Rhine River Cruise

On a sunny day while our family friend Maggie was still here we took our first ride on a lovely boat down the Rhine River. We started in Bingen and went to St.Goar. The boat was 3 levels, the first level had a small gift shop, huge windows and tables to sit down at. On the second level there was a small restaurant and more big windows and tables and then the last level was an opened deck. We spent most of our time enjoying the breeze and letting the kids play at the playground area. There was so much to see on this portion of the river that I don't even remember all of the historical details, but more castles churches and vinyards than we could keep count of. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who comes to the area.

Erdbeere Land

Just down the road between our village and the next there is an sign that could be easily missed, it says "Erdbeere Land" and has a big faded strawberry painted on one side. You can pick as much fruit as you want for a really reasonable price, bring your own bucket and a bunch of kids and you'll have more strawberries than you know what to do with. We have made it two times this season and have not been disappointed. We have made two batches of jam, and eaten strawberries until we could eat no more!

A Penny Saved a Pig Earned

Naomi had been diligently saving her birthday money, Christmas money, and any money she could get her little hot hands on. She did this with no outcome in mind, just the satisfaction of having some cash all her own. The money may have been spent sooner, but since I didn't exchange it for Euro she had a heavy change purse hidden deep within the caverns of her most top secret hiding place.

Over the last couple of months she has been begging and pleading for a pet, and here is my reply:

A. I don't want anything thing that barks, claws, poops, has hair, or needs my attention

B. Martin and I are both slightly allergic to dog and cat hair

C. Don't like the smell of pets in the house

and the list goes on.....

Naomi did some VERY extensive research and is very happy with the outcome. Guinea Pigs! With all of her money and some of mine we took the leap and got them. They live outside so no pet smell or hair all over, she takes care of them and they are even better than I thought they'd be!

The white and auburn one is named Scarlet and the brown short haired guy is named Schocolata, (Chocolate in German) he also answers to Tiger and Brownie.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Bike Tour

In northern Germany there is a lovely town on the Rhine river called Klon. Maggie and I drove up on a Tuesday and had quite an adventure. Maggie found a place to do Bike tours so we hopped on a bike and away we went.

Having never done a tour on bike I was a little apprehensive. I couldn't even remember the last time I was on a bike! At first I was a little rusty and out of breath, but by the end was riding like a pro through the busy streets. That's not to say that I'm graceful or didn't have any mishaps..... Thanks Maggie for retrieving my shoe out of the middle of the street!

We biked about 10 miles and saw much of the city which is imposable to see from the Suburban. Just say'n'. Klon has the most visited Cathedral, which sees about 1900 visitors a day. We stopped on the bridge, at a park, and most of the monuments. At an old fire house we stopped and had a Coke with lemon. Yuuummm. One really cute thing we saw was on the bridge there were locks that had been locked to the fence by couples in love that then threw the key into the river below. It is said that their love will be locked forever because the key will never be found.

Maggie's In Town

We are honoured to have our first guest in Germany: Maggie Hauer! She just finished her degree in Engineering and as a present to herself booked a flight to see us! And Germany. While she is here with us we have gone to the Flee Market, walked the trails near the house, gone to a few of the Castle ruins in our area and taken a Rhine River Cruise. She has gotten to experience not only the amazing sights, but the amazing sights with 4 kids and the Indiana Jones theme song courtesy of Silus! He has rekindled his love with a whip that plays the theme song and insists on bringing it with on all of our adventures.