So in April of... oh what's that year... 2010 - Our family of 4.5 drove down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen to partake in the military ski lodge and tour the Bavarian Alps. That trip was just "ok." I already blogged about that one.
Moving on to July 2011... How wonderful that we were able to have my mother-in-law with us on this trip! I absolutely DO love that woman to bits... Her strength is indescribable... a woman who raised 4 children on her own (after the death of her husband), a woman who continued to work a full time job... a woman who travels the world... a woman who NEVER COMPLAINS!! (well, if she does, it's in French and I can't understand it!) haha... I first have to say thanks to her for having my husband all those years ago - and raising him to be the best husband and father a woman could ask for! And another thanks to her for being THAT Grandma to my kids... you know, the one who calls and says "Can I take Stevie to England for 2 weeks?" Or... the one who makes a bedroom for my children in her home (complete with personal touches from the United States.) She's the first one awake on holidays, the last one standing in the kitchen making sure every morsel of food is prepared for our large family... She adds all those tiny details to a table spread for Easter or birthdays. I love, love, love this woman. (and I don't think she realizes JUST HOW MUCH!)
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| Deuces! |
Anyway... when she got back from England/Scotland with Stevie and we picked her up in Holland, I extended the invitation to her to join us in Garmisch for our vacation. She thought on it, and finally accepted. YAY!
July 4th... fireworks, food, FUN! We had our neighbors up from downstairs, my German coworker (Gertrud) and her husband, and the Netherlands cousins over. We bbq'd that afternoon, and parked in a field across from the base for 45 minutes of explosive awesomeness. Then it was home and to bed for an early July 5th departure to the Alps.
AM - we awoke. One by one, my tiny heathens sauntered out of their rooms and we started the tedious task of packing. All piled in the van - off we went! A pit stop in Ramstein for gas and lunch... a 530pm arrival at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. We found our room (#1061) and wow o wow... what a view!
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view from our first floor room
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Unpacked, we went to Zuggy's Base Camp for dinner and with a Victoria sleeping peacefully, Nico and I took the other two down to the pool for an hour of water fun.
Wednesday morning - 6 July.
A day spent in Munich. Our first stop was the Dachau Concentration Camp. Unfortunately - I packed for the MOUNTAINS, and was sweating my butt off as I walked around this huge camp with few trees and little shade. Sun was boring holes in me, and the kids were hot and tired of traveling (already.) Overall, I was kind of disappointed. I still hope to see Auschwitz someday... We visited Struthof (in France) just a few weeks ago, and I was more impressed with that small camp. Perhaps more might have been behind the walls of the Dachau museum, but we chose to skip that as we had three cranky kids who were long overdue for lunch.
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| Work sets you free... |
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| Imprisoned |
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| The only freedom that many would ever see... came with death... |
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| The bunkbeds where the prisoners were forced to sleep |
After Dachau was a quick trip to McDonalds for refueling and then on to the Munich Zoo!
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| Found these monkeys running around... |
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| Tried to feed them to the lions |
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| Tried to sell this monkey too - but couldn't find a buyer! |
I was witness to a horrific event while at the Munich Zoo as well. Know what a mandrill is? (picture Rafiki from the Lion King...) Ok so, I thought it would be fun to see what one would do if I put Victoria up to the glass. I let her stand up close, and the mandrill charged her and slapped the glass just in front of her! We laughed in shock - thought it was quite funny... So, I tried again... he walked off unphased - turned around... and began to masturbate! :o... :o :o :o!!! This monkey looking baboon creature with the crazy face was spankin' his mini-monkey and when he was done, he licked "it" off the floor! I couldn't even walk away... I just kept staring in disbelief!! Ew...
Day 2, complete... back to Garmisch for dinner, some pool/hot tub time, and bed! I think everyone slept good that night!
07 July... After a little himming and hawwing, we decided to skip the Eagle's Nest and take mom up to the Zugspitze instead. Ava has never ridden a train before, so we opted to ride the train to the top and then take the cable car down. Ohhh the look on Ava's face as the train pulled up to the station and we climbed on board! WOO!!! Sing with me now - "Chuuuginton... Chugga chugga chugga chugga CHUGGINTON!"
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| An ape escaped the zoo... we found him at the train station... |
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| An excited Ava, waiting for the train! |
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| The three musketeers, at the front of the train looking back... |
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| On top of the Zugspitze! (we'll get her in skis one of these days.) |
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| Dining at the top! |
A quick cable trip down to the bottom, loaded up in the car and then off to the Leutaschklamm Gorge in Austria! One word... BEAUTIFUL!
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| High above the river below... |
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| Mom, I can't walk... my legs are too hard... |
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| The bridge on the right is what we were walking on! |
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| Taking in the Alps from Austria! |
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| Nothing like a cold treat on a hot day :D |
Day 3 done... home to the hotel to feed Victoria dinner, drop Stevie off for Kid's Night Out, and then an outing with friends to Techmer's steakhouse. We all turned in early for the long trip home on the 8th.
8 July - detoured to see Ettal, and Neuschwanstein. Blogged about Ettal in the April 2010 Spring Break post... As for Neuschwanstein - we toured like the British (from the car!) The line to get tickets was UNREAL... and then there was a pretty big hike involved to get to the castle itself. SO - we picked a great spot on the side of the road and snapped a few quick pics before hitting the autobahn back home.
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| Neuschwanstein |
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