I'll have the Schnitzel...... no on second thought, maybe I'll try the Pork.

The week of August 15th, Josh had off work because his entire office was shut down for the week due to a random Italian Holiday....rough, I know. We planned a trip to Germany to visit my cousin Doug, his wife Sandy and their Daughter Tori.
It took us about 8 1/2 hours to get there, and Mallory barely made a peep up the whole way. She was very content with the iPad (what she calls the Big Movie) and the iTouch(the little movie). We hit traffic going through the many tunnels in Swtizerland, and at one point were stopped long enough to get out of the car, have a stretch and change a diaper. Potty training was out of the question during our time on the road!

We arrived at Doug and Sandy's in Frankfurt Germany and had an awesome German dinner at a local Biergarten. Schnitzel topped with this amazing mushroom sauce and hockey puck sized hashbrowns on the side.. YUM. If you don't know what Schnitzel is...you'll be fully schooled after this, I promise. Schnitzel is a pounded out piece of pork, breaded and fried. That's it. The going slogan in Germany is "How would you like your pork tonight?" Pork, Pork, Pork and more Pork. Funny though, we didn't see a single pig while we were there...hmmmm?

A Castle in the middle of the Rhine River

The name of a town, that gave me a chuckle.

The girls passed out after our Boat Ride Day!

We were able to do quite a bit of sightseeing while we were there. One day we took a boat tour along the Rhine River to see all the castles that lined the River. It was a gorgeous day and the girls had fun playing on the slide on board the boat!

Mallory and Tori on the boat!

We did downtown Frankfurt a little bit, walked around, ate some schnitzel, soft pretzels(something you surely cannot get in Italy) bought some delcious Streudel that shamelessly fell out of the paper and onto the street as I was getting into the car. 5 second rule right? I dusted that bad boy off and Josh and I ate it for breakfast for 3 days. It was SOOOO worth saving!

We took the girls to this kiddie park called Lochmuhler. It was the greatest place EVER. It was fairly cheap to get in, and Mallory was FREE. When we got there it was raining and we were decked out in Ponchos, but it soon stopped and left us with a fairly empty park. Mallory was able to get on and off rides lickity split and ride them 3....or 4 times if she wanted. It was complete with a petting zoo where we fed and pet multitudes of animals, goats, deer, sheep, cows, ducks, bunnies, and a donkey. Josh and I were standing next to the donkey and I couldn't help but think we looked like Mary and Joseph with me being nearly 8 months pregnant and all. There was this giant cow, that I let slobber all over my hand and arm for the sake of the girls enjoyment and Sandy's well.....disgust. Hahah. She later told me she is NOT an animal person and couldn't believe I was letting that cow gobble up my hand. It was gross, I'm not going to lie, but when you've gone to Delaware Valley College (an agricultural school) you can say without a doubt that your hands have been worse places than a cow's mouth :)
At one point the cow gave me a big nudge on my belly, and I couldn't help but wonder later whether it was sensing the baby in my belly or the big burger I ate the night before.














This park was no ordinary park you'd find in the States...believe me. Some of these rides wouldn't even get past the first planning stages in the states due to safety concerns. Let me enlighten you....One ride, lets call it the Death Plunge...was for one person at a time. It was this log ride type car that you get in. It pulls you up this track backwards tethered to a rope. Once you reach the top, the rope disengages so that your boat goes flying down the hill, over a ramp where you are literally flying through the air (not attached to a track) only to plunge and skid across the water. There were no attendants operating most of the rides or makings sure everyone was buckled in safely multiple times. Some rides were even self powered. There was this 8 seater Ferris-wheel that was powered by an adult pedaling a bike that was attached to it. It was very funny to watch some of the adults trying to make that ferris wheel move faster than a snails speed! There were large trampoline areas, where Mallory got the hang of bouncing, she'd get 3 jumps in and go flying and rolling all over the place. She'd get right back up, bounce again, flop down, and giggle uncontrollably.

INSERT FAILED AND IMPATIENT ATTEMPT AT UPLOADING VIDEO OF MALLORY JUMPING ON THE TRAMPOLINE

Here's another thing that kept me entertained throughout Germany...regular road signs. Every "EXIT" made me laugh. Ausfahrt ironically means "exit" That is even more funny to me.

Then we found this sign at Lochmuhler. Translated I imagine it to say "Goodbye, and a good fart to you for that hot dog with sauerkraut you ate while you were here." I'm sure that's not REALLY what it says...but you have to admit, pretty funny nonetheless!

What you may also find comical, is that the word for "exit" in Italian is "Uscita" pronounced 'oo-sheet-a'. It may not hit you with quite as much force, but still something to raise an eyebrow over. :)

Tuckered out....goldfish in hand!

Lots of Bouncing going on!

We also took a trip to Heidleburg Castle. We saw a huge wine barrel there which can hold up to 220,000 L of wine! That's a lot of mommy juice! We also got some great pictures and enjoyed the beautiful weather! At one point we caught Mallory playing Tori's new sword like a violin. We put out a hat to collect some money, but didn't make enough off of her to pay for lunch!

We were also able to stock up on some things in Germany that we do not have access to here in Italy. For example: Pam Cooking Spray (How can you live without that right?) Goldfish, Macaroni and Cheese, Croutons, Kool Aid, BAGELS and lots of other things too!

A huge thanks to Doug and Sandy for letting us spend our vacation with them and for showing us a bit of Germany! We had a blast and had so much fun watching Tori and Mallory play together. We even got to go out for dinner and left Mallory with a babysitter! I think she may finally be out of the separation anxiety phase!

On our way home from Germany we got to meet up with Mark Lewis and his daughter Emily in Switzerland. Mark and his family are long time friends of ours and are in the mission field. They happened to be in Germany for a conference while we were in Germany and we were so glad to be able to meet up with them for lunch in Switzerland of all places. My camera was dead, but we stopped at Starbucks after lunch and I so badly wanted to take a picture of the Swiss Starbucks sign. Mallory and I enjoyed a $12 Strawberries and Cream Frappucino thingy. Switzerland may be beautiful, but it AIN'T cheap! They still use the Swiss Franc which is even more expensive than the Euro. Mark and Emily were also able to bring us a little care package that was sent over by Josh's mom with another set of missionary friends of ours and we got, Goldfish, a new Veggie Tales Movie from Mallory and 2 books. One for Josh and one for me! Thanks Rose. I finished that book in one day!

We had a nice trip home and picked up our first official American visitor at the train station that night! The ever popular Luke Kimmel paid us a visit after his business trip to Tuscany. What an awful trip that must have been for him! :) Luke was ever so generous to stock us up on Cheetos, Tastykakes, peanut butter cups, and of course Goldfish, as well as some adapters that Josh had sent to Luke to bring over. We really enjoyed our visit with Luke and Mallory enjoyed having someone new to read to her, over, and over, and over again!

We are completely settled into our new place. Still working on TV and internet, and we made a second attempt to get cell phones that was an epic FAIL. Even with an Italian Bank account now, we couldn't get cell phones. We have to wait another few weeks for our Italian credit card, and then we can get cell phones. 
Every room is put together for the most part except for the baby's room. All of the furniture is put together, thanks to the movers, but the crib is piled high with baby paraphenalia and every corner of the room is stacked with rubber-maids filled with other baby stuff and clothes. The room currently serves as a guest bedroom number two with a day bed in there, but once baby comes, the day bed goes in basement storage and if I'm lucky I'll get another comfy rocking chair for room (fingers crossed).

My Tastefully Simple Business is still up and running, so thank you to all who are supporting me through re-orders, catalog parties, getting the word out and sharing me with your friends. Be sure to have them friend me on Facebook and send me their e-mail address to make sure they have access to all of my special offers while I am abroad. I'll be sending out my September Newsletter and Birthday Club e-mail very soon, so if you don't get it and would like to, or you have a September Birthday, let me know asap via FB, e-mail, or comment here! I'm still looking for catalog hosts for October, November and December. Why not do your Holiday Shopping with TS through your own catalog party so you can get some for FREE! Sounds like a win-win situation right?! Contact me ASAP, to pick your preferred month!
Really start thinking about doing your holiday gift giving with Tastefully Simple this year! Those hard to shop for people would much rather receive....... and you would much rather give an affordable, delicious Tastefully Simple gift over a moldy fruit basket, impersonal gift card, or a smelly sausage and cheese assortment! RIGHT?! The new Fall/Winter line came out yesterday, so be sure to Go to my website and check out the new gifts that are available too! You can have them shipped directly to your gift recipient with a free gift message. Save yourself a trip to the post office during the craziness of the holidays. Don't forget about stocking up for Thanksgiving too. Tastefully Simple has easy appetizers, desserts, and hostess gifts if you are heading to another's home to give thanks this year. Thank you again for your continued support!

What's coming up for us?......

Well I am 33 weeks pregnant, and our much anticipated final trip just being "the three of us" is fast approaching. We are headed to an area right near Venice where we will be just steps from the Adriatic Sea.  Mallory is super excited to wear her swimmy diapers for some reason, and to sit in her Mickey Mouse beach chair! She's been telling perfect strangers for a week now, that we are going to the beach. :) I'm looking forward to just sitting on the beach, soaking up some sun and doing a whole lot of nothing.
Once we return from our trip, KOTA arrives!!! The next day, Alicia, one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world is coming to visit and we've got a full itinerary! I can't spill the beans because it is a surprise to Alicia, but if I told you what I had planned...you'd call me crazy and insist that I had a mental examination! 4 days later my mom comes to stay for 3 months! And well, our new baby girl will be arriving the second week of October! Things are about to get pretty crazy around here. We'll try to stay sane, and keep you posted at the same time!

Ausfahrt stage right.....