Prague City

We enjoyed our trip into the beautiful city of Prague, the castle on the hill had the most amazing views...

Prague, Medieval Knight Show

We visited Prague over the fourth of July weekend and had a great time. It was definitely an adventure since we don't speak a word of Czech (other than hello= Ahoj). They are part of the EU but you must still use Czech crowns in most places and 20 crowns is equivalent to 1 dollar. While most people in the city speak English or German, few people in the suburbs or country do.

The boys are getting a bit tired of city visiting cities so we thought they'd enjoy a knight tournament. It was about an hour outside of Prague (click here for the website) and it was very well done. The show runs from 2-4pm and was well worth the drive.

Maison Cailler chocolate factory & Gruyère factory and castle tours

This day was definitely the highlight of our trip. I was excited to take the boys on a tour of the cheese and chocolate factory but did not anticipate how awesome it would really be. First of all, the way to reach these towns from Interlaken was through a seasonal mountain pass (very narrow and winding!) which had THE most amazing views.

This was taken with my iPhone, yes it really is THAT green here

Interlaken, Brienz wood carvers, Jungfraujoch and Paragliding

Switzerland has moved up on my list of most amazing places on earth. I had been to Zurich several years ago but it gave me no preparation for the beauty I would behold driving across the country. Unfortunately the drive from Zurich to Interlaken is a series of tunnels with just a few glimpses of the countryside, however those few glimpses are completely breathtaking. I wish I could have taken photos of the first tunnel we came out of, it was the kind of scenery movies are made of, incredible mountain cliffs and green valleys. I'm convinced that a person could drive every day for a month in Switzerland and see something totally magnificent each day.

Part 2: Salzburg, Austria

I'm not sure which was more enjoyable, touring around Salzburg or the beautiful drive there. Here are some photos I took from the car on the drive over.

Garmish and Nördlingen {and photographs for sale}

My husband's parents came to visit us for several weeks and we hit the road on another trip to one of our favorite places- Garmisch-Partenkirchen. On our way we visited the medieval town of Nördlingen which sits near the impact point of a meteorite that hit the earth 15 million years ago. The boys climbed the treacherously old steps to the top of the cathedral for a bird's eye view of the town.

Belgium: Brussels, Waterloo and Bastogne

Our next stop was Brussels, Belgium. We went inside the engineering marvel The Atomium. This unusual structure contains the fastest elevator in Europe, traveling at a rate of 5 meters per second. The highest ball has large glass windows you can look out and see the city. Not quite as fabulous as the Sears Tower (I refuse to call it Willis) but still pretty cool.

The Netherlands: Keukenhof Gardens & Kinderdijk

The main reason for our trip of course was to see the beautiful tulips, and we were not disappointed! The Keukenhof Gardens have the most magnificent flower display on earth. They get over 800,000 visitors during the eight weeks they are open. My sister and I visited several years ago but I didn't have kids then so I didn't realize all the fun things they had for kids here. The boys said it was almost as fun as Disney World!

The Netherlands: Amsterdam

Part one of our trip to the Netherlands and Belgium! First stop- Amsterdam. It took us about 7 hours to get there since we had to stop several times to feed baby. The boys did great as always and Olivia is a model traveler, I think she only cried once and it was because she needed a diaper change. Here is the beautiful side of Amsterdam...

Paris Arc du Triomphe and Sacré Cœur

There are so many places in Paris to see incredible views. This is from the top of the Arc du Triomphe.

Paris, Musée d'Orsay & Seine River Cruise

We spent the weekend in Paris for the marathon. We hadn't planned on going with my husband since we were just here a few months ago, but at the last minute we decided to join him. I'm so glad we did. I just can't get enough of this city!

Gutenberg Museum

Last week we took a drive to Mainz to visit the Gutenberg museum. Johannes Gutenberg printing press was one of the most important inventions in the history of the world and was especially important in getting the Bible into the hands of common people. The museum is full of books as old as 500 years. It is amazing how vibrant the colors still are and to learn a bit about how they made books then.

Heidelberg Castle

Just realized I forgot to share pictures of our visit to the Heidelberg Castle, better share it before the trip we took this weekend or I'll forget... I visited this castle 7 years ago with my friends Tracey & Mark and their adorable children (can't believe it's been that long!) It's a beautiful city and only about an hour away from where we live. Love all the castles here in Germany!

Trier

Last week we visited the city of Trier, the oldest city in Germany (founded around 16 BC). I had visited there several years ago and it is such a beautiful city full of old Roman structures. It was a rather chilly day but the boys were troopers walking all around. We ate soft warm bretzels and doner's and had some kinderpunsch. They were just getting the Christmas markets set up and it was such a magical atmosphere to see everything all lit up and festive.

Paris with Kids

Although Paris might not be at the top of the list of child-friendly destinations, there are a few things you can do to make it more enjoyable for yourself and them. Before we left on our trip we studied some of the things we would be seeing in Paris so that it would be more meaningful when we got there. That is one of the primary reasons I enjoy homeschooling, the freedom to take my kids to see historical sights rather than just read about them. Here are some resources we used in planning our trip to Paris. 

The Louvre: We downloaded the Louvre Kids iPhone app which is a great way to learn about some of the works found in the Louvre. It's perfect for kids because they are learning about the works of while they find specific parts in the painting or work puzzles. Ethan was so excited when he saw a work of art that was featured in the app and all the boys did extremely well in the museum (we lasted 4 full hours!) 

Paris, Day 3

Our last day in Paris was spent at the Palace of Versailles. The palace is quite spectacular, ornate decor, paintings and grounds. I can just imagine how beautiful the gardens would be in the Spring. The boys tolerated the palace but loved running wild through the gardens. We rented a little boat and paddled around the lake, cold as it was, and yes, fed more birds.

Paris, Day 2

The second morning we planned to visit Notre Dame Cathedral first. We plugged in the GPS and I searched for the cathedral, found it and compared the street address from my travel book, then we headed out. After about 15-20 minutes we realized we were still really out in the country (our hotel was near Disneyland Paris) with no city in sight. I checked the gps map and realized that it was routing us to another Notre Dame cathedral with the same street name, but in a different city, well not really a city at all, a small country town the opposite direction of Paris. Since we were already almost there we decided to go ahead and see it, and I'm glad we did. It was so beautiful, and the little cobblestone streets and century old houses were enchanting.

Paris, Day 1

Last weekend we visited Paris! (I'm a little behind since we just got the Internet hooked up). It was a different experience from the last time I visited there. Being 7 months pregnant with 3 small children makes everything more difficult and takes longer than expected. We still had a wonderful time exploring the city and I have lots of photos to prove it! Here is day 1:

Worms (the city, not the invertebrate)

This weekend we visited a bazaar on post which had vendor products from all over. We settled on some delicious homemade jellies and jams and amazing melt-in-your-mouth truffles.

Then we took a trip to IKEA to purchase some lights and things for our new house (lights and kitchens are often separate in German homes- fortunately we have a kitchen, even if it does have the world's smallest sink, but the lights were insufficient). I don't think I've ever seen IKEA quite this crowded before, it was a madhouse and we waited in line a good half an hour to checkout.

Although we were pretty exhausted by this point, were were so close to Worms, the place where Martin Luther made his famous declarations at the Diet of Worms. So we decided to head up for a visit of the beautiful town. It rained off and on the entire time, but fortunately it wasn't very cold.

Burg Nanstein

This weekend we went to visit another local castle, Burg Nanstein. It started lightly snowing as we began the long walk up to the fortress. Although it was chilly, it was nice because we were the only people on the trail.

Burg Nanstein was built in 1162 and was defeated during the Knight's Revolt in 1523. It is quite an impressive fortress and is built on the highest hill in the valley, it's hard to imagine attacking it and succeeding. There are several underground tunnels and winding staircases and beautiful views of the villages below.