In The Steps Of Kings

On Sunday October 12th we headed south to check out Hohenz.ollern Castle:

Even after driving up quite a hill to get to the parking lot we still had to climb farther to get to the actual castle:

Once there we discovered the castle was hosting a small festival. The boys immediately joined in on trying to pop the giant bubbles the Bubble Man was blowing:

And occasionally they did actually pop one!

Of course, that meant they were covered in bubble remnants:

We eventually forced the boys to go inside the castle. Because it was a festival day they were having what they called 'Walk Like A King' day - instead of having to go through as part of a guided tour, we got to go through  the castle at our own pace. Plus they gave us royal capes and slidey shoes to wear!

With the tour out of the way we needed a quick snack before making our way back down the hill - good thing the festival had an ice cream cart!

We tried to leave but the boys spotted a cannon. They had to try and climb it like everyone else:

Pearson didn't want to climb it - he wanted to 'fire' it!

The exit took us around the outside of the castle. The entire castle is ringed by statues of the Kings of Prussia (who became the Kings of Germany):

Why does a castle in the far south of Germany have a bunch of statues for kings from the far north of Germany? Because the Hoh.enzollern family originated in the south and ended up in Prussia due to marriage. Once they became the Kings of Germany they actually restored Hohenzol.lern Castle to serve as a monument to their family history.

Take Me To The Zoo!

One of the first memberships we purchased upon arriving in our new home was to the local zoo and botanical garden - the Wil.helma.

Because Pearson didn't get an actual birthday party this year, a few days after his birthday on September 9th we took his best friend T to the zoo:

It was exciting for a lot of reasons but the two biggest were:
1) Seeing the tiger out and about!

2) Seeing the white crocodile!

Then a month later on October 11th we finally got to take Daddy to the zoo for the first time. We got there just in time to catch the penguin feeding:

The sea lions were also out in force - making a ton of noise and splashing around:

The boys had a great time leading Daddy around to all their favorite animals:

Our Trip(s) to Our New Le.goland

The weekend after McColley's birthday we had a surprise in store for the boys:

After a drive lengthened by traffic jams, they were all too zoned out to notice the road signs as we neared our destination:

Because it was our first trip to Legol.and Deutschla.nd and the trip was between McColley and Pearson's birthdays we decided to spend two nights on property. We got an 'Adventure' themed cabin:

The best part was that we were joined in our trip by some old friends! Remember McColley's best friend T from Dover?

Well, T and her family are in Germany too!

McColley and T are now big enough to ride the rides without an adult, so for the Sky Ride it was just four of us:

There are also a few rides that even Pearson can ride alone. His absolute favorite is the horse ride:

After lunch we decided to tackle driving. This section is split up by age, so Brayton, Pearson and T's little sister K had to go on the smaller version:

Brayton and K had no problem but Pearson required a lot of assistance:

McColley and T got to drive around a much bigger course and McColley even took the car through the car wash!

Since we were in a driving mood we headed over to the boats next. Once again McColley and T got to go on their own while the other kiddos and parents followed behind:

Somehow the kids convinced B to take them on the pirate ride... everyone ended up getting soaked!

We wandered back through Miniland but before we could leave each of the boys had to take on Dar.th Va.der:

Our very last ride of the day was a medium sized roller coaster that B took Brayton on and T and her mom also went on. Everyone loved it except Brayton who thought it was OK-ish:

On our second day at Le.goland we finally went through the front gate (because we'd already had to check out of our hotel):

Unfortunately Brayton got eaten by a shark... but it spit him back out:

Our most important stop of the day was the X-Win.g model - the largest Le.go model in the world:

After having so much fun the first time Pearson actually begged us to go back. So we made our second trip on Labor Day:

This time it was less busy so the boys were able to pose for some optical illusions:

Mostly we re-rode our favorite rides from our first trip by Brayton asked to do one new ride with me:

 He ended up not liking it very much unfortunately.

On October 10th the boys had a day off school and B had a day off work, so they did a boys' trip to Le.goland to check out the Halloween decor:

Pearson is almost obsessed with the horse ride (he talks about it constantly). On his first ride of the day he got his absolute favorite horse - black with brown hair and a dragon on the shield:

On his second ride of the day he got something other than his favorite horse... he basically didn't consider it worth the ride:

Le.goland closes soon for the winter but I think we've already gotten our fair share of visits in!

Our New Home

We arrived in Stuttgart on the 4th of July. For the next 24 days our home was a hotel:

The boys did their very best to make it as home-like as possible:

Then on July 28th we completed our home inspection and moved into a house full of loaner furniture... the cats weren't quite sure what to make of all this strangeness:

We now live on the second floor of our building (our apartment is highlighted in blue). We do have two parking spots but they are not next to each other:

Our household goods were delivered on July 6th. The boys were VERY excited to see all their things again and there was a quick game of dress up as things came off the truck:

Our community has seven parks but the boys have two favorites. Pearson loves the Goldmine Park which features a train-themed climbing area:

All the boys love the large sandbox and water play area:

We spend most of our time at the Red and Yellow Park because it is right out our front door (and it is the most 'happening' park):

We are all enjoying our new home and community!

Saying Good-bye To England

Our final month of living in England was a whirlwind of end-of-school activities, sightseeing and saying good-bye to our 'usuals' and 'routines'. Here's what happened:

Friday June 6th

McColley and his best friend Alex R. were the narrators for their class' end-of-the-year spanish class drama production:

Sunday June 8th

We FINALLY made it to the British Museum:

The boys (all of them) enjoyed looking at the Greek and Roman ruins and figuring out all the deities represented on the temple artwork:

But McColley and Brayton had the most fun pretending an Egyptian god was punching them out:

We had to wiggle our way up to the front of the line to check out the Rosetta Stone:

Pearson didn't think it was interesting enough to stay awake for:

After checking out the Egyptian/Greek/Roman/Phoenician sections we finally went to the information desk and grabbed a kid's activity pack. It led us through all the other areas of the museum in search of dragons. One of the activities in the China section was to find this merry gentleman and then try and stand like him:

Thursday June 12th

McColley's last day of school and final run to the bus

(which was at the stop very early... McColley was not actually running late):

McColley's principal was also having his last day of school (he was retiring after 40 years) so all the kids were asked to dress like him for his last day:

Tuesday June 24th

While McColley was having fun at a sleepover at Alex's house Brayton, Pearson and I went bowling at Alconbury for the last time. Both boys stepped up their game and bowled without any help from me:

Brayton was upset that Pearson got a better score but since it was the first time Brayton had bowled without the slide I think he did really good!

Wednesday June 25th

We had to visit the Burghl.ey Fountains one more time before we left... even if the weather wasn't totally summer-y:

The boys had a lot of fun figuring out how to manipulate the fountains:

McColley quickly figured out how to target his brothers with the spray:

Thursday June 26th

The base library hosted a Raptor Show and it seemed like everyone went out to see it. At the end of the show the boys got a chance to pet two of the owls:

The next week was filled with final playdates for the boys and packing out the house for B and me.

On Thursday July 3rd we departed England and started our new life in Germany.