Florida friends come for a visit

Well, here I go on my mission to get this blog up to date.  A few months ago, when I did the last real blog post, I was trying to get the dates to match the activities I was posting about. I don't care about that so much anymore and just want to get caught up.

Sam's parents left us in early June. A week later Sam's best friend and wife came for a couple of weeks.  I'd met them last summer when we stopped in for a visit on our way back from Ft. Belvoir, so I knew I liked them and wasn't too worried about having them visit. I think Matt had been overseas before, but Davin had not so it was a new experience for her.  We loved having them here and are already looking forward to their next visit. 

It seems we have gotten a list of places that we now take all of our visitors (depending on what they want to see, of course).  We have been to these places so many times now that I'm sure I've posted pictures before, so bear with me :)

Bebenhausen is the monastary this is very close to us (and where we had our maternity photos taken).  We love it there and never really tire of showing it off.  It's such a peaceful little place.

Elly was such big stuff sitting up in this window all by herself.

 

Daddy and Elly were just sitting on the wall of the monastery cemetary waiting on everyone to catch up.  I thought it was a sweet picture. Sam is such a great daddy.  He loves his little girl with all his heart and gives everything to being the best father he can be.  I'm so thankful that my little girl has such a loving and caring daddy.  She should never doubt that he loves her. 

Next on our must-see list for our first time visitors is Berg Hohenzollern.  Yes, I've posted pictures of it before, but I'm sure Elly was much younger :)  It really is one of the most beautiful castles we've seen.  Driving up to it you get a gorgeous view of it sitting up on the hill. 

This day we really got lucky.  There was some celebration going on, so the part of the castle that we usually have to pay extra to get a tour of was open to the public.  It was nice to be able to just wander through at our own pace instead of having to keep up with the tour guide.  They also had a drum and trumpet band that played in the courtyard every hour or so.  It really added to the experience. 

I just had to snap a picture of this.  Elly had just finished going potty and was washing her hands.  Apparently, she didn't take the time to fix her clothes though before moving on to the hand washing :)

Elly's sassy little pose

 

 

After Hohenzollern we headed on over to Lichtenstein castle.  We love this little castle too. It's just beautiful how it's positioned on a rocky hilltop.  One angle in particular really shows how the actual castle is set right on top of the hill, separate from the other castle grounds. 

This is the castle that's on top of the rocky hill.  You can't tell from this angle, but you have to cross over a bridge to get to it and from a distance you can see how it would be almost impossible to access it if they raised the bridge up. 

Matt and Davin standing on the bridge to the castle.

Next stop was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We LOVE that place!  Again, I'm sure I've posted about it before, but it's just so beautiful.  This time we did something new though.  We had never walked the wall that surrounds the old city, so we thought we would do that this time.  It's not possible to walk the entire wall, probably due to deteriation or something, but we walked a good portion of it. 

In this picture I had the rest of them go on ahead so I could get a picture of them.   We're all on the wall, but they are just further ahead.

 

Looking back at part of the city wall we were walking

 

Elly loved this huge teddy bear.

 

My little viking girl :)

Another day we drove to Strasbourg, France. It's right on the border of France and Germany. I think it's predominately German though because we've never had a problem with Sam speaking German there.  One reason I love the area of Germany that we live in is because there are so many places we can take a day trip too.  This is one of those little towns that is not too far from us and a great place to visit.

We took a boat ride around Strasbourg's old town.  It was interesting to hear some of the history.

 

Later, amid a rainstorm, we ate at a little outdoor cafe. This big old merry-go-round was just across the courtyard, so Daddy took her for a ride while we waited on our food.

Another place that we never tire of is Garmisch.  It is probably our number one vacation spot.  It's a beautiful area AND we can get American food :)  What's not to like !?!  Elly loves the little rocking chairs there that are just her size.  Here she is playing on the iPhone.  I'm amazed at how quickly little kids learn how to work gadgets.  Several times now I've heard her refer to it as "my iPhone".  I quickly tell her it's not hers, but Mama's and she said "yea, I know that".  I think it's just wishful thinking on her part :)

Here we were getting ready to take the cable car up to the Zugspitze (highest point in Germany).

 

On our way to the top of the mountain, looking back at where we started from (on the other side of the red and white tower).  It's really up there!

 

Literally looking down on the mountain tops.

 

Matt climbed over to another peak. 

 

It's always windy and cold up there.

 

Back at the hotel and getting a much needed nap with Teddy.

Another day we took the train into Esslingen.  One of the many beautiful towns in Germany.

Climbing the stairs to the castle on the hill overlooking Esslingen.

 

Elly was mimicking a man she saw lying in the grass at the top of our climb :)

 

That sums up our visit with Matt and Davin.  We loved having them here and are looking forward to their next visit.  This summer was packed with visitors.  So far we don't have any reservations for next summer.  Of course it's still early in the year though :)