On Labor Day, our Aunt & Uncle had the day off (his Uncle teaches at a US military base), so they took us to see an old Vogtsbauernhof museum. A Vogtsbauernhof is an old farmstead, and this open-air museum displays typical farmlife in Germany’s Black Forest in 1612. I love these thick thatched roofs. Don’t you? In a time before modern materials, these roofs protected generations through harsh winters and wet summers,...

The girls were sad to leave our new friends in Lubeck, Germany…but it was time to head south. Ella had become particularly attached to Jakob, the baby, and she followed him everywhere! Remember how I said our hosts were SO amazing?  They even hooked us up with a box of food for the road…complete with little surprise treats for all of us!  Can you believe it? A few hours down the road we pulled over at...

Our last name is German, although technically we don’t have any German blood in our ancestry. It is an adoptive name–but surely the one with which all the family clings to. A great deal of genealogical research has been done on this side of the family (none by us–because so many extended family members have taken an interest in family history)!  While making plans to go to the grand Schwerin Castle, we were reminded by...

For months and months we’d been trying to get the girls excited to leave Mexico (not an easy task)! Our only big form of bribery was telling them that they would get to see real, true-to-life, castles. Maiya kept asking, “Do real Princesses live there?” On our last day in Northern Germany, we drove from Lubeck to Shwerin, home of the Schwerin Castle. Records exist indicating that there has been a castle on this little...

Lübeck, Germany is a superb gem to visit on the Northern coast of Germany. After spending a great day on the beach in Lübeck, I spent the next 2 days sick in bed. Finally, I thought I could risk being out and about, without a bathroom on call each minute. Our friend, Andrea, was more than happy to show us the beautiful city in which she lives!  With 5 kids in tow (her 2, and our 3), we were off to seek out the towers and brickwork of...

So, we had arrived in this gorgeous European city, we were with great company, and I celebrated my birthday by spending a great day on the beach in Lübeck, Germany. But remember how I mentioned I woke up on my birthday morning, and had a little upchuck?  Well, it wasn’t a one-time incident, and it wasn’t because of the chocolate brownies I ate for breakfast. After arriving back home from the beach, it became clear that I had...