Trip to Bruhl

Road Trip...destination Bruhl, Germany
We were going to drive to Belgium or the Netherlands this weekend but instead (because of lack of sleep Friday night due to a little boy that was wide awake) we decided to drive 30 minutes to the small German town of Bruhl.  Chad compared it to going to Door County, WI. It was recommended in a few books and the trees and fall colors were beautiful.  We decided to tour the Castle/Palace there that was once the residence of the Archbishop of Koln.  The grounds were amazing and the building was built in the 1600s. You can see Chad standing in front of the "Augustusburg Palace."  We also decided to pay 5 Euro and go on the tour. It was about an hour, in German, and Will got to ride along with dad.  He was very good on the tour and liked looking around at all the colors. It was a beautiful palace and we were very impressed with the large marble staircase. We had a book with English translation that we were able to follow and really just looking around at the marble and the paintings was incredible.    Here's the website if you want to look at some pictures because we weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside.  www.schlossbruehl.de

The Beautiful Grounds

We also spent a few hours walking around the grounds on the many trails.  It was so pretty and a great time of year for us to visit and see the leaves changing color.  In true German fashion there were a lot of people walking around just enjoying nature and the fall color. I think we are also learning to enjoy this slower pace sometimes.  It was nice just to casually walk around the ground and think of how long ago some of the perfectly spaced trees were planted.

Coffee and the City Center

We also got hot chocolate and coffee in the city center.  When traveling with a baby we realize that we do more of these stops when it is time for him to eat. I wanted to include the picture of the little guy in his shades!  Tara he loves wearing them so he doesn't squint. I also enjoyed the shops and the department store.  We only bought gloves for Will but it was nice just to walk around and see everything.

Will is still growing!

The little guy also tried carrots this week and loves them! Now I also realized that you can't start with carrots and then move back to cereal. He prefers carrots. :)  He is a good little eater, however if he sees his bottle then he has no interest in whatever is on the spoon.  He also still loves reading books. We will lay on the floor and he just looks at the pictures and will start talking.  It is funny to watch him get excited when we get a book out.  He's a smart little guy!

Will also REALLY wants to learn how to crawl.  I say this because he now will push his butt in the air and push off with his feet. He just can't figure out how to get his arms to move so his face doesn't go into the ground.  So much to think about and honestly, I'm in no hurry for crawling. He has mastered the rolling and will roll over to look at me in the kitchen or see someone who starts talking to him.  He's not even 5 months old and he can do all this...CRAZY!

A MALL!

Last week Will and I met for our weekly play date with Anna and Rosi.  The two of them are so cute together.  Once the little ones were done with lunch we walked to the mall near Anna's flat. It was so wonderful! I only bought a hat but it was fun to just walk around a mall again.  It is funny to me that they have some of the typical "mall stores" like the Footlocker or a Clairs-type store.  They also had a food court where we got sushi for lunch and the little ones slept.  

The Unplanned Road Trip

Monday, Will and I had a small adventure.  We started out to go to the baby store in Frechen which is about 15 minutes from our house on the Autobahn.  I have driven there about a dozen times and know the way.  Well, I accidentally missed the excite...OOPS. I was listening to the great CD (thank you Bob), had a sleeping baby, and it was a sunny day.  The worst part is that I left the Tom Tom at home and had a dead cell phone.  I could only laugh.  I'm pretty directionally savvy but you can't just exit and get back on in the opposite direction, in fact you can go kilometers without an exit at all.  

Driving in Germany is a bit confusing and you really have to pay attention to the lane you are in when you exit.  I knew the road we were on (A4) would take us to Brussels if we stayed on it. :)  I decided to get off on another highway and try to exit, turn around on that, and then get back on the A4 toward Koln.  It worked!  I also toured the community of Frechen as well and made it to the baby store.  It was about a 45 minute adventure and I kept thinking how glad I was that Will had just eaten his lunch and was napping! :)  We also were able to get him a swimsuit and some swim diapers for the weekend.

Yes, we voted!

I also want to let you know that we received our absentee ballots in the mail last week and filled them out.  We are sending them back in tomorrow so we'll be voting in the swing state of Wisconsin.  I'm just ready for the election to be over.