Barcelona, Spain

We were very excited that our Cruise left out of Barcelona, Spain.  We decided to drive from Germany to Spain, which was a beautiful drive but long.  It was worth it though once we were in Barcelona and I must say it was wonderful to see Palm Trees again. ( Or Pom Pom Trees as Carolyn calls them)



And the Beach!  We headed there right away after we checked into our hotel.  This was our first European beach experience and let's just say it was interesting and there was not a lack of people watching.  The girls had a blast!



The next day we had a full day of sightseeing around the city.



The Columbus Monument.  It was in Barcelona that Ferdinand and Queen Isabel welcomed Christopher Columbus home after his first trip to America.



Then we ran into Columbus on the Ramblas and of course Carolyn had to get a picture with him.



Also on the Ramblas we went into the La Boqueria which was this huge market where you could get anything from produce to



Brian's favorite Jamon.  I had so much Jamon while we were in Barcelona I was a little Jamoned out, but it was so good.



There were lots of architectural details throughout the city.  The architect Antoni Gaudi  is famous for having designed many of the buildings in Barcelona.  We didn't try to tract down many of the Gaudi sights though because to be honest neither Brian nor I had heard about him before coming here.  Instead we



focused our day more on the food of the city.  I have always loved Tapas and love it even more after visiting here.  We ate at this great Tapas restaurant that had a playground right in front of it.  I love finding restaurants like this.  With a 4 and a 2 year old having them play at the playground while we enjoy a meal is always the best scenario.



The girls had been so good the day before on our drive down that we decided to treat them with a trip to the



Aquarium.



Brian was just as excited as the girls to go there.



And what was I most excited about eating again of course.  That night I finally got my paella.  It was so yummy!!

The Hills are Alive ..

For our last adventure we headed to Salzburg, Austria for the day.



Recognize this fountain from the Sound of Music?



Since we were in Salzburg we had to be true tourists and do the Sound of Music tour.  What I find funny is most Austrians have never even seen this film.



Our first stop was the Von Trapp house.



I give Brian a hard time about this shirt.  He really doesn't wear it much, it just seems like every time we take a picture together he has it on.



Then we went to the Gazebo.  Seana got asked if these were all of her children when they were taking this picture.



Sid is looking at Carolyn and I like "what are you doing?"



The church scene for the movie was actually filmed in Monsee, a cute little town about 30 minutes outside of Salzburg.





Here is the church.





As soon as we got home we had to all watch the movie again.



The day we were in Salzburg this little one turned two.  Hopefully one day she will think it was cool she got to visit this city on her Birthday.



But for now I think she was just happy with the company she got to spend it with.



And finally one last photo with



The Alps in the background.  This was such a fun road trip.

Munich, Germany

Here are the pictures from our day spent in Munich back in June.  These two look like they are ready for trouble.



This is the New Town Hall located on the Marienplatz (Mary's Square).





The Theatine Church of St Cajetan dates back to 1663.



It was one of those that was not so impressive on the outside but breathtaking on the inside.



Before we went into this church we had taken DD and Seana to several but none that were what we classify as a WoW church.  This was definitely was with all of it's details.



We decided to have lunch at the Hofbrauhaus.  Rick Steve's calls it the world's most famous Beer Hall.



We had a great lunch and it was fun to show Dwight David and Seana a little bit of Oktoberfest.  Complete with the German Band and Beer of course.



I love this picture.  Shows how outings with four kids goes perfectly.



I would love to get back to Munich for Oktoberfest one year.  We shall see...

Cruisen

We just got back from a Fantastic Disney Cruise.



Carolyn and Sidney got to experience a little Disney Love while Brian and I got to enjoy visiting some beautiful places.  Carolyn keeps asking when we are going to get back on the boat.  She enjoyed herself so much and was so much fun to see her experience this.  Makes me want to take them to Disney World.



I have still got to finish the pictures from when my brother was here before I start on our cruise but I wanted to share what we have been up to.  We are not going anywhere else for awhile.  We are going to enjoy being in the Big Town of Stein, Germany. (For those that don't know our town is literary only one street.  We are the only Americans and most people on our street are related. I love it.)