We had a wonderful weekend down in Garmisch. We saw much less snow than we expected but it didn't matter. We had so much fun! It was great to see our long time friends Tally and Jessie and we were able to finally meet their beautiful baby girl Kelsey. She's SO sweet. She is very smiley and such a good little baby. We hardly heard her cry at all. Jay thought she was pretty cute too. Although he did not enjoy sharing his play cups. We're going
to have to work on that. Seeing Kelsey made me miss the days when Jay was immobile and had very few ways to express his own opinions :) Truly I am grateful that our little guy is progressing by walking and talking more now but it sure was easier (in some ways) when he wasn't desperate to get out of his stroller at all times. He's actually pretty good once you get him strapped in.
Our first day in Garmisch was pretty low-key. We went to the American Military resort Edelweiss and had a traditional American buffet breakfast. While this may not sound like much it was actually a highlight of the day! It's been a loooong time since any of us have had a traditional American breakfast complete with French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, bagels, orange juice and more. The fact we could load up our plates more than once made things even more appealing. Jay ate his fair share of yogurt, potatoes and French toast.
He hasn't been the best eater lately so we were happy that he decided to gorge himself just like mommy and daddy. Miss Kelsey was a gem through the whole meal. She slept and then sat quietly smiling at us while we finished. Mike and I have started using Jay's portable DVD player when we go out for meals. He watches movies while we eat. He eats too of course. Am I a terrible mother for doing this? I don't know. At least we get a quiet meal though. Perhaps people look on at us in disbelief, but I challenge them
to have a nice, quiet sit down meal with a curious toddler. I mean it's not like we let him watch movies all day long! Enough justification. You get the point. After eating we checked out the rest of the resort and then went swimming in their beautiful indoor pool. Jay was very nervous about the water. Only a big, colorful beach ball could coax him into the water. There was also a huge outdoor hot tub we hung out in. We actually took turns going in. The boys went first while the moms watched the babes then vice a versa. It was good to relax for a few minutes without being on mom duty. Jessie and I also hung out in the steam room for a while. It was nice, and also a little big scary.
All that steam... and it feels like your trapped in! We were able to relax though and it felt good lay down in the warmth. After Edelweiss we went over to the base to pick up a few essentials then headed back to our hotel. We had a little kitchen in our room so we made tacos for linner. Yum! We also ate chips and dip and Jessie's yummy Belgian brownies while we watched
A Night's Tale. Such a great movie. Once the kids went to bed we hung out and talked for a long while before hitting the sac ourselves.
The next day we decided to do the castle tour. We drove first to Schloss (that's castle in German - I'm so multi-lingual ;) Linderhof. Ready for your history lesson? Schloss Linderhof is a palace built by crazy King Ludwig II, better known for building of the "Sleeping Beauty Castle" but more on that later. The Palace was actually a hunting lodge first known as
Königshäuschen (what a mouthful) but when Ludwig inherited it from his father he loved the area so much that he decided to turn the lodge into a palace. Apparently the land held sentimental appeal for him since his father had taken him on hunting trips there back in the day. When trying to decided how to decorate the interior of the palace Ludwig decided to pattern it after the Pallace of Versailles. He was obsessed with King Louis XIV.
It's definitely Baroque in style. Tons of gold, curly cues and tapestries. One of my favorite rooms was the hall of mirrors. The mirrors line every wall and Ludwig liked to read there late at night when the candles would create an otherworldly effect. Ludwig preferred sleeping during the day and staying up at night. I also thought the dining room was interesting. There is a dining table in the middle of the room and a dumb waiter sits underneath it allowing the table to go down to the kitchen.
Ludwig always had the table set for four although he never had guests over. He liked to talk to imaginary people like King Louis and Marie Antoinette. I guess when you're King it doesn't matter if your crazy. The only disappointingly thing about the trip was that the gardens weren't open. Being winter, there wasn't much to see. We heard they are absolutely stunning in the Summer. Some of the best and most beautiful anywhere. I guess we'll just have to go back another time.
After the Palace we headed off to see Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the most famous castle in Germany and perhaps in the whole world. It's the castle that Walk Disney patterned his famous Sleeping Beauty Castle After. The name Neuschwanstein translates to New Swan Stone Castle. It was built c. 1890 during a time when castles were no longer needed as fortresses but instead acted as fanciful architecture to please the rich and powerful. The Castle has 360 rooms and is everything you would imagine a fairy tale castle to be. It truly is breathtakin
g to see, in more than one sense. You have to walk a very steep road to get to it. We made the long trek and weren't disappointed. The view from the top was lovely and inside the portcullis we saw another striking picture of the castle. Jay had a few mishaps on the trip. While inside the castle doors we finally let him run around a little to get his energy out. An area had been sectioned off with wire rope to create lines for entry to the castle. Jay crawled underneath the rope and started running up and down the makeshift isles. When he tried to get out again he couldn't quite figure out that he needed to crawl back under the rope. Instead he run full speed ahead and was knocked back. He was rather stunned, but not hurt. It was pretty funny to watch.
Then on our way back down the hill Jay was trotting along when he tripped over his feet and
face planted into the asphalt. He was hurt this time. His little nose was scraped up and he cried for a while. We figured out after the fact that he was mostly crying because we picked him up after he fell. He wanted to keep walking and did not want to be held. We didn't end up going inside the castle because we heard it wasn't as impressive as the inside of Linderhof. Plus I doubt Jay would have gone for another tour where he wasn't allowed to touch anything. In the town we had some great brauts and Jay rocked out to the heavy metal music in the restaurant.
We tried our best to get a picture of all of us with the castle in the background and it sort of worked.
Okay, I didn't actually take this picture. It's only a picture of a poster. But you can imagine what it would be like to see the castle from a helocopter. Like Jessie said... maybe someday.
On our drive to the castle we stopped by a giant frozen lake. We were intrigued when we saw a go cart driving across the ice. The boys wanted to walk around on it but thought they'd test out the strength of the ice first. After dropping 3 large rocks onto the frozen lake without seeing so much as a fracture in the ice they
decided it was safe. They walked far out onto the ice and only turned around when they heard a giant popping sound and saw a crack start not too far from them. It was probably only a tiny fracture that didn't even reach the water but they decided it was best to hurry back as quick as possible. They took turns sliding across the ice until they reached us again. Jessie and I briefly contemplated what we would do if a giant crack suddenly opened up and swallowed them whole. Perhaps we'd move to Paris with all the life insurance we'd collect. Just kidding boys ;)
On day 3 we went back to Edelweiss for a last American buffet then the boys went skiing/snowboarding. Here's a picture they took while on the slopes. Jessie and I stayed behind since it was
really cold and the snow was pretty icy. We did have babies to tend as well, although supposedly we could have used the baby sitting service on Edelweiss. Oh well, next time. We napped, hung out and ate Italian pizza while they played. We also snuck out and bought ourselves McDonald sundaes. Nothing like ice cream on a cold day! After a tasty Italian dinner from the restaurant in our hotel we had to say goodbye. We were definitely sad to see our good friends go but were so glad to have spent the weekend together. We can't wait to see them again soon! Where will it be? Germany? France? Holland? Only time will tell.
d a great time taking pictures since it was overcast. As always, Jay is my handsomest subject. We've actually been outside twice so far today. The first time we went jog/walking (I actually went jogging 3 times this week!). After exercising Jay played around in the puddles for a while until we were soaked through (it was still raining at that time). Jay's gotten to the point where he knows we're going outside before the words "bye bye" or "outside" even escape my lips. He knows this by observing 1.my shoes are on and 2.my coat is on. In fact I have to be very careful how I time the putting on of said shoes and coat. If Jay sees I have them on he runs to the door begging to get out. This makes it difficult to get his shoes and coat on. If I do his first then he refuses to let me put him down, thinking I'll leave without him if I do, which makes it difficult for me to put on my shoes and coat. Actually as of late he's been much more cooperative. 
If I say, "Do you want to go bye bye? Then we need to put your shoes on"he'll promptly stick his feet in the air so that I can get the shoes on a fast as possible. All the while I know he's squirming inside to get down and to the door. Good practice of patience I'd say. Today is the first time since Jay has understood the whole shoes and coat thing where he actually saw my coat and dragged it over to me to put on. I could tell he was thinking, "If I can only get this coat on mom then we'll go back outside." I was happy to see another connection manifest itself so I happily obliged my little scientist. Out we went into the exciting, overcast, wet world to play. Well, to learn really. Actually they're the same to Jay.
One of highlights of being outside was finding two medium sized clam shells in the bottom of a stack of planter pots with shallow water inside. Jay couldn't take his hands off these new treasures and went back to the pots numerous times to check out the water they came from again. We also played hide-and-seek around the house and watched a huge tractor pulling a bigger load of manure down the road. Jay tried to follow it but the tractor was just too fast for him. Mommy didn't really want to catch up anyway.
I also took pictures of one of my new favorite Easter decorations. I've seen several of these trees around adorned with beautiful painted Spring eggs. I especially love this tree/bush since it has so much character to go along with the rainbow of shells. Isn't this a fun idea? I think a lot of people buy the eggs but it would be fun to start a tradition where you make your own. Perhaps it would be better to do it once your children are a little older. From what I remember from elementary school you have to poke a small holein the top of a raw egg and let the juices train out. Is that right? How do you get the ribbon to attach? Anyone out there with experience making and decorating hollow eggs?
I think I'll put that right here.
