London, Day 1

Spring Break=London for the Willises!  London was at the top of the list for the girls, so we decided to spend Spring Break there.  I wanted to go somewhere beachy...and London is about as un-beachy as it gets...but it was still a great trip!  We were excited to go somewhere that we didn't have a language barrier.  And I could listen to that accent all day long...love it!

The first day was just a day to get settled and rested up to explore the next day.

We flew into Heathrow, rented a car (driving in London...EEEK),  found our apartment, then headed out for some dinner and groceries.

A was very impressed with the drive from the airport!

Traffic was horrible!  It took us over an hour to get from the airport to the apartment.  Little R & A decided to rest a little on the way.

London...big city, on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road...a wee bit stressful!

Reminder of a sweet friend!!  There's an extra "L", but this brought you to mind Dave!! 

A was awake by this time, and both girls decided they wanted to live here...



Just the London Eye...no big deal, right?

Just Big Ben...no big deal, right?

Double Decker bus...but it's not red!

Looking for a grocery store, and a place to eat!

Out in front of the restaurant...another great Italian place with yummy pizza!

After dinner, we headed back to the apartment to rest up for Day 2:  Harry Potter!!

Edelweiss...Take Two!

In March, we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with a trip to Edelweiss.  It was a family trip...what better way to celebrate your wedding anniversary, right?

We really had no plans...just a relaxing weekend together.  And it WAS relaxing!!  I read an entire book that weekend..something I haven't done since having children.  R had some great quality time in the pool with A and Little R.

Edelweiss is a great place...of all the places we have been over here, it is one of our favorites.

Pretty!  The Bavarian style is so much more elaborate than anything we see in our area.

This is a bank!

The first day we walked around and did some shopping in the downtown Garmisch area...very neat!  But it was COLD!

The girls posing with the "Oster" Bunny!

Pretty

So many towns over here have pedestrian-only shopping streets...love them!



We found a Flohmarkt...a flea market...MiMi would be proud!

Little R on the pretend ski lift...the Willis family decided we were not a skiing family long ago...so this may be the closest he ever gets to a real ski lift.

Little R with the "Oster" bunny..

Another pretty Bavarian building

Outside a wonderful Italian restaurant that we found...

Can you tell we were freezing?

The most romantic moment of the anniversary weekend! : )

Inside the Italian restaurant...they had a dog that greeted you at the door...and brick ovens...it was so good we ate dinner here BOTH nights!  Pizza the first night, pasta the next!  It was all delicious!

The drive home...

COLD...but beautiful!

A great weekend celebrating 16 years of being married!  It's been a wild ride, and sometimes I wonder how we've made it through...but I'm so glad we did!  I wouldn't want to take this journey with anyone else, and this crazy little family we have created is a true blessing to me every day!

What have we been up to lately??

We celebrated Dr. Seuss...

We got a new cape...

We soaked up some long-awaited sunshine...

We had one of our very best buddies over for the afternoon...

We played with Play-Doh...(which doesn't happen very often...Mommy HATES Play-Doh)

We decorated cookies and had an Easter egg hunt at school...

Little R ate BOTH cookies all by himself...

And we drew a self-portrait in art class...

THAT'S what we've been up to lately!!  And yes, we do still have two other children!  You can tell by the pictures who I get to spend the most time with...so he ends up in front of the camera more often than the girls!  And T leaves the vicinity when you point a camera at her...so photos of her are rare!  And I really have no excuse for the absence of A...but I will definitely try to do a better job of taking more pics of her!!

Shopping Day in Stuttgart

The kids had a day off of school, so we headed down into Stuttgart to explore a little.  There is a great shopping area downtown that we had never been to, and we had heard about a neat little donut shop downtown, also.

We found the donut shop first, but after driving around for 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot, we decided to head on into the shopping area.  The shopping area was great!!  It's a neat pedestrian-only street, and it was a weekday, so it wasn't overly crowded....very neat!

And as a treat to Little R...we ate at McDonald's, which is a rare treat for him these days!

After a few hours of shopping, we decided to try the donut shop again.  Drove around again for a while looking for parking, then decided to take our chances and park illegally...after all, it would only take a minute, right?  R was VERY nervous about it...but we made it in and out without a ticket!

The donuts were WONDERFUL!!  I don't know if it's because donuts aren't something we see here very often or what, but they were well worth the illegal parking risk!! 

Overall, it was a great family day!!  We live in a small town about 30 minutes from downtown Stuttgart, and we don't venture into "the city" very often.  LOTS of people, LOTS of traffic...two things R doesn't handle exceptionally well these days.  But this day was worth the effort...we all enjoyed it!

We love the mix of old & new architecture in Europe!

Konigstrasse...a pedestrian-only shopping street.

It was cold!!  I was wishing for an indoor mall!

Give R the camera, and you get LOTS of pics!

This was just a cool church we saw after leaving the donut shop...so we had to stop and take pics.

R ran inside to snap some quick pics!

The churches here are amazing!!

Basketball Season

After years of Daddy saying what a shame it is that A doesn't play basketball, she decided to give it a try this year!  Her one stipulation:  that Daddy would be her coach!  He agreed, and off they went on a challenging journey!!

They began with a team that only had a couple of players who had ever played before.  They started the season with very little knowledge or skill.  But R was a great coach, and even if they weren't winning games, they were definitely learning...and having fun!

A improved SO much over the course of the season.  And in the last games of the tournament, I was so proud to see her actually get quite agressive!!

It was obvious the boys looked up to R...and he was definitely "in his element" when he was coaching!  He has had a dream of being a high school teacher and coach his entire life...and I have somewhat shot down that dream...telling him when he retires from the Army, I want him to be able to focus on his own kids, not a team full of others people's kids.  After seeing him coach this season, I realize how selfish that is of me...he enjoys it, he's good at it, and he's a great example (most of the time) to the kids he is coaching!  I think any team would be lucky to have him as their coach!

Overall, it was a great season!!  A is still undecided if she will play basketball again.  Cheerleading is still her first love!  But even if she never plays again, it was a great learning experience for her, and quality time with her Daddy...which is always a good thing!

A on the court

Free throws were a challenge for most of the kids on the team. 

Team 6!! 

Little R supporting Sis from the sidelines!

Team talk!

Team 6 with their amazing coach!

A big day for our big boy!

When we moved Little R from his crib we bought this bunk bed system.  We thought it would be a great set to carry him all through his childhood...his "forever" bed!  He loved it because the bottom bunk was his little "fort", where he was safe through the night.  We have kept the ladder to the top bunk put away since we purchased the bed...and told Little R that when he turned 5, he could have his ladder.  He had to wait a while...I kept putting him off when he asked about it, even though he was 5.  It still made me a little nervous!  Finally, we brought the ladder up from storage and put it on his bed.  He was one happy little boy!  But we still didn't let him sleep up there....until now!

Last week, Little R slept on his top bunk for the very first time!  He was so excited!  So he is now officially a big boy!  He told me the other day that now we can get a baby brother, because the baby can sleep in the bottom bunk, since he doesn't need it anymore! : )  As if the lack of an extra bed is the only reason we don't have a baby brother!! : )

He was so excited and proud!

All set!  He likes to be surrounded by pillows, and lots of stuffed animals!