Did you know....

You can click on any of the pictures on my blog and they will enlarge. I had a comment that my pictures keep getting SMALLER... since I am trying to put so many pictures up. So just click on any picture you want to view and it will be very LARGE! :o) ... lov u Amy... hee hee

Innsbruck, Austria ~ 6/13/09

Saturday after visiting the Swarovski Crystal World we traveled to Innsbruck, Austria. There we saw the "Golden Roof", Triumphal Archway and Large Hummels. Kora loved her stroller and we were able to enjoy a peaceful dinner by the River Inn over looking all the ski trails that they use for the Olympics.

Kora Lily in her stroller.

Salzburg & Swarovski ~ 6/13/09

On Saturday morning we traveled by a little train to the top of the Mountain in Salzburg to see the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the "Golden Apartment" inside the Castle. We had a great view of the city at the top and enjoyed seeing the Golden Apartment. Sam also found an old communication system in the castle. When we came back down our noses followed the best smell to this little bakery under a church that was making wonderful pastries. Also picture below was the 12' pretzels that they had on the streets to eat.

Inside the Hohensalzburg Fortress they had a puppet museum. If you look real close at this picture you can see little Kora Lily in the "Sound of Music" Picture

After visiting the Hohensalzburg Fortress we headed to Innsbruck, Austria with a stop by the Swarovski - "World of Crystals" (Company Headquarters in Wattens.)

Inside the museum they had many crystal displays. Kora Lily loved all the lights and how the crystals beamed of different colors. Daddy found this cute little crystal set of a baby rocking horse, stroller and binky. Needless to say... we did not buy it for Kora. The red picture below was a room that we went into that reflected colors and had 100's of pieces of crystal on the wall. It was really neat. Oh.. and we can't forget about Kora's (deer in the headlight look) that she gave to daddy when she was trying to figure out the little crystal balls.

Kora Lily and I in front of the Crystal Christmas Tree.

Salzburg, Austria ~ 06/12/09

Friday after spending the morning at Eagle's Nest we went to Salzburg, Austria. Home of Mozart and where "The Sound of Music" was written. We spent the afternoon driving to Mirabell Palace & Gardens, Hellbrunn Palace, Mozarts Home town and then walking the city centrum in the evening.

Hellbrunn Palace (we didn't go on the tour... so we didn't get to see the trick fountains)

Fun snap shots of the Day. Daddy was wishing that Kora was bigger so that he could have taken her down the slide. I don't know if you can see the two people standing at the bottom of the slide. It shows how tall the slide was.


The Gazebo from the Sound of Music, Hellbrunn Palace, Mirabell Palace & Gardens and very Decorative Eggs (Kora and I are in the reflections)

Mozart's Birthplace and a picture of one of the best meals we've have had since being in Europe! It was SOOO good. Wild Game (I don't know what the meat was) and it was still good!

Mirabell Gardens

Eagle's Nest ~ 06/12/09

On Friday morning we left Vienna and headed towards Salzburg, Austria with a stop by the Eagle's Nest. This was one of Hitler's hideouts during World War 2. When we got there we didn't really think about how cold it would be on TOP of a high mountain. So Kora Lily and I stayed at the bottom of the hill while Sam made his adventure to the TOP.

Pictures: Left Column: Top to Bottom
~ Bus Ride to Half way point is the only way to get there. The road is very steep and dangerous. 7km long rising 2200ft.
~ then I walked 400 ft deep into the mountain through a tunnel.
~ followed by the Brass Elevator ride to the top (409ft. ~ 41 seconds long)
~ I finally made it to the Top of Eagle's Nest "Kehlsteinhaus". Now a restaurant for visitors.

Pictures: Right Column ~ are some of the great views from on top of the mountain that I got to see.

Kora Lily and I went thru some of the bunkers that the Germans hid out in and through the Museum. We tried to see if we could see daddy at the top of the mountain...but we couldn't.

Vienna, Austria

On Wednesday night we packed the car and headed off for a 4 day weekend in Austria. We drove about 9 hours to make our first stop in Vienna. We got up early on Thursday morning and spend the whole day walking around Vienna to see Hofburg Imperial Palace, Stephansplatz Cathedral, Karlsplatz, Grand Boulevard, Opera House, Belvedere Palace, Schonbrunn Palace, Hundertwasser House, Parliament Fountains and much more. It was supposed to rain all day... but we were thankful to only get rained out for about 1 hour. This city reminded me of Rome, but without all the thousands of people like Rome has.

Schonbrunn Palace with the city of Vienna behind the palace.

Sam, Kora Lily and I in front of (top to bottom) Parliament Fountains, Schonbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace, Palace Gardens and the bottom picture is Austria's "Sachertorte" (Chocolate Cake) and Apple Streusel. Kora was ready for her bed... so Sam and I enjoyed our little desserts back in our room.
Kora loved walking around the city. She didn't want to miss a thing and was wide eyed most of the day.

Belvedere Palace - (upper part)

Things about Vienna: How pretty the city was even though the Sun wasn't shining, it was a Holiday so it was very peaceful city, Kora did wonderful, the Hotel was great, we will pass next time on the famous Chocolate Cake and Apple Streusel but are glad that we tried it, we walked ALL DAY, wish we would have taken the nice little horse and carriage ride all around the city :o) The city was bigger then we thought it was. Vienna was not in our original plans ... but it was worth the extra drive to see this beautiful city.

Kora Lily - 15 weeks

This week has been very busy. We plan to travel this week/weekend due to another German holiday. It is very time consuming to collect information for all the different areas and to make sure we don't miss something big ... if we are going to travel to another country. We have also changed countries over 10 times. But since we are leaving today... there shouldn't be anymore major changes. I told Sam that next time we should just throw all the countries that we still want to go to in a hat...and just pick one. It would be easier! Even though it looks like we will have rain the first two days... we are very excited for another road trip.

Kora Lily - 15 wks

(This will be the last time she gets to wear this cute little dress)

She is growing up TOOOO fast!

Favorite Picture of the Week

Daddy & Kora Lily
(It is this cute little look that I always get from both of them)

Ladies and Gentlemen.... Introducing...

Ladies and Gentlemen.... Introducing...

"The President of the UNITED STATES"

After police units every 40 feet on our way to Landstuhl and after a very thorough search of our car by a VERY BIG DOG! We crossed the line into Landstuhl Military Hospital. Where President Obama had planned to visit injured soliders. Even though he might not have gotten our vote... we were still very excited for this opportunity that we had on Friday night. Who would have ever thought that we would see our PRESIDENT in Germany. I know you can not actually see the President... but he is in that car.

How did all this happen. Well it all started when we picked up our first visitor "Rachel Powell" in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday night. We walked around Basel on Thrusday night and then headed back to our home. On Friday morning Rachel, Kora Lily and I got up and went to visit Germany's Highest Waterfall and the Cuckoo Clock area. Then we picked Sam up at work and headed to Landstuhl to visit John Emch (which is Rachel's cousin who is stationed in Germany for 3 years). Little did we know that the President would also be joining us for the evening. The security was amazing and we had a wonderful time with John and Rachel. John showed us around base (well the areas we were allowed to walk on) and then we went to town to eat at a great Italian resturant. We then dropped Rachel off in Heidelberg. She returned home to the states today after traveling in Europe for 4 weeks. Kora loved Rachel riding along with her in the car and we were so happy to see and spend time with friends!!!

Rachel & John at Landstuhl

John, Rachel, Sam, Kora Lily and I at the Italian Restaurant

Sam, Kora Lily & Rachel in Basel Switzerland

Rachel & Kora Lily at the Largest Cuckoo Clock in the world

4 WEEKS in Germany - Watch me Grow

This weekend will be the 4th week that we have been in Germany. Time is going so fast, even though we sure miss everyone! So it is time to update on Kora Lily's - Watch Me Grow Pictures.

Kora Lily at 11 weeks

Kora Lily at 14 weeks
Kora Lily is sure jabbering a lot and keeping me very busy. She has adjusted very well to the time schedule, bed and home. She defiantly is a curious (I used to call her nosey.. but had to come up with a better word)... so very CURIOUS little girl. She loves the baby carrier that we carry her around in and just smiles every time anybody will talk to her. The average German family’s has ONE child. So there are not a TON of babies... like we have at home in good old Wayne County. I even had a little old lady trying to tell me how to dress Kora Lily. But I couldn't understand everything that she was say... so I just smiled and kept on walking. Well tonight we are excited to pick up our very first visitor from the states... Rachel Powell has been traveling over seas for a couple of weeks with some friends. She decided to stay a couple extra days to see her cousin John Emch (who is stationed about 2 hours from us). So she is making a stop to see us on her way! Kora can't wait for someone new to talk to her.

My New Toy

Lately I have been trying to get Kora to grab her other toys. She loves looking at them when I am holding them up. It gives her something to look at and swing at. But my arm was getting tired and I was getting LAZY. So I searched my house high and low to find something that would hold these toys up for Kora. I found a ribbon that our chocolate from Belgium was wrapped in. So this is a new invention - I might have to patten it. (OK.. not really a new invention... but it works)

On the Left is the Toy Kora is playing with. On the right (over the couch) is the other end of the toy. I tied 3 different little toys on each end. This way when she gets board with one side I can just flip it over.

One of the sides of Rings for Kora to grab.

Kora loving her new TOY!

OK... I know by now most of you are probably getting worried. Because this was the highlight of my day... lol... and not only was it my highlight... but I am blogging about it. But between feeding Kora...changing her diaper and putting her to sleep for naps. This was a highlight. One of the simple things in life that makes me happy.

Kora and Daddy!