Chris and I enjoyed a fabulous overnight getaway to Rothenburg, (pronounced ‘wrote-enburg’) Germany last weekend.   

Rothenburg is just an hour and a half northeast from us and one of the biggest little cities along the romantic road… a route strewn with picturesque villages from Frankfurt to Munich.   Rothenburg’s charm comes from the fact that it is the country’s best-preserved medieval walled town.  That description alone had Chris and I wondering when we could go explore it… without the kiddos.  A perfectly adorable 18 year old in the ward to stay with the kids overnight, one booked hotel room, and a ‘worth it’s weight in gold’ Rick Steves travel guidebook and we were set to go.

I picked Chris up at work at 4:00 and we were on the road.   You’d think that without kids we would make the hour and half drive without a WC stop (water closet) but too much water that afternoon made me have to stop.  Luckily we found a fabulous WC and I gladly paid my 50 cents for use of the clean facilities.  That and the ‘to die for’ MAGNUM ice cream bars we bought made it a successful stop. 

We parked outside Rothenburg’s wall and walked through town to our hotel with small suitcase in hand.  The city is absolutely charming… I couldn’t help mumbling “I love this town” at every turn.

Our hotel was lovely.  The open inside courtyard was right out our room (and where we ate our complimentary breakfast of croissants, fruit, cold deli meats, scrambled eggs and hot chocolate).  Don’t you love how they arrange the pillows and blankets? Every on-line hotel picture we looked at had them like that.

 

After dropping off our luggage we headed down to the market square for a quick dinner before the Night Watchman’s Tour (in English) at 8:00pm.  We stopped for pizza and gelato at an Italian place and then wandered to the middle of the square where a group was already forming around our black cloaked tour guide.  The Night Watchman lives in Rothenburg and has been doing tours every night for 20 years.  With a Jerry Seinfeldesque sense of humor and a slow, deep, drawn out voice he walked us through the streets of Rothenburg and told stories of life back in the day.  It was fantastic.

After our complimentary breakfast in the morning, we again headed to Market Square which, because it was Saturday morning, was filled with vendors and people. The large central building is the the town hall with the white town hall tower behind.  On the right is the Councilor’s Tavern and clock tower from 1466.  Each hour the bells ring out while mannequin men peek out two windows (reenacting a bit of the towns fiction). To the left is the Marien-Apotheke, an old time pharmacy.  I just love that little round corner room on the second level.  Beneath it is the St. George’s fountain.  …mmmm, I love this town.

  Rothenburg’s tallest spire is the Town Hall Tower.  It stands 200 feet atop the white gothic 13th century building.  The 214 step climb was fun winding through empty rooms and then into narrow stairways with a steep ladder at the end.  We paid at the top and climbed out on the skinny balcony.  The views were gorgeous.  Behind us 10 Japanese tourists decided they wanted to get down as soon as they got up.  Once around the circular lookout and they were all nodding their heads at us and saying ‘down, down, down’ about how well Matthew can say it. There was a couple in front of us so there was nothing we could do but silently chuckle.  We opted for another time around before heading down.  It was one of the highlights of the day… one of many. 

Our hotel was right behind the church on the left hand side (below).

  

I just love the view of red tiled roofs scattered every which way.

Once back down our next stop was the Historical Town Hall Vaults.  We walked through the waxy  but interesting museum but what we were really anxious to see was what was below us. We climbed down the stairs and walked through the narrow hallway leading to the dungeon.  Don’t let my handy dandy speed flash fool you… it was indeed DARK, damp, and dungeon-y. Here I am with Hanz and Franz and the stocks which really isn’t supposed to be down here in the dungeon but up in the middle of market square to embarrass the wrongdoers.

Attached to the main torture room was three dank cells.  While I was standing in this one Chris read that one of the famous town leaders was captured by his enemies and held here and died in this very cell.  It gave me the creeps and I had to quickly exit.  What a horrible medieval life.

 

Our next stop was St. Jakobskirche  which means St. Jakob’s Church… (but actually Jakob is James in English).  St. Jakob’s Church, build in the 14th century, sits near the center of Rothenburg.  Outside the church , built right into it’s walls is this statue of Christ in Gethsemane with Peter, James and John sleeping.

 

At the back of the church, upstairs, was an amazing 500 year old 35 foot high wood carving called ‘Altar of the Holy Blood’. (picture above left).  It really was remarkable. A wood carver spent 5 years carving this to hold a rock-crystal capsule, set in a cross that contains a scrap of tablecloth miraculously stained in the shape of a cross by a drop of communion wine.  The whole thing carved just to showcase the scrap of tablecloth.   Reading about the history and symbolism in all of the pieces of art around the cathedral was so interesting.

After the church we wandered through some German Christmas stores and then down into the convent garden.   We sat and ate some treats, including the Rothenburg famous Schneeballen before continuing on.  We got original and powdered sugar (the two bottom ones). 

We had a big German lunch in a restaurant just off Market Square and then set off to see the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. We paid our entrance fee and walked downstairs to the first exhibit.  Oh great, a chair with spikes all over it.  Lovely.  Ya, I think I’m done.  As much as I love just being with Chris, I opted for the ‘walk around the town by yourself with a camera hour’ (heaven) instead of the hour of torture.  Chris said the museum was mild after that but I’m not sure I believe him.   He had fun telling me about punishments for ‘quarrelsome women’ and other funny things.

 

Below is a picture of one of the gates into Rothenburg.  The small ‘man-hole’ cut out of the huge gate was so you could bribe the guard to let you into the town after curfew.  This door was small enough to keep out any fully armed attackers.  Above the gate was the “pitch nose” mask designed to pour boiling liquid on anyone attacking.

We spent some time outside of the city wall in the Castle Garden.  From the gardens we had gorgeous views of the Tauber River Valley and the walled city behind us.  We even spotted the blue Toppler Castle… 600 years old… the castle/summer home of the medieval Mayor Toppler.  

Another highlight was the wall and moat walk.  From the Castle Garden  we climbed up to the ramparts and walked along the city’s wall and occasionally on the pathways outside of the wall (formerly the city’s moat).   Rick Steves says that “the mile and a half walk can be done by those under six feet tall and without a camera in less than an hour.”  Chris and I looked at each other and laughed.  We thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the views and made pretty good time… considering Chris’ height and my busy Nikon.   We had such a good day and a half.  Can’t wait for our next overnighter… (we already know where we’re going we’re just trying to find an empty weekend.)

 

View from the windows of part of the wall to the other portion of the L-shaped city.

Today

 

I woke up at 6:38 to start doing the girls hair.

I fetched a wet stuffed animal out of the bathtub… TWICE.  Thank you, Matthew.

I booked our Paris apartment for October.

I finished washing, drying, folding and putting away every stitch of clothing in this entire house.  Everything is clean at this very moment.  I’m quite proud of myself. 

I watched Luke pour a cup of water into his shirt pocket.  Quite funny.

I went for a walk to the park with Megan, Luke and Matthew.

I made cheese quesadilla’s for lunch… a favorite these days.

I planned our dinners for the next week and made a grocery list.

I pulled Luke in for a hug and started pecking him with kisses on his check and neck and he said, “I’m not DAD!”  oh, goodness… that makes me laugh.

I typed 10 recipes into the computer.  I’m going through all of my recipes, compiling, organizing, tossing and typing.  I’ve been wanting to do this forever.

I got Luke to take a nap.  That’s three days in a row.  We’re getting back in a schedule and I love it.

I took a 10 minute nap on the couch – that turned into an hour nap.

I dropped off Coach Chris and soccer players, Ryan, Katie and Emily at the soccer field and went grocery shopping.

I fed my family pork chop casserole and potato leftovers.

I watched Chris’ face beam with joy as we watched the BYU press conference about going Independent in Football.

I stayed up too late… again.

Summer Fun

School starts next Monday so this is our last week of summer vacation.  With our old Georgia schools already beginning their third week back, we definitely feel like we got an extra long summer.  We had 3 fun weeks in and around Utah, 2 1/2  exciting weeks in the Guest House, and by the time this week is over 8 weeks in our new home.  For the entire summer we’ve been a one vehicle family… but that didn’t stop us from having a fun couple months…

Ryan {twelve} spent the summer… riding bikes  .   playing soccer with Charlie (new friend two streets over) at the park  .   jumping on the trampoline  .   learning how to play ‘Axis and Allies’ on the laptop with Dad and being completely obsessed by it  .   asking to play BANG all the time  .    playing Zug um Zug (Ticket to Ride Europe in German) with Mom, Dad and Katie ALMOST EVERY NIGHT  .  playing Lego  .   taking care of Matthew and Luke  .  playing Wii  .   doing lots of jobs  .   earning nearly 2,500  points on the summer points chart   .  going on overnight scout camps and his first week long scout camp which he LOVED (check out his blog), hanging out with Tate  .  going to a full week soccer camp with Katie, and friends: Tate, Riley and Ian  .  going to YM/YW combined activities and scout activities  .  going to the Frankfurt temple to do baptisms for the first time  .  going to Holiday Park with Tate (big amusement park)  .  reading the Shanara Series  .  doing a report on the Eiffel Tower for upcoming Paris trip  .  watching movies  .  babysitting  .  building cool train sets for Luke  .  having a BANG game night with lots of friends  . 

Katie {ten} spent the summer…  riding bikes   .   picking blackberries  .  going to the park with the girls  .  playing soccer with Ryan  .  jumping on the trampoline  .  playing Ticket to Ride with Mom, Dad and Ryan ALMOST EVERY NIGHT  .  watching movies   .  staying up late  .  playing house or restaurant or school or with the girls  .  drawing  .  doing her hair or asking me to do it  .  creating folded paper cell phones  .  doing jobs  .  playing with her American Girls  .  listening to music  .  playing with her stuffed animals  .  making up fun activities for the girls  .  playing ‘primary’  .  reading  Ramona books during reading time  .  babysitting (with Ryan)  .  taking such good care of the little boys  .  Having play dates with Lindsey, Lindsey and Natalie  .  practicing Taylor Swift concerts for Mom and Dad  .  Wishing Activity Days would start (it finally started today)  .  cooking with Mom or making cookies by herself  .  doing backbends  .  going to a full week soccer camp with Ryan  .  exploring new parks  .   doing a report on the Eiffel Tower   .  doing puppet shows and making Emily laugh and laugh  .  doing a ‘spa’ for each other with pedicures, manicures and backrubs with comfy robes, sweet pea lotion and shimmery black nail polish  .  deciding what outfit she should wear and giving suggestions to her sisters… even allowing them to wear her clothes so they will look cute  .
 
Emily {seven and a half}  spent the summer… riding bikes  .  picking blackberries  .  going to the park  .  jumping on the trampoline  .  doing lots of jobs with a very happy attitude and saving all her points  .  watching movies  .  having play dates with Emma and Brooklyn and Ellie  .   going on vacation to Garmisch with the family  .  cleaning up her room (which she doesn’t like because it takes so long)  .  playing for hours up in her loft bedroom  .  playing ‘spa’  .  playing with American Girls and their pets  .  having tea parties  .  dressing up  .  practicing Taylor Swift songs  .  inviting mom to her restaurant  .  reading Series of Unfortunate Events  .  organizing her clothes in PERFECT piles in her drawers  .  drawing  .  reading Junie B. Jones to Megan  .  taking care of Matthew and Luke and Megan when Mom and Dad went to the temple  .  playing Uno and Zug um Zug and BANG and Ticket to Ride, and Dominoes with the family  .  checking to see if her other big tooth is coming in (it’s not)  .  quoting Disney movies ALL the time  .  playing Wii with Ryan  .  and just giggling all the time  . 

Megan {five} spent the summer… doing everything Emily did.   Oh, and … getting excited about kindergarten  .  being wonderfully cooperative and happy OR sulky and blatantly disobedient (depending on her mood)  .  riding the scooter  .  learning how to ride a bike without training wheels BY HERSELF (Yeah Megan!)  .  going to the park with the kids  .  asking for a snack or asking what’s for lunch  .  showering by herself  .  playing with the American girls and stuffed animals  .  doing whatever Katie suggests  .  practicing Taylor Swift concerts for Mom and Dad  .  carrying Matthew when she’s not supposed to  .  having Mom read her books but not really wanting to practice reading  .  having play dates with Naomi, Brooklyn and Macey  .  exploring new parks with the family  .  watching movies 

Luke {two years and nine months} spent the summer… asking for a drink!!!  .  playing trains  .  watching movies – especially Finding Nemo, Geotrack train movies, Bambi 2, Fox and the Hound, and the Incredibles  .  riding his motorized jeep  .  jumping on the trampoline  .  playing at the park  .  refusing to take a nap but falling asleep on the couch at 4:30 and then staying up late with Mom and Dad  .  walking to go get gelato.  putting his little toys in a line and playing follow the leader  .  reading books with Mom  .  playing on the girls floor  .  screaming… lots and lots of screaming  .  lots of time alone in his room playing with blocks (from Grandpa W.)  .  hugging/pushing Matthew  . 

Matthew {fifteen months} spent the summer… smiling  .  being blocked off on whatever floor we were on  .  pointing at whatever he wanted  .  giggling while jumping on the trampoline with the kids  .  taking long naps  .  playing blocks with Luke  .  wanting to go ‘ous’ (outside) and trying to run to the front or back door any time they are opened  .  walking towards me and lying down when I say, “change pants” even if it’s Luke who I’m trying to change  .  eating anything we put in front of him and wanting to do it himself  .  giving kisses  .  saying “yeah!” whenever he hears the kids getting excited  .  wanting a drink too (whenever he sees Luke with one)  . 

Chris spent the summer… watching lots of world cup soccer games  .  playing Axis and Allies with Ryan  .  playing Zug um Zug with wife and kids every night  .  fighting over the Shanara series with Ryan  .  researching Audi cars to purchase  .   reading every SINGLE article that comes out about BYU FOOTBALL and Independence  .  anxiously counting down the days till the first game of the season  .   getting his work office organized and rearranged  .  finally back to reading CT’s, MRI’s, Mammograms, Ultrasounds and Radiographs and enjoying it  .  celebrating his 37th birthday  .  doing executive secretary calling stuff  .  walking to the gelato place with the family  .  organizing finances  .  doing whatever ‘around-the-house’ jobs Lisa can think up for him  .   researching vacation destinations and vacation rentals  .    playing soccer with Ryan and Katie and kids  .

Lisa spent the summer… watching Taylor Swift concerts and plays by the kids  .  doing laundry  (LOTS and lots of laundry)  .  making breakfast  .  cleaning the kitchen  .  making lunch  .  cleaning the kitchen  .  making dinner  .  cleaning the kitchen  .  bissel mopping my tile floor several times a week  .  watching movies with Chris late at night  .  eating popcorn  .  driving Chris to work if I wanted the car for appointments or play dates  .  organizing the house  .  going to ward parties  .  seeing the four castle lighting with friends  .  making the kids do jobs  .  reading Rick Steves travel books  .  going to parks with new friends  .  attending girls nights out  .  more laundry  .  hosting and going to BBQ's  .  more cleaning (never enough to get the whole house clean at once though)  .  planning baptism themed FHE activities for the next month  .  doing ‘spa’s with my girls  .  sleeping in (thank you Katie)  .  staying up way way too late  .  organizing service for compassionate service calling  .  talking, talking, talking with the kids  .  enjoying the scenery anytime we drive anywhere  .  counting my blessings  .  going to the Frankfurt temple for the first time  .  registering the kids for new schools and attending parent orientation meetings...

A favorite book…

During reading time this week we reread Double Trouble in Walla Walla.  I love this book.   I loved it when I taught 2nd Grade 13 years ago, but I think I love it even more now that I’m a full fledged six kid mom…  because really, this is how I speak now.  I love saying ‘flippy-flops’ instead of flip-flops.  I say ‘jammy-jams’ when I tell the kids to get their pajamas on. I love saying ‘lovey-dovey’, ‘poopy-loopy’, ‘handy-dandy’, and ‘super-duper’.   I use ‘girlie-girl’  or ‘girlie-whirlies’ when speaking to my daughters. I say “jump-a-jump” on the trampoline.  I love saying ‘fancy-schmancy’.  I say “Meg-a-Meg”  and “Emma-Lou” and “Lukey-Luke”.    I even say some words twice just for the heck of it.  It’s kind of fun.  And boy do I love saying Hallelujah and breaking into song.   I just like saying silly words.   I didn’t used to talk like this and it’s definitely gotten worse over the last couple years.  But it makes me happy and reminds me  how fun it is to have a house full of kiddos who think I’m silly… cuz I am.  Super-duper silly.

Camping… German style.

After loading up the van and top carrier with tents (we had to buy a second one), sleeping bags, blankets, food, clothes and everything else you can think of…we piled in the van and drove south for an hour to Schwarzwald… Germany’s famous ‘Black Forest’.  We had been sent this way by recommendation but weren’t entirely sure what we’d find…  and what we did find is that Germans like to camp like they live… very close together.  Almost everyone was in small campers, or trailers that folded out into giant tents.  Europeans vacation in July and August and from the looks of it most of the people here had been here the entire summer.  Note to self: bring ceramic dwarfs and woodland creatures to decorate campsite next time.  Other than the close proximity to our neighbors and us reminding our children to “SHHH, be quiet, we’re camping!” all the time, this campsite had great amenities… an indoor and outdoor pool, an indoor gym and indoor play area for little kids, two big playgrounds, a soccer field up on the hill, a restaurant, a festive German band playing music late into the night, a fenced field of large deer,several trails and a lonely campfire pit up on the hill.   (picture above taken from campfire pit… our tents are the blue/orange and green/grey ones on the right.)

We set up our tents, unrolled the sleeping bags, set up some chairs and made sandwiches for lunch.  All of it was exciting.  We faced our tents to the hill and forest and tried to pretend we were all by ourselves and that we didn’t notice the Europeans actually pointing and counting how many children we had and probably commenting on our tents and our super duper six seater chair.    Isn’t it fabulous?  (Dicks Sporting Goods in Georgia – on sale) We LOVE it… 

I told the kids to do a silly picture and they thought a sleeping picture would be hilarious.  Little Matthew cracks us up.  We were all laughing at how cute he is.  He didn’t want to close his eyes and couldn’t stop smiling. 

After lunch we wandered around, played soccer on the outdoor field and then headed into the forest for a walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had tin foil dinners for dinner… and they were sooo good. While they were cooking we hung out on the hill up by the campfire and played around the big tree.  My kids were so happy to just be outside.  (Luke LOVES wearing his hood every time he has his jacket on.)

Our day had been nice and warm but with a clear sky and no clouds, it started to get chilly.  The kids were so excited to get into their bed to tell stories with their flashlights.  The kids were warm enough but Chris and I were a little cold… and it didn’t help that we were worried about the little boys being warm enough too. Our best sleep was between 5:00am and 9:00am.  Can you believe it?  We totally slept in.  Katie came into the tent to get Luke changed and dressed when he woke up and then took him off to the park with the rest of the kids (her idea… she is such an angel.)  Little Matthew slept in with us.  We were cooking scrambled eggs and hash browns by 9:30 and were shedding layers by the minute.  Saturday was beautiful and warm again.

Imagine our camping neighbors surprise when we started to take down our campsite after only one night.  I know, crazy amount of work for just one night… but it was worth it. 

After packing everything up, the big kids went swimming and I took Luke and Matthew on a walk in the forest.  Initially we were looking for bears.  Luke whispered that it was ‘scary’ as he quietly lead the way.  Almost immediately he pointed a ways off and said he found a bear.  We walked slowly through the forest until he  pointed at a tree stump and said, “Mom, it’s not a bear.  It’s a little tree.”  After that he was fascinated with tree stumps.  He was still careful around them… just in case they might be bears, but mostly he wanted to climb on them, jump

off, stand on one leg and keep his balance and declare ‘Ta-Da’.  Matthew was fascinated too.  ‘If this is what Luke thinks is fun, then I definitely want to give it a try.’  (This is becoming quite a theme these days.) And although he tried and tried, he couldn’t even get up on one. Seeing his attempts, Luke grabbed his hand and helped him up… and was THRILLED for him once he was up.  It was cute.  After that when they came to a new stump, Lukey helped him… or he made a small attempt before aborting the ‘standing on’ part and jumping right to the ‘Ta-Da!’

 

15 Months

  

Matthew at fifteen months…

• Smiles all the time.
• Finally starting to say a few words… “down”,  “no”,  “head”, “eyes”  - but generally just likes to grunt and point.
• Loves to climb up and down the dangerous marble stairs.
• Gets excited when a movie starts but has no interest in actually watching it.
• Is very excited to start nursery… see’s Luke being dropped off and does not understand why he can’t stay.  Only 3 more months and they will both be in there together.  We will definitely be having a party.
• Doesn’t want to sit on my lap in Sunday school… generally walks around in the back corner being adorable and distracting to all around.
• Loves to stand up in the bathtub.
• When we ask him a question he says ‘NO’ even though he means yes.
• He’s very ticklish.
• Doesn’t like to get dressed or get his pants changed.
• Loves to go on the trampoline with the kids.
• Loves to go down big slides and swing on the swings.
• Goes to sleep with one silky blanket (from Great Grandma W.) and a car blanket.
• Loves to be chased.  He squeals and tries to run away but ends up losing his balance and crawls to get away in time.
• Will eat anything and lots of it.
• Makes us all laugh at the dinner table by mimicking our facial expressions or actions.
• Touches his head, ears and eyes when we tell him to.  Sometimes he can’t find his eyes though.  So funny.
• Loves a sippy cup of juice and is NOT picky about if it’s the Buzz Lightyear or Cars cup… (like Luke is.)
• Loves to play on the top floor with the girls.
• Now wants to kiss the picture of Jesus that sits on his dresser every time he sees it.
• Sometimes takes two naps, sometimes takes one long nap.  Usually goes to bed about 8:00.
• Loves to give kisses.
• Is a total sweetheart.  Just get into nursery and then stop growing, ok kid?

     

The park with the Zip Line

Family Home Evening on Monday night was a scheduled outing.  We were excited to check out the ‘bigger’ park in St. Leon and hadn’t found time, so we wrote it on the calendar for Monday night and the kids were anxiously counting down the days.  There are lots of parks here in Germany, and so far all of them seem to have something unique and exciting.  This one had an extra long slide, a twisty four person swing and a zip line.  The kids spent most of the night riding on the zip line or running along side whoever was zipping by.  The zip line itself wasn’t fast or steep but with an extra big push from Dad they were giggling and spinning the whole way down, fast enough that they had to hang on tight when they hit the other end.  It was a fun night.  Perfect weather… and we had the park to ourselves.

Luke could hang on amazingly tight and loved every minute of it. 

    Hang on, buddy.

After the park we stopped by our new favorite place to get Gelato… right in our own little city.  I think we’ve gotten gelato cones about seven times already and we’re definitely addicted.  It’s so good.  Chris gets a different flavor every time he goes but I always get cherries and cream.  It’s just SOOOO good.  I think we’re going to have to add a ‘Gelato’ category in the monthly budget.