Germany Wrap Up

Ugh, we are almost into October and I'm still blogging about Germany in May!!!!!  September has been insane with everything starting back up again and it seems we have so many extra events this month.  My goal is to be caught up by Christmas!  :)

Luke was just getting the concept of 'pushing' on his scooter when we moved.  Unfortunately our neighborhood in Mo has a lot of hills and no sidewalks, so we aren't using it very much. 

Hailey was chosen as Student of the Month again for the last month of school.

Gotta love a bedhead Lego Friend morning (and note my computer in the background on a cardboard box desk...gotta love moving!!!)

Hailey's entry for the yearbook cover contest was picked as a runner up and featured on the back of the yearbook.  Below is the front cover winner...

Hailey's is the top left corner on the back!  Awesome!!!

Leevi took a day off of work to stay with Luke and Kai and I was able to go on a field trip with Hailey to the Children's Science Museum in Germany. 

Sigh, I miss those blonde highlights but glad the pacifier is gone!

One of our last gelatos from Angelo!!!

A few park hopping adventures with friends!

Trouble!

Sleepovers!

The girls' Awana Awards night...they don't have the Awana program near us and we are pretty bummed.  Our church does Wise Guys on Sunday night that we have yet to check out.  Apparently it's a similar program. 

Hailey was one of just a few to receive a special award for completing the Sparks programs all 3 years. 

The MacDonald and Miller girls

Kai and Ella with Ms. Rachel

Hailey and her special award

Burgruine Hohennecken

Be forewarned that this post is going to have a lot of photos because I'm trying to cut corners and get caught up on the blog and don't want to take the time to consolidate them into collages!  The Hohennecken castle was a mere 2 miles from our home and is my favorite type of German castle, a ruins with a lot of structure left and free entry!  We had to park at the bottom of the hill and hike almost 1km up to the top.  

 

 I love when there is a description of the layout!!!

The reason I have so many photos is because we visited this castle 3 times right before we moved.  Once to take family photos of the Greens before they moved and then again with the Herzogs to take family photos of each other before we moved.  AND then I tortured my family and made them go BACK to get the family photo near the staircase ruins because I didn't like the way the first one turned out (I know Leevi really loves me to go back!!!  I have to bribe him as much as I do the kids!) :) 

L-O-V-E...we sure do miss these guys!!!!

The kids love exploring castle ruins as much as I do! Not sure they can grasp just how old the walls are that they are climbing on!!!!!

Who taught this girl how to pose??!!

As we were leaving some horses were out for a hike. 

One of their owners spoke English and let the kids feed and pet them...made the day even more awesome!

Kai was too busy to stop for a second for me to take a photo of her! :)  Leevi was out of town so I wasn't stressing too much about getting them together for a photo since I knew we'd be back.  

We finished the morning photo shoot at the yummy restaurant at the bottom of the hill.  Thankfully we were the only ones outside and the kids could be as loud as they wanted. 

We went back with the Herzogs a few weeks later and took turns shooting each others family!

Hide and Seek with Mr. Matt



A six hundred year old playground

We miss the Herzogs!!!!!!

Our heart...

Beautiful girls...

This photo was totally random and the girls had no idea that Logan was photobombing them!

I have the next four photos framed over our bed...

 Not this one, hahaha! :)

This is pretty much how the shoot went! :) 

I busted out laughing when I saw this one!  Logan was trying to make the kids smile, but I have no idea what he was doing to make Kai gawk at him like that! :)

Luke became a sweet snuggle man when we were leaving! 

The money shot...that we went back for (dressed in the same clothes)!  I love it and it's such a good reminder of our amazing four years in Germany! 

The hike back down and a satisfied momma!

Auf Wiedersehen, Germany!