Congratulations Heike!

 Congratulations Heike and Alexander!

We were very happy and excited that we could celebrate with you on  your special day!. Heike was beautiful, the service was lovely and the couple looks truly happy!

To our surprise there was another au pair that spent time in Minneapolis. Verena! It was nice to catch up with her and she was amazed how old the boys are. How can that happen when we have not aged at all!.

The service was in Wolfenbuttel. We had to get a picture of the Wolf in Wolfenbuttle.

 And this man carved in a big tree. Mount Horeb needs to take some lessons in carving...maybe we should get trolls this big! I learned later this is the town that distills Jagermeister. No special treats from this town...don't know many that like Jagermeister.

Sunday after the wedding Heike and Alex brought us to a Braunshweig vs Nuremburg Soccer game. We were decked out in our team colors and we found Alex's name on the Fan hall of fame!

 The game was tied 1:1 and was super fun. The boys studied the soccer moves and strategy with hope to use some of their new moves with their team when they get home.

Next day, Volkswagen museum. Now this is a cool indoor playground!

We took a ride up and in the storage towers. Super cool! We also took a tour of the factory where they were making Tiguans and Touraegs. The tour was in german, so we did not understand much, but seeing the factory lines and the parts being assembled was super cool.

We played a lot of "I spy (insert name of cool car)" We even saw two Alpha Romeos and a Lamborghini! very fancy

 Next stop, Falkenstein Castle in the Harz Mountains. Beautiful area...and they had a Falconry presentation that included a bald eagle, Siberian Owl and an African Shrike,

This guy was either fluffy or super big. We think a little both.

The view from the top of the tower! Even Peter made it all the way up to the top.

Our personal tour guides, Lutz and Christine. Thank you so much for showing us around!

 Next stop, Phaeno. The coolest science museum ever (minus the life sciences). We spent an entire day here. Aunt Katie would love the architecture...and us the science. This is Peter testing the strength of his arch bridge.

 And Jamison with some fun glasses. There was even a fire tornado!

Next day the Rammelsberg Mine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_of_Rammelsberg

Again, the tour was in german, but it was still neat to climb around in old mines and take an awesome train car ride.

Our resting time included chess time with Lutz, which Peter promised that he will practice more and come back again and win.

And some uni-cycle time. I can tell you Jamison is not going to run off and join the circus...especially as a unicyclist.

 The last day we spent checking out downtown Braunshweig.

 We really liked the old architecture.

 We packed our suitcases with treats for our classmates. Good thing we had a near-empty suitcase.

  We missed Patrick on our trip, so we took photos of the tasty beers we had with our meals.

 We can not say this enough...Thank you to Lutz, Christine, Heike and Alex for opening your home to us and showing us your part of the world. We are very lucky to know a family like you! and again, Congratulations to Alex and Heike!

Now it was time for the long journey home. Accident on the autobahn (gave Lutz permission to drive as fast as he can to get us to the airport on time....170km/hr! boys thought that was awesome) Delayed flights meant android time! This flight was delayed enough to give us the opportunity to RUN through the Amsterdam airport. We made it...but it was too close for my comfort.

The boys could see Iceland! It was a wonderful trip but we are glad to be home.

One fun treat we had to give to some friends....The Smurfs were popular there...and you cant pass these up! die schlumpfes.