Busy Times in Germany

Yikes. It has been 5 months since our last post!  So to our faithful blog followers: yes, we are still alive and doing well in Germany!  Here are some photos to show what has been going on these last months.  Beware, there are many!

In May we traveled to Berlin, a very neat city which has so much history, and also lots of new construction.  The girls are posing with a street performer (a human sculpture) in a park.  They were even able to touch the bullet holes in the columns of the Brandenburg Gate!  

The greatest place we visited was the Berlin Wall Memorial.  It was more immense and amazing that we ever thought.  The length of the division was so long and affected so many.  The girls are sitting on one of the markers that showed where the wall stood.

To Michele's request, after Berlin we stopped in Leipzig to see St. Thomas Church where Johann Sebastian Bach was buried.  We also saw St. Nicholas Church, where several significant events occurred to end communism.

In June we celebrated the 10th birthday of our sweet and creative girl, Brenna.  She had a rock star party with friends.

This is where Brenna is found everyday at recess-high up in the tree.  They had their last day of school June 27th.

The school had a family picnic on the last day of school.  The small school has such a great community feeling and the girls are thriving there.

In July we were able to travel home to see friends and family.  Such a great trip!  We traveled to Michigan for a family reunion and were able to swim, do archery, and even take a ride on the zip line.  

The girls love spending time with their cousins.  And as much as we love Germany, we are looking forward to being back at home near our family.

 

Almost every weekend we try to take a mini-trip to see areas in the Southern Germany.  It is beautiful everywhere we go.  This photo was taken on top of castle ruins in Neckargumund, looking over the Neckar River.

In August the girls started their first day of Grade 5 and Grade 3!  Brenna's first unit of inquiry was Forestation and she was able to take a field trip to a forest with her German class.  So she learned many new German words!  She is the best Deutsche speaker of all four of us.  She even translates when we are "stuck"!   Kayla's first unit was Water and her class visited the Klärwerk, and discovered what happens to water in the "cleaning pools".

I also had my first day of school- my first day as Performing Arts teacher at Heidelberg International School.  It is only a part time position, but it keeps me busier than just part of my week.  But I enjoy it and some days I can't believe I am getting paid for something that I find so much fun. 

Nicholas and I celebrated our anniversary by eating at the Stralenburg Castle restaurant.  The view was amazing (of the valley, not the view of Nick!).  We also finished our driving training and passed our test (well, we passed the 2nd time) to receive our German driving license.  That was quite a process!  But now we are official drivers.

One of our favorite things here: cafes on the street!  We stopped for some delicious cappuccinos and hot chocolate.

Another of our favorite things:  hikes in the mountains with Benji.  He loves to run and run.

Our latest travel was to Bavaria and it was so pretty.  We stayed at a family inn with the lake and Alps in the background.  We almost got lost while driving through the countryside, but we were able to see many cows grazing in the hills.  And yes, they had bells around their necks!

We also stopped in Ulm to see the largest church in the world, with amazing Gothic characteristics.

One last picture of our trip to Bavaria. Stunning, right?!