Opa Ist Da!

On September 24th Grandpa Hopkins came to visit! Unfortunately we still didn't have a couch at that point so everyone had to cuddle up together in our chairs:

Grandpa's visit was from Wednesday to Wednesday so for most of his visit McColley and Brayton were in school. Therefor our sightseeing was on a strict timeline.

On Thursday the 25th we stuck really close to home by visiting the Me.rcedes-Ben.z Museum:

Pearson was a bit of a stinker during the visit but did really enjoy the hands-on displays:

On Friday the 26th we ventured a bit more far afield and visited the Beben.hausen Monastery and Palace:

B.ebenhausen was an active monastery from the 12th to 17th centuries but was then converted to a royal residence in the 19th century.

It was actually converted into a hunting palace and Pearson had a great time finding all the animals hanging on the walls and incorporated into the art:

To tour the palace section we had to take a guided tour... which was only available in German. Luckily they had English language pamphlets we could use to follow along!

On Saturday the 27th everyone had the day off so we had to fit in as much as possible! Our first stop was the R.itter Chocolate Factory!

We learned about Rit.ter's history and philosophy plus how they source their ingredients. McColley got the chance to taste a raw cocoa bean... it wasn't what he was expecting:

We then headed to L.udwigsburg Palace - one of the largest Baroque buildings in Europe to survive in its original condition:

Our main reason for going was to check out the Pumpkin Festival:

After exploring the entire festival and eating a lunch with pumpkin in every dish we left the Palace complex:

Sunday the 28th was probably the most important day of Grandpa's visit - we went to Vol.ksfest (what St.uttgarters' call their Oc.toberfest)!

We ended up having lunch in the S.chwaben Bräu tent:

All the adults ordered the only size beer available - a liter!

The kids got a slightly smaller drink - half a liter of pop!

 We were lucky to have our lunch in a slightly quieter area of the tent but as we exited we experienced all the mayhem of the main tent:

Volksf.est is basically beer tents and carnival rides so the boys were excited to do a few rides after lunch:

Then on our way back to our bus stop we stopped at a local park to run off even more steam. Grandpa challenged McColley to make it up to one of the 'nest' areas in this giant web thing:

Monday the 29th we took a bus tour of St.uttgart and then had a lovely lunch at an outdoor cafe.

Tuesday the 30th was a bit overcast but we decided to explore a park near our house anyway. K.illesburg park is HUGE! We explored the fountain area:

And climbed the observation tower (our house is basically just behind my head in the picture):

Unfortunately on Wednesday Grandpa had to go home so I dropped him off at 5AM at the main train station so he could catch his train up to Fr.ankfurt for his flight home.

Over The Border And Through The Woods With Grandmothers We Will Go

We arrived in Germany on the 4th of July. On July 8th our very first visitors arrived! Grandma Hopkins and GreatGrandma McColley came to check out our new home and help us get settled.

Unfortunately the only pictures I have of their two week visit are from our 'vacation within a vacation'.

On Sunday July 13th we drove to France. We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon and decided to spend what was left of the day in Ob.ernai:

Ob.ernai is in the Alsace region of France:

After wandering through town square we had dinner at the restaurant inside the historic La Halle aux Bles. Grandma got the Alsace specialty 'backeoffe':

GreatGrandma and I both got tarte flambees:

 The only issue with our dinner is that all the portions were HUGE and we had way way too much food!

After dinner we had to take a picture in front of Saint-Odile's Fountain:

Directly behind the fountain was the stopping point for the carriage tour of Ob.ernai. The boys really, really wanted to go on it:

It was a lovely tour all the way through the city with only one small problem... the driver only spoke French and Dutch. We opted to have him give the tour in French... but we maybe understood 30% of what he was saying:

After our tour we decided to discuss what we had picked up over ice cream:

Saturday (a.k.a. Bastille Day) we spent in Strasbourg:

The first thing we spotted was a carousel in the middle of town:

We then toured the cathedral. Pearson, Brayton and I did the 'walk as quickly as you can' tour while the rest of our group took the more leisurely 'read things' tour:

We then ate lunch at a little cafe in the cathedral square. The boys had already had a quick lunch so they opted to go straight for dessert.

The waiter talked us into ordering two ice creams because they were 'very small':

Pearson did not agree with that description:

After lunch we took the river tour of St.rasbourg. It took us from the center of Petite France all the way out to the European Parliament via several locks:

After the river tour we visited the Museum of Archeology inside the Palais Rohan which had very cool door pulls:

We finished up our sightseeing by hopping on the mini-train which took us through areas that the river tour had missed. The boys weren't super interested however and spent the whole ride looking at their souvenirs:

The mini-train stopped near the carousel... so we went on it again:

Brayton spent most of the ride in the carriage with Grandma and Pearson... but moved over to the motorcycle with McColley on the last couple go arounds:

He liked the motorcycle so much he convinced GreatGrandma to go one more time so he could ride the motorcycle the entire time:

On Tuesday July 15th we headed back toward S.tuttgart but stopped to check out Bad.en-Bade.n. We wandered the city. First to find lunch and then to find the baths:

We left town and headed up into the surrounding hills to find Altes Schloss:

The castle is now in ruins but is still interesting to look around. It also hosts Europe's largest wind harp:

Plus the view down onto Ba.den-B.aden is amazing!

And this of all my Hopes

And this of all my Hopes

This, is the silent end

Bountiful colored, my Morning rose

Early and sere, its end

Never Bud from a Stem

Stepped with so gay a Foot

Never a Worm so confident

Bored at so brave a Root

-Emily Dickinson

The thing about having done something multiple times before is that you expect it to go the same way the next time you do it. You think you know where all the possible problems are and what you need to do to prepare for them.

And then things go wrong in a way you never expected.

On Monday April 28th Brayton and Pearson went with me to my 16 week OB appointment. We had seen the baby twice via ultrasound in weeks 11 and 12. During those ultrasounds everything looked great and the baby had passed the nuchal screen with flying colors. We had told family and were telling friends whenever we chatted with them.

Instead of walking out of my appointment with a date for my gender-determining ultrasound I had a date for my D&C. I had an early second trimester missed miscarriage.

Thankfully I also have an amazing supportive family and a mother who doesn't hesitate to fly halfway around the world on 24 hour notice.

My mom arrived on Wednesday and I had my surgery on Thursday.

Of course, the rest of life doesn't stop.

Friday May 2nd was McColley's school's talent show. McColley performed with his class:

They did a selection of M.inecraft parody songs (that McColley had taught the class):

We have been blessed with a supportive community here in England. The spouses' group I have been Vice President of for the last year sent us a lovely bouquet (and then provided us meals for two weeks after Mom left):

On Saturday May 3rd I felt well enough to go out and do something. It was a beautiful day and it made sense to go somewhere beautiful. We headed to Windsor Castle:

We got there a bit later than expected which ended up working in our favor - the boys had plenty of space to chase each other with all the tourists gone!

The boys had a scavenger hunt worksheet to complete and the last item was to count all the animals on St. George's Chapel:

Unfortunately Mom had to go home on Sunday May 4th. While I took her to the airport Brian took the boys to 'De.adly Aerial Assassins' at Whip.snade Zoo... we had booked tickets weeks in advance:

The big boys REALLY REALLY wanted to go because the show was hosted by Steve Backsh.all - the UK's version of Steve Ir.win:

The boys walked around the zoo after the show - McColley had to take a picture with the snow leopard display because he was doing a school project on them:

As the boys were walking back to the car they happened upon an Elephant Parade:

We then had a week of 'normal' before it was time for the boys' dance recital!

McColley performed his tap dance routine to 'You've Got A Friend In Me' during the first half:

Both boys performed their ballet routines during the second half. Brayton performed to 'Under The Sea' and McColley performed to 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight':

The last six weeks have been filled with ups and downs and ridiculous paperwork as we have all come to grips with what happened. The boys are handling everything exceptionally well and we are so grateful to have three such beautiful and healthy boys in our lives.