Lisboa . . .

During our one full day in Lisbon, we headed to the beach. The water was FREEZING. Turns out the Atlantic doesn't ever really warm up. Luckily, there are pools from when the tides come in that kids can play (and pee) in. This water was slightly warmer. Slightly.


Renae building sandcastles for Landon to destroy.



The three sand experts at work.



Jesse is "helping" Renae build a cool castle.



Little posers . . . (I didn't even tell her to lean in!)

Gotta love the hair-do . . .

That night, we went into town to see the city center for just a bit. Lisbon is a seaport (duh) so the downtown area we saw looked like an old seaworn city. It was great.

The boys watched out for Renae. Thank goodness someone took responsibility for her!

In front of one of two identical fountains.

A nice Portugese man gave Renae some bread to feed the pigeons.

Watch what she thinks of it:

We did NOT walk all the way up to that cool castle.

The Spanish Massons on the original street that lead to the main seaport of the city.

The train station. I thought it looked cool.

And then comes my favorite part of the trip . . .

DINNER AT CHILI'S!!!! They have one in Lisbon and I was SO excited to eat there!

Unfortuntely we had to share the endless chips and salsa with the kids. We were so selfless.

Back at home that night, Mike entertained the kids.

In one full day in Lisbon we went to the beach, visited the city center, ate and Chili's and had fun with friends. Not a bad little trip!! Thanks Beck's!!!

We'll Cross Two Bridges When We Come To It . . .

We went to Portugal for 2 days to visit some friends. I'll post more later, but here is a quick synopsis of our 2 day excursion.


We drove into Lisbon via one of the longest bridges in Europe.


Renae said hello to the US all the way across the Atlantic.



We drove under an old aquaduct to get back from the beach.

A nice Portugese man gave Renae some bread to feed to the birds.

We crossed the "Golden Gate" Bridge too.

More to come!

Last Post from Bavaria . . .

I promise, this is the last post from our awesome week in Germany. Promise.


Can you see why we want to relocate?

On the last night, the hotel hosted a great bar-b-que at one of their cabins located further up a nearby mountain. We had grilled steak, potatoes, CORN ON THE COB, and an assorment of other yummy yummy food. The kids were all taken care of so the adults had a nice evening of food and fun with friends.


Not even close to Iowa's sweet corn . . . but it worked.



He makes a cute German, eh?



Jesse and friends enjoying a cool drink of water in the "beerstein."

This was our hotel/conference center. The view was amazing.

We even were able to roast s'mores!!

Thanks to whoever brought the marshmallows from the states!

The "almost" inlaws were there too! So fun to see them!

Someone got a hold of our camera and played photo shoot with Jesse . . .

Renae and I on our balcony at sunset. Ahh . . .

A Trip to the Real Cinderella Castle

This is the Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World



. . . And THIS is the real Cinderella Castle-Neuschwanstein Castle


Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the 1880's. King Ludwig II of Bavaria comissioned it in honor of his friend Richard Wagner. It was designed by a famous set designer, not an architect which explains why it has such a fantasy type look to it. Ironically, King Ludwig only lived there about 162 days. He was labeled insane and then found a few days later, dead in a lake with his psychiatrist. The deaths are still a mystery to this day, but it's supposed that his death was part of a coup.


Only a third of the rooms were completed and within a few weeks of Ludwig's death, the castle became a museum and has been one ever since.

Our first glimpse of the castle!

On our day off, we took a half day trip to the castle and we were glad we did. Although it was a little chaotic at times (try organizing a trip for 50 plus parents and kids!) the scenary was beautiful and it's always nice to see a famous landmark.

A view from a castle room . . . no wonder Ludwig picked this spot!

Pictures weren't aloud within the castle, but I did sneak this one of Renae climbing the princess steps in one of the towers.

The castle kitchen . . . can you even imagine?

Walking down the long road to the buses.

There were a few great view points along the way.

You could even catch a ride in a horse drawn carriage! (For 6 euros a person . . . )

You can see Renae has time to stop for a cheese face picture . . .

"Renae, you wear my new hat."

"No Daddy, YOU wear it."

"OK. You're right. I look the best in it."

Guten Tag!

After some very serious thought and consideration, we've decided we are going to move to Bavaria, Germany. It doesn't matter we don't speak German or have a job there. It's just where we want to live. OK, we're not really moving but we all can dream can't we?


View of the Bavarian Alps

We returned from a week long conference in Germany and fell in love with the scenary. Every day we were able to look out the large windows in the conference center and see something similar to the scene above. The weather was much cooler than it is here in Spain, and everything was greener! What a nice change of pace for early August. I'll be posting more pictures of the scenary from our day off in a later post.

Everyday we experienced great Germany food, buffet style. I think I had meat and potatoes almost twice a day! Renae did a great job eating the variety of food we gave her.


And she even learned how to drink out of a wine glass . . .



Renae and her friend a year and a half ago . . .



. . . And the two cuties in Germany!

This time they actually played with each other and had a great time.



The four friends back in January . . .



And here they are in August!

Seriously, Renae had so much fun running and playing around with these 3. And we had a blast hanging out with their parents!



Me and my favorite guy, with the view from our hotel behind us. Gorgeous. (I'm talking about the view . . . .)

Checkmate.

We found a huge chess board on one of the roofs of the hotel. There was also a sand volleyball court up there! Crazy! Renae enjoyed moving the big chess pieces all over the board.

Plotting her next move . . .

Renae the daredevil

We were able to enjoy the indoor pool a few times and of course, Renae was a fish. She has really gotten better at kicking her little legs all over the pool, and jumping into the water (even when we're not looking!)

"Hey David!!"

Renae's best buddy David couldn't come in and swim, but he had fun watching from the outside.

Daddy and Renae had a cold one day so they skipped out and rested . . .

More to come later!