Germany

Since we are hanging out here with fairly warm temperatures and NO snow I figure that now would be a good time to post our pictures of the "Germany" leg of last year's trip. It was just a couple of weeks before Christmas and coming from Okinawa we THOUGHT we had warm clothes, but ended up buying the kids jackets, hats, gloves etc.. all while there.
It truly was a 'winter wonderland' those first few days we were there.
Joseph and Jessie couldn't get enough of Uncle Jason, anywhere he was going they were going to go also.
This last picture is of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. This is the first time we attempted to visit, but it was so cold and we were ill prepared so, we decided to take a picture and return another day.

The first shot here is Janie on the day we did make it back to visit Neuschwanstein. It was very cold, but as you can see, she wouldn't wear her mittens. She sucks her thumb and it made her so mad every time she'd stick that glove in her mouth that she finally pulled both mittens off. Her little hands were FROZEN, I felt so bad for her. It wasn't until two weeks later when my mom suggested just cutting the thumb part off of that particular mitten that I realized we could have solved the problem with much less trauma!

Next is a shot of the castle when it was clear out and you could actually see it. I do not have the same love of castles and all things renaissance as Jeremy does, but if I had to pick a castle to live in, it would DEFINITELY be this one. It was quite fabulous and not so ornate that I'd have to choke down my dinner every night:)

The third and fourth pictures are of Hohenschwangau Castle, which belonged to King Ludwig's parents. He had Neuschwanstein built right near his parents' castle. Can you tell which photo was taken by me with my camera and which was taken by Jeremy with his camera, surely not!!

These two shots were taken the day that Jeremy, Jason, Joseph, Jessie, and I drove to Salzburg. What a beautiful day it was. Janie stayed with Jeremy's parents at the hotel and spent all of her time walking the halls saying 'hi' to everyone she saw while we explored the Kris Kindle Market and enjoyed the day with the BIG kids (because 5 and 3 is really big).

We rode a tram up the mountain and found the Salzburg Castle at the top. The first photo was inside one of the million or so rooms we toured and the next shot is just a cute little band that was outside in the courtyard playing Christmas music. They look so festive don't they?!

This last shot is my favorite because I feel like it captures the beauty and stillness that we were able to experience in person. Such a quaint and quiet little German village just on the outskirts of where we were staying. I'd like to peek inside the windows or be the mouse in the corner for a couple of days just to see what goes on in such a place as this.