Merry Christmas!!

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas yesterday! We had a terrific day, with the exception of a few sugar high, overwhelmed, tantrums that were thrown our way throughout the day! The boys woke up so excited!! It was probably a little bit more exciting for Allan and I. We love to see their faces when they finally get to open up those presents that have been torturing them under the tree for weeks now! We opened gifts in the morning, then we decorated some cookies, and then our friends came over for a yummy Christmas dinner. It was a great day! The weather was even gorgeous as we woke up to a bright, icy white, picturesque view! The sun even came out for a while! So beautiful!!! We hope that your day was just as merry as ours!
Here are a few of the many pictures that I took over the day!

Naughty Boys!!

So the boys are supposed to be in their rooms for rest time and I was upstairs checking my email when I heard some laughing. For those of you with more than 1 child, you know that laughing means that they are up to something! So I went downstairs to check on them and this is what I found....

Apparently Zachary climbed up on his changing table and then got the FULL bottle of powder off of the shelve above the table. He then felt the need to shower his room with powder and Vaseline!!! When I opened his door, a cloud of powder escaped through the house! It was a mess to say the least. I am sure that most of you will get a good laugh at this and I am sure that I will too in a couple of years when I go back and reminisce of the days that my boys were young trouble makers! All I have to say now is thank God for my Dyson!!! It worked like a charm!!

Last day =(

Some pictures from our last day of vacation! We strolled around the town of Garmisch, but most places were closed because it was a Sunday, so then we just hung around the hotel and Allan and I both got massages! That was a nice treat!!!

Neuschwanstein Castle

On day 3rd full day in Garmisch (and on my b'day) we went on a tour of the Neuschwanstein castle. It was the home of King Ludwig II and it was the castle that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle.

We had to take a horse and buggy to the top of the mountain as it was too long for the boys to walk up hill! BRRRRRRRRR!!!!

This is a view out of one of the windows in the castle. We were not allowed to take any pictures of the actual inside, only out the windows.



On the way back down the hill we stopped and had a brat for lunch. We then proceeded to walk the 1.2 miles back down the hill. Needless to say, the boys were exhausted by the time that we got back to the bus!




After our trip to the castle, the tour guide stopped at the Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour in Wieskirche, Germany. It is a beautiful Baroque style church which houses a huge statue of Jesus at the front of the altar. It is said that the statue was put away in an attic and when recovered it cried. A miracle! The church was absolutely gorgeous! Here are a few pictures that I took.



This door to Heaven is pained on the ceiling of the church and no matter where you stand in the church you are always facing the door. It also gives the illusion that the ceiling is vaulted also it is almost completely flat. It is amazing!

Munich

On our second full day of vacation we went to Munich which was only about 45 mins. from our hotel. We saw the sights and ate lunch at the famous Hofbrauhaus. The Christmas market was also going on at the same time so there was a LOT to see. Both boys were so tuckered out by the time we left. They were troopers though! We broke one of the most important parent rules and accidentally forgot to pack the stroller with us so Zachary got in plenty of exercise during our whole vacation!




Some pictures of Munich's Glockenspiel

From the web...The figures perform the Schläffertanz or cooper's dance, which was originally performed in 1517 at the Marienplatz to commemorate the end of the plague. On top of the dancers, figures hold a tournament, which was originally held in 1568 at the wedding of Wilhelm II and Renata von Lothringen in 1568. The Glockenspiel exists since 1903, but the original clocks have been replaced by a music tape.

We didn't get to see it in action (I have before), but hopefully next time we can time it a little bit better. It only goes off a few times a day and we had missed both times. Too bad b/c I think that the boys would have really enjoyed it!












It is said to bring you good luck if you rub the lion's nose!






Everyone poses with the Haufbrauhaus mug!