parents but this is the first year that I thought both boys would be able to appreciate it. They are tall enough to ride the rides and I didn't have to worry about a stroller! Besides, neither Gabe or I are huge fans of roller coasters....or so I thought. I actually went on one this trip...Blue Fire! What a blast! Roller coasters are much smoother than they were 10 years ago. Dylan loved it too. He went on it twice and probably would have gone 10 more times but the park closes at 7pm and we had to leave. I can't wait to go back...Memorial Day??

Jamie will probably hate me for posting this photo...she HATES flash but I wanted to post one of Gabe and I with all the fun Christmas decorations behind us.

What a fun weekend. Great food, great friends and very relaxing. Can't wait to plan another trip with the Severt's....Oh wait, we already have...Legoland and a Disney Cruise...LOL!

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.

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

In honor of those who have sacrificed their lives during WWII, we thought we would take the boys to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial to attend the ceremony for Veterans Day.

There were so many people there it was difficult to find parking...such an awesome show of support. We entered the cemetery...I was very impressed. The grounds were amazing, very well kept...reminded me of Arlington National Cemetery (only of course much smaller).

The inside of this building is as beautiful as the outside.

A stained glass window that leads to the ceiling...this picture does not do it justice.

People from all over came to pay their respects...

Here is the Spangdahlem Air Base Honor Guard and the Boy Scout troop from Kaiserslautern.

A wreath was laid for General George S. Patton, who is buried here.

The firing of 3 Volleys (not to be confused with the 21 Gun Salute) comes from an old battlefield custom. The two warring sides would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for and the side was ready to resume the battle.

"Taps" was played...

Just some of the Airman that came on their day off (in uniform)...

Burial area containing 5,076 of our military dead, many of whom lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance to the Rhine River.

I hope my boys understand the meaning of "true sacrifice".

My boys read the names of Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I'm a proud Veteran, as is my husband, and we want to ensure that our boys understand what these brave men and women did for us as well as those who continue to serve. Be sure to thank a vet today!

How to get there:
Our GPS lists this place as a place of interest but here are the GPS coordinates: N49.61285° E6.18595°

Pumpkins and Halloween

We finally carved our pumpkins. I have to admit...it's not my favorite thing to do. I always think I'm going to get super creative and carve some soft of crazy Halloween scene into my pumpkin but then just end up with your standard jack-o-lantern with triangle eyes and a jig-jaggy mouth. This year we hit a cold spell the few days leading up to Halloween...it was so cold I kind of rushed the kids through the whole thing this year. I feel sort of bad about that but hey, I don't think they really noticed...they we're cold too.

It was actually getting pretty dark outside but I adjusted my camera so you could see the boys

Ryan's playing around here...although if it were a pumpkin made of sugar he probably would eat it.

We're at my our neighbors, The Woelkers'...great group of kids!

Ryan is a traditionalist...

Dylan went for a "Minecraft" theme...

We went trick-or-treating on base...it's really the best place to go being that German's don't celebrate Halloween. Although, some German kids have caught on so you'll get a few knocks on your door from them, often without a costume, asking for some candy or their American neighbor will take them on base so they can experience "Beggar's Night". They say the base gets some 7,000 trick-or-treaters every year...crazy! The Severt's live on base now so we went to their house early and secured our parking spots.

Ryan is "Jake the Dog" from "Adventure Time". Dylan was supposed to be "Finn the Human" but changed his mind a couple of days ago and went as a werewolf.

Brenna, Brooke, Ryan, Dylan and Maddie

Yep, I dressed up...the boys asked me to...It's kind of fun :D

The rest of Ryan's "Adventure Time" family showed up to trick-or-treat...

 All the kids are ready...

The weather held up...it got a little cold but no rain so we were happy about that. Ryan was the first to say "I think I have enough candy...I'm ready to go back now." Dylan ran off to "Trunk-or-Treat" for a little bit but by 7:15 we we're ready to head home.

:D