Who knew that fun could be so cheap? Forget Disneyland, head to Irrland (not to be confused with Ireland)! 4 Euros a person and the kids had the time of their lives. We may have had a little fun too...
Sockless and shoeless child. Pretty typical I would say for Natalee. She hates clothes, jackets and shoes. Actually, her socks got wet in a rain puddle so sockless-shoeless was the next best alternative!
The girls enjoyed watching and helping a cow get milked.
The barn was complete with brown horse, baby pigs and a spider web in the corner. One of Kaitlyn's favorite movies is Charlotte's web and so they were happy to see it all in the flesh!
Ben and I took a trip to Paris at the end of September. I have posted several of the pictures on Facebook, but I wanted to also put a few here. Our great friends who already have three girls of their own babysat the girls for us and we had a nice romantic getaway. We flew, but later realized that it would have made just as much sense to drive! We arrived at the airport at 9:30 am and finally arrived at our hotel at 2:30. Distance to travel by car from Düsseldorf to Paris: 5 hours. Oh well, live and learn.
This is what we did much of the time. That and ascending and descending stairs by the Metro. We bought an all inclusive pass for the metro that allowed us to go to all the Arondissements. It was 80 euros for 2 passes, but it was worth it, considering the many times we went in and out of the metro turnstyles.
Though not one of the more famous sites in Paris, I treasure this place more than all the others. Ben and I packed a picnic in a plastic bag and biked around a large park just right to the east of the periphery of France. We found a quiet spot near the rose garden , ate our bread and cheese and tarts, and just talked about our childhoods and things we want to do in our lives. It was so nice to be outside of the tourist saturated parts of Paris.
When you think of food in France, what comes to mind? For us it was crepes and also delicacies such as frog legs. The frog legs tasted like they came from a half fish -half chicken creature. The crepes tasted like melt in your mouth-heaven!
Piano concert in the oldest Catholic church in Paris. Beethoven and Chopin...cant get much more beautiful than that!
Each table setting had a rose,a name card, a script, and a description of their character. 
I downloaded the script from merrimysteries.com so I didn't have to get too creative on my own. Preparations were hard enough! This girl on the left had an authentic English accent, she having lived in England for 4 years. She put my attempts, and some others', to shame! Germans are taught British English here and so their English came out naturally sounding all spiffy.
Ben played our rich, handsome murder victim and was the star of the night. He hammed it up, and made us all laugh, just like usual! The joke of the night, however, came as we discussed how it would appear if someone walked into our party. If they knew we were Mormons, they might just think Ben was having dinner with all of his many wives!