Austria

Outside our hotel in Salzburg.

A peek inside our dual hotel room.

The rear view of the Leopoldskron Castle which was used as the rear of the Trapp family home in The Sound of Music: the family drank lemonade with the barnoness on the terrace and the children and Maria fell into the adjacent lake.

The front view of the Frohnburg Castle used as the front of the Trapp family home: Maria arrived at this gate to meet the von Trapps for the first time, they pushed their car through this gate when they tried to escape.

Standing in front of the lake adjacent to Leopoldskron Castle.

Entering the gates of Hellbrunn Palace grounds near Salzburg (above and below).

The original gazebo used in The Sound of Music (above and below); currently housed on the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace.

Overlooking the town of St Gilgen and Lake Wolfgangsee (above and below). The tour bus took us up into the "lake country" of the Bavarian Alps east of Salzburg.

Standing outside St Michael's cathedral in the town of Mondsee (below) out in the "lake country". Hadley inside St Michael's cathedral (above). It was inside this cathedral that the wedding scene in The Sound of Music was filmed: Maria, led by Liesl, walked down this aisle to meet the baron in front of the main altar.

Taking a stroll through the gardens of Mirabell Palace in downtown Salzburg (above and below). Maria and the children danced through these gardens singing "Do-re-mi".

Hellbrunn palace (above).

Fun park on the grounds of Hellbrunn palace (below). Bonnie wanted a turn on the zip line.

Trick water fountain at the Roman theater on Hellbrunn palace grounds.

Inside Hellbrunn palace (above). Hadley loved having her own handset.

Overlooking Hellbrunn palace and grounds from the Hellbrunn museum (below). It was quite a hike up to the museum pushing the stroller over a steep rocky trail.

Oh how strange the things you see !!!

This past weekend there was a small circus that came to our little village. We didn't pay to see it but come to find out you didn't have to. On Monday I was driving home from taking the kids to preschool and I noticed some camels just hanging out next to the tents. They weren't tied up or anything just getting a little sun : ) I really had to laugh and quickly get my camera. I am standing in the Wasgau grocery store parking lot down the street from our home when I took the pictures.

The above picture shows how close to the road the animals were

Just a bunch of camels getting some sun!

First trip to Paris

We had a wonderful weekend in Paris. Hadley and Cooper stayed with some friends of ours and Grant came with us. We had so much fun and it left us wanting more... The city reminded us of a mix between Washington D.C. and New York City. The french language is really beautiful and both of the days we were there we enjoyed gorgeous weather. We didn't have an agenda except to enjoy the city. There are many more things that we want to see in the future and can't wait for our next visit.

Reading up on different sites to see in Paris as we head into the center of the city on RER A4.

Helping Grant stay occupied as we wait in line to enter Notre Dame de Paris.

Notre Dame de Paris.

North Rose Window.

South side of Notre Dame de Paris.

Grant taking a stroll in the Louvre plaza, wanting to touch the water fountains, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in the distance.

Main entrance to Musée du Louvre.

On the Seine River looking towards the western tip of Île de la Cité (one of two islands on which Paris was founded).

Standing in the Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in the distance.

Tour Eiffel.

Fun things to do in the Neighborhood

Just recently we had some friends' children come and stay with us for a few days. This was a great opportunity to do some fun things. We went to the local dinosaur park in Kaiserslautern. They were starting to put out their fall decorations, and it was really impressive. They made a Noah's Ark with animals two by two made with all different types of squash. This park has really incredible play areas for children. I didn't say they were safe--just fun!! You will notice that Cooper didn't have any hesitation going up in a fun tree house or down a two story slide. We also went to the local zoo. It had a fun bird show and reptile house. The favorite thing was the petting area. They had these small goats that you could go in and feed. There wasn't anyone there to help or instruct, only a food machine with a 20 cent Euro sign. Of course, I didn't have a 20 cent Euro piece. I had a 10 cent, 50 cent, 1 Euro, and 2 Euro, but no 20 cent. Well, don't let that stop us.... we fed the animals foliage from beside the enclosure. We had a moment of goat wrangling when a few of the goats escaped. Cooper and Hadley were impressed that their mom could wrangle goats.

Penguins out of acorn squash

I'm not sure the kind of squash but I loved this elephant

Camel out of butternut squash. My initial thought was how many pounds of squash were used. We love to eat butternut squash in our home...

Noah's Ark

The children liked to roll down this hill. They had a lot of fun but I'm afraid the clothes may never be the same.

Oink Oink

Crazy Robot Treehouse. Yes, both Hadley and Cooper got up to the top by themselves. They did however require a little help getting down.

Cooper peeking out from the Robot's eye.

It took every ounce of my strength to let my little man climb up to this slide and go down all by himself. Let me tell you it was hard to get him to leave. He must of gone down it 10 times.

Sand is always a favorite with our children. Cooper just loves these digging machines. I have never seen these in the states...

So cute..

At the zoo they had a digging machine that was automated. I gave each of the children a 50 cent Euro to ride one thing. Cooper chose this which was no surprise. Oh, do you think they look like brothers?? I couldn't believe how similar they looked in this picture.

Bird show... The children were able to pet the owl.

There is the food to feed the goats. I will remember to take a 20 cent piece with me next time.

Another fun ride at the zoo

I need to do better with ordering my pictures... Oh well, here is a picture of Hadley feeding the goats.

We had such a good time at the park and zoo. We plan to go back again for the Fall Festival/Halloween in October.