If I had my act together, there would be lots more posts between this one and Dec. 9, but here goes anyway.
We spent a fabulous week in Germany from the 16th till the 23rd (thus, the long break here). The first part of our trip was to Garmsich for skiing which was so awesome, except for the horrific cold and sore throat I had for the first 4 days. We met up with our friends Dave and Tracy and their 3 boys and stayed in very cute little apartments with separate bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, etc. It was way nicer than any place Casey and I lived for the first few years we were married for sure!!!
We were able to put the little munchkins in the base daycare (Alisea did so awesome, mom was the one with issues here) and Dad, mom and Caitlyn hit the slopes together. It was lots of fun, especially since Caitlyn skiis about as well as mom. Casey skiied 3 days, Caitlyn 2, and mom 1 1/2. The rest of the time we just enjoyed the cute little town and Christmas market. Casey and I also celebrated our 14th anniversary while we were there. How funny is this...... Caitlyn's gift to us, she informed us after our first day skiing, which was also our anniversary, was that she didn't complain all day! We had actually noticed the difference! Oh to be 11 again.
After we left Garmisch, we headed to Munich for a day at the zoo (note to self - zoos are not fun when it's 20 degrees outside) and the famous Hoffbrauhaus. Then we were off to the Stuttgart area to spend the weekend with Casey's Uncle Randy and Aunt Alice. They took us to the famous Stuttgart Christmas market which was really awesome and out to eat at a Croatian restaurant which was super yummy. Then we drove home. The GPS said it would be a 7 hour journey home, and with our little Subaru overloaded and all three kids and carseats crammed in, stuff piled around our heads and feet, etc. we naturally assumed it would be more like 9 and miserable. It turned out to be a very pleasant journey - Caitlyn had caught what I had and slept most of the way, Ethan watched movies and slept, and Alisea slept and was content to sit quietly the whole way. We had about a 10 minute meltdown when she got ready to eat, Ethan was ready to sleep, Caitlyn's head hurt, and we had to take a 25 minute detour to get gas because Austrian stations wouldn't take our gas coupons. Otherwise, it was a great trip. It was almost exactly 7 hours from the time we left Stuttgart (Casey was driving!)
After a whirlwind of trying to prepare for Christmas with just one day, we had a wonderful Christmas. We went to a cool little town called Poffabro that is in the mountains. It's a walking town (no access in most places for cars) and the entire town is full of nativity scenes. There are all types, from elaborate room sized ones to macoroni figures, children's drawings, and even one formed from dental equipment. It was a fabulous way to spend the evening, reminding us of the reason for the holiday! As usual, we went overboard on the kids, and they got lots of fun stuff. I finally joined the ipod world (a gift from Casey), and we spent the afternoon with many friends. We sure missed being with our families though! We'll be looking forward to being home for the holidays next year!
We spent a fabulous week in Germany from the 16th till the 23rd (thus, the long break here). The first part of our trip was to Garmsich for skiing which was so awesome, except for the horrific cold and sore throat I had for the first 4 days. We met up with our friends Dave and Tracy and their 3 boys and stayed in very cute little apartments with separate bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, etc. It was way nicer than any place Casey and I lived for the first few years we were married for sure!!!
We were able to put the little munchkins in the base daycare (Alisea did so awesome, mom was the one with issues here) and Dad, mom and Caitlyn hit the slopes together. It was lots of fun, especially since Caitlyn skiis about as well as mom. Casey skiied 3 days, Caitlyn 2, and mom 1 1/2. The rest of the time we just enjoyed the cute little town and Christmas market. Casey and I also celebrated our 14th anniversary while we were there. How funny is this...... Caitlyn's gift to us, she informed us after our first day skiing, which was also our anniversary, was that she didn't complain all day! We had actually noticed the difference! Oh to be 11 again.
After we left Garmisch, we headed to Munich for a day at the zoo (note to self - zoos are not fun when it's 20 degrees outside) and the famous Hoffbrauhaus. Then we were off to the Stuttgart area to spend the weekend with Casey's Uncle Randy and Aunt Alice. They took us to the famous Stuttgart Christmas market which was really awesome and out to eat at a Croatian restaurant which was super yummy. Then we drove home. The GPS said it would be a 7 hour journey home, and with our little Subaru overloaded and all three kids and carseats crammed in, stuff piled around our heads and feet, etc. we naturally assumed it would be more like 9 and miserable. It turned out to be a very pleasant journey - Caitlyn had caught what I had and slept most of the way, Ethan watched movies and slept, and Alisea slept and was content to sit quietly the whole way. We had about a 10 minute meltdown when she got ready to eat, Ethan was ready to sleep, Caitlyn's head hurt, and we had to take a 25 minute detour to get gas because Austrian stations wouldn't take our gas coupons. Otherwise, it was a great trip. It was almost exactly 7 hours from the time we left Stuttgart (Casey was driving!)
After a whirlwind of trying to prepare for Christmas with just one day, we had a wonderful Christmas. We went to a cool little town called Poffabro that is in the mountains. It's a walking town (no access in most places for cars) and the entire town is full of nativity scenes. There are all types, from elaborate room sized ones to macoroni figures, children's drawings, and even one formed from dental equipment. It was a fabulous way to spend the evening, reminding us of the reason for the holiday! As usual, we went overboard on the kids, and they got lots of fun stuff. I finally joined the ipod world (a gift from Casey), and we spent the afternoon with many friends. We sure missed being with our families though! We'll be looking forward to being home for the holidays next year!
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