Neuschwanstein Castle

Summer is in full swing in Germany and we are taking advantage of the warm weather by getting out and about!

Last weekend we visited the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.  It was AMAZING!  The weather was rainy, but we did not let that stop us!  We took a horse drawn carriage to the top of the mountain for the tour.  The views from the castle were stunning.  The story of King Ludwig make the castle even more interesting because he seemed to be kind of quirky...  

Nick and Clara with the Castle behind them!

View from the Castle Entrance!

Side of the Castle.

Unfortunately they do not let you take pictures inside... so you will just have to come visit and see for yourself :)

After the Castle we stayed the night a quaint hotel at the foot of the mountain!  We enjoyed a dinner with views of the castle and town and then got up early in the morning to head to LegoLand!  Sadly the weather was not as great as it could be (rainy).. but we still had a good time.  They had all these exhibits made out of tiny legos and they were really cool!  They also had rides, etc, but for the most part Clara was too small for them!  We will try again in a few years though.

                                   

                                                   

                                                                        Lego Shaq!

We are off to Rome in two weeks, so we will take lots of pictures!

First Ear Infection :(

It never fails... if we travel... Clara will get sick... Well, twice now...

Last night about 12:30 Clara started getting very fussy and would not sleep.  When I felt her she was burning up.  I randomly had a thermometer in the room at my parents house and when I took her tempurature it was 104.7.  So I got  up and ran to my parents room and told them I was taking Clara to the ER!  Of course the both jump out of bed like crazy people!  My mom and I got to the ER about 5 minutes later and her fever was still spiked... 104.8 by then!  We sat sat and sat some until we finally saw a doctor at 4 in the morning!  All that for an ear infection.  It being her first I did not know what symptoms to look for and she had not been pulling at her ear or anything either.  So we left at about 4:45 with a prescription for an antibiotic and instructions to give motrin and tylenol every 3 to 4 hours to keep her tempurature down.  I know ear infections are awful and I hope this is the only one she ever gets! 

She is pretty congested and still a little fussy!  Did I mention she is totally out of whack of ANY type of schedule... as am I!  I guess thats what vacations should be about though... forgetting about schedules and rules!   Her fever has not been over 101.0 since we got home from the hospital... so lets hope it goes away completely so we can have some fun in the sun while we are here!

Props to my mom who was up with us from 12:30a.m. to 5:30a.m. and still managed to work all day... how she did it I do not know... maybe a little Granny magic!

A few projects!

Here is some of the stuff I have been up to while Clara is napping (besides picking up behind her and Nick!!)

This dress is made out of one of Nick's old uniforms!

Party Dress!!

Bonjour!

So, our first adventure outside of Germany was a huge success!

We took the strauss (the city train) to the Hopbahnoff (train station) to catch the DaBahn (Ice Train).  This train was fantastic!  It went over 200 MPH and was clean and quiet!  Clara did well on the train ride!  It was great to catch a train right outside the post gate and end up in Paris.. no hassle with parking, paying for parking, etc!  Very low stress!  Clara loved looking out the windows on the train... until she fell asleep :)

We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Eiffel Kennedy.  Many of the streets in Paris are named after US Presidents and the Eiffel Tower happens to be right off Kennedy Ave.!  We were about an 8 minute walk to the Eiffel tower.  The first day we checked out the Eiffel tower, Champes de Eylles (shopping), the Galleria Lafayette (more shopping) and the Arche de Triomphe!  Window shopping was a lot of fun, however seeing the Arche de Triomphe was interesting because of all the history that took place there.

Nick and Clara at the Arche de Triomphe

Our walk to Eiffel Tower was along the Seine River the whole way!  It was fantastic!

The next day we went to the Louvre Muesem, Saint Chappelle, Notre Dame, and a crypt right outside Notre Dame.  The crypt was of ruins they found while excavating.  They were intact and explained what we were looking at.  It was interesting.  The Louvre was CROWDED and tour groups were EVERYWHERE and Clara did not like it.  We took the baby back pack as opposed to the stroller because we heard that strollers were the pits there.  However none of the museums allow baby backpacks because of their size, so they offered a free stroller... Clara hates strollers... she wants to walk or ride in the backpack... of which neither was posible in the Louvre... so she spent an hour screaming while we took a glimpse of everything we wanted to see.  The place was HUGE and we only did about 1/4 of it.  We had a picnic (PBJ and apples) on the steps then walked towards Notre Dame... we probably got close to 20 miles in this weekend!  Notre Dame is on a sort of island in the middle of the Seine River.  Saint Chapelle is on the same island.  This area was swarmed with Gypsies!

Notre Dame

Windows inside!

This was right outside the entrance to the Saint Chapelle!  Clara loved "strolling the streets of Paris!"

The last day we hit the Orsay muesem (same stroller issue) and the Army Muesem.  The Orsay Museum a bunch of "newer" paintings (Monet, Picasso)  and the Army Muesem was very interesting, taking you on a tour of the French Army from way back in the day, to Napoleon, and ending at the end of WW II.  It was very interesting and Clara actually did very well in this museum (she was sleeping...)

Each night we ended up in the Seine River by the Eiffel tower.  Clara played in a park, rode on the merry-go-round (she loved it) and at nine the Eiffel tower would light up and lights would flicker for a few 

minutes!  If we hadn't been chasing after a toddler it could have been very romantic :)   

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Happy Easter!

The weather here was dull today, so we spent Easter cleaning and baking!

My friend Rochelle has been here all week, so Clara and I have been on lots of new adventures and explorations with her.  She took a lot of pictures, so when she gets home and e-mails them me I will share with you guys! What a great week it has been!  She has been so low maintenance and also so much help!  We will miss Ro when she leaves tomorrow!

Little Diva in her Spring Dress from Aunt Pat!

Do I look like my daddy, or what???  

Clara's new favorite game is "peek-a-boo" and two days ago she started saying "boo" when she "pops" out! She also covers her eyes... it is too funny!

We're BACK!

Ready for Spring!

So much has gone in since I wrote last...

My parents came to visit.  My dad was sick for most of the trip, so my mom was able to lay low and help out around the house, and help entertain Clara!  It was so nice to have an extra pair of eyes and hands around.  So many people take for granted having their families around... being away from both sides of our families has helped to teach us to not take for granted the help from grandparents when it is offered!  Oh how I wish we were living in Texas or Michigan when this next baby gets here!  Taking care of two will be challenging, but we can do it (hoping Nick won't get sent anywhere in the first few months... if so you will all be receiving desperate e-mails)!

We moved AGAIN!  Right after we unpacked, our floor started peeling very badly, giving splinters in our socks!  So when I called the housing division they said they would reseal it, then the next day I got a call saying we needed to move to another apartment.  Luckily the one under was available so it was a pretty easy move.  Sadly, they would not give us a bigger apartment,  so we are still stuck in a tiny 800 sq. feet.

Clara on moving day... it really wore her out!

Nick "tried out" for Air Assault school and will be headed there shortly, then shortly after that he will be headed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo!  So he has some very exciting events coming up!  We are interested to see how they get him to the Congo!  I told him to take lots of pictures!  Keep him in your thoughts the next few months, he has a lot going on with work and to add school to it!  What a guy!

Clara turned 1!  We had a great time eating cake with granny and grampy and Nick cooked some great fajitas!

Playing with her new book from Aunt Pat!

Lowest possible sugar/ calorie cake I could... I will save the sugar and calories for when she will eat more then a few bites of it!

Sharing cake with Daddy!

On the phone with Nonno and Nonna on her birthday!

Clara has also become OBSESSED with wearing her helmet.  We have been riding our bike around since the weather has gotten warmer and Clara wants to wear her helmet for everything... dinner, playing, napping!  Safety First, I guess??

We also found out we are having a little boy and as of now he will be called Finn Robert Ingrao.

Clara went on her first eater egg hunt today!  The MWR program on post sponsored it.  She caught on after a while and picked up a few eggs on her own... only two at a time though, because we had to show her to put them in her basket, not just walk around holding them, then drop them to pick up too more!  She enjoyed it and especially the other kiddos!

Thats it in a nutshell!

Let's try this again...

This will be my second time to try and blog today, as Clara deleted my 3 paragraphs earlier.... she thinks it is hilarious when she touches the keyboard (b/c she knows she is not supposed to...).

First off, we got our STUFF!  Just minutes ago we actually unpacked the last two boxes.  Trying to fit everything in this little apartment is very frustrating.  I hated everything about the house in MO while we were there.. but now I miss it oh so much.  It is very crowded with the three of us in it, and the thought brining a baby into it frightens me.

The weather has gotten MUCH nicer.  It turns out the sun does NOT hate German and we have had several pleasant days in the last week.  When it is nice out, this place comes alive!  There are so many kids on our kasern that when it is pretty outside and you open the windows all you hear is kids playing.  Clara loves to go on rides in her wagon and watch the kiddos.  She loves it even more when she can get out and run with them (yes she is RUNNING now).  She wants so badly to keep up with them and gets very angry when I pull her away.  She enjoys the swing and the slide the most.  After she goes down a slide she will try to climb back up it (maybe a few steps) then sit back down as if to slide again.

We got her a picnic table for her birthday.  I put it together and it is in our living room and she will push it over to the TV stand and climb on top of it to get to the TV.  She thinks this is hilarious also... she pretty much thinks it is funny if she is not supposed to do it.  The terrible twos should be fun!

Granny and Grampy get here Thursday, just in time to celebrate Clara's first birthday!  I can't believe it has been a year!  They are excited to see where we live and see in person everything I complain about!  We are thinking about taking a short road trip somewhere, or a train trip.  We are going to be spontaneous though.  I have to drive to Frankfurt to pick them up, which will be my first long drive on the Autobahn by myself... Yikes!  As of now they will be staying with us, it should be interesting have 4 adults in this little apartment.  Hopefully it will make us get out and about.

Oh how I long for the house I hated in Missouri....