We had to make a trip to the American Embassy in Frankfurt in order to update the girls’ passports, which were getting too close to expiration to use for our upcoming travel plans. We had made an effort to update their passports several months earlier when we visited the states, but were disappointed to learn that we had to re-furnish the girls’ original birth certificates. Long story short—the originals were packed away in another...

We spent a day visiting the Ludwig II’s most noteworthy castles in Bavaria. Ludwig II became the King of Bavaria (what is now Southern Germany) when he was only 18 years old, and he is most remembered for his contribution to Germany’s extravagant architecture, and not to politics.  He poured his own private funds (and those borrowed from his family and whomever would give him loans) into elaborate construction projects, and when his...

After our lovely diesel/gasoline mixup, we landed at our reserved room in Oberammergau during the late night hours. Thank goodness we already had a place lined up—because we have learned that you don’t want to be searching for a room late at night in Germany (good luck finding one)! This place happened to be a room rented on a family farm. We had to walk through the family’s home and up the stairs to the top level apartment with a...

We enjoyed a visit in late Fall to the Hitscherhof Farm Fest, which is located in between the villages of Thalweischweiler Froeschen and Rieschweiler, southwest of Frankfurt, Germany. Jared’s Aunt and Uncle often go to this festival in late September, so we were excited our visit coincided with the festival! The festival has a Farmer’s and Craft Market with more than 80 participants. A lot of pumpkin and Fall-related foods are available...

Well, it happened. Trust me, it’s a mistake you never want to make. I am fortunate to have a husband that pampers me in many ways, and one of those ways is in never requesting that I filled up a vehicle or drive, unless I want to. Well, I never really want to. So—when we stopped at a gas station in Innsbruck, Austria, Jared was filling us up when suddenly he stopped the pump and said to me, “Oh no! I just put in gas, not diesel!” We...

In the far southeastern state of Germany’s state of Bavaria is a beautiful natural lake, Königssee. When we arrived to the lake, we found a huge parking lot that was thankfully not all that full. We’ve heard this place can get extremely busy, so we sighed a breath of relief. We walked by the little tourist shops towards the lake shore… and I again contemplated the purchase of some traditional local costume (j/k…although I...