Bayern or Bust

The highlight of the month for us was a visit from Grandma Thomas. My dad was in Munich for business and was also able to come after my mom came. He stayed for 2 days and the girls loved every minute with him. It was so great to have the feeling of family close by after 5 months of being around only new people and strangers.

Ben had been wanting to get back down to visit his mission area and we figured that Grandma Thomas's visit would be a perfect time to do this! She was such a huge help to us on the trip--from cleaning our vacation rental and putting the girls to bed to paying for things and helping out while we toured for a week.

Here's my beautiful mom with my sweet husband and KT bug. We had to rotate seating because of car sickness and kid-entertaining-exhaustion.

We drove about 5 hours south, stopping at the Frankfurt Temple and also Munich on the way, to a little mountain town called Chiemgau and stayed in a vacation rental for 5 nights. I would highly recommend this for anyone traveling on a budget. We payed only 60 euros a night for a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen.

We really picked a great time to take a vacation , right?

Here's a little video of Ben and Natalee at the apartment in Chiemsee.

We had great weather the the first full day in Chiemgau. We went to Prien, which is a port town on Chiemsee (See=Lake). We took a boat to Herrenchiemsee island and took a beautiful 30 minute walk up to the Herrenchiemsee castle. We took a tour, ate lunch, then made our way back to the ship.

When we got back, Kaitlyn and I trecked up the hill behind the house and attempted to sled.We had no snow clothes so we were very wet! The snow was way too wet and we went absolutely nowhere. Kaitlyn enjoyed munching on the snow...so she was content!

Day 2, of which we have no pictures, was spent in Innsbruck, a town in the Austrian Alps. We went to the Innsbruck zoo, which is situated on the side of a mountain. It was a workout for Ben, as he had the duty of pushing the stroller up all the hills. This was probably the first time that the girls actually enjoyed a zoo that we've gone to!

We spent Sunday driving up to Neuoetting and attending a small branch (congregation) where Ben knew a lot of people from his missionary days. It was such an amazing thing to see that the church is the same wherever in the world we go and no matter how few members there are. The teachings are the same and the faith is as strong. There were probably about 15 people attending and many recognized Ben and made us all feel welcome.

Here is the branch meeting house

Day 4 was spent in Salzburg, Austria--the city of Mozart and Julie Andrews. Our first destination was through the center of Mount Moenchberg by elevator. We were able to see the whole city of Austria from the top.

A mime in the square that handed out stickers when Kaitlyn dropped a coin in his pot.

We also went to Mozart's birthhouse, ate some Mozart Kugel (chocolate balls), got ice cream and then walked through the city up to Hohensalzburg, the 14th century fortress that overlooks the city. We zipped up to the top by train and took a tour. I don't know...castles are great and all...but certainly challenging to take 2 small children through. Not sure if the effort of getting up there and keeping the kids in line was worth the things that we saw as we walked around. I think they can be best enjoyed from afar.

Here is the castle on our way up in the train. There's also a good view of the castle in the picture of Ben and Jess above.

Overall, we really thought Salzburg was a beautiful city. It was neat to be walking the streets and seeing the buildings as Mozart had once done.

Day 5 was our favorite day. We checked out of the Ferienwohnung and drove southwest to Garmisch Partenkirchen to the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany. We took a train up to the plateau and then a cablecar up to the very top. The views were astounding and we all got willies in our bellies when we would lean against the railing. The Italian and Austrian alps were all around us. Kaitlyn and I threw snowballs and ice off the side, watching it splat on the cliffs below us. Not exactly a skiing expert here, but it looked like a great place to ski. We were probably the only people up there not dressed in ski clothes!

We made a beautiful drive away from Garmisch and went to Schwangau- the home of the "Cinderella" castle, called Neuschwanstein. My mom treated us to a hotel right at the base of the castle.

That next morning, Day 6, was a cold and foggy day. We took a horse drawn carriage up the mountain to the castle and did not do the tour, based on previous castle tour disasters of the trip! We took a 20 minute walk over to the Marienbruecke which provided a spectacular view of the side of the castle that had construction on it. Nevertheless, the landscape beneath us and around us far outdid the manmade structure.

By the end of the trip, we had watched at least 15 hours of Barney and Natalee was once again dependent upon the binki. What can I say. Its all about survival! I am certainly looking forward to the days when Natalee can sit contently during a car trip without a constant song and a dance. I'm so grateful for our little Kaitlyn who sat quietly and enjoyed herself.

Doesn't she look spent? You should've seen her parents and grandma at this point!